DWD's Reviews

Not very complicated plot, lots of info about rescue dogs I have not read a Koontz book for over five years but a relative passed this one off to me in an informal family book exchange. What did I think? Having just added a rescue dog to our family the week I started reading this book I had some interest in one of the over-arching theme of the book: the tragedy of wasting the lives that fills our world, especially those of our pets. Koontz hits his other basic themes such as good vs. evil and the good cannot flee evil - they must confront it. But, was it a good book? Yes and no. I read it quickly - Koontz's writing style remains breezy and easy to digest. But, the evil sociopaths were so over the top that I felt that they weren't even interesting. Their prisoner is so saintly that she is equally over the top. Dean Koontz The extended lecture on the need for adopting dogs gets old after a bit. Maybe it's a preaching to the choir thing, but I was alread

An enthusiastic 5 stars! A fantastic book. Published in 2009. I was offered  Joker One  as part of the Amazon Vine program and I decided to take it because I am a history teacher and I decided I needed to read a book about the Iraq War just to have a greater sense of what was/is going on and to be able to speak more intelligently about it to my classes. So, I picked  Joker One  and I let it sit on my pile of books. I let it sit and sit because I was afraid it would be preachy, depressing and difficult. Finally, with classes over I picked up  Joker One  and I was hooked by page 2 with Lt. Campbell's description of an explosion that he had just avoided. It was filled with honest emotions, including a bit of honest, self-deprecating humor. I shot through Joker One . I carried it everywhere I went. I read passages to my long-suffering wife. I told her shortened versions of the stories. Literally, I laughed (his account of their first night mission and the pack of dogs is hila

Fun story, but not completely resolved Mark Milhone's memoir about his self-described "Year from Hell", marriage troubles, a reconciliation with his dad and a road trip to pick up a used BMW he purchased on E-Bay (who does that?) is a fun, sad read. Millhone tells his story about the death of his mother, the death of his first dog, the near-death of his newborn son, the dogbite his oldest son suffers and the deterioration of his marriage. So, does he resolve these issues? Not really. Mark Milhone with the BMW He tells his story in an entertaining manner. His relationship with his father is strengthened (as a kid, his father sent his number one man from the office to take him to see The Empire Strikes Back because he has no time for his family) but the other issues are not fixed, there is just a renewed resolve to work on them. Nonetheless, it's still a fun read - good for a summer trip. Lots of parts to read and discuss with others in the

Fits the Bill Perfectly Some people have criticized this book for not having enough detail. Well, this book is just intended to be an introduction to a number of the world's great religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Shinto. The descriptions are short (20-40 pages) and full of enough detail to give the reader a useful outline of the religion's teachings. For more detail on a particular religion, I would recommend the 'Complete Idiot's Guide to Islam (or Buddhism, or Judaism, etc.) I was searching for a textbook to use for my school's new 9 weeks-long program on world religions. This book fits the bill perfectly - there is enough here to get us off to a very good start towards discussing any of these religions. Less useful are the sections on similar ideas that span all world religions and the section on ancient and (basically) dead religions such as worship of the Ancient Egyptian and Greek gods.

Sunny and Spenser's worlds come ever so closer together... Melancholy Baby  is probably my 40th plus Parker book. While the Jesse Stone series was much improved by its last offering, I think this was the weakest of the Sunny Randall series. The mystery part of  Melancholy Baby  was excellent, but Sunny spends forever in a day seeing Susan Silverman, expert psycholgist and also Spenser's girlfriend. The book gets bogged down with too much detail about feelings, Oedipal complexes and the like. Robert B. Parker Don't get me wrong, I like Sunny and I'll read the next Sunny Randall book. I'm just hoping that this book was a bridge to Sunny going on to bigger and better things and moving away from this self-pitying/loathing over her strange relationship with her ex-husband. One has to wonder, will Spenser and Randall bump into one another? Randall knows cops that Spenser knows, she's been to his girlfriend's house... Do I want to see that? yes and no

My first Elvis Cole novel - not my last I heard Voodoo River   as an audiobook way back in 2005 - it was not my first choice but I gave it a shot and I was very pleased. The story was convoluted but had a real feel to it. Elvis is tough, but not Superman. The situation was complicated but not impossible. Robert Crais I seem destined to be perpetually out of sync with Elvis and the real order of his series. Voodoo River is #5 in the Elvis Cole series. In Voodoo River , Elvis leaves Los Angeles for the Louisiana bayou country in search of the birth parents of a Hollywood starlet who is in need of some medical information. Soon enough, Cole finds himself in trouble with the local crime boss who has a special use for alligators.  If you are familiar with the series (as I now am) this book is pivotal as it is where Cole meets Lucy . For Crais (the author) this is a homecoming of sorts since he was raised in Louisiana.The audiobook was well-read and the reader added a lot to i