Bond Reviews

I'm a bit torn. I think McKnight is a good writer, and I've enjoyed this series overall. But I don't know if I'll rush to put these books on the top of my TBR pile when they come out in the future. I think part of the reason for this is that Hamilton just doesn't seem inclined to give readers a traditional mystery. I imagine that there are some for whom this is a blessing. But I just don't know how much longer I can put up with McKnight's "reluctant investigator" persona.

In this book, Alex decides to help out his friend Vinnie, first introduced in _Winter of the Wolf Moon_. Vinnie is an Ojibwa Indian and he's worried because his brother Tom is overdue in returning from a moose hunt in Canada. To make things worse, because he was just recently released from prison and is on parole, Tom isn't supposed to leave the country, so Vinnie loaned him his identification.

Alex and Vinnie drive north to the isolated hunting lodge where Tom and his party of hunters, a group from Detroit, were to head out into the wilderness. They find the owners of the camp shutting things down, for probably the last time, since the number of hunting parties coming there has been dropping steadily. According to the man who owns the lodge, Tom and his group came back on schedule and drove off in their SUV. When the vehicle is later found abandoned on a local Indian reservation, things begin to look suspicious.

There are some great things in this book. Hamilton does a very good job with character, creating real, believable people who it is a pleasure to spend time with. Also, the book does a great job of exploring male friendship and the lengths to which people are willing to go to help each other out. Vinnie had sent Tom on the hunt in the first place because he was scared his brother might try to commit suicide and he thought the trip was just what he needed. And people are constantly commenting on the lengths to which Alex goes to help out Vinnie.

This brings up another of Hamilton's strengths, which is his descriptions of nature and setting. When Alex and Vinnie convince an old Indian guide, Maskwa, to fly them out to the isolated lake where Tom and his hunting party were last seen, the two of them decide to stay there overnight. They can't foresee the sequence of events that will leave them stranded, with no way to get a message back to civilization, at the mercy of at least one unknown person armed with a high-powered rifle. This sequence, which lasts for a couple of chapters, contains some of the most vivid descriptions of the outdoors that I've encountered for awhile.

The thing that really threw me though is the whole mystery aspect of the book. Just what is going on and what happened to Tom and the hunting party is left unexplained until the very end. There just isn't a lot of investigating going on in the book. Instead, the book turns into a travelogue of Vinnie and Alex driving around, asking questions, trying to find some trace of the missing hunters. All of their driving around is presented in quite a bit of detail, including several trips back and forth from northern Ontario to Paradise, Michigan, the series' home. The solution to the mystery, ultimately, is sad and satisfying, but it is so delayed as to be rather annoying. There isn't even a hint about what's going on until the last couple of chapters.

I guess I'd recommend the book, but I'm still waiting for Hamilton to recapture some of the magic of earlier books in the series, particularly _Winter of the Wolf Moon_, my favorite so far. I hope the next book, if there is one, will be a bit more traditional.

This is another full-strength North Woods mystery from Edgar Award winning author Steve Hamilton. Sufficient background information is provided that a reader would not necessarily need to start at the beginning with "A Cold Day in Paradise," - but why miss all the fun and excitement?

Alex McKnight, former Detroit cop, former Major League Baseball player for a day, currently cabin concierge cum reluctant investigator in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP) signs on to help Ojibwa buddy Vinnie LeBlanc (Misquogeezhig - Red Sky) locate his wayward brother, last seen "guiding" a bunch of Detroit chimookomanag. This leads McKinight and LeBlanc through Northern Ontario - but it ain't no lightweight Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road Movie. It's a taut tale, often bleak and gritty as the two, with help from friends and family back home in the UP, search for answers in the mysterious North. It's a fine addition to the Hamilton oeuvre. Reviewed by TundraVision

Blood is the Sky recaptures that feeling of danger-at-every-turn excitement that got me hooked on this series when I read A Cold Day in Paradise. That was something that I thought was really lacking in North of Nowhere and Winter of the Wolf Moon. We also start to see some real development and progress in Alex as a character, and the way this book ends really makes you look forward to the next novel.

This is the 39th book Agatha Christie wrote. She published it in 1941, in the mid of World War II. It is said that she wrote this story while London was suffering under the German air attacks. Agatha never wanted to leave London during these attacks, because she felt too involved. The novel is one of two which the author worked on simultaneously during World War II while she stayed alone in London. She alternated writing 'Body in the Library' and 'N or M?' to keep herself "fresh at task."

Although not being a big fan of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford I must admit that this story was quite special. This book is one of the few Agatha Christie wrote that have a historical background. It has certainly a nice atmosphere to it. First I was a bit put-off by the amazingly unrealistic espionage rubbish often seen in this kind of books, but discovered to my surprise that some -not all- subplots would not have been miscast in an average Poirot adventure. It was quite refreshing to see that Agatha had put this story in an almost realistic setting: the struggle against collaborators that tried to prepare a German attack on the coast of England.

Not the best of her works, but certainly very close.

How could anyone not love Tommy and Tuppence? They are so full of character, life, and vigor! N or M perfectly exemplifies the beloved characteristics of our dear sweet "Carrot Tops" and "Mrs. Blekensop." This book encorporates all the elements of the classic Mystery story: deceit, suspence, morse code, going undercover, and of course, romance. This is light-hearted must read for every Agatha Christie lover!

i have been borrowing a couple of her books from the library after a long hiatus of 5-6 years. n or m is my first introduction to tommy and tuppence, and i must say they are a light-hearted, action-oriented departure from christie's other investigators, who give the impression of spending a lot of time in situ, whether at the murder scenes or comtemplating the case. christie veers from teh pack in her stubborn regard for the facts and teh circumstances; i have never done any professional spying, but i imagine if i did that i could take a few hints from her detailed analysis of how her characters think and act. so many detectives in detective novels strike you as so ordinary - some are not even very smart - but in this book you see the true complexity of wartime counter-espionage come to life, all the more frightening because it lurks beneath a veneer of everyday monotony. i love how she injects obscure words now and then...reminds you of a time when people didn't just use er..awesome as an umbrella expression for pleasure!

If you give a moose a muffin is about a big moose that smells some muffins from a nearby house. He gets into the kids house and wants a muffin. When he gets the muffin he starts asking for something to go with it, then he starts to want more things in the house until it is a big mess.
This book teaches you that it is nice to make friends and have them over, but sometimes it can get a little messy. This book is for ages 4 and up. It is a really good and funny book.

Our two-year old is heavilly into books, and this has risen to the top of his favorites. He has memorized bits and pieces of the book (it's adorable to hear a 2-yr-old say "A Moose A Muffin"), loves the pictures and points to them on every page, and asks for it every night at bedtime. From a parents perspective, it's a great book as it shows sequences of events, puts a funny character in real-world activities, and is entertaining to read. Not only my son's favorite, but one of mine as well.

Moose/Muffin is our favorite of this "If You Give a (?) a (?)" series of books, but the other two, Mouse/Cookie and Pig/Pancake, are just as good jumping-off points for clever stories of wandering attention, imagination, curiosity, and the sheer joy of play.

From an adult-critique standpoint, I think Laura Joffe Numeroff's story in this one was the most clever, scene to scene. All the shifts in focus make perfect sense, if you view the moose as personified the moment the kid tosses him the muffin, and never have too large a shift in the scope of the action. It's absurdly funny to have an animal the size of a moose at play like a child in the house.

My favorite illustration is of the moose and the kid -- probably a boy but not altogether clear, so she's a girl for my daughters -- painting the scenery for the puppet show. (Confused? Buy it and read it.) Felicia Bond is very gifted in conveying body language and movement in her characters, and her complex cartoon drawings are delightful all around.

Now this may seem like an obvious point, but a real moose is a very dangerous animal, so parents must instruct their very literal-minded small children that real wild animals are dangerous, and that stories like this are funny pretend stories -- can you say "metaphor" sweetie? You can imagine a friendly moose, but never go up to a real one. There are thousands of kids' stories with personified animals, so this is not a new thought to most adults, but sometimes it's hard for us to remember that *everything* is new to small children.

Our daughters enjoy all three, though I haven't seen Mouse/Cookie surface for a while, so I'll have to dig it out and read it to the 20-month-old. She loves Pig/Pancake and this one. Our older daughter (4.5) treasured all three beginning at her sister's age, and now uses them to really look at and read the words that she already knew by heart.

These are great books. Enjoy with them!

What happens when three very different women find they are married to the same man? And then what happens when he suddenly dies and each becomes a suspect in his murder? Readers will find out in OUR HUSBAND the first single-title release by Stephanie Bond (aka Stephanie Bancroft) who has entertained romance readers with her romantic comedies.

However, OUR HUSBAND isn't really a romance, but a comedy with mystery -- and as such it works very well. The three wives couldn't be any more different from one another -- one is a socialite, one a doctor, and the other a stripper! Readers who enjoy the books of authors such as Olivia Goldsmith and Jane Heller are sure to like this book. Filled with the witty repartee which has become Stephanie Bond's forte, readers will laugh out loud at this very enjoyable, entertaining story. I've enjoyed her books ever since IRRESISTIBLE and am thrilled to continue to follow her as she takes this new path.

I had never read anything by this Author before, but I really enjoyed this book. The story revolves around 3 very different women who find out they are all married to the same man. And, they find out that the husband in question isn't all he seemed to be. This book should be classified as a "who dunnit, that has a few laughs in it"
Read for the fun of it!

I was impressed with this off-beat story about three wives and one dead husband. The humor was rich and the mystery great, it had you wondering althrough who the killer was. This is a first from Ms. Bond and I will be reading more from this talented author!

~Take one blonde socialite, post-menopausal and fuming mad. Beatrix always suspected that her husband Raymond Carmichael married her for her money twenty years ago, but never imagined he would take on two more wives in the process!

Take one smart brunett. A very well respected doctor in a small town. Thirty-five-year-old Natalie had only wanted one thing in her marriage to Ray, honesty. This was the very reason she was ready to kill the man when she found out he was married to two other women!

Take a gorgeous redhead, twenty-one and an exotic dancer. Also married to Ray. The only problem here is she was pregnant from the lying jerk!

Fate has thrown these three mismatched women together when the only husband they have ever known gets into a car crash and ends up in the hospital only to be further shocked when all 3 of his wives show up to see how he is! Suddenly he suffers a massive heart attack and leaves the three angry wives to sift through his muddled life.
Fate is nowhere near done with the women and they find themselves in trouble with the law when they are all suspected of killing the man and conspiring with each other, only they all know each one would never do such a cold-blooded thing.
Clues soon begin to surface and the truth is more shocking than what they had imagined. Now they are all in danger and must trust one another to survive this mess!

Very funny and witty. I will always remember these characters! They were all so different, yet I connected with them all and smiled throughout the book. But I have to say, my favorite was Raymond's first wife Beatrix, she was spunky and no-nonsense. The way she handles the women are nothing less than hysterical. Very enjoyable, but I must say, there isn't much romance in the book, its more of a comedy/mystery. But I didn't mind. The wives more than make up for any romance lost in the pages! Well worth the money!!!

Tracy Talley~@

After first encountering Merci Rayborn (and T. Jefferson Parker) in "Red Light," and then following her growth in "The Blue Hour," it is gratifying to see her become a fully engaging person/character in "Black Water."

The locale is familiar to Parker readers, the L.A. area's polyglot Orange County, and so is Parker's mix of business people and hustlers, police procedure and character interaction. But a difference with this book is the focus not on "whodunit" aspects (those are resolved for the reader relatively early on) but how the case will be disposed of in Merci's complex world of cops under pressure from sensation-mad media and ambitious prosecutors, and how Merci will handle the resolution. The climax comes not with discovering "whodunit" but with the wholly surprising denouement of a suspect and victim. Well done.

As a fan of what I call "L.A. noir" (Harry Bosch is very high on my list), I had found myself engaged by Tim Hess in "Red Light." But I was willing to give his partner in that book, Merci, a chance in "The Blue Hour." After finishing it, I was dissatisfied -- she was too self-absorbed and had too little self-awareness to pull me much further into her life.

If I hadn't already bought "Black Water," I don't believe I would have read it on the strength of the first two Merci books. But, I had bought it, so I did read it, and was pleased to find that Parker has allowed Merci to develop a more complete, more mature personality. If his slow development of Merci -- relying primarily on plot rather than the engaging aspects of a character, which were in short supply in the first two books -- was deliberate, it was a large risk, but it is one that pays off for persistent readers.

Black Water is the third in T. Jefferson Parker's series featuring Orange County, California detective Merci Rayborn. Merci is a single mother (the father having died in the first book) and an ambitious cop whose dreams of being sheriff have diminished after making enemies in the department in the second book. Her new case offers a chance at redemption but even a bigger chance of endangering her career again.

The case is a deputy who has apparently killed his wife and then attempted suicide. There are many who are ready to leap to this conclusion - not wanting the Sheriff's department to look like it's covering things up - but Merci has her doubts, which are strengthened as she continues her investigation.

Merci's not the only one seeking the truth. The severely wounded deputy, despite shards of bullets in his brain, is out to find answers and vengeance. He is almost a supernatural force, a seemingly undead being who knows his own life is limited and only has a mission to sustain him.

Parker is an accomplished writer who as always delivers an entertaining novel. The only problem I have is the inclusion of the first chapter which shows the deputy's innocence. If the reader doesn't know this, it deepens the mystery. While solid enough entertainment, it admittedly does not have the spectacular quality that merits five stars. But four stars is enough to make this a recommended read for mystery fans.

T. Jefferson Parker is a genius. I read everything he writes, and I have never been disappointed. Black Water reaches his usual standard of excellence, and I will be proud to finally meet him at the upcoming Bouchercon in Las Vegas.

"The Complete Live the James Bond Lifestyle Semiar" by Paul Kyriazi, is a dynamic, and surprisingly educational read, loaded with class, style, and motivational advice-a-plenty.

A serious, but, fun approach is offered showing man how easily they can cash in on life's little rewards via exercising his alter ego.

Mr. Kyriazi's unique talent, insight, and advice expertly introduces the "Today's Bond Wannabe" to a lifestyle of sophistiction, charm, style and success by showing the alter ego in man how easy it can be to achieve goals by approaching life as a real winner -- A life just like James Bond -- one of excitment-- conquests -- and???

A book I recommend for any guy that wants to add a little spice to his life!

This review was made on the paperback edition.

This tape is one of the best I have ever got. I espected something different and was very surprised when I listened to it. It is a very serious self-help tape that gives a lot of useful and practical advice on how to creat a James Bond life style. In contrary to some expectations, it stretches the necessity of responsibility, especially dealing with women and money. Besides many serious issues, the tape is a lot of fun to listen to and therefore combines usefullness and enjoyment in one. I can highly recommend that not only to the many James Bond fans but also to everybody who wants to spice up his or her life.

I already consider myself successful having achieved many of my personal goals. And although I've been studying and achieving success for years, I had gotten stale and complacent. In other words I began to go into a dirty t-shirt wearing, couch potato mode. Then I bought this tape and, as absurd as it sounds, galvanized my entire life back into action and positive progress.

The important aspect of the tape (and book) is the re-programing of your mind and asserting control over your negative emotions. This sounds wishy-washy, but it's the real gem. Once you begin to ask yourself "what would James Bond do in this situation" it all falls into place. You will not believe the results and turn your life will take.

You begin to immerse yourself in a lifestyle that promotes action and excitement. You plan adventures, you dress well, you act (and then become) confident. You exude prosperity. Much of the by-product of all of this is attracting women.

This tape scratches the surface but it is one of the best. I then recommend you get the book. I have listened to and read a lot of personal improvement products over the years. This one has lots of realistic techniques: not just theoretical advice. Highly recommended.

When fourteen-year-old Jen leaves her home in Massachusetts to visit her father, brother, and sister in Wales, she never expects anything but a normal winter break from school. As it turns out, her brother Peter has become unusually moody--he misses Massachusetts, his friends, his dead mother, his "real" house, and just about anything he can think of to complain to his father about. Finally, Peter comes to Jen with some ridiculous story about an old harp's tuning key that used to belong to the bard Taliesin. He tells her that it "sings" to him (it shows him stories with harp songs about its former owner)--a story only their ten-year-old sister Becky will believe. The book goes on to tell of Taliesin's life intertwined with Peter's and Jen's own and how he comes to terms with the key itself. Besides having a terrific plot, this book relates to the reader some fantastic imagery of a tiny village in Wales. This story is, I think, a masterpiece, and one of the best books I've read is such a long time. Once in a while you find an old book on your shelf, read it, and realize that some books don't win awards for no reason. This is one of those times.

I recently read the book, "A String In The Harp," By Nancy Bond. I thought that it was a great book all round. The book tells the story of a family whos life has been torn apart by their Mother's death. 15 year old Jen Morgan has been left in Amherst, to continue with her high school education while her family travles to a small Welsh villege for a year while her father teaches at a univercity. Jen visets her family over Christmas vacation, and ends up staying the rest of the year, because she finds out that their is a lot going on in her family, and that it is important for them all to be together. The story folcuses on her younger brother Peter, who has found a harp key which he claims belongs to a sixth century Welsh bard. At first Jen doesn't want to believe Peter's wild stories about the key, and the power that it exerts over him, but eventually she has no choice, but to accept it's existence. On top of all this, Jen decides to learn how to keep house, and try to act as a Mother to her two younger siblings. In this book Nancy Bond does a great job of weaving the life of a school boy from Amherst, and that of a Welsh bard together, to tell an extremely suspensful, gripping story. I would reccomend this book to any one who likes a good read!

"A String in the Harp" is one of the worthy fantasy books that is often overlooked, as it was published first in the 1970s and dips into complicated mythology that casual readers won't be able to absorb. However, it's an exceptional book for people who have read the Prydain Chronicles and The Dark is Rising sequence, and who are craving more.

Since the death of their mother, the three Morgan children have become increasingly divided from their father David. Peter and Becky live with him in an isolated town in Wales, while Jen lives in the United States with her aunt. When Jen arrives on a vacation, she finds David distant and uncommunicative, and Peter sullen and angry. Despite the isolation of the town, Jen tries her hardest to enjoy it, and to keep her family from fragmenting further.

Then Peter finds a harp tuning key, and begins getting glimpses of the past -- and of the legendary bard Taliesin. He becomes increasingly drawn to his visions of the past, and even vanishes in an attempt to uncover more about Taliesin. Jen tries to deny that the key is magical, but as Peter falls more and more under the key's spell, the three children must find out what they need to do for it.

Bond weaves Welsh mythology and modern-day dilemmas together in a way that very few authors can. On one hand, we have the Morgan kids with their present-day actions -- hanging out with some Welsh friends, seeking a sheep-killer (who turns out to be connected to the key), and Jen trying to learn how to cook. She also does a good job of giving the readers a view of a fast-dying way of life in Wales, though these sections stretch on a little too long. But Bond outdoes herself in the glimpses of the past, in which the language becomes dreamy and evocative. In some areas it becomes reminiscent of Susan Cooper at her finest moments.

People who want their fantasy generic, cute and mindless will not like "String." Nothing in the Welsh mythos is dumbed down for the audience, and younger kids will probably have difficulty keeping some of the legends straight. However, if readers handled other mythologically-oriented books, they will have no trouble with this one.

Peter's desperate attachment to the key is excellently-written, as is his resentment towards his father for stranding him in a tiny Welsh town. Jen and Becky are a little less prominent, as they are not seeing the past, but Jen's unswerving assertions that Peter is lying will annoy readers. David also will initially annoy readers, because of his unwillingness to consider his children's emotions, but becomes more sympathetic toward the end of the book. The Welsh characters, with the exception of the revolting Dr. Owen, don't elicit as much reaction as the American ones, but the character of Taliesin manages to fascinate without even appearing much. He's a pervasive presence throughout the book.

Fans of "The Dark is Rising" and Lloyd Alexander will thoroughly enjoy "String in the Harp," a dreamy tale of magic, myth and history.

In her second novel, Agatha Christie introduced Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley and Tommy Beresford, old friends who are both newly discharged from the service at the end of World War I. By chance, they meet in London one day and to fight their boredom launch a detective firm together. Their first case involves tracing a young girl, Jane Finn, who disappeared during the war with a folder of important government papers. This is also Mrs. Christie's first of many novels to use the "master criminal" plot, a device she will use many more times in her writing career. The suspense is thrilling as is the enthusiasm of Tommy and Tuppence, two characters who will return in "Partners in Crime," "N or M?" "By The Pricking of My Thumbs," and "Postern of Fate." But it is in this first novel that the two are most endearing, especially when Tommy asks Tuppence to become his wife.

Adding to the mystery are Mr. Whittington, who by attempting to hire Tuppence to impersonate Jane sets the couple off on their adventure; Mr. Carter, a mysterious government official; Julius Hersheimmer, Jane's American cousin; and Albert, a young boy who will remain with Tommy and Tuppence and become their life-long friend.

In the end, the British government is saved, Tommy and Tuppence realize they are in love, and Young Adventurers, Ltd. is a thriving business. A most satifying read.

The Secret Adversary introduces Tommy and Tuppence Beresford to the world. Young and rather foolish, Tommy and Tuppence offer themselves as paid adventurers to the general public. "No unreasonable offer refused," their ad claims. When someone actually takes Tuppence up on the advertisement, the duo find themselves in the midst of a mystery. A man known only as Mr. Brown is seeking a top-secret document that could destroy Great Britain, a document last held by a young girl who survived the sinking of the Lusitania. It is up to Tommy and Tuppence to recover the document and discover the identity of Mr. Brown. The Secret Adversary will keep you guessing to the end, and after you think you've solved the mystery, Agatha Christie plays her trump card and you will find your theories incorrect. If you like books by P.G. Wodehouse or the Lord Peter Whimsey series, you will enjoy Tommy and Tuppence's dialogue. If you love spy stories, you will enjoy the plot of this book. I highly recommend The Secret Adversary to anyone who loves Agatha Christie and to anyone who loves adventure.

Christie's variety can often astound those who first come across her. Whether it be a tense, well plotted detective story, a sharp psycholgical thriller with twists at every turn, an adventure, a spy story, a tale of international intrgue, she never fails to dissappoint. This time she turns her hand to an incredibly exciting adventure story, introducing two heroes who are even more enjoyable to read about than Poirot or Marple. (Perosnally, of all her detective, T&T are my favourites. I wish she'd done more books with them in.)

The story begins incredibly well, aboard the sinking Lusitania. A secret document is passed to a young girl, who escapes the floundering ship. Years later, someone wants that document badly, and is even prepared to kill for it...as it contains secrets which could bring down Britain.

Enter Tommy and Tuppence on the trail, and thus begins an incredibly entertaining tale of intrgue, adventure, and death. Lots of action, lots of suspense, murder and mystery added in for extra spice.

I have to say, i did guess the identity of the culprit (mind you, it was almost the only Agatha Christie book in which i did.) But that is not a bad thing. When, in some cases, you guess the culprit correctly, it can bring the reader an intense sense of satisfaction, knowing that, just this once, Christie didn't manage to outwit you completely. (After all, these books are challenges to the reader to work out "whodunnit" before the detective.)

Tommy and Tuppence are incredibly likeable, and i was immensely pleased to discover that she had written more (if few) books about them.

This one is a refreshing must for all Christie fans. (Mind you, if you are a Christie fan, i need not tell you that. Doubtless you plan to read them all anyway. As you should.)

I started this book in bed, late at night, and had to force myself to stop reading, hours later. It's fast-paced, and I enjoyed all the inside-Washington, D.C., touches. The book jacket says that Davis was an Air Force major, and planned U-2 surveillance missions, so it makes me wonder how much of this "fiction" might be based on things he's seen?

The General is an exciting military-based thriller written by a talented storyteller who knows his subject well and has the ability to make the reader a participant. This is Patrick Davis' first novel, and while he will no doubt become better at character development and scene description, the reader of this remarkable story will not be disappointed. The earlier reviewers who say that the author does not know the military are simply wrong; I'm a Naval Academy graduate, and I served with officers just like the author describes (villains excluded, of course). Those who say the plot was easily guessed are either not being truthful or are unusually perceptive. The plot is intricate yet completely believable as it unfolds. I had to force myself to put the book down so I could get some sleep. Hardcover fiction prices are too high, but as soon as this exciting author's current novel, The Passenger, makes it into paper, I'll spring for a copy. If you are looking for a really exciting pageturner (at a fair price), pick up a copy of The General now.

ALthough Patrick A. Davis is my uncle, I do not read his books purely for that reason but because they are some of the most exciting books out there to read in my opinion. In this book, The General, Patrick's sense of the government, and his great knowledge helped him to write a very gripping book. There is homicide after homicide, and an exciting twist that pretty basically no one saw coming! It grabs your attention and you cannot turn away from it. You are stuck doing guesswork, trying to fit all of the puzzle pieces together to form an overview of the story, and also to try and figure out who is behind the vengefull, meaningless murders. You will never know unless you read the book just how great it is and I would definitly reccomend this wonderful pageturner to anyone who has had a military experience, who is into homicides, crime scene investigations, and putting the puzzle pieces of a book together. If you have read/ would like to read any of W.E.B. Griffin's books, I also highly reccomend this book to you, and if you do not like it, I guarantee it will not be bacause of the writing ability of the author but merely because you did not WANT to like it!