Nora Roberts Chesapeake Bay CD Collection: Sea Swept, Rising Tides, Inner Harbor, Chesapeake Blue (Chesapeake Bay)

Book Description

SEA SWEPT
A champion boat racer, Cameron Quinn traveled the world. But when his dying father calls him home to care for Seth, a troubled young boy not unlike Cameron once was, his life changes overnight. . . In the end, a social worker, as tough as she is beautiful, will decide Seth's fate.

RISING TIDES
Ethan Quinn is determined to make the family boatbuilding business a success. But amidst his achievements lie the most important challenges of his life. There is young Seth, who needs him more than ever. And a woman he has always loved but never believed he could have.

INNER HARBOR
Phillip Quinn has the scars from his own rough and tumble childhood on the streets of Boston. Now a high-powered advertising executive, he figures he's found his perfect match in educated, cultured Sybill. And when he discovers she has a family connection to young Seth, they join forces to secure the boy's future.

CHESAPEAKE BLUE
Now a grown man returning from Europe as a successful painter, Seth Quinn is settling down on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Still, a lot has changed in St. Christopher - and the most intriguing change of all is the presence of Dru Whitcomb Banks. But a secret Seth's kept hidden for years threatens to explode, destroying his new life and his new love...

Customer Reviews:

This is a great series.......2007-03-25

This is a wonderful series about two people who shared their lives with four children who otherwise would have ended up as statistics. Each book tells the story of a son they adopted, and the fourth book in the series tells of the last adopted son, but shows how these two people changed so many lives just by giving love. It gives you hope without hype. Buying the series makes it even better because you can immediately go from one the next and it all stays tied together neatly with no stops. Also, it's cheaper in the set than separately!

Nora Roberts Chesapeake Bay CD Collection.......2007-03-09

I read the last one at the library unabridged. Then I had to read the whole searies. I enjoyed them all.

Great listen.......2007-01-03

I had not read the books, so the abridged cd's were just fine for me. I have difficulty reading the printed page anymore so I always enjoy books on cd. These were intriguing and kept me wanting more.

Average customer rating:

loved it!!
Perfect sequel to Iron Lace
Good but not great...
Riveting, addictive
Revealed secrets throw lives into disarray and lead to.....

Rising Tides
Emilie Richards
Manufacturer: Mira
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0778322491

Book Description

The unforgettable sequel to Iron Lace.

Rising Tides

Nine people have gathered for the reading of Aurore Gerritsen's will. Some are family, others are strangers. But all will have their futures changed forever when a lifetime of secrets is finally revealed.

Aurore Gerritsen left clear instructions: Her will is to be read over a four-day period at her summer cottage on a small Louisiana island. Those who don't stay will forfeit their inheritance. With the vast fortune of Gulf Coast Shipiping at stake, no one will take that risk.

Suspicions rise as Aurore's lawyer dispenses small bequests, each designed to expose the matriarch's well-kept secrets. Family loyalties are jeopardized and shocking new alliances are formed.

But with a savage hurricane approaching, tensions reach a dangerous climax. And the very survival of Aurore's heirs is threatened.

Customer Reviews:

loved it!!.......2007-02-11

This book is a great read. I would recommend reading the first book "Iron Lace", in this series of two, or you won't get as much out of "Rising Tides". I really liked the way this fills in information about other's lives rather than just Aurore's. Emilie Richards is a great author, I've loved all her books that I've read.

Perfect sequel to Iron Lace.......2003-11-10

I am unabashedly an Emilie Richards fan. This book is one of my favorite sequels to one of my favorite books, Iron Lace. I am a fan of sequels ~~ I am always curious to what happens in the next generation or two. How do the choices a character in a previous book affect the other characters that were barely named in the first book? It's a great concept and I think Richards did a great job exploring that in this book.

There are nine characters in this book and how their lives entwined make for a great reading. There is Hugh, Aurora's son, who died but his presence is still felt among the rest of the characters. There is Dawn, Hugh's niece, Aurora's granddaughter, there is Ferris, Aurora's son and his wife, Cappy. There is Philip, Nicky, his mother and Ben, Hugh's friend and the poor agiated lawyer who is executor of the will. Forced to spend four days at Aurora's favorite summer place ~~ they all discover how they are all related.

It makes for great entertaining reading and I loved every page of it. It is not that often when you find a author who writes well and manages to entertain you at the same time ~~ especially when you're stricken with the flu bug.

11-9-03

Good but not great..........2000-08-31

Rising Tides, the sequel to Iron Lace,wasn't as interesting as I thought it was going to be. I read Iron Lace first and couldn't wait to read Rising Tides to find out what happened. It seemed like the author got writer's block a couple of times. This book seemed to me like it was the story of Hugh, Aurore's oldest son. The parts where Hugh was overseas during the war were boring and very drawn out. The characters didn't seem to be as well developed for this second novel. Iron Lace seemed very interesting with all of the flashbacks but to me the author found a good thing (the flashbacks) and ran it into the ground. The book did seem to get good towards the end. I would recommend this book if you've read Iron Lace only so you can find out the rest of the story. Borrow it from the library though, it's not worth buying.

Riveting, addictive.......1999-01-01

Emilie Richards is a very talented writer; her books, including this one, are worth the money. I was addicted to reading this book and stayed up late every night for a week to find out what happened next. The plot twists kept me pleasantly surprised, and the book is full of little denouments rather than one slam-bang ending. I recommend reading the prequel to this first, Iron Lace, since this book probably won't make much sense unless you know some background.

Revealed secrets throw lives into disarray and lead to............1997-03-23

In 1965 Louisiana, the last will of Aurore Gerritsen is to be read to a select group of relatives and friends. However, this is no ordinary reading as the deceased, being of sound mind, left very lucid and specific instructions. Her will is to be read over four days at Aurore's summer cottage on a remote bayou island to nine people. Anyone who leaves before the full reading forfeits their portion of the inheritance which could be sizable since Aurore owned Gulf Coast Shipping. ...... Over the next few days, Aurore's secrets become known in small bites. The family begins to take sides against each other and then there is the outsiders, a black family whose son is the only person who knows the entire story since he heard it from Aurore (in the prequel). As a hurricane approaches the island, everyone knows a segment of the full tale. To survive the hurricane and to share the inheritance, Aurore's potential heirs need to start working together rather than continue to tear one another to pieces. If they fail to stop their bickering and reduce the tension, they may find they have more than a nasty storm to survive. ...... RISING TIDES is an exciting, extremely explosive period piece that makes the turbulent sixties seem dramatically potent and alive. The realistic but different personas of the characters and the brutal issues they confront make Emilie Richards' novel a great southern heater that will remind fans of Faulkner. This book and her previous tale that included Aurore (IRON LACE) are great and are highly recommended reads. ......Harriet Klausner

Average customer rating:

Not Free SF Reader
jacket summary
Physics Like You've Never Seen It
Big concept science fiction
Highest-ranking Sci-Fi

Tides of Light (Galactic Center Series)
Gregory Benford
Manufacturer: Aspect
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

High Tech | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0446611549

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-25

Robot centipedes aren't good.

Or, this book follows on from Great Sky River, with Killeen in charge of his particular group of chess piece clan human strugglers. Mechs, mechanical big insects, other people, pretty much it seems everything is out to get them, in general.

Not much different in quality between this and the preceding novel, like the other one, you will probably like this book, too.

jacket summary.......2006-01-28

from the back cover of the November 1989 Bantam Spectra paperback edition
cover art by Paul Swendsen
Set against the magnificent, furious backdrop of the Galactic Center, here is a drama as compelling as the towering Great Sky River. A small human band flees from a threat it cannot hope to match - enormously superior artificial minds embodied in great insect-like machines. This last remnant of humanity is led by Killeen, a man elevated to command in desperate times by his luck and daring. He manages to reach a new planet where he encounters vast wonders - a planet-coring cosmic string, an organic life-form the size of an entire world, another group of humans led by a strange messianic ruler - and even greater dangers from the most awesome beings they have yet to face.

Their battle for survival reaches overwhelming dimensions. But they will gain an unexpected ally. And they will contribute shockingly to the new order of life that is developing around them.

Physics Like You've Never Seen It.......2005-09-10

Author Benford is a professional physicist, and it shows perhaps the most in this fourth novel of the galactic center series. The others: "In the Ocean of Night" (1977), "Across the Sea of Suns" (1984), "Great Sky River" (1987), "Furious Gulf" (1994), and "Sailing Bright Eternity" (1995) also rely on his scientific background and poetic language, but "Tides of Light" is the one where he manages to put his hero on a classic free-fall trajectory through the center of a planet, a situation imagined in richer detail than you've ever seen it before.

The novels are grouped in two's - the third, "Great Sky River", introduces us to Killeen Bishop and his clan, human scavengers in the dominant central galactic machine civilization some 30,000 years in the future. "Tides of Light" continues the story of Killeen, now captain of the Bishop clan, landing on a new planet with fascinating new alien life-forms imagined in realistic physical and mental detail. These mechanically augmented myriapodia, large many-legged burrowing insect-like creatures, skilfully manipulate the most exotic physical element in the series: a planet-sized cosmic string. The myriapodia use their cosmic string to burrow through entire planets, extracting the metal-rich cores to weave artificial structures on the scale of entire solar systems.

Part of the fascination of the story is the state of the humans here - good at surviving, but fearfully low in skills and abilities, and filled with knowledge of decline from a much more prosperous state. Fighting not just the myriapodia and the machines, but fellow humans led by a despotic leader, Benford manages to couple exciting action with insights into human nature, singly and in groups. Sometimes the physics seems stretched a bit - how exactly would a planetary surface and atmosphere remain livable while alien beings repeatedly removed large chunks of the core? But the breadth of Benford's scientifically plausible imagination in these novels is amazing in itself; read these novels to gain a perspective on life in the universe and what a sufficiently advanced civilization might do with a galaxy such as our own.

Big concept science fiction.......2000-03-24

The "Great Sky River" series eschews the traditional science fiction device of portraying human beings as creatures apparently inferior to greater alien intelligences, yet having some indefinable superiority. How many stories, particularly as found in "Analog", have you read where humanity or an intrepid human explorer tricks superior (intellectually speaking) aliens by some sort of street smarts or idiosyncratic human trait ? Don't go looking for that smugness here. Fifty years ago John W Campbell challenged his writers to "show him a creature that thinks as well as a man only differently", but Benford has demolished the idea of mere equality in intellectual power between humans and aliens. The mechs and cyborg intelligences in this series are drawn as well as non-human aliens can be, their motivations and capabilities (as well as thought processes) are described without lapsing into merely "jazzing up" human characteristics. Benford's aliens are aliens in mind as well as physique and no reader can fathom their true nature. Benford's humans are hunter-gathers, appropriating technologies and materials they can not create themselves. William Tenn's description of humans as " rats in the walls" is carried to an extreme in "Tides of Light". Family Bishop merely dodges incomprehensible aliens and forces before fortune steers them to the next instalment. Benford has made an elegiac vision of the future, incorporating grandeur like Arthur C Clarke in "The City and The Stars" with a mysterious plot. The aliens are ALIEN and the humans are so different in physical nature amd cultural millieu as to be almost unbelievable. Strongly recommended.

Highest-ranking Sci-Fi.......1999-02-06

Gregory Benford is one of the few authors who don't betray science in their science-fiction. No Star Wars or Star Trek-like anthropocentrist grotesqueries in his Galactic Centre saga : the human "heroes", led and pushed rather than self-guided through our ruthless Milky Way, are little more than feral hunter-gatherers confronted to all-emcompassing alien plots. And this, even as they are routinely described as using technologies far beyond any cyberpunk gizmo ; in fact, Benford's complex and consistent characters face mind-staggering challenges, their own cultural inheritance being one amongst many. Even the classical galactic-scale plots found in Dune or the Foundation series are utterly reduced to naught compared with the (very) long-term projects of the past and present intelligences competing in Benford's universe. Now go and read this book, along with the five others in the series !

Average customer rating:

A Page Turner Plus
Look for this author's next novel.
A Strong Debut!
A Killing Tide by P J Alderman is a winning debut novel
debut novel near flawless in its execution

A Killing Tide
P. J. Alderman
Manufacturer: Love Spell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

Romantic Suspense | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

Romantic Suspense | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0505526964

Customer Reviews:

A Page Turner Plus.......2007-02-08

I got the book about 3 p.m., took it home, ate a quick meal and sat down to read. I surfaced at 1 a.m., when I finished the WHOLE thing.
I liked the characters, Kaz, Michael and the dog, Zeke. The intrigue kept me turning the pages, although I did sniff out the bad guy early on. The interweaving of the suspense/romance with the life of the fishing community in Astoria was fascinating to me, a native midwesterner who did not see an ocean until middle age.
The author's attention to detail in the fire scene showed careful research well applied.
A great Book I, and I look forward to more.

Look for this author's next novel........2007-02-08

One of the things I appreciate in romantic suspense is a strong, independent heroine and this novel delivers. Kaz is not only a successful executive, she's also a river bar pilot, for heaven's sake. She's in Astoria, Oregon, to help her brother and this author brings the small coastal town to life. The rendition of the town is rich, complex, and atmospheric (another thing I appreciate in a novel).

The romance with Michael, the firefighter who's new in town, is also complex and intelligently handled. Nothing sappy about it. Michael is strong and handsome of course, but absolutely real. And talk about romantic tension. You can feel it from the very start.

The supporting characters are intriguing too, with a nice variety of people you'd expect to find in a small town plus some you wouldn't.
Another thing I liked was the humor sprinkled throughout the book. How often do you get to read a book that delivers suspense and romance and atmosphere and humor?

I read A KILLING TIDE straight through...couldn't put it down. I just had to find out what happens with these characters and their dilemmas. This is one of the best novels in the romantic suspense genre that I've read in a long time.

A Strong Debut!.......2007-01-31

Kaz Jorgenson leaves her job in San Francisco, to come home to Oregon and help her twin brother Gary with his fishing business. When Gary's partner and friend is brutally killed and he's charged with the crime he runs leaving Kaz holding the bag and having to try to figure out who the killer really is. She's not alone in fact Kaz has help from Michael Chapman, Astoria's new arson investigator.

Michael is from Boston and Astoria is as far away from that place as he can get and still stay in the country. Hopefully it's also far enough away that he will be able to bury the past he's running from. He's not given much chance when he finds himself pulled into a case where the suspect's sister is a danger he never expected. Unprepared for the sparks that instantly ignite between them and will Kaz and Michael be able to stay one step ahead of a killer who is not yet satisfied?

If I had to come up with one word to describe this debut effort it would have to be "WOW." This author has deftly woven all the threads of the story together into a seamless page turning romantic-suspense. Kaz and Michael are entertaining characters and this is not your typical romance. Kaz is a strong heroine, one that is not waiting for her prince to save her bacon. You've got to appreciate this element of her character. Michael is a fine match for Kaz. This is a page turning read and one I recommend if you enjoy a good romantic suspense. This is one author I plan on watching.

A Killing Tide by P J Alderman is a winning debut novel.......2007-01-23

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Kaz Jorgenson works in the high powered white collar world in San Francisco when she is called home to Oregon. Her twin brother Gary is in trouble and Kaz is the only one who can help him. Shortly after her return, Gary's good friend and partner in their fishing business is brutally murdered and Gary is accused.

Michael Chapman, an arson investigator, is running from memories in his past and comes to Astoria as the new fire chief. His first day on the job, he's caught up in investigating the murder of Gary's partner. This has him butting heads with Kaz from the beginning and surprisingly, they find themselves drawn to each other.

Now Kaz and Michael must work together to get to the bottom of the mystery. What they find only leads them to more questions... questions to which the answers may mean their deaths.

A Killing Tide by P J Alderman is a winning debut novel. All the elements can be found to make for a stunning romantic suspense that will leave you gasping for breath. Though I had the real villain figured out immediately, and his motive, the journey we follow along with Kaz and Michael takes us many different directions on the quest for answers.

The romance blossoms between Kaz and Michael at a natural pace, making it seem all the more believable. They both have shadows in their past that affect them to this day. Both are flawed people who can finally begin to heal once they find each other and work through their issues together. I found myself sitting there alongside them, crying their tears and sharing their laughs as I learned more about them both.

A Killing Tide would not be complete without its exemplary cast of secondary characters. After all who can resist Zeke the dog who acts almost human at times? Each character is unique and individual, with their own thoughts and fears. None of them are like the two-dimensional characters some authors use as filler for a story. Every player, from the fisherman to the cops is key to the story. And of course we can't forget the town of Astoria itself. It is a character as well, teaching us about the life of a fisherman and the hardships they experience on a daily basis. We also get the feeling of the small town where everyone knows everyone else.

P J Alderman shows strong talent with A Killing Tide. Keep an eye out because this is a name I see making it to the top of the list for the genre in the not-too-distant future.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, January 2007. All rights reserved.

debut novel near flawless in its execution.......2006-12-21

Author, P.J. Alderman comes off the starter's block with a powerful novel, hardly showing this is her first book. Many first-time novelists want to tell too much, flood the first part of a novel with back-story; it's only when you get into the action of the plot do the books come alive. You won't find that in Alderman's book. She is a strong writer, with a clear voice that only leaves you to wonder how much better can she get.

Kaz Jorgenson is consultant for a high-powered company in San Francisco. She loves her posh job and living on the bay. Only, as families sometimes do, "just when you thought you were free they pull you back in". Kaz is called home to Astoria, Oregon. Her brother Gary is in trouble. When she gets there, she finds a family friend murdered and her brother is blamed. Then he vanishes, leaving Kaz to solve just what is going on in the small town.

This brings her into conflict with Boston-bred Michael Chapman. He is the new fire chief and is investigating the murder-arson for which her brother is accused. The attraction is instant, but neither wants to trust the other. This man could harm Gary, so Kaz mistrusts his actions. Michael feels Kaz might be using him just to interfere with a case that is leading straight to the missing brother.

Alderman skillfully plays this romance against a strong mystery, keeping each element in balance and not to over shadow the other. Sometimes, Suspense loses its punch because the mystery overshadows the romance. Other times, Romance takes over and makes the mystery just a week subplot. Not under the skillful direction of Alderman. This is a powerful mystery, yet the characters falling in love develop in a believable and strong fashion, keeping both Suspense readers and Romance readers well satisfied. The characters are "real", flawed, with all the baggage from the past that gives them layers to their actions. The hero and heroine are well-supported with a cast of secondary characters that make this debut novel near flawless in its execution.

I eagerly look for more works from this author.

Average customer rating:

Not quite a page turner
Realistic characters explore nuances of life and love
Another winner!
MICHAEL THOMAS FORD'S MOST LITERARY WORK.
Sluggish Tides

Changing Tides
Michael Thomas Ford
Manufacturer: Kensington
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0758210590

Book Description

Few authors write about the full spectrum of gay men's lives with as much warmth, honesty, humor, and compassion as Michael Thomas Ford. Now the bestselling author of Last Summer, Looking For It, and Full Circle, delivers a shimmering, heartwarming story of one summer in the lives of three people, of the elusive search for human connectionâand the necessity of love.

Marine biologist Ben Ransome understands the sea, especially the tiny, beautiful sea slugs he has studied and admired for most of his life. What Ben doesn't understand are people, and now, one of the most important people in his lifeâhis sixteen-year-old daughter, Caddieâis coming to live with him for the summer. But the sweet, happy child he remembers has been replaced by a wounded, angry stranger who resents everything about her father. Caddie is determined to act out in every way, leaving Ben feeling more alone than ever.

Hudson Jones has come to Monterey, California, to find the answers to all his questions. The young, ambitious graduate student believes he's found a lost John Steinbeck novel called Changing Tides that seems to hint at the author's love for his best friend, Ed "Doc" Ricketts. If he can prove it, his career will be made. And then, perhaps he can quiet the personal demons that haunt him. But first, he'll need some local help in his research, and Ben just may be able to supply him with access to the information he needs. It's clear to Hudson that the handsome, quietly passionate Ben needs some help, tooâwith Caddie and his life.

Sharing dinners and walks on the beach, intellectual discussions and heart-to-heart conversations, Ben and Hudson move from tentative friendship to a surprising, revelatory relationship, one with the power to point them toward the most important discoveries of their lives. For Ben, it's a summer of new beginnings, even as his daughter embarks on a dangerous course that will test the new happiness he's found

Changing Tides is an extraordinary novel that explores the glorious flaws and frailties of human beings in the never-ending struggle to connect, to be open to love, and to embrace the unknown in order to live fully.

Customer Reviews:

Not quite a page turner.......2007-09-27

I have enjoyed every book of MTF's that I've read and his writing is definitely changing. I didn't love this book and I was really hoping to do so. I have to agree with one reviewer who complained about the multiple marine biological references. I recognize that some were needed especially in giving us an image of Ben's inability to deal with people. But, there were just too many. Of all the characters, the only really likeable ones were Ben's assistant (Andrea), the archivist (Helen), and the pizza boy's girlfriend (Nicole). Ben's daughter was annoying but maybe that's how a 16 year-old girl thrust into a world she doesn't know or want would be. Don't know.

Realistic characters explore nuances of life and love.......2007-09-25

Ben Ransome is a middle-aged marine biologist in Monterey CA, who has substituted devotion to his job for any semblance of a social or love life. Into this solitary cocoon comes his rebellious 16 year old daughter, Caddie, whom her mother dropped off to live with him for the summer. Ben has no parenting skills, as was obvious during his marriage that broke up nine years before, and Caddie mistakes his seeming indifference for not loving her, which is far from the truth. A distraction comes along in the person of Hudson Jones, a young ambitious graduate student who came to Monterey to do research for his masters thesis on a personal relationship with another man may have influenced John Steinbeck's writing. Hudson and Ben become good friends, and perhaps more than friends, as suspected first by Caddie.

I have long been a fan of Ford's novels, and consider his "Full Circle" as one of my favorites of all time. "Changing Tides" is similarly well written, and skillfully explores the nuances of a developing friendship and romance in a situation where it seems illogical and possibly foolish to disturb what currently passes for a satisfactory life to risk it all on what it might become. At first read, the book seems wordy and rambling as much as 100 pages in, establishing the characters and seemingly providing lots of technical details about Hudson's research into the life of Steinbeck and Ben's observations about unusual aquatic life. It doesn't become clear until later that these actually double as metaphors for the situation that Ben, Hudson and Caddie find themselves in, putting those emotions in perspective. Less so than "Full Circle" or his earlier works, "Changing Tides" requires that the reader "read into" the novel to get the real story going on, which is rewarding but take this out of the realm of being a light, escapist read, like those earlier novels. I commend Ford on the effort and the result, but feel that - by comparison with his previous works - the novel deserves just four stars out of five.

Another winner!.......2007-09-21

Ford has another winner with Changing Tides.

Ben is a successful marine biologist. However, he is a mature man who doesn't seem to know who he is because his life has been wrapped up in his research. He has not really had successful relationships. Then he meets Hudson who comes to the area to do research on Steinbeck. They strike up a friendship. Almost without them realizing it, their friendship evolves to a higher level. Ben is forced to rethink his past relationships and especially his views on his own sexuality. As a result, he emotionally matures and faces a much brighter future.

Ford is an excellent writer. Anything he produces is worth reading. Changing Tides is no exception. His knowledge of diving and marine life is obvious as he creates an interesting backdrop to the story. He can always be counted upon to develop full and memorable characters. His development of the teenage daughter is this story is spot on.

MICHAEL THOMAS FORD'S MOST LITERARY WORK........2007-09-19

CHANGING TIDES is slower in getting off the ground than Michael Thomas Ford's previous novels. However, Ford has more to say about human strength and frailty here than he has in his earlier books, and like great literary masters of the past, he takes his time in setting up this seemingly simple but truly complicated story.

All of Ford's novels have been beautifully crafted and well realized, but this time around he's scaled back the scope of the narrative to look more deeply into the nature of relationships, specifically between a father, his daughter, and a young man looking to expose a buried truth.

Ben Ransome is a marine biologist, living in Monterey California, more comfortable with the denizens of the deep than human beings. He's shut himself off from others and in so doing, shut himself down. He has no real idea of his own true nature. His work is quite literally his life

Into Ben's narrow world come two very different individuals, his sixteen year old rebellious daughter, Caddie, dumped in his lap by an ex-wife weary of dealing with her, and a young gay man, Hudson Jones, on an academic search for hidden truths behind the relationship between local legend, novelist John Steinbeck, and his best friend, scientist Ed Ricketts. Ben must deal both with Caddie's open hostility towards him, and his growing feelings for Hudson.

This novel is a great deal more subtle than Ford's prior offerings, and many of his readers may find that fact disappointing. I must confess that it took me almost the first third of the book before I really understood where Ford was going. But once I began to look more closely at what Ford was actually saying and less at the surface story, I found his direction enthralling. There is a lot of symbolism here, between the worlds of sea and land, and it illuminates this novel in ways not previously seen in Ford's work.

I have read all of Michael Thomas Ford's novels, and with each succeeding book he has moved further away from the summer or beach read format, and closer to deeper more literary material. I have loved each of his books, and I love his latest, CHANGING TIDES, as well, if admittedly in a different way.

Sluggish Tides.......2007-09-08

As a fan of Michael Thomas Ford, especially "Full Circle" his previous work, I eagerly anticipated "Changing Tides". Heavy with a diving theme, it is, unfortunately, like swimming through thick molasses. Weighted down with uninteresting minutia about marine life, it moves along ever so slowly. Ben, the main character, has few redeeming qualities and seems incapable of coping with life apart from his work as a marine biologist in Monterey, California. There is no reason for us to like him, although we may feel pity for him as a loser. His 16-year-old daughter, Caddie, who comes to stay for the summer, is a snotty, slutty little bitch. It is not credible to think that 19-year-old Brian does not realize that she is potential jail bait. The other major character, Hudson, has some likable characteristics but there is no explanation as to why he would ever be attracted to the much older Ben. In a significant literary twist, Ford manufactures a fictional manuscript attributed to John Steinbeck (who lived in Monterey) and has Hudson attempting to confirm that Steinbeck had a gay lover. Original and creative, but buried beneath the flotsam of nudibranch archidoris (see above). Overall, this is low tide.

The Tides of Reform: Making Government Work, 1945-1995

Average customer rating:

The Tides of Reform: Making Government Work, 1945-1995
Paul C. Light
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Public Policy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

State & Local Government | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0300076576

Book Description

During the past fifty years, the Congresses and presidents of the United States have made many efforts to improve the performance of the federal government. In this book, a leading expert in public management examines the most important reform statutes passed and concludes that the problem is not too little reform but too much.

Lee and Longstreet at High Tide: Gettysburg in the Light of the Official Records

Average customer rating:

Lee and Longstreet at High Tide: Gettysburg in the Light of the Official Records
Helen D. Longstreet
Manufacturer: Broadfoot Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0916107922

ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION - Volume 14, number 13 - December Dec 1990: Ragged Rock; Targets; Cibola; Space Aliens Saved My Marriage; Frames of Light; A Woman's Ritual; Evenings Mornings Afternoons; Bedside Conversations; The Gadarene Dig; Flood Tide

Average customer rating:

ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION - Volume 14, number 13 - December Dec 1990: Ragged Rock; Targets; Cibola; Space Aliens Saved My Marriage; Frames of Light; A Woman's Ritual; Evenings Mornings Afternoons; Bedside Conversations; The Gadarene Dig; Flood Tide
Gardner (editor) (Judith Moffett; Mark W. Teidemann; Connie Willis; Sharon N. Farber; Lawrence Person; Cherry Wilder; Bridget McKenna; Brian Stableford; Philip C. Jennings; Mary Rosenblum; Lewis Shiner) Dozois
Manufacturer: Davis Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LAUJFU

Dangerous Tides (Wheeler Large Print Book Series)

Average customer rating:

Editor needs to be fired
4 1/2 Stars
I've read better....
Great Read!
tazvampire

Dangerous Tides (Wheeler Large Print Book Series)
Christine Feehan
Manufacturer: Wheeler Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Fantasy, Futuristic & Ghost | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

Gothic | Romance | Subjects | Books

Literature & Fiction | Large Print | Formats | Books

Romance | Large Print | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1597225789

Book Description

Libby Drake never saw herself as the kind of woman who could attract the attention of handsome and brilliant biochemist Tyson Derrick. Until fate throws them together-and leaves them vulnerable to a secret enemy.

Customer Reviews:

Editor needs to be fired.......2007-09-15

This is a mildly entertaining book as are most of Feehan's works. My main problem is that the editing department of Jove must have assumed that since she is a successful author that she knows how to spell. Carabineer (someone who carries a carbine rifle) used multiple times instead of Carabiner (D shaped safety ring) and Asmith which isn't even a word instead of azimuth. Those kinds of errors are inexcusable at this level and take away from enjoying the book. There were several contradictions at the beginning also. The ground rescue crew fails at a high angle cliff rescue, then the helicopter crew on the next page decides that would be unsafe for them to do when they wouldn't be doing a cliff rescue. Can you say cranking these out on autopilot?

4 1/2 Stars.......2007-08-14

This was Libby's story. And Ty Derrick (adventure seeker/genius).

Libby is the doctor and "healer" in the family. I enjoyed reading this book. Thought it moved right along, was well written and nicely edited.

I've read better...........2007-07-06

I was not impressed with any of the Drake Sisters series. There was nothing there to keep me wanting to know more about the sisters. It didn't hold my attention. The "magic" was not enough to hold my attention.

Another thing that bothered me is that everyone just took for granted that the sisters had their "magical" powers. They didn't try to hide it and it didn't bother anyone. No one questioned them. Maybe secrecy would have made the series more interesting.

I was definitely not impressed. I'm hoping the Dark Series will be better, but from what I know about them, they seem like a ripoff of the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I guess I'll have to see.

Great Read!.......2007-05-09

This was the first of the Drake Sisters novels that I purchased, and I liked it so much that I went backwards to read ther sisters before. This novel of Libby and her "supposed" nemisis Ty Derrick is both romantic and suspenseful. The realationships of the sisters is amazing. This is a wonderful read. I can not wait for Hannah and Jonas.

tazvampire.......2007-04-02

feehan is my favorite has yet to disappoint always waiting for the next one

Dawn's Early Light (Tides of War, Bk. 1)

Average customer rating:

I thought it was wonderful.
Mrs. Larson weaves an intriquing WW2 romance.

Dawn's Early Light (Tides of War, Bk. 1)
Elsie J. Larson
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Fiction | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0785276882

Book Description

This, the first book in the Tides of War series provides a look at life inside a United States Japanese internment camp. Grieving at the loss of her fianc, Dave, at Pearl Harbor, Jean Thornton is persuaded to teach children in an internment camp in California, where she discovers the high price of dishonesty, her own unsuspected prejudice, a deeper faith in Christ, and love she thought she would never feel again.

Customer Reviews:

I thought it was wonderful........1999-09-07

This is a lovely story about good people in a horrible situation. Jean is very real, she grows slowly into a kind, mature woman. Tom is incredible. The book has a very deep message about prejudice and responsibility for your own actions.

I enjoyed this book very much. I found it by accident at an outlet mall on a discount counter. The book was so good I came on line as soon as I finished it to find the next one in the series. I can't wait to find out why life has in store for Tom and Jean! I hope the next book will be available soon.

Mrs. Larson weaves an intriquing WW2 romance........1999-08-01

DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT is a rare ethnic romance between an Asianhero and Caucasian heroine. For this I applaud Mrs. Larsen and ThomasNelson Publishers. The story is a unique romance showing how love can prevail over prejudice and bigotry. It is nice to see someone writing the stories I would like to read as well as giving me the hope of a market for my personal Japanese romances. Thank you, Mrs. Larson, I enjoyed reading your novel.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books