Review of The 7th Victim (Hardcover)

The 7th Victim is a masterpiece! Having read every James Patterson and several Jonathan Kellerman, JD Robb and other spy/murder novels, the 7th Victim ranks up there at the top.Super character development for the lead profiler, Karen.Lots of suspense, turns and twists, and non-stop action --- very difficult to put down.

Jacobson has succeeded in creating an unsettling and suspenseful edge throughout the book --- everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for Karen until it righted itself at the very end.So many family twists that we got to know the whole family intimately by the end, like peeling back an onion, it was done layer by layer - surprise!

I can see the quality attention to detail about profiling, SWAT teams, with the appropriate language and procedures.All genuine and seemed realistic. Very enjoyable and I can see how it could be a great movie!

I also reread The Hunted and enjoyed it again!



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Review of Self-Help (Paperback)

Lorrie Moore has long been a favorite writer of mine.Her short fiction, which has appeared regularly in THE NEW YORKER and elsewhere, is unbeatable.Her humor is sharp, her descriptive powers awesome, and her stories (almost) always feel as though they actually go somewhere.

One of the best pieces in "Self-Help" is probably the first Lorrie Moore piece I ever read."Self-Help" was published the year I graduated from college, and I think a college friend gave me a copy of "How to Become a Writer."Note the "become" instead of "be."Moore acknowledges the process involved in writing and lets her readers know that writers are not sprung fully-formed from the head of Zeus or anyone else.Listen to this beautifully assured, resonant, yet hilarious passage from "How to Become a Writer":

"First, try to be something, anything, else.A movie star/astronaut.A movie star/missionary.A movie star/kindergarten teacher.President of the World.Fail miserably.It is best if you fail at an early age--say, fourteen.Early, critical disillusionment is necessary so that at fifteen you can write long haiku sequences about thwarted desire.It is a pond, a cherry blossom, a wind brushing against sparrow wing leaving for mountain.Count the syllables.Show it to your mom.She is tough and practical.She has a son in Vietnam and a husband who may be having an affair.She believes in wearing brown because it hides spots.She'll look briefly at your writing, then back up at you with a face blank as a doughnut.She'll say: 'How about emptying the dishwasher?'Look away.Shove the forks in the fork drawer.Acccidentally break one of the freebie gas station glasses.This is the required pain and suffering.This is only for starters."

Moore likes to do that--throw in references like Vietnam, then spin things around a little so that it comes out funny.One of my favorite Lorrie Moore bits had to do with a woman who said something awful before she could stop herself--Moore described the blurted insult as being "a lizard with a hat on."Wacko as that sounds, you still know exactly what she means.That is her great gift--she makes life sound wacko and off-kilter, but you completely, utterly GET IT anyway.



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Review of Inside the Live Reptile Tent: The Twilight World of Carnival Midway (Paperback)

Carnival fans and amusement park historians alike will delight in the many beautiful images of a dying breed - the small travelling carnival and family owned amusement parks.Mr. Brouws takes us up close and behind the scenes, and the many nighttime photos of the midway's dazzling lights are worth the price of admission alone.Mr. Caron's colorful commentary is definitely not your usually tepid "guided tours" that so many other amusement industry books offer, with wild insights and historic tidbits that are sure to amuse.Many never before seen photos appear from other photographers personal archives, bringing a rich sense of tradition to the subject at hand.
The final chapter is dedicated to San Francisco's Playland.Mr. Brouws takes a look back at the Playland of his childhood, echoing sentiments from any of us who have spent their afternoons strolling along those tawdry but always fascinating midways of yesterday.We see the peeling paint, the crooked games with cheap prizes, the worn out rides and run-down fun house.But we also realize why these places captivated us, the simple, carefree fun these places held for us for just a few days each summer.The few photos he did take (with his first camera) before the park disappeared combine with his childhood tales to add the perfect epilogue to this colorful story.



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Review of Blonde Like Me: The Roots of the Blonde Myth in Our Culture (Paperback)

"I'm not offended by people who think I'm a dumb blonde, because I know two things they don't: I'm not dumb, and I'm not blonde." -- Dolly Parton

People are just not happy with things as they are. Australopithicus africanus used tools, which means that he willfully andimaginatively altered his environment, and -- even though he was not a truehuman -- probably did the one thing that we humans do best when not makingdecorative cuts in our enemies, which is to make decorative cuts inourselves. People trim, style and color their hair, tattoo their bodies,daub on paint and enhance or minimize sundry parts for the simple reasonthat they can. As soon as a new way of altering the body comes along, wegreet it with glad cries and rejoicing. It's not a fad, it's the humancondition.True blondes -- blondes over the age of six -- are asscarce as hen's teeth. But blonde, as Natalia Ilyin discusses in her witty,poignant book "Blonde Like Me," is a state of mind that disregards exteriorreality in favor of the inner vision. Beginning with the title, itself aclever play on John Howard Griffin's 1959 "Black Like Me," the bookexplores the social condition of people who, because of their coloration,are treated differently by their fellows. In Ilyin's case, better, and inGriffin's case, worse, but the kicker is that neither is what they seem.Natalia Ilyin, 6'2" in her stocking feet, armed cap a pie with blonde hairand high heels has "caused minor traffic accidents,"as well you mightimagine. Blondeness is a metaphor for beauty and allure. Blondeness confersinstant sexual power. What do I mean when I say, in cryptic shorthand,"Tonight I have a date with a blonde"? Natalia knows, and if you read"Blonde Like Me," she'll tell you.

David Lance Goines



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Review of The Enemy Within: The Mcclellan Committee's Crusade Against Jimmy Hoffa And Corrupt Labor Unions (Paperback)

This is a marvelous peek inside Robert Kennedy's efforts against corrupt labor unions.I had long been intrigued with the whole RFK-Jimmy Hoffa "feud," so this was a treat for me. Robert Kennedy's writing style is at once humorous and pragmatic. He provides a detailed account of the inner workings of the McClellan Committee. Moreover, he meticulously describes the corruption within the labor organizations, with particular emphasis on Jimmy Hoffa.A word of warning: When I use words like "detailed" and "meticulously," I'm being serious.The book is a must for anyone interested in RFK, Jimmy Hoffa, the McClellan Committee, or American labor history; but someone who wants an action movie packaged as a book, will probably be disillusioned. Having said that, I loved the book. I highly recommend it.

Product Description
This is the authoritative, compelling account of one of the most famous, consummate, and effective Senate investigations in modern Congressional history. From 1956 to 1959 the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field (chaired by Sen. McClellan and guided by chief counsel Robert Kennedy) heard more than 1500 witnesses and uncovered a shocking story, proving that labor leaders, management, the underworld, and public officials, sometimes in combination, sometimes separately, had worked to cheat and intimidate the rank-and-file union members. These revelations resulted in convictions, tough labor reform legislation, and a public awareness of organized crime's insidious and corrosive influence. Writing crisply, with indignation but also with humor, Kennedy focuses on how unions are bought, sold, and sometimes stolen; how 'democracy' actually operated in Jimmy Hoffa's captive unions and what happened to the men who dared to oppose him; how Hoffa was tried on charges of attempting to plant a spy in the McClellan Committee; how an investigating committee works; how the Committee resisted external pressures, threats, and ploys to derail its efforts; and more. The Enemy Within is illuminated by firsthand knowledge and charged with the fire of personal conviction. With a new introduction by the chairman of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, this book remains a vivid testament to Robert Kennedy's early commitment to equal justice for leaders and laborers alike.

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Review of The Knife and Gun Club: Scenes from an Emergency Room (Paperback)

The Knife and Gun Club gives a candid and uncensored look into Denver General Hospital's Emergency Room and Paramedic Division. Richards has captured the spirit of the personell of the Denver General ER.As an EMTtrained at Denver General and the daughter of one of Denver General's firstparamedics, I found this book very accurate and true to life.It spares nodetail and gives the true flavor of one of the nations top trauma centersand emergency departments.If you have any interest in the emergencyfield, I suggest you read this book for a truthful look into an emergencyroom and the lives of the people who work in the emergency system.Thisbook is fabulous, and very well written. Richards pulls the reader in toDenver General and all its supporting emergency systems.I have never reada better documentation or representation of the way emergency medicine inall its aspects truely is.

Product Description
A best-selling photo-essay by an award-winning photographer captures the day-to-day drama of a Denver emergency room in more than a hundred black-and-white photographs, interviews with hospital personnel, and transcripts of radio communication. Reissue.

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