Austin Reviews
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Used price: $7.59

Weak DC/Marvel crossover.
An excellent adventure.
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What a waste of paper.
'Bout time
Used price: $1.00
Collectible price: $11.50
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Not worth the price.
Execellent introduction to Living Trusts.
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immigration handbook
Used price: $39.98

too contemporary to be aptly critical
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Worth a look
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Collectible price: $25.00
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A wonderful Austin story; but not really for young childrenIt is a picture book, but it really isn't a children's story in the same sense as L'Engle's _The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas._ For one thing, Full House is told (in the first person) from Mrs. Austin's perspective rather than 7 yo Vicky's. It takes place a few years after _24 Days_. Rob is no longer a baby, and Suzy is 8. In the story, Mrs. Austin, her father, and the children come home from Christmas Eve service to find their former babysitter huddled on the doorstep. It turns out that Evie is pregnant. Here is an excerpt:
"I remembered hearing that her father seldom came home without stopping first at the tavern, and that her mother had the reputation of being no better than she should be. And yet I knew that their response to Evie's pregnancy would be one of righteous moral indignation..."
Not typical picture-book text, and while I loved it myself, it's probably not something I would read to my 6 and 8 year olds.
BTW, the ENTIRE text of the story is also found in the grown-up book A Miracle on Tenth Street, which is a collection of short stories, essays, poems, journal entries, etc...mostly about Christmas. (It also includes the text of 24 Days.)

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For fans of gentlemen thieves
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Bad packaging
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"Blow 'em Up, Shoot 'em Up Action"Richard Austin wrote some pretty good action scenes. The stand-off in Kansas between the Guardians and the FSE was pretty exciting. Also a very good pursuit over Baltimore between an FSE F-15 fighter and the Guardians C-130 transport. May not sound like much of a contest, but when you've got a crazy, overly-aggressive surfer-dude pilot like Casey Wilson at the controls, anything can happen.
Even though this is a short, action-oriented book, Austin did a decent job fleshing out his characters. I really liked his presentation of Navy Lt. Cmdr. Sam Sloan, who still feels out of his element despite his Guardian training and a year's worth of gritty combat. McKay is the typical gruff Marine leader-type. Though throwing in a romance with Sergeant Marla Eklund, whose scratch platoon is accompanying the Guardians, made for some good stuff. Nice to see him struggle with his emotions over wanting no harm to come to Eklund, yet trying to do his job.