Book Description
Partners
He had wanted Laurel Armand for years -- though professionally she was his nemesis. But once the two rival reporters headed down to steamy New Orleans to investigate a murder, Matt Bates was determined to make his lovely adversary his willing partner in passion.
The Art Of Deception
Supposedly he had come to her father's estate looking for respite. But was handsome Adam Haines the man he pretended to be? Or was Kirby Fairchild in danger of falling hard for a stranger who was even more practiced in the art of deception than she was?
Night Moves
The small town offered peace to the widowed Maggie Fitzgerald. But when sexy Cliff Delaney unearthed a skeleton in her backyard, she found herself playing detective with him -- and wondering what was possible in the heat of the night . . . in the heat of passion.
Customer Reviews:
Mysterious.......2007-05-26
Nora Roberts will paint a picture that is easy to see & you feel you have made new friends.
Another of Her Best Works!.......2004-09-20
I am an avid reader of Ms. Roberts, and enjoy most everything I read. I am not too fond of mysteries or books which are suspenseful. This triple-play is among her very best!
Each story is better than the last; I have trouble putting the book down. Even if this is your first Nora Roberts work, you will be glad you purchased this book and will come back for more.
More Nora Roberts classics........2004-04-24
Nora roberts is a prolific writer of romance,mystery/suspense novels- many o f her earlier works are being re-released into brand new collections. Suspicious is one of these collections--it contains 3 of her earlier novels: Partners, Art of Deception and Night Moves.
1. In partners, fellow reports Laurel and Matt are working together (reluctantly) to solve a high society murder. Laurel has famiy ties to the victim's family and was once infatuated with the prime suspect. Matt tries to be objective, but his feelings for Laurel color his judgement. Laurel and Matt try to work thru their feelings for each other as well as solve the mystery in time to prevent other murders.
2. In art of Deception, Painter Adam has come to stay with sculptor Kirby and her eccentric father. But Adam has not come only as a friend, he has come to investigate forged art pieces. Art of Deception shows Nora Robert's great flare for characterization- Kirby is unique and eccentric with a refreshing outlook in life. Her fathers, servants and even pets, are equally fascinating and amusing. Adam, like the readers, becomes entranced with them and their world, but his secrets may come between him and Kirby. The identity of the villain is surprising.
3. Night Moves is about composer, Maggie who has moved into the wilderness. She hires landscaper Cliff and they soon find an old skeleton in her property. They also find out long buried secrets that are decades old. Despite this, maggie finds herself in danger.
All 3 novels are romantic mysteries with each couple vastly different from the other. Even early on, Nora Roberts shows great promise as she effectively combines romance, mystery, suspense and humor. For Nora Roberts fans, Suspicious is one of her better collections.
#1 author world-wide for a very good reason!.......2004-03-18
"Suspicious," by world-famous Nora Roberts is a wonderful read that had me swiftly turning the pages of this to-die-for book! Buy it and see for yourself what makes this lady #1 world-wide!
SUSPICIOUS.......2004-03-14
This book lacked depth. When you read it you will see. It's not one of Nora's better stories.
Book Description
As elected coroners were replaced by medical examiners with scientific training, the American public became fascinated with their work. From the grisly investigations showcased on highly rated television shows like CSI to the bestselling mysteries that revolve around forensic science, medical examiners have never been so visible—or compelling. They, and they alone, solve the riddle of suspicious death and the existential questions that come with it. Why did someone die? Could it have been prevented? Should someone be held accountable? What are the implications of ruling a death a suicide, a homicide, or an accident? Can medical examiners unmask the perfect crime?
Postmortem goes deep inside the world of medical examiners to uncover the intricate web of social, legal, and moral issues in which they operate. Stefan Timmermans spent years in a medical examiner’s office following cases, interviewing examiners, and watching autopsies. While he relates fascinating cases here, he is also more broadly interested in the cultural authority and responsibilities that come with being a medical examiner. How medical examiners speak to the living on behalf of the dead is Timmermans’s subject, revealed here in the day-to-day lives of the examiners themselves.
“Postmortem is a wake-up call to forensic pathology. . . .This book should be viewed as provocative, rather than threatening, and should be a stimulus for important discussions and action by the forensic pathology community.”—Journal of the American Medical Association
Customer Reviews:
Postmortem: How Medical Examiners Explain Suspicious Deaths (Fieldwork, Encounters and Discoveries).......2007-04-08
Not a fun read...qusi scientific with enough detail to satisfy anybody shor of a fourth year med student...lots of details such as what is the difference between a medical Examiner and a Coroner...a walk through of a autopsy of an unkown death and how the ME made critical decision as to how the person died.
The author then goes into spacific areas of interest such as suicide...infant deaths...murder and the organ tissue trade.
A criticism of this book to some might be that the author uses fictious names, places and ME's in telling his stories. Although he explain this in the preface and provides extensive notes and source material this may bother the purists among us, I didn't find it to be a problem.
Superb and fascinating.......2007-03-17
This is a superb book that examines the profession of medical examiners from a sociological perspective. The author spent several years observing the practices and methods of one (anonymous) urban medical examiner's office close-up, standing in at autopsies and conducting many interviews with all levels of staff.
The book looks at several topics in detail: coronary artery disease; shaken baby syndrome in the "Nanny Trial"; suicide; and organ and tissue donation. (I'm probably leaving something out here.)
The introduction is a tad jargony if you are not a sociologist or academic, but very interesting nonetheless. The author explains the difference between medical examiners (physicians) and coroners, who do not need any medical experience, are usually elected, and conduct public inquests. Much of the book looks at differences between various professions and explains why they may be competing with each other for authority and professional recognition. For example, forensic pathologists do not have the same goals as public health officials, as seen in the cases of coronary artery disease and suicide. Pathologists (looking at dead bodies) may come in conflict with clinicians (looking at the live patient), as seen in the case of shaken baby syndrome at criminal trials. The goals of pathologists are often at odds with those of organ and tissue donation advocates; the pathologist may need to do an exceptionally thorough autopsy in the case of a suspicious death or a homicide, while the organ donor advocate may insist that a patient in need of a liver should ethically take priority over the non-existent needs of a dead body.
The endnotes and bibliography are extensive and well worth reading.
A close-up look into just how medical examiners work.......2006-08-06
Postmortem: How Medical Examiners Explain Suspicious Deaths offers what few competitors can: a close-up look into just how medical examiners work. The author spent three years shadowing examiners to understand how they probe questionable deaths, and Postmortem covers not just the physical but the legal, social and moral issues faced by the industry. From issues of objectivity in the face of subjective evidence to influences in headline cases, Postmortem is a title not just for the general public, but especially for the college- level medical collection.
Book Description
A learned and uniquely constructive book that gently urges "suspicious" Christians to reclaim the patristic roots of their faith. Written to help Protestant Christians recognize the early church fathers as an essential part of their faith, this book is addressed primarily to the evangelical, independent, and free church communities, who remain largely suspicious of church history and the relationship between Scripture and tradition. D. H. Williams clearly explains why every branch of today's church owes its heritage to the doctrinal foundation laid by postapostolic Christianity. Based on solid historical scholarship, this volume shows that embracing the "catholic" roots of the faith will not lead to the loss of Protestant distinctiveness but is essential for preserving the Christian vision in our rapidly changing world.
Customer Reviews:
I did not like this book, and cannot recommend it.......2007-07-04
I grew up in a deeply religious family, fascinated to listen to elders who were pastors and committed lay-people - men and women for whom, it seemed, the Fundamentals were compiled only last year, D.L. Moody led his crusades the year before, and the Protestant Reformation was easily within living memory. However, I grew up and these dear saints went on to their eternal reward. I moved to a new area, and when I called churches and asked them what denomination they were affiliated with, I was shocked to be told by the church secretary that he or she had no idea, but would look into it. Now, the "Seeker-Friendly" church movement has swamped the area and the great hymns were thrown on the trash-heap, as were the deep theological sermons that fed my soul. I actually sat in a famous evangelical church in Chicago and heared the pastor pray, "may our traditions not be an obstacle to someone coming to the Lord." The traditions that I loved were no longer something to be embraced and trumpeted, but an obstacle to be despised and overcome.
Well, with this radical change in the evangelical churches moving forward, a reaction is already building. Some people reject the new business and marketing-model church, and are seeking a church with deeper roots in the history of the Christian Church at large. This book, written by Daniel H. Williams, Professor of Religion in Patristics and Historical Theology in the Department of Religion of Baylor University, is part of that reaction.
Herein, Professor Williams argues that evangelicalism is in a state of theological and practical chaos that leaves it open to heresy and other dangers. He argues that, to save themselves from themselves, evangelicals must reject the Protestant Reformers rejection of Church Tradition, and embrace the teachings of the Early Church Fathers, who had guided and ordered the Christian Church during the first five centuries of its existence.
Prof. Williams appears to me to be part of the new "Postmodern" wing of the Christian Church, which tries to embrace the entirety of Church history, but also carries with it Postmodernism's rejection of ultimate truth. For example, his history of the authoring of the books of the Bible takes an entirely mechanistic view, not mentioning the Bible's claim for itself that it was, "given by inspiration of God." And most interesting, on page 74 he state that, "[Tertullian] knew that anyone could get the Bible to say anything..." As such, it appears that it is not profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, nor instruction in righteousness.
After that, I found the Professor's arguments rather muddy and hard to follow. He took several chapters to explain who the Church Fathers were, and how their teachings were brought into disrepute by the Roman Catholic Church's fraudulent "Donation of Constantine." But, I found the strands of his argument supporting the Fathers to be rather hard to follow. For example, the Inquisition was justified by the writings of St. Augustine - does he support that part of the Tradition or not, and if not then upon what basis does he reject it? Such questions were not addressed in this book.
Now, I am a life-long evangelical, with ties to the Baptist, Free-Church and Anabaptist churches, so I consider myself squarely in the group to whom Prof. Williams is talking. So, what did I think of the book? Overall, I found the Professor's arguments interesting, but not convincing. The book is too muddy and unpersuasive, and there is no passion in it - God himself does not put in a major appearance until page 217 (out of 219) where he says, "The church's Tradition and the traditioning process is indeed the work of God in the world."
In the early nineteenth century, the Anglican Church experienced the Oxford Movement, which sought to return "High Church" traditions to the Anglican Church. The Movement ended when its leaders rejected Anglicanism and converted to Roman Catholicism. Is Postmodern Christianity a new Oxford Movement? Frank Schaeffer, the son of the evangelican theologian and philosopher Francis Schaeffer, has converted to the Greek Orthodox Church, and others have converted to Roman Catholicism or Anglicanism. Only time will tell.
There is no doubt that evangelicalism is in crisis, but it is still not clear which way it will go, and this book is just not a good blueprint for a path out. I did not like this book, and cannot recommend it.
An Essential Positive Step in the Right Direction.......2006-02-19
Very Briefly, D. H. Williams has written a book that should be read by every Protestant. A Catholic friend once said to me that the fragmentation of Protestantism will eventually lead to there being one church for every Protestant. Sadly with the advent of George Barna's "Revolution" this sad prophecy seems to be well on its way to coming to pass. To compound this sad developement, some of today's most influential Protestant pastors and leaders are flat-out Heretics by the standards of catholic, orthodox early church creeds. We have T.D. Jakes who denies the trinity. We have Brian Mclaren who denies hell and the biblical prosciption against homosexuality. But who is there among us to declare that these teachers are wrong? Where there is no defined orthodoxy, there is no heresy. For anyone who believes in the reality of One Holy Apostolic Catholic Church, yet finds themselves swimming in the mucky chaos that is evangelicalism and yet desires to gain some clarity and objectivity, this book is an essential read.
A Challenge to the Evangelical Mind .......2005-11-14
The troubled state of Evangelical worship and doctrine has elicited different solutions from those within its boundaries. Some have called for a repudiation of the individualism so prevalent in the Evangelical mainstream and a return to the higher view of the Church endorsed by the early Protestant Reformers. Others, concluding the principles behind the Protestant experiment have been the cause of the problem, have cast their lots with Rome, Constantinople, and Canterbury. Still another view, championed by Thomas Oden and D. H. Williams, calls for retaining the many strengths of the Evangelical movement and adding to it the riches of the faith of the early Church.
In Retrieving the Tradition and Renewing Evangelicalism, Williams puts forth an analysis of the current state of affairs in Evangelicalism and their historical roots. He then proposes a program for a new Evangelicalism by retaining the current structures but supplementing them with a sense of history and received faith and tradition so missing from the current Evangelical scene. Only by maintaining contact with the Christians of the past, Williams contends, can Evangelicals be truly prepared to counter doctrinal errors and questionable practices within the Church.
Williams' historical analysis makes a number of insightful points as to how the Churches founded by the early Reformers gradually turned their backs on the past. For example, Williams contends there was initially a far greater respect of the Tradition of the Church among Protestants until the wide use within Roman Catholicism of the Donation of Constantine - now known to be a forgery - to bolster papal claims. It was in this period that the Emperor Constantine was demonized by many Protestant apologists. Thus because Roman apologists convinced early Protestants of something that never actually happened, Protestants increasingly viewed the post-Constantinian Church as the source of apostasy. Williams forcefully points out the folly of this characterization - the most important doctrines of the Christian Faith received their most powerful expression and defense from the Ecumenical Councils and Church Fathers of that period. Additionally, there was no disconnect of doctrine and practice with what was believed prior to Constantine. It is this disengagement from the history of the Church that is the source of many current woes in modern Evangelical Protestantism and leads some to invent their own histories (i.e., the ahistoric silliness of such beliefs as Baptist Successionism and the restorationist sects).
However, a question one must pose to Williams is if the Evangelical mainstream were to adopt the ideas suggested here, would they cease to be Evangelicals and become something else? That is, does the proposed solution mean to leave Evangelicalism as has been known and practiced and move on to another path. If ahistoricial reasoning is as ingrained into the Evangelical Protestant psyche as Williams suggests, then it follows that a large part of the Evangelical house has been built upon sand. Reforms of the existing system, however good the intentions, cannot overcome the erroneous assumptions at its foundation. A true correction would mean the creation of something new or the return to something old.
However this may play out for Evangelicalism (and Williams himself hints at the fact that many Evangelicals glory in their lack of historical understanding), Retrieving the Tradition & Renewing Evangelicalism has, along with many other recent works by concerned Protestants, sounded the alarm and called for a reappraisal of their own beliefs and practices in light of the early Church. D. H. Williams has provided a major work that rightly deserves to be considered the most important "in-house" challenges to Evangelicals. It remains a question as to whether Evangelicals will bother to answer the challenge.
Fascinating Book, Flawed Concept.......2005-09-15
This book is a fascinating read, and I give it high marks for that; but it's not or everyone. If complex theological questions bore you, you won't make it through the first chapter.
The book aims to refute the prevalent evangelical notion that Church tradition is necessarily at odds with the principle of sola scriptura. Williams makes his point effectively by taking aim at several common misconceptions about Church history:
* He shows that the Church did not fall some time after the New Testament era, only to be restored in the Reformation.
* He shows that the ecumenical creeds developed out of the traditions of local churches, rather than being imposed by a state-sponsored top-down hierarchy.
* He shows that early Christian writers appealed to scripture as the final authority, and that the reformers of the sixteenth century appealed to early Christian writers (i.e., to Church tradition) to defend their interpretations of scripture.
If the historical data Williams cites is accurate, then he has made a compelling case for the place of tradition not as a second source of truth alongside scripture, but as a context which informs us in our interpretation of scripture and our understanding of our Christian faith. However, his concluding remarks speak of a higher goal, and in attaining that goal his book misses the mark.
Williams is rightly distressed by the theological chaos which has overtaken evangelical Christianity. He asserts that the solution to this mess is for Christians to once again take tradition seriously as a context in which to interpret scripture. Only by rejecting the idea of personal interpretation, which makes every Christian a little Pope, and appealing instead to the traditions of the Church, can we hope to achieve doctrinal stability again.
When I read this, the first question I asked myself was, How do we draw the line between the true traditions of the early Church and the erroneous traditions of medieval Roman Catholicism? He anticipated this question, and states that the line is drawn where tradition began to be based on ecclesiastical authority instead of scriptural authority.
In theory this sounds like good criteria, but on closer examination I find it to be faulty. Many false traditions have claimed scriptural authority, such as the Mormon appeal to John 10:16. Likewise, many true traditions have claimed ecclesiastical authority, such as the Catholic Church in their correct stance on many, many issues.
One could argue that the Mormon appeal to scripture is corrupted by their aberrations; and that many Catholic traditions remain informed by scripture despite their ecclesiastical views. But even if that is enough to refute the first objection, there is still another.
If we accept the principle of tradition while rejecting Catholic ecclesiology, there is no particular reason to believe this would be effective in resolving the theological chaos of evangelicalism. If the greater authority of scripture cannot be interpreted accurately and consistently without tradition, then how can the lesser authority of tradition be interpreted accurately and consistently? Perhaps we will build tradition upon tradition ad nauseam until one day we compound theological chaos with traditional chaos.
The Catholic Church answers this problem by vesting its authority in the individual person of the Pope, whom it considers to be Christ's representative on Earth. The scripture-tradition model requires such a unifying element. That is the appeal of Catholicism, and its absence is the failure of Williams' book. I am not claiming that the Pope is the answer (I don't believe that he is), but tradition itself cannot fill this unifying role as Williams hopes.
Don't be afraid of the T word.......2004-03-25
As a Baptist teaching patristics and historical theology at Loyola University of Chicago, D. H. Williams is well positioned to write this book. He knows from the inside the suspicion (indeed, hostility) of many in the "Free Church" toward anything labeled tradition. Worried that the market-oriented approach to estab-lishing "Bible-based" churches will result in an increasingly sectarian model of the Church, he aims to show that only by taking on board the Church's Tradition (the common Christian tradition, as opposed to the traditions of various Christian groups) can evangelicals preserve a definitive theological center.
Williams claims that, despite their mistrust of the formal language of creeds, all the essential elements of evangelical theology are dependent on the Tradition enshrined in the Nicene or Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, rather than simply being drawn from the Bible (37). He shows that the earliest Church was guided by tradition expressed in the formulation of the Gospel, the messianic exegesis of the Old Testament, the survival of ancient confessional and hymnic materials in the New Testament, and the formation of the Christian canon itself. He makes the case that the efforts of Tertullian and Irenaeus to define the norms of the apostolic Rule of Faith were made necessary by claims and counterclaims of Gnostics, Marcionites, and others that the Bible supported their competing versions of truth. He shows that the need for catechetical instruction required the churches to distill the essentials of the faith into formulaic constructs. His delicate task here is to show that the various summaries of the Rule of Faith were all intended as condensations of the apostolic Tradition existing alongside, but not displacing, scripture.
Next he tackles the notion, widespread among Free Church evangelicals, that the "pristine" Church of the New Testament period fell into corruption shortly thereafter, particularly as it accommodated itself to the empire during Constantine's rule. He sharply critiques examples of Free Church historiography that attempt to trace out a pure line of apostolic Christianity (represented by the Poor of Lyons, the Albigensians, Waldensians, Hus, Wycliffe, and others) preserved against the slide of the Church into the apostasy of papal absolutism.
Williams faces his most difficult task in chapter 5, where he devotes forty pages to responding to what he identifies as four theses implicit in the evangelical rejection of the ecumenical councils and creeds. In sum, this rejection is based on the misunderstanding that: (1) bishops of the late patristic period were tools of imperial and papal power rather than shepherds of the people; (2) the Nicene and post-Nicene creeds were political decisions that were meant to displace local church confessions; (3) the universal creeds dethroned scripture from its uniquely authoritative position. Williams maintains that during the post-Constantinian period the Church worked out definitive theological positions slowly, providentially, and, insofar as possible, consensually. Moreover, Constantine is not re-sponsible for the conception and wording of the Nicene Creed, which largely incorporated formulas in use in churches prior to 325 (except for the phrases "true God from true God, "from the substance of the Father," and "of same substance of the Father" [homoousios]).
The author then turns to the magisterial reformers to show that, however much they protested against the abuses of the pope, conciliar authorities, and clergy, Luther and Calvin both valued true catholicity and generally approved the doctrinal definitions of the first four general councils. Although Williams stops short of claiming that these same councils ought to define the faith for all believers, he does say that, "The Tradition as found in the ancient confessions, the rule of faith, and the doctrinal theology of the Fathers provides truth about God. . . . These sources point us beyond ourselves and ask us to peer out from the confines of the Protestant 'ghettos' we have created into the main street of catholic Christianity" (217).
As one of a growing tribe of self-confessed "free church catholics" (note the lower case), I find much to commend in this book. At the same time, it is unsettling to find the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), not only paired with Seventh Day Adventism as "an emerging species of idiosyncratic Protestantism" in the antebellum United States (19), but also consistently referred to as the Disciples of Christ (Christian Church). One could easily get the impression that the Disciples tradition should be understood solely in terms of its eighteenth-century origins, despite the long and distinguished history of the Disciples in ecumenical dialogue. Also, while I am glad to acknowledge the importance of the work of the first four great Church councils, I have reservations about the adequacy of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan formulation. The expression "the Creed" still means for me the "Apostles' Creed." Perhaps, as a New Testament scholar, I am reluctant to submerge any of the Christological voices of scripture (and the early Church) under one orthodox formulation, especially one that retains the filioque phrase. But perhaps I am only resistant to Williams's very capable instruction.
Robert F. Hull, Jr
Average customer rating:
- Five stars for vivid imagery, masterful use of metaphor, poetic prose...
- Excellent Work
- A haunting story
- Brilliant, A Model Book for Teaching Writing
- Great Novel
|
Suspicious River
Laura Kasischke
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
-
The Life Before Her Eyes
-
White Bird in a Blizzard
-
Be Mine
ASIN: 0395860024 |
Book Description
Leila Murry is young, married, and working in a motel as a receptionist - and then as a prostitute. The seemingly random abuses and perils of her adult life parallel those Leila suffered as a child, and in reliving them she is uncertain whether she will survive them this time, or indeed, if she wishes to. This "extremely powerful debut" tells a story that is at once "profoundly disturbing but also resonant with hope and rebirth" -Los Angeles Times.
Customer Reviews:
Five stars for vivid imagery, masterful use of metaphor, poetic prose..........2007-03-08
I gave this five stars because, quite simply, it belongs in the category of Great Literature. She's right up there with Joyce Carol Oates, one of my favorites. And Mary McGary Morris, another great. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is her ability to control what I might call the "erotic" factor. In early chapters in which Leila is turning tricks at the hotel, the encounters with men are not in any way erotic; they are mechanical, dull-sounding, unappealing, in fact, they are icky. However, when she describes her sex-addict mother and philandering uncle's affair, the sex comes alive; it's stimulating, arousing. I believe it's because the writer understands that for children, sexuality is always arousing - children are sexually naive and at the same time more primal beings, which is why violent or inappropriate sex can be so traumatizing for them, as it was for the young Leila. And with time, as the book progresses, the sex becomes different yet again: more brutal and frantic, but less automatic; Leila is definitely coming undone, and that is not necessarily a bad thing, because the novel indicates that things are rising to a spiritual boiling point. I did agree with one reviewer here who said the similes and metaphors began to get repetitive and a bit too grim (or, if you will, "depressing." I found myself cringing at yet another bird carcass, bloody feathers, drowned furry creature, eyes staring out of skeletal bones, just that whole ugly death thing that went on and on and on. Warning to future readers: do not read this book with your dinner. Still, it kept me (if reluctantly) right up to the end. But I gotta say, once again - this writer is masterful when it comes to metaphor. I found myself thinking WOW! Can she write! In fact, the writer who came to mind most often was Egyptian Nobel winner Nagib Mafouz, another writer who can sling metaphors that make you shake your head in disbelief - how the heck did he do that? Kudos to Ms. Kassischke.
Excellent Work.......2004-06-15
I read a review, one of the short reviews in the in the New Yorker that are more descriptive than judgemental, many years ago. I only remembered it was intriguing but I bought it recently and read it on this vacation (I am in Mexico as I write). I agree with some reviews that have compared it with Joyce Carol Oates but I would also throw in some other gritty books; Laplante's Cold Shoulder (she wrote the original scripts for the hit TV show Prime Suspect) and Amis' Night Train. The book alternates between the rugged life the central character lives today and her tortured past that continues to haunt her. And yes, have we discussed that she is a poet? I don't have an background in literature and I don't really know anything about poetry (though some of my best friends are poets) but it would appear as though poets do have an excellent command of our language and can use it to great advantage. So if you like grit and you like a talented writer please check this out.
I wanted to point out that Ms. Kasischke spoke at the 1999 Michigan Writers Series. Her discussion of this book and some of her poetry can be found via a search for the Michigan State University Libraries.
A haunting story.......2003-07-22
Although I finished this book several months ago the story of Leila's life has stayed with me. This book is full of haunting dialogue, rich descriptions, interesting characters. Truly writing at its best! I adore books by Laura Kasischke and wish there were more novels by this amazing author.
Brilliant, A Model Book for Teaching Writing.......2003-01-21
I often use the opening line of this book as an example in creative and memoir writing classes that I teach of how an author can immediately capture the reader. This book keeps you breathlessly involved:the extraordinary language, its simplicity, the compelling character. A stunning novel, or novelized memoir?
Great Novel.......2002-10-17
A nearly perfect novel; a rare mixture of beautiful writing and logical, original story.It's clear Kasischke honed her skill as a poet; the language is just that concise. The opening paragraph is one of the best I've ever read. I was hooked from that moment on. Highly recommended.
Download Description
Lorena Fortier is in the Florida Everglades investigating her father's murder. Sparks fly between her and the Native American lawman responsible for the area as they try to uncover the mystery surrounding a series of deaths related to the local alligator farm.
Customer Reviews:
HIGHLY ENTERTAINING MYSTERY .......2006-11-14
This would be a great follow-up to Lake Placid.
We get to make a trek to the Everglades [have only been able to picture it after some scenes from CSI:Miami]where we get to meet the Native American Seminoles and Miccosukee Indian police in the person of Jesse Crane, who's wife was killed.
Now you want to talk about a jerk, Lorena Fortier[blonde bombshell] sure qulifies. Granted she was on a mission but had not given enough thought to who she was putting in jeapordy.
The great scene of the black eyed Alligator and Billy Ray Hare kind of makes your hair stand on end.
When Lorena finally gets to Harry's Alligator Farm and Museum she meets her co-workers Dr. Michael Preston [oh to get into his office and notes] - Harry, the owner, Jack Pine, a tall, well-muscled Seminole and Hugh Humphrey, a wiry blond handler[of the gators] from Australia -- and a tall, white haired man talking to them, Dr. Thiessen, a local vet and his helper, John Smith, extraordinarilly big. And there was Sally Dickerson, the head cashier and bookkeeper, she was always making up to Jesse.
With two friends of Jesse's shot to death, execution style and having to look for Billy Ray, the Miami-Dade homicide detective, Lars Garcia was in charge of the shooting case and someone Jesse had gone to college with, things were heating up.
Suddenly the incidents were looking suspicious - what did Lorena know and what was she looking for? Who was responsible for her father's death?
But first she had to find evidence that he was murdered. Who would believe her?
Jesse and Lars were trying to pull together the evidence that would make sense. Where did these giant Alligators come from? Lorena almost met one face to face.
Who could have enough money to make the evidence disappear? Excellentlly told tale - another female who makes nothing of bed hoping. Love? yeah, right.
Still a great read once you get past the "romance"?
More gene manipulation.......2006-01-13
Lorena Fortier is a lawyer who is going under cover to find out who killed her father. Nobody believes he was murdered, but she has found an e-mail among his effects that makes her believe someone killed him for his research. Now she is acting as an RN at a crocodile farm.
Jesse Crane is half Seminole and the law in his part of the Everglades. I found he liked himself alittle to much. The descriptions of his macho virile self were abit over the top. He struck me as abit of a jerk.
Both characters were slightly larger than life. And certainly had very good self images. A little more modesty would have been nice.Suddenly several deaths occur. Maybe drug related or not. One couple is killed at their home at night and Jesse knows they are upstanding people.
Finally, both are convinced that enhanced reptiles are loose in the glades and have killed man. What about the people who have been shot? Is someone killing people to hide the evidence?
Fairly good suspense, so-so romance, but it is a short book. Not to bad a read at all.
A Fast Paced Romantic Suspense!!!.......2005-08-23
Ms. Graham has again used Florida for the setting of her latest romantic suspense. Through her descpitive writing you will feel as if you are standing right along side with the characters of the book.
Lorena has come to the Everglades to find out who killed her father. She gets a job at an alligator farm. She has no idea that she has just set up home in a vipers nest of secrets and danger. She also doesn't realize that she is in more danger that she could ever imagine. Especially when bodies starts piling up among the locals. Who is killing them and why? Could it have anything to do with her fathers research?
Jesse Crane is a cop who has returned to his Everglades home after the murder of his wife. Here he does what he can to protect the people that make the dangerous but beautiful Everglades home. So when he meets the beautiful but sassy Lorena for the first time, sparks fly. When he finds out that she is hiding a secret the more he wants to get to know her and protect her. Will he be able to find out what is going on before a rogue gator, and a murdered that walks upright manages to silence Lorena before he can uncover her secret?
This was a very good read. Ms. Graham has managed to include a lot into a short read that will enthrall as well as entertain fans of romantic suspense. The interaction between Jesse and Lorena is spicy and entertaining. This is one author that I highly recommend.
Official Reviewer for Romance Designs
Customer Reviews:
interesting English investigative tale .......2006-02-04
In the Liverpool area, more because of Detective Bolis' interest in him as a prime suspect, Jack Stirrup of Stirrup Wines asks his solicitor Harry Devlin to learn what happened to his wife Alison, who vanished. Harry begins making inquiries as he tries to trace Alison's last known steps though he wonders if his client simply disposed of an unwanted spouse. As he begins making progress, the investigation takes a bizarre spin when Claire, Jack's daughter from his first wife, also turns up missing.
At the same time, Harry looks into the Stirrup family; The Beast stalks Liverpool raping women. While Harry finds himself attracted to advocate Valerie Kaiwar whom he meets at the Law Courts, he ponders if there is a link between the missing Stirrup females and the Beast as he starting to believe the rapist is somehow involved.
This is an interesting English investigative tale that stars a likable hero struggling with a case in which his client seems to be hiding things, the cops wants him to stay out, the prime culprit appears to be a rapist, and worst of all he is in love. All of this and more blends nicely together into a delightful whodunit that will please those readers who enjoy the star to be of a skeptical suspicious mind trusting no one including his heart.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
A suspicious death. A missing baby. A corrupt police department. When a man shows up in reporter Lara Kelly's office with a video that appears to show a woman falling to her death, Lara is intrigued but suspicious. The man claims he went to the police, but that they refused to investigate. Under pressure from her editor to use the video to build a story about the incompetence of the local police captain, Lara gathers enough evidence to print a story about a suspected suicide. Detective Tymen Farraday, the newest cop in a precinct plagued by scandal, is ordered to investigate and discredit the reporter if necessary. When potential evidence is stolen and Lara is attacked, Farraday is forced to put his grudge against reporters aside and work with the journalist to solve the murder while trying to protect her from the killer. Just when they think they have the evidence to arrest a suspect, two more murders turn the investigation in an unexpected direction. The guilty have already shown that they'll stop at nothing to protect their secrets. In a town where one person holds all the power, not even the police can be trusted. And the prime suspect isn't the only person Lara and Farraday need to worry about.
(Advanced Praise for Suspicious Circumstances) "..there is never a dull moment. It's a hard book to put down."" Tony Hillerman, Edgar Award-Winner and New York Times Bestselling Author "Suspicious Circumstances has to be one of the most satisfying mysteries going that grips the reader from beginning to end." Clive Cussler, NY Times Bestselling Author, Acclaimed worldwide as the Grandmaster of Adventure "Here is the new voice, and what a voice! Eloquent, sassy, compassionate and written with a style so assured it's hard to believe it's a debut... This is talent writ huge." Ken Bruen, Shamus Award-Winning Author of The Guards "Sandra Ruttan's SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES is crime fiction with booster jets--a white-hot blazing ride sure to slam you down some of the darkest, twistiest back alleys that ever corrupted a small city's secret heart." Cornelia Read, Author of A Field of Darkness "Secrets and lies, new murders and old, all unravel and unwind within the pages of SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES to create a complex and compelling crime-fiction debut. Sandra Ruttan has a keen eye for description, a wonderful ear for dialogue, and an acute instinct for the nuances of characterization. " Anne Frasier, USA Today bestselling author of Hush "Sandra Ruttan's Suspicious Circumstances soars. It is complex, exciting, and elegant. In musical terms, it's listening to Bach. I'm in love with Lara Kelly, the smart, strong, vulnerable protagonist. Her detective lover better move fast or I'm in there. A gripping adventure, a large cast of marvelous characters, and twists that follow turns. Read it. You'll love it too." Robert Fate, Author of Baby Shark "A well executed procedural with a spark between our protagonists, an excellent feel for political machinations on a small town scale and a plot that twists and turns like a bad tempered rattlesnake." Russel D. McLean, Crime Scene Scotland
(About the Author) Sandra Ruttan had her first newspaper column at the age of thirteen. She studied journalism and communication theory before focusing on special education. She spent several years working with children with learning disabilities while completing a creative writing diploma. Sandra is co-founder and submissions director for Spinetingler Magazine. Her short fiction has appeared in Crimespree Magazine, Spinetingler, Demolition, The Cynic and Flashing in the Gutters. She lives in western Canada with her husband, two dogs and too many cats.
Customer Reviews:
Suspicious Circumstances.......2007-06-30
A really good read with constant accelerating of tension and plots that keep coming. What I loved most about it was the breaking of stereotypes. An ethical reporter, a cop who took duty seriously and wasn't jaded. I also liked the romantic angle not becoming typical with an emphasis on respect between Ty and Lara as well as timing. That is there a time and a place.
Did the woman really fall?.......2007-06-15
Reporter Lara Kelly is suspicious when a man comes to her with a video tape showing a woman falling from a cliff. Especially when he says he first went to the police, and they weren't interested.
She begins to investigate, but proceeds cautiously. Soon she has a story compiled that the woman committed suicide.
Detective Tymen Farraday is new on the local force. The force has been plagued with scandal and rumors. He is assigned to investigate this story and discredit Lara if he has to. After Lara is attacked and some evidence stolen, Tymen finds himself protecting Lara and having to put aside his feelings about and grudge against reporters.
Just when they think they have everything figured out, more murders happen that make them rethink everything.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters are fun and the story pace kept my interest. The plot is well-written and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. I highly recommend this book.
Great new author.......2007-04-05
Loved the book. Characters, story, all of it flowed together to make for a thoroughly enjoyable read. I can't wait for Sandra's next book!
Smarter than the average debut.......2007-03-04
An intrigue-filled debut police procedural that is less about the procedure and more about the complex intertwining of the character's relationships. Not a single stereotype in sight.
compelling debut.......2007-01-07
Secrets and lies, new murders and old, all unravel and unwind within the pages of SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES to create a complex and compelling crime-fiction debut. Sandra Ruttan has a keen eye for description, a wonderful ear for dialogue, and an acute instinct for the nuances of characterization.
Book Description
When her estranged sister, Greta, is killed in a fire, Boston news producer Britt Andersen heads straight for her sister's Vermont town where, for the first time, she meets her handsome brother-in-law, Alec Lynch, and her eleven-year-old niece, Zoe -- who narrowly escaped the blaze. Surprised by the bond that she forms with Zoe, Britt stays to help her recover from the tragedy. But when she clashes with her brother-in-law, Britt begins to suspect that her sister's life was far from perfect. Then the deadly fire is declared arson....
To find Greta's murderer, Britt desperately tries to sort truth from innuendo in a close-knit town. But when she uncovers a family secret her sister kept from her, Britt must reexamine her own past -- and face the wrath of a twisted killer who wants her dead....
Download Description
"Patricia MacDonald has captivated readers worldwide with her page-turning suspense novels that are filled with surprising twists and turns and psychologically perceptive characterizations. Now MacDonald delivers her most masterful work to date -- a chilling thriller about a woman who, while investigating her sister's death in a house fire of suspicious origin, uncovers the work of a twisted killer who has taken refuge in an idyllic Vermont town. With a vibrant cast of memorable characters, unerring insight into the dark side of human nature and exciting twists of plot, Suspicious Origin holds readers engrossed as it races to its stunning, emotionally charged conclusion. "
Customer Reviews:
Good novels don't need profanity.......2005-08-07
I was really enjoying this book, then in the middle I noticed that PM had begun to use the f*** word so many times until it started reading like an angry child's work. I skipped over the f*** words and kept reading until the ending which turned out to be all right. I didn't really like the character, Britt. I was happy when her brother-in-law threw her out. (I know that it's only fiction) Patricia MacDonald is a really good writer, and if you're a good writer people will read your work without the overuse of the f*** word, and other profanities. I'm interested in the mystery and the suspense, not how good you can use profanity.
Britt the Twit...........2004-09-20
Someone else said Britt the ½ wit and boy do they have it right!
She's supposedly a news producer but doesn't have the brains God gave a goose! She stays at her job mooning over her married boss who she had an affair with. He dumped her for someone younger and then treats her like dirt professionally and personally.
When her sister dies the Brittster rushes to her sister's hometown to save the day. She has been estranged from her sister for well over a decade and has never even seen her niece. That doesn't stop her from trying to take over her niece even though she has no legal right and her Zoe has a father who obviously loves her.
Based on a small amount of circumstantial evidence she decides her brother-in-law is guilty of the fire that killed his wife. She comes up with some convoluted theory as to why he would set a fire with his daughter in the house. She refuses to consider any other information that would refute her theory. She is in fact so pushy that she basically insists he be arrested for the murder by subtly suggesting that the local police force is covering up the crime because her brother-in-law is a well-established citizen of the town. Every time she comes up with a new "theory" or "evidence" she expects everyone to thank her for it, even though her brother-in-law is sitting in jail.
Obviously the reason for her actions is that she felt guilty because she never tried to make things right between her and her sister. However that didn't give her the right to mess up everyone else's life, including her niece's.
Half-Wit Britt, Always in a Snit.......2004-03-06
I didn't like the protagonist at all. Britt is a whining drone who is a news reporter in Boston. Estranged from her older sister Greta and abandoned by their mother in early childhood, Britt is a lone wolf who keeps everyone away at fang's length.
Things change radically when her brother-in-law informs her that Greta died in a suspicious fire and that his daughter, Zoe 11 wants to see her. Britt flies to their New England state where she meets an eclectic cast of characters.
A couple who is paying a young girl to turn her baby over to them once she delivers. They are an unlikable pair and the girl is rude, nasty and singularly unpleasant.
A young resident who has his own agenda.
The other locals.
Each character might have some insight into the fire that claimed Greta's life and destroyed their home. Only Zoe remains poignantly optimistic; she and her pop were the only likable characters. I like the way he was initially abrupt and dismissive of Britt because I didn't like Britt in the first place.
The ending was a disappointment and very predictable. You could see it coming from early on in the book.
I loved it.......2003-07-01
when I read "Not Guilty" I thought I had read the best book by Ms. MacDonald. That was before I read Suspicious Origin. This book is fantastic. It's got you from the first page. It sure makes you think. I finished it in just a few days and that was only reading a few hours a day. I just didn't want to put it down. It is very easy to get involved with all of the people in this book & it keeps you guessing & when it gets close to the end you can start to figure out who the killer is. Ms. MacDonald is a wonderful author but this is her best book so far.
A deadly fire throws a family into chaos........2003-06-05
Britt Andersen, a cable television news producer in Boston, is the heroine of Patricia MacDonald's latest thriller, "Suspicious Origin." Britt has been estranged from her sister, Greta, for many years. When Britt learns that her sister was killed in a fire, she goes to Vermont to attend Greta's funeral. Britt meets her brother-in-law, Alec, and her eleven-year-old niece, Zoe, for the first time. Only later does Britt learn that the fire was deliberately set, and that, in fact, Greta was murdered.
MacDonald sets up her plot reasonably well, and in Britt, she has created a sympathetic, smart and vulnerable heroine. Although I thought that I had figured out the mystery by the halfway point of the book, it turned out that MacDonald had a few surprises up her sleeve. Unfortunately, the book's weaknesses outweigh its strengths. The dialogue is often wooden and the ending is somewhat contrived. Still, fans of spunky heroines may find "Suspicious Origin" to be a diverting thriller.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome Book!.......2007-03-06
This book was really interesting and grown up. Lily sure has a lot of responsibilities for a sixteen year-old girl. I have been reading Mandie book since I was 12 and am a big fan. Today is my Birthday and I am now 24.
It is really great to read both the first and second of the Lily advertures while I wait for the second book of the "Mandies College days" series. I wish that I could read the rest of the books in the Lily adventures. I want to find out what Happens!
Well, If you haven't read these books you should they are GREAT!
Oooh, So Good.......2006-02-10
I enjoy the lily books so much, and find it very frustrating that I can't find #3 anywhere. If you like the Mandie books, yet want something a little more mature, you will LOVE these. Please Please Please reprint the third!!!!!!
Lily - the best.......2005-10-31
The Lily books are great. YOu don't want to miss them. The problem is some of the books can't be found because they are out of print. Which is absolutely crazy. If the Lily Adventures were advertised more and if people knew that they exist, they have the potential to be a thousand times more popular than the Mandie books.
NOw here is what I propose, If you like Lily at all, write a review saying you want the books back in print. If we could get enough names we might acctually be able to get our point across . It's up to you! (If you like Mandie you will love Lily~ so leave your review saying you want the Lily books today!)
By the way if you havn't read the books that are available yet, GET THEM! They are fantastic!
REMEMBER: AS soon as you read them write a review.
Thanks
Totally!.......2005-08-11
Excuse Me ! What do those publishers doing? Putting the Lily aventures out of print! It's outrageous. They are the best,if people knew about them they could be more popular than the Mandie books!!!!!!!!
My Thought(s) of the Lily Series.......2004-06-29
I really loved the two Lily books as said in another review. I really would like to find out what happens. It leaves you hanging and the suspense kills you. Although, I haven't been able to find the last books of the Lily Adventures anywhere.
Customer Reviews:
Another excellent English mystery.......2007-08-18
This is the eighth in a series of mysteries set in Kent, England, and featuring the detective work of Inspector Luke Thanet. In this book, when a successful business woman is found drowned in the local river, the police are called in. There is no clear evidence that the woman was murdered, but to Inspector Thanet this is definitely a suspicious death. A lot of people had the motive to kill the woman, but who had the opportunity? This is a strange case, one that will tax Inspector Thanet to his limit!
As with the other Dorothy Simpson books I have read, this one has a fiendishly complicated plot. It's quite unclear what happened and why, and it will keep you guessing right up to the finale, as you try to figure out who did it. This is another excellent English mystery, one that I highly enjoyed, and highly recommend to you!
Books:
- Taboo: Forbidden Fantasies for Couples
- Tell Me No Lies
- Ten Little Fingers (Board Books for Babies)
- The Adventures of Tintin: The Crab With the Golden Claws / The Shooting Star / The Secret of the Unicorn (3 Complete Adventures in 1 Volume, Vol. 3)
- The Adventures of Tintin: The Crab With the Golden Claws / The Shooting Star / The Secret of the Unicorn (3 Complete Adventures in 1 Volume, Vol. 3)
- The Challenge of Effective Speaking (with CD-ROM and SpeechBuilder Express/InfoTrac )
- The Control of Nature
- The Devil You Know
- The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
- The Glass Castle: A Memoir
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Razzle Dazzle Writing: Achieving Success Through 50 Target Skills
- Essentials of Skeletal Radiology
- The Cosmic Water Hole
- The Shaggy Steed of Physics: Mathematical Beauty in the Physical World
- Aboriginal Art of Australia: Exploring Cultural Traditions
- Business Law: The Ethical, Global, And E-commerce Environment
- Atlas of Livebearers of the World
- Visual Music: Synaesthesia in Art and Music Since 1900
- The Rome of Alexander Vii, 1655-1667
- Wild Flowers of Marin: A Laymans Handbook
Mysterious
Temptation
Rules Of Play: Opposites Attract\The Heart's Victory (Silhouette Romance)
Love By Design
Engaging The Enemy
