Product Description
'Good night for a murder', Inspector Japp remarked to Hercule Poirot as they walked home from a dinner on Guy Fawkes Night. 'Nobody would hear a shot, for instance, on a night like this.' And indeed, the next morning, master sleuth Hercule Poirot is called to 14 Bardsley Gardens Mews to investigate the strangest of mysteries...a case of murder disguised as suicide... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Clean-cut mysteries
Three short stories featuring Hercule Poirot, this compilation is pure mystery. Vintage mystery, if you will. It has a very old-fashioned feel (as most of Christie's work does) and is quite refreshing every now and then. There's not a lot of back story or sub-plots, everything revolved around the case. Simple and precise, and if you're the type that enjoys trying to figure out the mystery, this is the type of book for you. I like Agatha Christie (though Miss Marple is a rather annoying character) and the way she constructs the mysteries so that they are solvable by the reader is very unique. I'd recommend this to any mystery lover, and highly recommend it to mystery purists.

The Only Lie?
"Triangle at Rhodes" was the very first Agatha Christie story I ever read, as an American boy growing up in France.I wish one of her biographers could place it for me precisely when it was written, for it seems at one point Christie was literally moving Poirot all around the world, on the Orient Express of course, then in Mesopotamia to meet Nurse Amy Leatheran, and out to the ruins in APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH and on that fatal cruise on the Karnak on DEATH ON THE NILE.I feel sure that "Triangle at Rhodes" must fit right in there but alas, I have no idea where Rhodes is or where it is in relation to Petra (APPOINTMENT) and indeed, maybe there were two world voyages for Poirot, and his little trek to Rhodes might have been just a holiday jaunt in the final days right before the war.You know how the second half of PARKER PYNE sends Pyne to a different Mid East capital?Same big boom of travel writing on Christie's part?She must have known the war was coming and that her travels would be curtailed, and during WWII her novels stayed strictly at home, with the exception of two highly exceptional books, the Mary Westmacott ABSENT IN THE SPRING, and the historical epic DEATH COMES AS THE END.

If you've read "Triangle at Rhodes," then the mystery of EVIL UNDER THE SUN won't be a surprise to you, and I must say that it's so much better worked out in the novel than in the short story that following the differences is a lesson in stagecraft.

Of the four stories in this book, only MURDER IN THE MEWS itself is really a first class achievement, for whenever Christie writes about the Sapphic she really lets her romantic nature go haywire.The relationship between the two roommates, Jane Penderleith and Barbara Allen, is never really made explicit, but certainly Mrs. Allen's decision to remarry precipitated the great crisis that leads to her death.Jane is one of Christie's great tragic characters, and her love for Barbara is a stark, real thing, the product I expect of Christie's early immersion in the Greek classic drama.Over and over again she has these Iphigenia slash Cassandra heroines who alone know the whole truth and who either say it out loud, shocking their communities, or keep it silent out of a greater, more pagan love for another.It strikes me also that MURDER IN THE MEWS might be the only Christie book whose *title* actually proves a lie, so to speak, or might there be others?Help me out here.

Great
The book arrived in perfect shape and I love all of Agatha Christies books. It came much sooner than I expected.

Christie's Best Collection of Shorter Stories
Murder in the Mews begins with a country house murder in the perfect Christie fashion in "Dead Man's Mirror" (ideas of which seemed to have filtered into the film, Gosford Park).This book consists of three more longish stories that outshine most of those in Agatha Christie's other short story collections.These stories are all typically English of their period and show off their great detective creation, Hercule Poirot, in a less pompous form than the novels often portray him.The author has taken the time in these short pieces to assemble a large cast and a great variety of clues to hold any reader's interest.Almost as good as her full novels and that is saying a lot.

A vintage collection of Christie's
Murder in the Mews brought together 4 short stories by Agatha Christie, most if not all were also published in other collections (albeit with minor alternations).I did feel a little cheated when I discovered it.Nonetheless, the two which I had not read did give undeniable pleasure.

Murder in the Mews took place on a location which Poirot and Inspector Japp happened to stroll by on the night of the crime.Despite it being Guy Fawkes day, it was such a place that they remarked it would have been perfect for a murder.And the next day, they were summoned to attend to a suspicious suicide at the very same location.In this short story, Christie tantalised the readers with a myriad of clues, most of which would mislead rather than clarify.A worthwhile mystery.

In the Dead Man's Mirror, Poirot was summoned by an old fashioned aristocrat, only to arrive moments before he apparently committed suicide.This story appeared in another publication as "The Second Gong".Suspicions were cast on the dead man's adopted daughter and his nephew - especially when it came to light that the aristocrat intended to cut them off without a penny if they did not abide by his wishes to marry each other.It was important in this story for the reader to visualise as accurately as possible the scene of the murder in order to find proof whether it was suicide or murder.

The Incredible Theft was almost a carbon copy of "The Submarine Plans".Two leading British politicians had a small weekend party which included a well-suspected female spy.Ostensibly, she was included to entrap her, to catch her in the act.However, when vital plans were stolen without a clue, the politicians had to call in Poirot to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.Poirot had to question all those present carefully to clear their names, or nail them with the evidence.

The last story, "Triangle at Rhodes", had Poirot on holiday in a resort at Rhodes.Other guests at the resort included a glamourous socialite who was flirting with other men despite the presence of a jealous husband.In the absence of Hastings (which would not have fitted well into the setting), Christie used another female guest to hold conversations with Poirot to flesh out the narration.Being familiar now with Christie's sleight-of-hand tricks, I was not misdirected.However, it took an unrevealed-before-hand witnessing of Poirot to nail the culprit when someone did die in the triangle of passion.

I would recommend reading the book but not buying it. ... Read more

Product Description
Robert is determined to rescue Lorn, who remains trapped in the tiny underground world from which he has managed to escape. She'll die if he doesn't help her. But Lorn doesn't know what danger she is in. Something is drawing her to the dark tunnels underneath her world. Is it something that is calling her home or something more sinister? Can Robert get to her before whatever lurks in the black room does? Gillian Cross is one of the UK's top children's authors, and has won a host of major prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Award, and the Smarties Prize. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Missing Links and Dark Truths
Gillian Cross is back with the second book in her Dark Ground Trilogy!Quick note to readers who have not read the first book: The Dark Ground.This review will contain spoilers for the first story, so you may want to read it before you continue on in this review.Fans of Gillian Cross have been waiting quite a time for this next book in the trilogy.Fortunately, the Black Room is now out and this strange saga can continue!

The story reopens not long after we left characters in The Dark Ground.Robert and his sister continue to try and help those tiny folk he left behind, providing them with materials to last out the winter.But the Robert who has returned to his old life is not the same boy he was before--and his best friend Tom is beside himself trying to figure out what's happened to change him so drastically.Tom is not about to lose his friend quietly, but when he discovers what Robert and his sister are doing he's reluctantly forced to accept that something impossible and incredible is going on.Robert desperately wants to help his small friends rediscover their own lives and when he discoversa chance to help his friend Lorn, he'll do anything he can to save her.With Tom's help, Robert is determined to find Lorn and rescue her before the coming winter, but can he deal with the dark truths that he will discover?

This is one of those books where it is nearly impossible to explain the story properly without giving huge amounts of it away.Ms. Cross' work continues to be profoundly different from the usual fantasy story.There is nothing cute or twee or sparkly in this tale, despite using the convention of miniature people and the strange magic that has caused them to be "shrunk".In fact, it's easy to forget this is a fantasy, despite the strangeness that goes on.The author's writing style takes what is strange so matter-of-factly that it becomes just one more piece in a gripping and bizarre story.The style is refreshing after reading so many stories where characters spend endless time reflecting and considering and analyzing things.Characters relate through confrontation and action, all of which seems real without falling into stereotype and painful cliché.Some readers might find the style a bit brusque, but it worked for me.The plot may be less satisfying for some readers in that it doesn't clear up the pervading mystery nor does it exactly hint what's going to happen to our characters by the end of the trilogy.If the author intends to illuminate the why's of what's happened, there's going to be a lot of ground for book 3 to cover!Still, the ending is unexpected and satisfying in its own unique way.

Given the disturbing nature of some of the things our hero discovers about Lorn, this book is not light reading and may be inappropriate for younger readers.This is likely best for those readers who are young adults, although if a mature younger reader liked the first book, they'll probably enjoy this one.I'm hoping it won't be another long wait for the third book in the trilogy, because I'm eagerly looking forward to finding out what will happen next!Those who enjoyed this might want to try The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix.For those who are looking for lighter books on little people, try Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad Trilogy!

Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad
... Read more

Product Description
Bruce Curry is the leader of a mercenary band with the dubious support of three white officers. His mission is to relieve a mining town cut off by the fighting and to retrieve a priceless consignment of diamonds. Ranged against his ill-disciplined unit are bandits, guerillas and hostile tribes that infest the land. But there is another, even deadlier enemy - one of his own men...'The pace would do credit to a Porsche, and the invention is as bright and explosive as a fireworks display' - "Sunday Telegraph". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Quick and perfect
A good review should be silent.Like a clean house you only notice the dirt, not the clean.A good transaction and shipment should be unremarkable.Not a single problem = perfect score.

Anything written by Wilbur Smith
If you love a compelling story, anything written by Wilbur Smith should satisfy you.He's a master at developing his characters and draws the readers in with his vivid descriptions of their lives and surroundings.

Read only if you intend to read all of his books.
Of 28 of 31 of his books that I have read this is my least favorite.A totally unbelievable tale without the typical building of characters and romance so often found in Smith novels.

Fast Paced African Adventure
This is an entertaining adventure novel by Wilbur Smith.

Although this is not one of his better ones, it is one that will keep the reader entertained. The story is about a group of mercenaries who are sent to retrieve a collection of diamonds under the guise of rescuing some people who are in danger during a revolt.

It is a story that any Wilbur Smith fan will enjoy.For anyone who has never read him before, I would recommend starting with 'Hungry as the Sea' or the Courtney series, which is fantastic.The first one in that collection is: 'When the Lion Feeds.'

Dumb Fun
For a testosterone-fuelled romp through a tragic chapter in Africa's history this fast-paced story is exciting and the pages fly by.
However, the African characters are patronising outlines at best and the "love" scenes are laughably heavy handed. The story barely challenges even the most lobotomised reader and the sad events which act as a backdrop to this fantasy rarely interrupt the author's White, macho dreams.
Fun, but very dumb. ... Read more

Product Description
The young lieutenant takes up special orders direct from Nelson himself which bring news of a mission close to his own heart. In a daring foray, under the very nose of the French Mediterranean fleet, Ramage is to sail his tiny cutter close in to the Italian shore and rescue a party of stranded aristocrats from Napoleon's fast-advancing army. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Not bad but no competition for Aubrey or Hornblower
Talk about beginning a story in media res! Nicholas Ramage returns to consciousness on the lower deck of the frigate on which he serves as Third Lieutenant to find that his captain and the two superior lieutenants have been killed by shot from the French 74 that waylaid them a few minutes before. Like it or not, he's now in command -- and half the crew is dead, many of the guns are dismounted, and they're taking water at the rate of a foot every fifteen minutes. The groggy Ramage takes a round turn on himself, however, and manages to get the survivors of the crew away in a boat and out of their fix without being captured. Then he opens the captains orders and finds they were on a mission to rescue some aristocratic Italians who are trying to escape from Bonaparte's invasion of the peninsula -- it's 1796 and they're patrolling off the coast of Tuscany -- and Ramage finds he knows one of them. He's the heir to an earldom and he mostly grew up in Italy after his admiral father left England in disgrace, having been the victim of a highly political trial a decade before. That's the set-up and Pope, who had written several previous books of history about the Napoleonic Wars at sea, does a good job with it. Pope is post-Hornblower but pre-Aubrey, so he didn't have a great deal of competition when he was writing this series, which, unfortunately, was allowed to go out of print for a couple of decades. Ramage is a likeable character, competent and courageous, though somewhat lacking in self-confidence. The love story part of the narrative (you knew there would be one) is couched in Jane-Austen-like terms and is perfectly believable. The book doesn't overreach in terms of plot, focusing instead on the rescue of the refugees and then on the rescue of a crew from a frigate that went aground up the coast -- for the purposes of which Lieut. Ramage gets command of a nice little cutter. In between those two episodes, he has to get through the court martial that is required whenever a ship is lost, even though no decision he was able to make had anything to do with the loss, really. But the vendetta against his father is being visited upon the son, in the way of naval politics, and Ramage comports himself well. Nelson has a part as a supporting player and there's an American coxswain who obviously is destined to become Ramage's sidekick. All in all, it's a good yarn, though not a patch on O'Brian or Forester in terms of quality. I read this book shortly after it first appeared and I had forgotten nearly all the details, but now I'm going to have to try to locate the others in the series.

Good series of books
I put off reading these books for years but found they are a great, fast read, more like Hornblower than Aubrey series.
I think I equated the name Ramage with rampage and figured they were a cheap teen age rip off of the Hornblower books.
I was wrong and was happy to find another good series on the life and times in the Royal British Navy at the turn of the 18th
century.
Don't be critical and just enjoy.

Launching the Series Against a Headwind
For readers wondering where Pope's star is to be found in the firmament of the historical novels dealing with the naval campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars, it lies betwixt Polaris, representing C. S. Forester and Ursa Major's Patrick O'Brien.It is the fate of any writer of historical fiction undertaking this era to be rated among his literary kin.C. S. Forester was a naval historian and his writing reflects his passion for historical accuracy, giving his novels a dignified, scholarly feel.O'Brien writes of relationships, and is unlikely to be surpassed for his portrayal of sailors' feelings and their internal struggles.The voice Dudley Pope shows in this first of eighteen books in the Ramage series is the booming and crashing of violent naval action.For readers fascinated with the handling of fighting ships in hostile action, and by the heroism emerging from that carnage, Pope's Lieutenant Ramage is your man.

Pope himself invites the comparison with Forester, by mentioning Ramage's meeting with "that fellow, Hornblower."Unaccountably, though, the second reference comprises exactly the same phrase, "that fellow, Hornblower."It's most remarkable that his editor failed to notice the repetition.But Pope's repetitiveness doesn't stop there.Several times he refers to the Marchesa di Voltera's "raven-black hair."There are also some "Tom Swifties," as when a character says something "excitedly."Again, blame the editor.

But the more fundamental flaw in this book is decidedly Pope's, an insipid story line.Ramage faces a court martial for cowardice in the face of action, which the reader knows to be a false charge, which cannot be proven by the accuser, and which would not in a more historically accurate telling even be subject to military adjudication.Moreover, it is just too much that he has Lord Nelson himself giving the junior lieutenant a dispensation, even interrupting Ramage's court martial to do so.Pope should have waited until he came up with a more compelling plot to launch his series.The action is compelling; the protagonists are compelling; but the weakness of the plot launches the series into a headwind.

Does not compare with others in the genre
I love great dialogue and clever plot twists. I love a rich, woven tapestry of historical events, daily life, nautical detail and nuance. I love multi-dimensional characters who speak and act always in ways entirely consistent with their personalites.

Unfortunately this book has none of these things. The characters are one dimensional despite cliched attempts and adding dimension. The dialogue is painfully stilted and the primary plot device is the thought balloon. It reads more like an outline or a first draft than a novel.

Comparing this book (I also read the second book to see if it improved -It most decidedly did not) to other Series of Nautical fiction I see it like this:

#1. Patrick O' brien -Brilliant. Great Dialogue, characters, plots, nuance, Nautical detail etc.

#2: C. S. Forester - Excellent but not quite as good as O'Brien.

#3: Alexander Kent - Not bad but definitely not up to the quality of the first two. Decent characters and plots. Good summer reading for the first 20 books or so but becomes a soap opera after that.

Dudley Pope is a far distant #4 on this list. If you have not read O'brien or Forester, please read them first. I won't buy another in this series. What a disappointment.

Good for vacation reading
Rather than reviewing this single book, I'll comment on the entire series. Pope's Ramage lacks the edge of O'Brian's Jack Aubrey and evolves less over the course of the series than Forseter's Hornblower.In short, the characterization of Ramage is less mature. Likewise, the writing itself is slightly ponderous at a number of points, with Pope feeling the need to remind the reader of a list of character traits and events in the protagonist's life that the reader of the entire series already has in mind. Pope does, however, give the reader a more robust set of recurring characters to enjoy reading about than dose Forester in his Hornblower series (who really only gives you two significant recurring characters other than Hornblower himself). Also, Pope's Ramage has nobility (both in title and in character) that O'Brian's Aubrey lacks and readers who prefer protagonists with greater moral clarity will find this appealing in Ramage. Pope also has sprinkled throughout the series a number of court martial scenes that are well done and entertaining. The series makes for good reading during vacations, business trips or during your daily train/subway/bus commute. A solid three stars. Suggest O'Brian's Master and Commander series and Forester's Hornblower novels as better over all reads if you enjoy the style of the Ramage books. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (14)

Disappointment in Centurian
I was disappointed in this book - it was just not what I had expected. It is well written, but was very, very slow moving. It took me much longer than usual to finish a book of this size. If I hadn't already read books on this subject that were very fast moving, I probably would have enjoyed this more.

A series under siege
Scarrow knocks out novel number eight in this series, and sadly it is not one of his best.

Macro and Cato are sent to Palmyras, a small kingdom just about under Rome's control, but an aggressive Parthia is seeking to move in.Add conflict in the Palmyras Royal household and the a city under siege and our Roman heroes have a lot on their plate.

But this novel is missing something, it lacks tension and complexity and sadly feels a little by the numbers.It's a shame because the earlier novels were so good, but this one feels a little tired I am sorry to say.It's not terrible, but just a little too average.

Great read! I love this series
Simon Scarrow is a fantastic author. His novels on the Roman army is right up there with the history books. I can't wait to read Gladiator.

Centurion by Simon Scarrow - another 'best' seller!
Wow! This novel about Parthian Army and Rome's Army again brings together Centurions Macro and Cato. It is interesting to see how the closeness of these two warriors developed and in turn changed each of them.Simon tells us about the battle descriptions, the look of the weapons, the feel of the heat, the grit of the sand and the harshness of decision making.The format and type setting of the print makes the 533 pages very readable.If you like fast actions, this is the book for you. Other excellent books that I think you might like are:

The Eagle and the Wolves
When the Eagle Hunts
Under the Eagle

Centurion
Again, I LOVE Simon Scarrow... in the manly way of course :-)
Extremely well written and very well paced.
I read his work before bed, and enjoy the carry-over into dreamtime!

Highly recommend his work to anyone who is interested in the ROman EMpire. ... Read more

Product Description
This thriller is about an attempt to assassinate Saddam Hussein. A businessman approaches an ex-military figure, asking him to organize such an attempt: it becomes clear to the latter that the move is government-sponsored in some way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A gripping story about a plot to assassinate Saddam Hussein
"Shadow Over Babylon" is the first book by David Mason and it's a gripping read very much in the style of Frederick Forsythe or Tom Clancy. The story revolves around a group of British ex-Special Forces men who are hired to assassinate Saddam Hussein and the planning and organisation involved to infiltrate Iraq, shoot Hussein and then escape. They draft in a sniper, Danny MacDonald, who is a deer stalker and we are introduced to Danny at the beginning of the book as he explains about shooting to a deer hunter. This aspect of the book - the technical detail of the sniper's craft - is fascinating and not something I've read elsewhere.

As the book progresses we learn more about the characters and the plans that they are making to carry out this difficult task, although we don't know the full plot at any time - as it unfolds we understand why they organised things as they did. There is a parallel story taking place in the American NRO (National Reconnaisance Office) as they find themselves tracking the team and trying to work out who they are and what they are doing. Big brother was definitely watching them!

The book has some technical detail but perhaps less than a Tom Clancy book - which isn't a bad thing. There is also more characterisation of the men involved in the mission - why they are doing it, how they handle the stress and violence - and even a couple of little romantic storylines for three of the main people involved.

And do they succeed in killing Saddam Hussein? Well, you'll have to read it to find out, but it's a really great read and there's a little twist in the tail which I wasn't expecting and was fun. Enjoy the story and the plot and the characters - this is an excellent debut novel by someone who clearly knows an awful lot about what he's describing and it's great fun to read a book with British special forces, rather than American ones, with the humour and amusing conversation of the Brits.

A gripping story about a plot to assassinate Saddam Hussein
"Shadow Over Babylon" is the first book by David Mason and it's a gripping read very much in the style of Frederick Forsythe or Tom Clancy. The story revolves around a group of British ex-Special Forces men who are hired to assassinate Saddam Hussein and the planning and organisation involved to infiltrate Iraq, shoot Hussein and then escape. They draft in a sniper, Danny MacDonald, who is a deer stalker and we are introduced to Danny at the beginning of the book as he explains about shooting to a deer hunter. This aspect of the book - the technical detail of the sniper's craft - is fascinating and not something I've read elsewhere.

As the book progresses we learn more about the characters and the plans that they are making to carry out this difficult task, although we don't know the full plot at any time - as it unfolds we understand why they organised things as they did. There is a parallel story taking place in the American NRO (National Reconnaisance Office) as they find themselves tracking the team and trying to work out who they are and what they are doing. Big brother was definitely watching them!

The book has some technical detail but perhaps less than a Tom Clancy book - which isn't a bad thing. There is also more characterisation of the men involved in the mission - why they are doing it, how they handle the stress and violence - and even a couple of little romantic storylines for three of the main people involved.

And do they succeed in killing Saddam Hussein? Well, you'll have to read it to find out, but it's a really great read and there's a little twist in the tail which I wasn't expecting and was fun. Enjoy the story and the plot and the characters - this is an excellent debut novel by someone who clearly knows an awful lot about what he's describing and it's great fun to read a book with British special forces, rather than American ones, with the humour and amusing conversation of the Brits.

Shadow Over Babylon is worth the time taken to read it.
Mason was good at making this premise work, even though he was working with the handicap that came with setting this a few years back. We know the history of the Gulf War aftermath, so where's the suspense in reading aboutthis crack team headed to take Mr. Hussein down? It's there all right.Obviously this is the work of a sharp intelligence. If Mr. Mason were towrite another novel, I'd be sure to at least take a look at it.

Great, but not Excellent
Mason's work in Shadow is an excellent beginning to an author that possesses such a deep understanding of military manuvers, lingo, etc.The details are what captured me in this book, particularly the story of theteam's sniper. I felt a little lost towards the middle of the book, but Isuppose most book are that way. Overall, he is NO Clancy, however, his nextbook is still something I would like to take a look at.

GOODJOB!

-Sunil James

Proberly the best book ever written
Shadow over Babylon was given to me by a friend, he said that the book was impossible to put down. I thought that this might be a bit of an exageration, so i decided to read it. I ended up reading the book in 4 dayswhile during my summer holidays. I can honestly say that this is the bestbook that i have ever read. My favourite author may be Wilbur Smith butthis book eclipses anything that he has ever written. David Mason's secondbook Little Brother is also worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
It is America's most secret base, hidden deep in the Utah desert, an Air Force installation known only as Area 7. And today it has a visitor: the President of the United States. He has come to inspect Area 7, to examine its secrets for himself. But he's going to get more than he bargained for on this trip. Because hostile forces are waiting inside...Among the President's helicopter crew, however, is a young Marine. He is quiet, enigmatic, and he hides his eyes behind a pair of silver sunglasses. His name is Schofield. Call-sign: SCARECROW. Rumour has it, he's a good man in a storm. Judging by what the President has just walked into, he'd better be..."Epic, action-packed adventure...unbelievably pacy" - "Daily Mirror". "Nonstop thrills...cliffhangers galore" - "Publishers Weekly". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (115)

Terrible
Fast and dumb action. No reasoning throughout the book, which starts out on a rather lame plot, but worse, the enemy leaves trans, boats and all sorts of other resources for our heros, as they succeed in every effort with just seconds to spare. I like action books, but this one was just horrible.

Action Packed book you can't put down!
The second book in Matt Reilly's Scarecrow series is AWESOME. Reilly is a true master of action choreography and surprising plot-twists. If you're a fan of 24, you can think of Reilly's character Scarecrow as Jack Bauer on speed! Pick up this book today!

Well, at least the action doesn't stop
For starters, I really like Matthew Reilly.I've read Contest, Ice Station, and Temple.Now if you thought Temple was over the top, wait til you get a hold of Area 7.

My wife is a huge fan of Reilly, but about 50 pages into the book (I don't believe that this is a spoiler, but tread lightly) when the main antagonist reveals his plans, I remember saying to my wife how ludicrous the plot was.And it is ludicrous.And some of the action sequences are so ludicrous that you will literally roll your eyes when they happen.Still, Reilly is a decent writer and a good storyteller - you just have go beyond a basic suspension of belief for this one.

Area 7
Was quite please with how fast it was delivered and it was in great condition.

Groan inducing and over the top
Matt Reilly has the ability to create fast paced, at times gripping, stories; I'll give him that.However, Area 7 is an absolute mess.The plot is the result of mixing the worst elements of a Stephan Seagal movie, The Transporter, and one of those C movies on at about 2 am on Sci-Fi.It has all the cliche elements of an action story, but with absolutely no subtly:

1) The been there, done that hero
2) The romantic interest
3) The bad guy with an overly elaborate plot
4) His minions
5) The pencil pushing commander with no experience
6) A handful of good hearted cannon fodder
7) Plot twists that are supposed to be "twists" but are more of "Oh, God, why did he have to go there?" moments.
8) Impossible stunts that, even with suspended disbelief, are still hard to believe.

Another thing that really grates on me for some reason is Reilly's insistence on elite teams having "signature weapons."Seriously, a soldier, SEAL, Marine, etc, is going to be given any equipment needed to complete their mission.The whole "signature weapon" thing is very video game like.I don't know if that's what he was going for, but to me, it's kind of idiotic.

All in all, a good effort that falls short in both fact checking and both character and storyline development. ... Read more

Product Description
The setting is Berlin. Into this divided city, wrenched between East and West, between past and present; comes twenty-five-year-old Leonard Marnham, assigned to a British-American surveillance team.Though only a pawn in an international plot that is never fully revealed to him, Leonard uses his secret work to escape the bonds of his ordinary life - and to lose his unwanted innocence. The promise of his new life begins to be fulfilled as Leonard becomes a crucial part of the surveillance team, while simultaneously being initiated into a new world of love and sex by Maria, a beautiful young German woman. It is a promise that turns to horror in the course of one terrible evening - a night when Leonard Marnham learns just how much of his innocence he's willing to shed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (38)

Not Your Typical Spy Thriller
Like Leonard Marnham, the protagonist in this fascinating novel, we the readers are also innocent to a certain extent.And reality is slowly revealed to us until we, horrified and frightened, finally come to realize what it all truly means. This is the fourth novel of Ian McEwan's that I have read, and it is one of my favorites.It moves along slowly, but the plot thickens rapidly, building to a breathless denoument that had me wide-eyed and breathless. Leonard, an innocent both socially and sexually, is assigned to a surveillance group in post-war Berlin.Based on true events, this novel takes us literally underground in the Cold War as Leonard works on a project tunneling under the wall into the Russian sector to tap into a Russian communications center's phone lines.So much is at work in the novel -- post-war Berlin struggles to recover from the war, all the while already having been divided by super powers at conflict with one another; British and American agents, though working together, have little trust or faith in one another; Leonard's relationship with the German woman, Maria Eckdorf, is muddied by the dark secrets of Maria's past; Leonard's struggle to find a place for himself not only in the espionage effort, but also in the world at large, causes him to experience paranoia and mistrust, often at the expense of his relationships and his own self-confidence.I could not help but wonder, as I read, what was really going on, and I looked for deeper motives in every character's actions.McEwan is an excellent writer, but don't expect that he will always give you want you want.I have come to expect the unexpected from him, and this book is certainly no exception.

How Did I Overlook This?
As a shameless McEwen fan, this one, for whatever reason escaped me.Most McEwen critics claim his novels are really expanded short stories, or novellas.That cannot be said of this book.

Set in post war Berlin, every character has his or her secrets, and every character either knows of or learns of those secrets before it is over.The overarching theme
is "Who is 'The Innocent?'"The sexually inexperienced British protagonist?His
love interest whose past is marred by an abusive ex husband and poverty? The spies who don't fully comprehend what each other does?The Americans? The British? The vanquished Germans? The answer, probably is no one.

McEwen is spot on in this dark story with such a horrific plot twist which reveals the extent of human depravity and the ability of individuals to rationalize it, as well as the consequences.

It is worthy to note that two of the characters in the novel were real spies in Berlin during the 1950's, and while they do not play a major role in the plot, they
did have a huge part in how things turned out both in postwar Germany and in the book.

Psychologically complex story with some gory scenes that kept me up through the night.Great book!
This 1989 novel by Ian McEwan is a masterful thriller with scrupulous attention to detail which has become this writer's trademark.The story is set in post-war Berlin in 1955 when British 25-year old Leonard Marnham is hired to work at a top-secret joint British American venture to tap the phone lines of the Russians.He quickly learns about post-war international relations and is also soon caught up in a torrid romance with a slightly older German woman, Maria, whose brutal ex-husband keeps showing up.

This is a story of psychological complexity and a series of shocking events.It also has comic elements and lots of violence.The romantic scenes are extremely explicit and sizzle with passion.And then there are the gory scenes that made me wince and yet keep me awake and reading through the night.The story moves fast and there were times I found myself holding my breath and turning pages with fascination at this well developed story.

By the end of the book we have seen the timid Leonard lose his innocence as he is swept up in a murder, a crime cover-up and a betrayal.And yet, there is a feeling that this kind of series of events could have happened to anyone.I identified with the character and felt real tension throughout this book.

Ian McEwan is a fine writer.I have read several of his books and they never disappoint.

Highly recommended.

unresolved questions
I have read a number of McEwan's books.There is no question that this is another extraordinary novel;the intense poignancy of the character interactions, lingers with you for a long time after you finish the last page; and for anyone who has had an intimate relationship with another human being,the magnitude of the emotions that McEwan so deftly orchestrates, is often difficult to handle.

I read about the factual history of Operation Gold;I also know that the Russians knew about the tunnel before it was activated.What I wonder is whether Glass was the officer in charge of Maria - who was an operative woking for Glass?That Leonard was an unwitting pawn in some clandestine operation?That Glass and Maria were in their own relationship the whole time?If you read "The Company" by R. Littell, you realize that there were an incredible number of complex covert relationships after WWII.Was Otto an inconvenience who needed to be removed for whatever reason - and Leonard was the necessary instrument for this to happen?None of these questions take away from the literary integrity of the novel, but may shed a different light on the relationship between Leonard and Maria - and the actual perception of "innocence".Maria may not have been the person Leonard perceived her to be -boy was she creative and knowledgeable in the dismemberment sequences?!And although she may have developed some feelings for Leonard (which may have been responsible for the guilt necessitating the need to write the letter in the end) - the sequence at the airport with Glass, certainly suggests their close relationship.

Igor Dumbadze

Not as Good as McEwan's Best
...but still pretty good.That sounds like faint praise, but rating this novel is not easy.

The Innocent is based on an actual and almost unbelievable espionage operation in Berlin during the Cold War.I recommend researching the incident before reading the book.This will not spoil the main developments of the plot which are personal and fictional and involve fictional characters.The historical operation was Operation Gold.Check it out.Being aware of the historical background will give the reader a better handle on the story.I read this without knowing that it was based on historical fact and felt that it was too far fetched to be believable.Finding out that it was historical was jaw-dropping.

The Innocent is an odd combination of satire, humor, gooey sentimentality, deep psychological insight, and utter gruesomeness.Be prepared to be nauseated along with Leonard and Maria--the main characters.I must warn that the most fulsome passages of the book seemed to me to be gratuitous punishment for the reader.

This novel is not for children or for those who are faint of stomach, nor for pleasant summer afternoon reading at the beach.

Having said all this I admit that I appreciated this novel and found it absorbing.

BTW:I consider McEwan's best to be Atonement and Enduring Love. ... Read more

Product Description
At a remote US ice station in Antarctica, a team of scientists has made an amazing discovery. They have found something unbelievable buried below the surface trapped inside a layer of ice 400 million years old. Something made of metal ...something which shouldn't be there ...it's the discovery of a lifetime, a discovery of immeasurable value. And a discovery men would kill for. Led by the enigmatic Lieutenant Shane Schofield, a crack team of US Marines is rushed to the ice station to secure this bizarre discovery for their own nation. Meanwhile other countries have developed the same idea, and are ready to pursue it swiftly and ruthlessly. Fortunately, Schofield's men are a tough unit, all set to follow their leader into hell. They soon discover they just did ... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (321)

Action at it's Finest
"Ice Station" is the definition of what an action based novel should be. If you like the television show "24" you'll eat this book up. Schofield is more along the lines of Jack Bauer (along with having to face similar dangerous situations almost single-handedly). Comparisons to other similar characters aside, I found Schofield to be a complete character on his own. He is a brave and capable man but has the same fears and doubts as anyone else who found themselves in such circumstances; what makes him a hero is that he rises above them (in crazy and often over-the-top ways but still...). I also enjoyed the other characters in this novel. The group of Marines that are with Schofield are awesome and I genuinely cared about them all. The enemies in this novel are excellent as well (there are so many that it gets nuts after awhile but they are all interesting in their own way).

As for the story, it is clearly over-the-top. Without giving anything away, the events that happen would clearly not happen in real life (if this actually took place in the real world everyone would probably be dead after page 30). The goal of the mission is also beyond belief along with the motivations of some of the enemies (would any nation really go to this much trouble to acquire an "object" of uncertain origin?). With that being said, I loved all of it (I just let rationality go and enjoyed the ride). The action is sustained thoughout the novel and is clever (Matthew Reilly really knows how to stage action sequences). I found myself churning through the pages to read what happened next and smiling at how crazy the events taking place were.

If you want to be entertained for a couple of evenings and are in the mood for extreme action pick up Matthew Reilly's "Ice Station;" you won't be disappointed.

Ice Station
an interesting novel, full of action but also flawed by the author's lack of knowledge concerning equivalent military ranks and practices, highly improbable to impossible scenarios and trying to pack too much astion into too many subplots.

astonishingly bad
The author apparently wrote this armed with nothing but a library of bad 80's action movies, a hero worship of special forces types and a coffee table book on modern weapons. Ice Station exists in a world in which CFC's are highly explosive, unmodified MP5's fire reliably underwater, radiation mutates sea creatures into monsters and TOW missiles can't hit hovercrafts. And this guy *really* doesn't like the perfidious 'beady-eyed' French. That this guy has been successful goes to show it's impossible to underestimate your readership.

Exactly what you expect... no, I mean it's *exactly* what you expect
The reviewer pushed his dark and tousled hair away from his sweat-stained brow.He knew he was the best marksman in his class at Quantico, but the hard years in Special Forces X Branch hadn't dulled his instincts in the least.He was sharp.He was ready.

He looked around his oak and leather study at all the manly artifacts he had collected during his many expeditions to dangerous and exotic places.Child's play.This review was his toughest assignment yet.

How to capture a cast of one-dimensional characters?How to make each scene appear more contrived and unlikely than the last?How to fail at building momentum?What of the laughable dialogue, warmed-over cliches, and horrible stereotypes?How could he fit all that into just one novel... or even worse, one chapter?

More to the point, how could he create a review so utterly formulaic and predictable that readers would know precisely what would happen on the next page?

If only the reviewer had the talent of one Matt Reilly, who has made quite a pleasant career out of writing sophomoric macho fantasies that offer no suspense, no mystery, no character development, and no plot beyond the most rudimentary paint-by-numbers highschool schlock.

The reviewer sighed and turned from his desk, defeated.No mere mortal could hope to compete with Matt Reilly.

Alternate Universe Action
Whether you like this book depends pretty much on how you look at it.If you treat it as an action techno-thriller, you will be sorely disappointed.The author's military research apparently consisted of watching a couple episodes of "A-Team", his physics learned at the knee of Wiley Coyote, and physiology and other sciences were simply made up on the fly.Scarecrow, our protagonist, makes Dirk Pitt look like a benchwarmer for the practice squad.And I lost count of the times I saw the word "miraculous", or variations thereof.There simply is no resemblance between this book and reality as we know it.

However, if you treat this as science fiction/fantasy, where things happen in an alternate universe . . . well, then it isn't quite so bad.It's still a lot like a comic book without the drawings.Everything happens fast and furiously, with guns blazing and blood splattering on nearly every page.You have to learn to stop shaking your head at the really, really silly stuff, or your neck is going to start hurting.

Get this at the library when you're getting bored with your regular action authors.You'll be pining for them again in no time!
... Read more

Product Description
In this sequel to John Wyndham's "The Day of the Triffids", 25 years have elapsed and Bill Mason's son David sets off for New York to meet humans who are immune to triffid poison. Here he comes face to face with one of his father's oldest enemies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Not Wyndham, but not bad
The Triffids definitely requires you to suspend belief for full enjoyment... carnivorous plants rule the world?

Wyndham wove a superb tale in the Day of The Triffids and Simon Clark does a surprisingly good job of continuing the tale in his book.

By taking the story across the pond to America, Clark is able to let his own imagination run riot and create his own human reactions to the global disaster and for the most part it works completely.

For me there were a few stumbles along the way.. just one example being the super speed development of a Triffid which can breathe underwater (Doesn't natural selection take hundreds or thousands of years to effect that kind of change?).

But don't let that dissuade you from giving this book a chance. If you enjoyed Wyndham's Triffids, the chances are you will enjoy Clark's efforts too. He could even continue on and write a third Triffids book, if he writes it, I'll read it.

My Wish Has Come True!
Over 40 years ago, I read the original (and GREAT) "Triffids" book.The "Blinding" scared me so much that I didn't look at a meteor shower until only recently!
Many times, in my youth, I looked for the "suggested" continuation of the original novel. I didn't know that the book had not yet been written.
Last week, on a whim, I checked if my "imagined" book could be found on Amazon.
Sure enough, they had what I wanted!
I finished the novel a few hours ago and I was NOT disappointed.
The story was as exciting as I remember the original to be!
I only hope for two things:
1) That there will be another sequel and/or a TV Series (Like "V").
2) That there will be a movie version (which, I hope, will be better than the 1st one).
If you like Science Fiction, then "Night of the Triffids" is a MUST READ!!!!!!!!!

"Triffids" deserves a sequel but this ain't it.
This book starts a generation or so after "The Day of the Triffids" ends, with the world again being plunged into darkness, this time because the earth has passed through a cloud of cosmic dust, or something. The cloud conveniently doesn't cut off the heat as well, so we don't just freeze to death. The triffids, of course, take advantage of the situation, and have to be survived all over again.

The hero, son of the original hero, Bill Masen, investigates the event and finds himself taken to America, where another community is holding out on Manhattan Island (why there, for Pete's sake? It would seem even less promising than London, and far less so than America's own Southwest or Great Plains states). In New York (small world isn't it?), he runs into his father's old enemy, Torrance, who was setting up feudal baronies in the last chapter of the original novel, and has now tried his luck across the pond. Torrance hasn't changed much. While the status of the blind is less of an issue now, it seems that Blacks are kept pretty much in their 1950s place. The sequel then runs off into various adventures with new varieties of triffid, and rival groups of human, which I can only hazily recall, and probably won't bother going back to.

In short, a thorough disappointment, and for me at least an infuriating one. I would have loved a decent sequel to Wyndham's book, which is up there with "Earth Abides" as one of my favourite disaster novels, but which left so much more to be told. But this doesn't even come close.

Incidentally, another reviewer asked when "The Day of the Triffids" was supposed to have taken place. Fortunately, we were told that Masen removed his bandages on Wednesday 8th May, which narrows it down a bit. My perpetual calendar shows the following years, subsequent to the book's publication in 1951, when such a date existed - 1957, 1963, 1968, 1974, 1985, 1991, 1996, 2002. Since it's clearly set in the present, or at least very near future, we can probably forget the last four, and a reference in "Night" to the Berlin Wall eliminates 1957. My bet would be 1963, with 1968 and 1974 as possible but less likely. But others may have their own opinion.

My 100-word book review
Set a few decades after the events of John Wyndham's famous novel, Night of the Triffids is a straightforward adventure story, with travel, warfare and a little romance thrown in. Not really in the same league as the original, it nevertheless has some imaginative touches, including a few brand new varieties of triffid. Whereas Day of the Triffids was an epic tale about the fall of civilisation, Night of the Triffids is mostly about warring human factions in a depopulated and dangerous new world. Taken on its own merits, this is a solidly written story, which I found quite entertaining.

A qualified success
A must-read item for Wyndham fans, and given the challenge that Simon Clark took on, a qualified success. ... Read more

Product Description
Set in London and Greece, this is the sequel to Sidney Sheldon's "The Other Side of Midnight". The author has also written "Windmills of the Gods" and "The Sands of Time". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

FATAL ATTRACTION ON AUDIO !!!!!!!!!!!
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT ! I COULDN'T STOP LISTENING !!!!

I EVEN STOPPED WATCHED TELLY FOR A WEEK SO THAT I COULD LISTEN !

SIDNEY SHELDON AT HIS BEST !

IF YOU LOVE THE 80'S & 90'S THRILLER FILMS LIKE 'WITNESS', JAGGED EDGE AND FATAL ATTRACTION YOU WILL LOVE 'MEMORIES OF MIDNIGHT ' YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED !

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH THAT I'VE 'ARE U AFRAID OF THE DARK' &
'THE RAGE OF ANGELS', BOTH BY SIDNEY SHELDON.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS AUDIOBOOK IT'S LIKE JACKANORY FOR GROWN UPS !!! :)

Memories of Midnight
Just one of many great books by the author, Sidney Sheldon. A super page turner, fast easy read, great suspense and twists and turns.I highly reccomend this book.

Midnight Madness Revisited
Excellent sequel to "The Other Side of Midnight."It is remarkable that Sidney Sheldon could write a sequel every bit as good as the original story."Memories" picks up with the story of Catherine Alexander Douglas where The Other Side of Midnight left off.Constantin Demiris had Catherine locked away in a convent while he arranged to have the death penalty served to his mistress, Noelle Page and her lover, Larry Douglas, Catherine's husband, for Catherine's supposed murder.Now it is Demiris' head that is on the chopping block as Catherine's memory is slowing returning and anyone discovering that she is alive, must be dealt with as well as Catherine herself.Demiris, being the all rich and powerful leader of the world, has everyone in his pocket and it seems inevitable to escape his wrath.His weakness is the fact that he can't get Noelle out of his system and feels his rightful revenge will only come when he takes Larry's wife to bed in the very same way Noelle betrayed him with Larry.At the same time, the closer Catherine comes to remembering her past, the closer she comes to her execution.Unbeknownst to her, thinking Demiris is a very kind man, he arranges for Catherine to work in one of his London offices where he will keep a close eye on her until the time is right to not only have his way with her but then dispose of the lovely Catherine as well.In London, there is less of a chance of anyone recognizing her.The story goes forth with lots of twists and turns and many new villains as well as some very exciting and surprising plots.I had to really keep myself from skipping to the end to find out what happened.I could not put this book down until it was completed.Does good win over evil?It becomes highly doubtful as Demiris tricks everyone he meets and they end up suffering brutal consequences.It appears that no one, no matter how skillful, is immune to his schemes.Memories of Midnight

Great suspense!
You just never know where Sheldon is going next!This is what they call "a page turner."A reviewer sets the scene: " "Memories of Midnight" begins as amnesiac Catherine starts remembering things...like the fact that her husband was killed for her supposed "murder." This could prove dangerous to our villain Constantine Demiris, who sends her to London to work for him. Meanwhile, back in Greece, all the people who know that Catherine is still alive are systematically killed, and, just as Catherine find happiness, someone is sent to kill her."

There are a lot of twists and turns and Sheldon does a good job, as he does in "Windmills of the Gods" in letting you see how innocent people can get caught up in messes created by very corrupt individuals.This is a good and easy read. :)

Sidney Sheldon does it again!
This novel continues the exciting story begun in Sheldon's "The Other Side of Midnight."In that novel, mega-rich Constantin Demiris manipulated the Greek court to have his mistress, Noelle, and her lover, Larry, executed for the murder of Larry's wife, Catherine.No body was ever found, and in fact, Catherine was alive and well, under the watchful eyes of Demiris.

"Memories of Midnight" begins as amnesiac Catherine starts remembering things...like the fact that her husband was killed for her supposed "murder."This could prove dangerous to Demiris, who sends her to London to work for him.Meanwhile, back in Greece, all the people who know that Catherine is still alive are systematically killed, and, just as Catherine find happiness, someone is sent to kill her.

This is that rare sequel that is actually better than the wonderful original novel.The plot twists will keep you turning the pages, and the ending is so unexpected and so shocking, you will be left breathless, and very glad you read "Memories of Midnight."

Kona ... Read more

Product Description
Powerful, emotional, and beautifully written, Alan Drew’s stunning first novel brings to life two unforgettable families–one Kurdish, one American–and the sacrifice and love that bind them together.

In a small town outside Istanbul, Sinan Basioglu, a devout Muslim, and his wife, Nilüfer, are preparing for their nine-year-old son’s coming-of-age ceremony. Their headstrong fifteen-year-old daughter, İrem, resents the attention her brother, Ismail, receives from their parents. For her, there was no such festive observance–only the wrapping of her head in a dark scarf and strict rules that keep her hidden away from boys and her friends. But even before the night of the celebration, İrem has started to change, to the dismay of her Kurdish father. What Sinan doesn’t know is that much of her transformation is due to her secret relationship with their neighbor, Dylan, the seventeen-year-old American son of expatriate teachers.

İrem sees Dylan as the gateway to a new life, one that will free her from the confines of conservative Islam. Yet the young man’s presence and Sinan’s growing awareness of their relationship affirms Sinan’s wish to move his family to the safety of his old village, a place where his children would be sheltered from the cosmopolitan temptations of Istanbul, and where, as the civil war in the south wanes, he hopes to raise his children in the Kurdish tradition.

But when a massive earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the Basioglu family is faced with greater challenges. Losing everything, they are forced to forage for themselves, living as refugees in their own country. And their survival becomes dependent on their American neighbors, to whom they are unnervingly indebted. As love develops between İrem and Dylan, Sinan makes a series of increasingly dangerous decisions that push him toward a betrayal that will change everyone’s lives forever.

The deep bonds among father, son, and daughter; the tension between honoring tradition and embracing personal freedom; the conflict between cultures and faiths; the regrets of age and the passions of youth–these are the timeless themes Alan Drew weaves into a brilliant fiction debut.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Issues Addressed in Gardens of Water
Some of the issues I have found addressed in Gardens of Water are:Ethnic groups have trouble accepting each others differences;American arms get sold and used in ways and places Americans have no awareness and idea about;Some Christian groups go to some countries for the purpose of converting the native people to Christianity;Some Muslims believe preserving the family name comes at a very high cost;American 'pop culture' appears fascinating to the youth of some countries;Family love is universal;Forgiveness is always difficult;Youth fall "in love;"Suicide is sometimes thought of as the only way out of a bad situation;Peoples' motives are often misunderstood;Extreme beliefs and behavior can be found in all ethnic groups.

Well written, moving, and tragic
I listened to this story as a book on tape, which I also highly recommend. I would not say that I "enjoyed" the book, because ultimately I was disturbed by its tragic storyline, as well as the larger seemingly hopeless political context. Although the book did not leave me happy, it did move me deeply. I think it is important for all Americans to have a deeper understanding of the many cultures in the Eastern side of the world, and I was glad that I felt I had a window into the Kurdish culture through this book. My partner and I discussed the book at length afterward, and the surrounding political climate. Unlike some other reviewers, I felt the characters were well developed, and the pacing good. I hope more books are written about more "exotic" cultures like this for Americans. Two thumbs up!

Masterpiece.
I love books in which the characters are deeply flawed and thus deeply loveable.The author does not judge his characters, but lets us see them beset by conflict, and make our own conclusions.Finally, there are no "conclusions," only that this is what is, and it is to be accepted.This is a tale of corruption by religious colonialism. You don't have to approve of fundamentalist religious values to sympathize with the Muslims encroached upon by outsiders who can't possibly understand them. I am a Zionist, but frankly, I was grateful to the writer for helping me understand. Now that I get it, I may be more helpful to those who want to make peace.

Seek first to understand - this remarkable story helps with that
Violent Kurdish displacement, a killer earthquake, timely American aid, and two families of two different cultures intertwined by it all.

Reading this book made me more aware of differences we never try to understand.

In the end, greed and poverty, violence and loss, and someone to blame destroy, and Christ saves, but maybe not in the way some think.

Not an easy read, but worth it, engrossing, and impossible to put down.

Brilliant, heart-felt first novel.You will love and care so much for the main characters!They are us, and they are what we do not understand, but can begin to.

Moved by story of people affected by Turkey earthquake
I read this book before the Haiti earthquake of 2010. The author was in Turkey during 1999 earthquake and wrote a fiction novel based on his experiences there. I was moved by the story of the people affected by the Turkey earthquake. The story is centered around a father and his daughter.

Now with the 2010 Haiti earthquake, this novel is worth reading to understand the life of those impacted by devastating earthquakes and loss of family, home, livelihood, but also hope as rebuilding for the future. ... Read more

Product Description
The New York State Library looms as a silent sanctuary of knowledge: a hundred-year-old labyrinth of towering bookcases, narrow aisles, and spiral staircases. But for Dr. Stephen Swain and his eight-year-old daughter, Holly, it is a place of nightmare. Because, for just one night, this historic building is to become the venue for a horrifying contest, a contest in which Swain must compete, whether he likes it or not. The rules of the challenge are simple: seven contestants will enter, but only one will leave. With his daughter in his arms, Stephen Swain is plunged into a terrifying fight for survival. The stakes are high, the odds are brutal. He can choose to run, to hide, or to fight - but if he wants to live, he needs to win. For, in this particular contest, unless you leave as victor, you do not leave at all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (75)

Hooked on Reilly
I have been a reader for decades.I love the outrageous stuff. This is first book of M. R's that I read and was the one that got me hooked.I believe it's one of if not the first book he published.Wow, what a ride! it has probably been a dozen years or more since I've read this one and I'm thinking it's probably time to pick it up again.What's funny is that the subject material is so different than most of his other work since but Matthew Reilly does it all really well.After you read this one check out his most recently finished trilogy that starts with the Seven Deadly Wonders.Your lucky,I had to wait months and months between these three books but you can read them in a row. You Will enjoy Contact.

Incredibly immature; fails to deliver
The inner sleeve of "Contest" states that it is an "action-packed extravaganza".While I won't argue this claim, I can definitively say that this was one of the most disappointing books I've read in quite some time.The characters are incredibly flat, have minimal motivation, and utilize trite dialogue to express themselves.The premise of the novel is a rehash of "Battle Royale", "Lord of the Flies", and the film version of "The Running Man", but without any of the redeeming qualities of any.

Reilly's writing is abominable, harnessing a style I expect third grade students and fan-fiction writers to use.Since he is incapable of creating tension through the use of rounded characters or intriguing dialogue, he merely relies on exclamation points and italicized words.A second novel of equally interesting material could be produced by removing the italicized sentences and placing them on paper.The graphic highlighting became so stale and repetitive that I began to skip over any lines that put it to use, and I doubt I missed anything of value.

In fact, I skimmed the last chapter of the book because Reilly's writing nearly sent me into fits of frustration and derangement.This is a reading strategy I usually reserve for political indoctrination pamphlets and articles in Playboy magazine, and have rarely used it in fiction.

With its incredibly predictable plot, completely unrealistic characters, pointless subplots, immature dialogue, trite "aliens", and horrific writing, I can fairly sum up Reilly's novel in one word:Worthless.

At the end of this book is an interview with the author, as if readers have anything to gain from learning about his style or methods of writing.What a joke.I have no doubts as to why Reilly had to self-publish this book in the beginning.

very happy
very happy with this seller. book was like brand new and was LARGE PRINT as listed,shipped and recieved very fast. book sounded so good i'm planning on reading it after my friend ibought it for is finished reading it!

Contest....great book
Matthew Reilly writes great action packed books. This is one of those books that's very hard to put down.

Outstanding first novel from Reilly
After reading this I became an instant fan of Matthew Reilly! His pace is breakneck, stories exiting and twists never disapoint! This one in particular was a lot of fun just for the fact of having an interstellar death match in the New York Library! How awesome is that? This book took me a day to complete. There is suspense and action on every page as Steven Swain and his daughter have to kill and evade an assortment of the scum of the universe. I can not wait for a movie adaptation (done right of course)of this one. Everyone I have recomended this book to has loved it. I suggest you read it as well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

AnAuthorWho Deserves to be Rediscovered
I think it's fair to say that Amis has fallen out of fashion.This book is out of print and hasn't been reviewed in years.That is a shame.Your'e missing something by not reading Amis.He was not a profound writer.You won't mistake him for Doestoyevsky or Kafka.What he was, was a sharp ,acerbic observer and a very funny one at that.Amis comes across as a writer who kept depression , even , despair at bay with a mixture of humor,detachment and alcohol.It didn't work too well in his life but it's the basis of some of funniest 20th century fiction your'e likely to read.
I suspect that most people who read Amis have a favorite novel and it's my guess that it usually is LUCKY JIM.I can understand that because LUCKY JIM is a comic masterpiece,it is one the funniest books ever written.However ,I actually prefer THE GREEN MAN.It's a subtler more mature work.The main character Maurice is actually a pretty awful person but I couldn't help laughing at his predicaments(usually self created).Amis liked genre fiction and in this novel he takes a stab at the supernatural.He does a pretty good job at creating a credibly creepy atmosphere.There really is a ghost out there.Maurice even gets to meet God!Yet the novel does not strive for profoundity or philosophical depth, to its credit.Amis is perfectly content to leave that to others.Thus he avoids the deadening pretension and ersatz seriousness of so many lesser writers.Maurices grand project is to have a threesome wth his wife and another woman and much of the novel focuses on this somewhat absurd quest that goes comically awry.
What you get here is an excellently done portrait of the way we live now that throws in a decent ghost story ,some philosophical reflection and a number of laughs.There are very few authors who can carry this off as deftly as Amis.

a delightful English comedy/horror
I really enjoyed this book. It starts out as some sort of English comedy -- a guy who owns a pub, has a drinking problem, has health problems, has a marriage problem, has a mistress problem, and has children problems, suddenly starts seeing ghosts.

Of course no one believes him, since he's probably drunk, under stress, or on medication, and it seems the more he tries to get people to believe him, the worse his predicament gets. But as he comes closer to discovering the origins of the name of his pub, The Green Man, the horror starts to take charge over comedy.

The ending is delightful, English, and quite satisfying.

The seen and the unseen
I was introduced to the Green Man by my mother. It was her recomendation that led me to read the book. When I did I was rivited.I have been trying to find the interview that speaks to it, but apparently Kingsley Amis had an encounter with a creature like the one that was dipicted in the book.What did they talk about? How offen was he visited? What does Amis think it was? When you read it I feel that you are reading about a true expierience.When the Young Man appears and time stops, who is this? What is he. Is it death? Is he a messenger? Is it God or the Devil or are God and the Devil one in the same? He gives Morris a Cross, why? "He says to Morris you will never be free of me." Is it an expresion of the free will that we have?Morris asks the young man about making life less hard on people, and he says" No prospect of that." We can choose to do good or evil.We are responsible for the choises that we make.We are responsable for aquiring the knowlage of the tree that we were forbiden to eat from.God said when we did eat of the tree of knowlage "you will be as I am" Or is it because we see the experience through Morris's eyes and that we experience his inability to decern due to his prolonged relationship with the bottle.I can tell you from my own expirience with ghosts that their is lifeafter death and that you must be careful, spirits can be good or bad. The novel is superbley written and it is a book that I will read my entire life. I think it is a book that everyone should read. A story of exporation, understanding,true fear, and redemtion.

Interesting mix of horror and satire
Kingsley Amis's 'The Green Man' is an interesting mix of horror and satire. Maurice Allington is the alcoholic owner of The Green Man Inn, whose main preoccupation is trying to convince his wife and mistress to have a menage a trois. The Green Man Inn dates back several centuries and is reputed to be haunted, although Maurice himself had never seen anything in his years as owner, until one night he sees a mysterious red headed woman on his stair. This is followed by the sudden death of his father who appeared to have seen something before dying of a stroke. Other strange occurrences follow, but his doctor and family think they are hallucinations brought on by stress and excessive drinking. Unfortunately the story loses a lot of its momentum when God (appearing as a well dressed young man) pays a visit. The scene is clever and funny, but Amis sacrifices all the suspenseful buildup to write a clever piece of satire. More successful is the character of the agnostic local Anglican priest, although I didn't think Amis explored all the possibilities inherent in that character given the nature of the story. Still a very enjoyable read, just keep in mind it's not a straight horror story.

Humor rather than terror was the driving theme of this novel.
An extremely clever well written novel of suspense, The Green Man, is also full of social satire and even some existential metaphysical speculation. The Green Man appears in the ancient religions of the British isles, especially around Druid nature worship, May Day, and the character of Jack of the Greens. Amis takes the usual image of the Green Man, a human character composed of leaves, vines, flowers, twigs. However Amis has this creature become a homicidal monster under the influence of evil, a nice twist on the theme.

I am not sure whether I would call the book a book about terror since only once does the presence of the terrifying conglomeration of twigs and leaves, the Green Man, become threatening. Rather, the narrative follows two parallel suspenseful paths. In one narrative path, Maurice, the owner of a country inn, restaurant, and pub is trying to seduce his neighbor's wife and convince her to engage in a three-way sexual encounter while at the same time trying to convince his young second wife, Joyce, to engage in this activity. His marrage to a hard working, devoted, attractive, adoring wife is falling apart due to Maurice's lack of attention and involvement.

In the other narrative path, first Maurice's father and then Maurice begin to see apparitions of the evil ghost Dr. Thomas Underhill, or the ghost of Underhill's poor murdered red-haired wife, or hears the breaking twigs and branches as the Green Man stalks the inn looking for unlocked doors. Both of these themes are woven skillfully together to ensure the book is a complete page-turner. We ask ourselves, does Maurice get both women into bed? We also ask, does Maurice figure out the nature of the ghosts that are appearing to him?

Amis keeps the reader on our toes since Maurice runs around having sex, taking pills, drinking far too much liquor, investigating the ghosts in his Inn, trying to bury his recently deceased father, and run a customer-oriented service-business. To this add his neglected bored teenaged daughter with whom Maurice never communicates in a genuine manner.Thus we are not sure as to how much of the visions of ghosts are real and how much is produced by the combination of pills and alcohol.

We are treated to a clever conversation between Maurice and the Devil on the nature of existence and death, both of which the Devil can only offer sarcastic and pointed observations but few insights. Amis dresses the Devil in the latest grays and blacks, sounding much more like a runway model than the embodiment of evil. We are also treated to Maurice's encounters with an agnostic know-it-all Church of England priest.Amis' descriptions of this priest are almost are priceless as Jane Austen's insightful descriptions of Reverend Collins in Pride and Prejudice, where the priest is a very foolish character. However a priest can perform exorcism, whether he believes in it or not, and a exorcism is eventually needed in this drama.

While having sex in the woods, drinking excessively all day, and keeping customers happy in the Inn, Maurice tries to study and track down the secrets around Dr. Thomas Underhill. Solving this mystery gets increasingly dangerous and suspenseful. Despite the alcoholism, Maurice is actually an extremely clever man, which is certainly lucky for him when he tries to outwit the ghost of Dr. Underhill, an apparition that we come to see as increasingly evil and dangerous with each page.

This book is highly recommended. It is well crafted and thoughtful and fully entertaining. The suspense is balanced with off-beat witty sarcastic humor which at times made me laugh out loud. I found the humor rather than the terror was the driving force behind the novel, which is a good attribute.

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Product Description
Funny and warm hearted - another audio hit from the creators of The Gruffalo now available on CD George wished he wasn't the scruffiest giant in town. So when he sees a new shop selling giant-sized clothes, he decides it's time for a new look: smart trousers, smart shirt, stripy tie, shiny shoes. Now he's the smartest giant in town ...until he bumps into some animals who desperately need his help - and his clothes! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Hilarious and purposeful
This is a fun book that early elementary students can enjoy on many levels.As a story,it is funny and engaging and develops in a predictable yet entertaining way.The scruffiest giant in town decides to change his image when a new clothing store opens up in town- a town inhabited by giants, humans, animals, and even an elf or two.In an instant, he transforms from the scruffiest to the spiffiest giant in town, and proudly heads home, walking tall.On his way home, however, he encounters several animals who are in trouble and without even thinking twice, the giant gives each animal an article of his new clothing in order to solve their problems.After each encounter, the giant walks off, singing a happy song that my students usually end up singing the rest of the day.Needless to say, the anticipation over when the giant ends up in his underwear and how the situation is going to be resolved brings much excitement and many giggles.
The illustrations are fun and colorful, and the students love to revisit the book and look at how the animals, people, and elves interact and behave in this unusual town.The giant is an excellent role model for all, and the appreciative response the animals give to the giant reinforces the concept of 'thanks' and 'being grateful'.This is an all around excellent read that rewards children in many ways during repeated readings.

Fun book with great story. Our daughter's favorite!
This book has a great rhythm and fun storyline. It is simple and repetitious. Would strongly recommend.

children's book
At the rate I'm going, i'll soon have all the julia donaldson books for my grandchildren--we love them.

Another great Donaldson book!
You can not go wrong with Julia Donaldson's books they are all so original and fun. This one is really sweet and would be enjoyed by a range of ages!

David Beckham's favorite book for his children
We watched Elmo and David Beckham clip on Sesami Street. He stated that this is his favorite book to read for his children. It's funny and clever way to teach children to be giving and kind to others. Our child really likes it and asks to read every night. Thanks to David's suggestion. ... Read more

Product Description
Charlie Cook is reading a book about a pirate captain, who is reading a book about Goldilocks, who is reading about a knight, who is reading about a frog ...From kings and queens to aliens and ghosts, there's something for everyone in Charlie's amazing book! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

I love this, it's just a lovely bit of story-in-a-story surrealism
Before you start reading, take a glance at the opening spread. You see a boy's bookshelf, with titles such as "Fairy Tales From a Forgotten Island" and "Joust Joking!".

You're about to read from each of these books. In order.

See, Charlie sat down to read his faaaaaavorite book, about a pirate. And the pirate in his story starts reading a book about the three bears... who notice that Goldilocks stole their favorite storybook... in which a knight reads from his favorite joke book... and on it goes until it comes full circle with the ghost in the scary stories book settling down to read HER favorite book about a boy called Charlie.

Every time you see a new book the font changes, you can see the dog-earred pages, there are little appropriate in-jokes - it's really very well done. It's a great concept, I think, and it's fun and fast to read.

Very cute story
This is a short story - it takes less than 5 minutes to read.Each page introduces you to another story so the book contains many fun and creative illustrations.My three year old son loves the book.

Very cute story and pictures
My daughter is 2.5 and she asks for this book all of the time.The pictures and the story are interesting.More interesting for me even than the usual board book.

Disappointed
Highly recommend The Guffalo and Room on a Broom as stronger picks from this author.Snail on a Tail comes in second place.Low recommendation for The Gaffulo's Child. My child (4 yr old) found Charlies Cook's Favorite Book hard to follow, as did I. I ordered it because of our success with the above mentioned books. We read this one once and it has remained on the shelf since.

Excellent book
Another great book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.The series is great and this one is fun to read together with lovely pictures. ... Read more

Product Description
The graded readers in this series aim to provide learners of English with a pleasurable reading experience. The series, which should appeal to a wide age range, exposes students to a variety of styles and kinds of English and the books contain puzzles and exercises based on the text. The grading system is based on lexical controls, structural controls and guidelines on sentence length and complexity. Books in Level 5 have a vocabulary of 2000 words. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

Great Read:
I enjoyed this book very much. Having already seen the film made it even better. Highly recommend this book.

Simply fantastic
Alastair MacLean novels were what I grew up with, along with a few other novelists.But MacLean was my favourite.There are many, many stories he wrote that I can give 5 stars to, but only amongst his first 15 or so novels.Thereafter he began to wither in his originality and inspiration, much as down to his alcoholism as his aging.

Where Eagles Dare is one of those 5-star books.The film is just as good (an unusual feature as Hollywood usually ruins a good book).I still have my entire collection of MacLeans, bought in those long lost days of the 1970s.A good war story always grabbed my attention and this one is no different.A tension filled tale of British commandos and one American 'guest' parachute deep into the Alps to rescue an American prisoner of the gestapo.But this isn't what its really about - there is a hidden agenda, and the redoubtable Major Smith has to contend with a murderer within his own ranks as well as trying to pull off the rescue.

The film is just as enjoyable, and has one of my all-time fave lines in it.When Smith explains to Mary Ellison, one of his squad, that she has to collaborate alongside a German girl who is wearing a low-cut top, showing her charms, he says :"Heidi is one of our top agents in Germany, and....... what a disguise!"

The action never lets up (although I have an issue with the schmeisser MP38s that never seem to run out of bullets).Whenever someone says "Broadsword calling Danny Boy" I know they're referring to the scene where Smith is trying to contact base in England while the Germans are being kept at bay in the passageway by Schaeffer (the American).The corridor walls are plastered with bullet holes and all hell is breaking loose.

A great tale, a great film.

Disappointing work from a good writer
It's inexcusable for this book to be as bad as it is, when the author is clearly a very able writer, and capable of coming up with some lovely twists. It showed promise; but some of the things MacLean asks the reader to accept just stretch credulity too far.The plot has holes, the good guys are crammed full of contrived and tedious bravado, and, most infuriating of all to me, the hero continually endangers his soldiers and his mission through an utterly inexplicable refusal to kill nazis.I really hope the movie is better (I've yet to see it).

It's not without its charms.You may be able to enjoy the way the hero cleverly improvises his way out of one predicament after another, if you can make yourself forget that many of the predicaments are directly caused by his own astonishingly stupid decisions.You may find it possible to get your money's worth out of this book by just numbing yourself to the silliness, picturing Clint Eastwood, and accepting it as a quick-read thriller that will make - I promise - absolutely no demands on your intelligence.But I couldn't do it.Not recommended.

One of my favorite MacLean novels
This is a classic MacLean novel. Lots of action, lots of plot twists, set in WW2, with a girl named Mary.

If you have seen the Clint Eastwood movie, prepare to be surprised. The movie was a terrible translation of the book, even though MacLean was the scriptwriter. (Or maybe the book was an improved version of the movie -- I'm not sure which was written first.) In particular, the Eastwood character is a cold-blooded killer, while in the book he's a happy-go-lucky guy with a big heart and a crush on a helpful barmaid.

As with all MacLean books, the point of view character lies to the reader about his real motivation and hides crucial information until the very end of the novel. This makes the novel something like a cross between an action book and a mystery.

The classic image from the novel is the fight that takes place on the top of a cable car in the icy Alpine winter. But the big surprise is that, by the end, this British commando team has been inserted deep into Germany and yet they don't kill a single German soldier in the entire book. Very different than some other action novels (including some by MacLean) where the body count piles up quickly and the protagonist has a very itchy trigger finger.

Not Free SF Reader
An important Allied general with knowledge of upcoming large-scale war theatre plans is captured.A seat of the pants mission is put together to try and get him back.Failing that, to kill him.

This is a joint American-British spook operation, so those doing the dirty work find out that all is not as it seems.


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Product Description
One of Sidney Sheldon's most popular and bestselling titles, repackaged and reissued for a new generation of fans.A gripping, glamorous novel of scorching sensuality and heart-stopping evil.A beautiful French actress whose craving for passion and vengeance takes her from the gutters of Paris to the bedroom of a powerful billionaire; a dynamic Greek tycoon who never forgets an insult, never forgives an injury; and a handsome war hero lured from his wife by another woman.From Paris to Washington, Hollywood to the islands of Greece, The Other Side of Midnight is the story of four star-crossed lives enmeshed in a deadly ritual of passion, intrigue and corruption. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (58)

Sidney Sheldon's best
Don't start reading this book unless you have enough time to finish it because there's no way that you can put it down once you start it. It has everything you could want in a story, comedy, sex, deceit, revenge, and a story that will stay with you throughout theyears. I have all of Sidney Sheldon's books, and have re-read them throughout the years. But having loaned this one out and never getting it back, I was glad that I could still get a copy on Amazon.

EXCELLENT! My First Sheldon Book
This is my first Sheldon book and I have already purchased four other Sheldon titles. For years I always thought Sheldon was synonymous with 'girlie' love stories until a friend recommended I read Other Side of Midnight. Boy, was I wrong. Too bad it took me 25 years to find out but great that I now know. This particular book has instantly shot up to my all time favorite list. And, gauging from other reviewers comments I won't be disappointed with his other books either.

The Other Side of Midnight
This book arrived ahead of schedule and in excellent condition.It was exactly as advertised and is a nice addition to my library.Great purchase!

The Other Side of Midnight
Have not read this book yet.Presently have collected all of the Sidney Sheldon hardback books but one.All so far have been great reading.

First Sidney Sheldon novel I ever read...
Wien it originally came out, this novel got me hooked on the genre...the one I consider "guilty pleasure reading". Little did I know that earlier in his career he wrote the screeplays for two of my movie favorites and he was behind several great 1960's TV shows. Although the name is the same on all different media, I never made the connection until later.A very talented teller of stories, indeed! Great plot lines with some deft twists that really move along, I have to be sure to leave plenty of time because I generally read 'em in one sitting. ... Read more

Product Description
Package: 10 CDs Audiobook 11 Hr 38 Min The Pure in Heart is the second of Susan Hill's novels set in the English Cathedral town of Lafferton and featuring the enigmatic policeman, Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler. A little boy is kidnapped as he stands with his satchel at the gate of his home, waiting for his lift to school. An ex-con finds it impossible to stay straight. A severely handicapped young woman dies in the night - has someone who loves her helped her out of this world? Once again, Susan Hill brilliantly creates a community, with detail so sharp and convincing that readers feel that these people are their neighbors. And that terror and evil are always in their midst... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Another winner
With all due respect to the readers opinions, it is stunning to me how childishly people cling to the formula. So, this is not your regular run of the mill British mystery. Everything is not neatly wrapped up with a pink ribbon.The real strenght of this brilliant book is amazingly etched characters and their complex relatioships.I will gladly purchase any book Susan Hill writes in this series.

Deep, Complex, True
This second book in the series is even better than the first. It should not be read as a standalone but only after her first Serrailler mystery:Various Haunts of Men.

It is true there is little resolution in this book, but author Hill describes and illuminates life's messiness with clarity and sympathy. There are no characters here with charmed lives and no lives without pain.

Simon Serrailler is in mourning, fixated on what might have been, when he is called upon to investigate a missing child.In the meantime, Dr. Cat and her husband, Serrailler's parents, his sister Martha and his co-workers are all spun in differing and sometimes surprising directions in Hill's plot.

Although the plot is well done and believable, Hill seems more interested in difficulties, small triumphs and day-to-day sorrows of life. How do we define good?What is evil?What do we do to get by in this very imperfect world? Her characters some with strong religious beliefs, some without, explore these issues and allow the reader to explore with them.

There are no cardboard characters, no paint-by-number plots, no easy solutions.Readers who want a thought-provoking read and complex characters along with their dose of mystery will be well-satisfied with this mystery series.

"Suffer the little children"
The theme of this second installment in Hill's Simon Serrailer series is the suffering of children and the families who love them. Simon, the black-sheep policeman and artist in a family of doctors, is called back from vacation to the bedside of his profoundly disabled, seriously ill sister. Shortly thereafter, a local schoolboy is kidnapped when his mother, hurrying to work, leaves him waiting on the front step for his ride to school.

This book is more - and less - than a formulaic mystery or police procedural. The characters, with their anguish, terror, and guilt, are far more vivid and memorable than the process of the police investigation.It leaves several important issues unresolved, presumably to be handled in the next book, due out this Spring.

As a stand-alone book, Pure of Heart is best read for the characters and the events, rather than the solution of the mysteries. However, as part of a saga of a fascinating family, it carries the reader forward. Simon is no Dalgleish, but is an interesting combination of sensitive artist and complete jerk.I look forward to the next installment in the series.

The Pure In Heart
This is an interesting mystery regarding the kidnaping of a small boy.The mystery has several twists and turns as well as a number of side stories that don't seem to connect to the mystery at all.It actually seems to involve more the private life of the primary detective and his family than it does the mystery at hand.The story begins with Simon Serrailler, the primary detective, on holiday in Venice and he receives a call from his father that his sister is ill and probably dying.He hurries home and his sister recovers - only to die sometime later.But the story of his sister has nothing to do with the disappearance of the boy and could be considered a distraction - or should the kidnaped child be considered the distraction?At one point, I seriously thought the child had been kidnaped to deflect the attention of the police from another matter.The book is well-written but I don't think it should be classified as a mystery but as general fiction.

Susan Hill
Susan Hill is another one of those British mystery writers that makes you want to sit up all night reading.Highly recommended. ... Read more