DWD's Reviews

Great thriller Psychologist Michael Stone (a female, despite the name)has spent quite a bit of time interviewing Alex B. Willy, pedophile and sadist. When he gets out of prison due to a technicality, she knows he'll come after her because she is the only one who knows the twisted way his mind actually works, despite his charming demeanor. We follow Stone as she tries to work through her out-of-whack personal life, some demanding clients and the omni-present threat of Willy. Interestingly, Willy is not fleshed out much as a character. This works well, in that Willy becomes more of an unknown threat to the reader - a man capable of anything - but we don't know where he is likely to come from or what he is likely to do. Fault Lines is surprisingly well-done, (I say surprising because a lot of thrillers featuring psychiatrists tend to get bogged down in jargon) and Stone is prickly but likable. Her world is peopled with interesting, but not terribly well-developed characters

More of a portrait, less of a traditional movie Monte Walsh is not a plot-driven movie so much as it is a portrait of that moment in time when the Old West was disappearing and the men who made the Old West what it was had to adjust, die or just fade away. It is beautifully shot and there is a lot of attention to detail. If one is looking for a ton of action, this is not the western you are looking for. But, if you love cowboy movies this one is a real treat. It would make the watcher wistful for those days when the horse ruled the west, except that you know that Monte Walsh would have none of that pointless sentiment. No living actor looks more like a cowboy should than Tom Selleck and I'd be thrilled if he focused on those movies for the rest of his career. I rate this movie 4 stars out of 5. This movie can be found on Amazon.com here: Monte Walsh . Reviewed on October 4, 2004.

Good story but not terribly original, but fun nonetheless. Read by Boyd Gaines Approximately 3 hours I heard Vespers as an abridged audiobook and I will talk about that aspect at the end. If you saw any of Hollywood's animal disaster B movies (Giant ants, snakes, bugs, etc. that attack humanity) than you get the idea behind this book. Normally placid bats are attacking people and gathering in a murderous swarm above New York City. Meanwhile, something else - something very large - is killing people in the subway tunnels. Will the animal expert and the rough cop be able to save the day? Even though the plot is formulaic, I still found myself wanting to know what happened next. I couldn't wait to pop the tape in the player as soon as I got in the car! The audiobook is read by Boyd Gaines who does a phenomenal job. Every character has a unique and distinct voice in accent. 5 stars for him, if I could. I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. Reviewed on September

I admit it, I saw the name on the cover and picked it up... ...and after the first 50 pages I thought to myself, "Uh-oh. He's done it again and screwed up for all of the world to see." In case you were under a rock during the O.J. Simpson trial - Darden was the male prosecutor. And, it first it did seem that Lawless was floundering and going to be another bust for Darden. Christopher Darden during the infamous O.J. trial. However, what I mistook for floundering was actually the plot being carefully laid out - including intricate subplots, betrayals (lots of betrayals) and bizarre dead ends that mislead the reader to the very last page. When you finally get a handle on what the bad guys are up to you then wonder which guys are the bad guys, which are the good guys and who is just out for themselves. When this book finally played out, it was well worth the initial confusion. I'll be looking for more books. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found o

An excellent, gripping, morally challenging novel. Published by HarperAudio in 2000. Read by Campbell Scott. Duration: Approximately 3 hours. Abridged. I am reviewing Rising Phoenix as an abridged audiobook and will make specific comments on that aspect of it at the end of this review. I have drudged and slogged my way through a number of books and books on tape lately and this one was like a bolt of lightning - it came out of nowhere and really was a welcome surprise for me. I won't go into many of the plot details - however, this is a great bit of writing. The premise is thought-provoking, to say the least. The main idea is that someone decides to poison the supply of illegal drugs in order to truly scare everyone straight. The idea of drugs killing you are no longer just an abstract possibility, it is an immediate reality. In a nice twist, the antagonist is well-developed and the protagonists are not. The story is plot-driven and by that I mean we don't get bogg

A Truly Enjoyable Meandering History Publishers Weekly criticized this book The Pursuit of Happiness in Times of War for not truly exploring the meanings behind Jefferson's famous phrase from the Declaration of Independence that lists among the rights of all people the rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." To be fair to Cannon, he does explore that and both explicitly and implicitly tells the reader that the genius of the phrase is that it is so hard to define. It can be used by people from all over the political landscape to define their goals and they are all using it correctly (I think he does this rather brilliantly in the chapter concerning anti-war protesters vs. George W. Bush.) The Publishers Weekly review correctly points out that Cannon's focus is, at times, lacking. However, the text is still informative and well-written. I would compare it to a pleasant conversation that strays a bit from its original focus but eventually does retu