Book Description
Dry Bones Rattling offers the first in-depth treatment of how to rebuild the social capital of America's communities while promoting racially inclusive, democratic participation. The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) network in Texas and the Southwest is gaining national attention as a model for reviving democratic life in the inner city--and beyond. This richly drawn study shows how the IAF network works with religious congregations and other community-based institutions to cultivate the participation and leadership of Americans most left out of our elite-centered politics. Interfaith leaders from poor communities of color collaborate with those from more affluent communities to build organizations with the power to construct affordable housing, create job-training programs, improve schools, expand public services, and increase neighborhood safety.
In clear and accessible prose, Mark Warren argues that the key to revitalizing democracy lies in connecting politics to community institutions and the values that sustain them. By doing so, the IAF network builds an organized, multiracial constituency with the power to advance desperately needed social policies. While Americans are most aware of the religious right, Warren documents the growth of progressive faith-based politics in America. He offers a realistic yet hopeful account of how this rising trend can transform the lives of people in our most troubled neighborhoods. Drawing upon six years of original fieldwork, Dry Bones Rattling proposes new answers to the problems of American democracy, community life, race relations, and the urban crisis.
Customer Reviews:
Capturing the story.......2001-10-20
Most books from the Ivory Tower about community organizers tend to leave out the human side of things. Instead, Warren makes such efforts come alive on a human level. Not only does he capture the challenges the group faces, he captures the story. He lets the organizers speak directly to the reader. As more and more of the nation's big cities become "majority minority," we will need books like this one that address head-on thorny issues of cross-racial cooperation. Bottom line: it's a very entertaining read.
Book Description
God’s Spirit once took the prophet Ezekiel to a vast valley filled with brittle, parched-dry bones—a potent picture of widespread spiritual dryness. But by the Word of God proclaimed through Ezekiel’s mouth, those piles of bones took on sinew and flesh and skin, then were infused with life-giving, wind-driven breath from the Spirit of God. A sweeping vista of skeletons was turned instead into a force of fired-up warriors ready to do battle for the Lord. A transformation just as dramatic is what God wants to generate in our individual lives today and in the life of His church.
Dry Bones Dancing is about escaping religious dryness to move on to true spiritual passion. The results will be an experience of supernatural power and peace in the presence of God as you are invited to go deeper and see God’s character and glory as never before.
Broken . . . Whole
Parched . . . Flourishing
Dry Bones . . . Dancing
Is the landscape of your spirit all too desert-like? Then it’s time for a change. It’s time for a miracle. And God is ready to give it to you.
Author and speaker Dr. Tony Evans boldly declares the truth: God’s people are not meant to dwell in a lifeless valley. But if we are to embrace pure joy and rich passion once again, God requires a humble heart. Evans shows desert-dwellers how to pinpoint what brought them there in the first place—and how to get out.
Experience spiritual nourishment and vitality once again. And get ready…
…to dance!
[INSIDE LEFT FLAP]
[Head: ]
When Your Spirit Is a Desert…
You need more than a drink. You need an entirely new landscape!
When God transformed a valley full of useless bones into a formidable army of living warriors in the book of Ezekiel, He knew you would need the same breath of life today. Now God wants to return you to a place of joy and abundant freedom.
Dry Bones Dancing provides a beautiful picture of the miraculous change that God initiated in Ezekiel’s time and intends to do again…for you.
[Back Flap]
[Insert author picture: Tony Evans]
Tony Evans , the first African-American to graduate with a doctoral degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, is senior pastor of the 7,000-member Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship and president of The Urban Alternative, a national organization that seeks to bring about spiritual renewal in urban America. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 500 stations daily throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Lois Evans, his wife, best friend, and long-time collaborator, is the coauthor of several books and has recorded two albums. Tony and Lois have four children and five grandchildren.
Story Behind the Book
After many years of ministering to Christians burned out by religion and spiritually dry, Tony Evans searched the Scriptures for answers to share with everyone who is seeking to rekindle their passion for God. He found the perfect passage in Ezekiel. Through his study of the story, he bolstered his own spiritual passion, and now he shares it with those seeking to be rebuilt and reenergized by and for God.
Customer Reviews:
WOW! How oddly specific..........2007-08-29
I have just started reading this book and it is like Tony is inside my head and my heart! I am just like HEY! HOW DID HE KNOW I FELT LIKE THAT! It is awesome so far I will comment back when I am done... if your wondering I say buy it!
Customer Reviews:
Truly smart writing about gay culture........1998-09-28
Rofes look at gay life and culture--including his own--is the most refreshing take on gay male sexuality I have read in ten years. Yes, he takes on other gay writers, but he takes on their ideas, he doesn't attack them. His insights into the AIDS crisis, and how gay men are adjusting to a post-crisis era, are profoundly moving. I would recommend this book to anyone who's had it with scoldings from gay white puritans and reactive posturing of gay radicals. Rofes occupies the sensible center of the new sex wars, and does so with grace, tact, and style. A very important book.
Good message - bad messenger........1998-09-05
In addition to authoring a well-reasoned argument for declaring an end to the AIDS "crisis," Rofes offers a spirited rebuttal of Signorile, Rotello, Kramer et al. It's too bad he's so militantly self-important about it. Incredibly, one (long) chapter describes the terrible dilemma he faced having to choose between UC Berkeley and Harvard. He then goes on to denounce his opponents as "privileged"! The odd Biblical reference in the title makes a little more sense once you get to the part where Rofes calls for a gay version of Promise Keepers. It's easy to picture the author fantasizing about pushing Signorile, Rotello and Kramer out of the way so that he can once and for all be recognized as the true gay Moses.
Customer Reviews:
Misleading as a "science book".......2007-02-06
While this book does give some valid information about fossils, it is really a Christian book about the Flood and how the Bible can explain different scientific phenomenon. I am a Christian, but I am also a public school teacher and it would definately not be appropriate for school use. My mom had ordered this book for my second grade class, but I can't even bring it in and read parts of it because of the constant references to God and Noah's flood being caused by sin, etc.
Excellent Resource Confirming the Flood.......2005-10-06
This book is very engaging and effective in giving young students an understanding of the world impact of the Biblical Flood. It is well illustrated and provides simple experiments such as to visualize the outcome of post-flood soil layers. I highly recommend it for all Christian parents as a first step in understanding the historical and scientific truths of the Bible.
pseudoscience book.......2004-08-14
I am disappointed and concerned that Amazon groups this book in with earth science. It should be classified with religious books or in a separate category altogether. This is NOT SCIENCE! It is taking a foregone conclusion and selecting parts of evidence the author "likes" while ignoring evidence that refutes his conclusions.
Awesome Book!!.......2002-11-04
This book is very good because it is a switch off book. That means that a kid reads and then a dad reads. It tells how God brought the Flood and made the fossils.
Good Book!.......2002-11-04
Me, my mom, my brother and sister read "Dry Bones and Other Fossils" by Dr. Gary Parker. I thought this was a very good book. You should read it because it teaches us about how evolution and creation are completely different. I rate this book five stars.
Book Description
Mr. Rudolph R. Windsor, has a fascinating compilation of history, antropology, sociology, and theology. Drawing extensively from the Bible and many works by eminient scholars in various disciplines, the author has created a work that is at once inspiring and intriguing. He seeks to prove that the black people, more properly called "Black Israelites," are truly God's chosen people and as such, should become more aware of their unique heritage. The Valley of the Dry Bones represents a first step in this amirable endeavor.
Customer Reviews:
a must read with 2 issues.......2006-11-01
i love this book. i've read it about 5 times and it's changed my life (along with scripture). every brother in america should read this, as we are the valley of the dry bones that ezekiel spoke of.
2 very important issues though,
windsor corroborates the popular belief that hyksos were in egypt as the ruling class when the israelites were there and later enslaved. however these hyksos were called "shepherd kings" but joseph told his family that the pharaoh thought shepherds were abominations and inferior before they entered egypt, so this could have only been native egyptians who ruled at the time, Hamites aka "black africans".
secondly, the israelites were not enslaved for four hundred years in egypt. the total time they spent in egypt was 430 years, so after the first 30, slavery should have begun if the prophecy of genesis 15:13 were about egypt. if you follow the life span of joseph, you'll see that he was buried as an egyptian (embalmed and mourned by the people of the land). if the israelites were enslaved, how could joseph had been a vice royal in the land and been buried with honor? it wasn't a secret that he was a hebrew, and slaves in ethnocentric egypt would not have embalmed just anyone. i mean, the israelites were brought in to egypt with the pharaoh's chariots, not in ships and in chains (as dueteronomy 28:68 says slavery will occur). furthermore to close this topic, i just want to point out that the bible says (in exodus) that there came a pharaoh that didn't know joseph (who lived to be 110). this means some time passed between the life of joseph and the slavery of the israelites. we can see that 30 years isn't enough time to forget a man who was mourned and loved by the masses. this tells us that the slavery didn't last four hundred years. if you understand this prophecy, you'll see that the trans-atlantic slave trade is the one in prophecy, which coincides with this book. Israelites are the black masses who have lost their history and traces of their ancestry. we are the valley of the dry bones. 1ove and halleluYAH!
Valley of the dry bones.......2005-08-10
This is a pretty awesome book, should be read by all!
I FOUND THE BOOK STARTLING, AND INFORMATIVE........1999-10-24
I HAVE SEEN VIDEOS AND READ SOME BOOKS ON THIS SUBJECT, BUT I FIND THIS BOOK ESPECIALLY COMPELLING FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS; THE POINT OF VIEW THE BOOK TAKES THE READER, AND THE INFORMATION AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SUPPORTING FACTS OF HIS POINT OF VIEW.
Book Description
Native converts to Christianity, dubbed "praying Indians" by seventeenth-century English missionaries, have long been imagined as benign cultural intermediaries between English settlers and "savages." More recently, praying Indians have been dismissed as virtual inventions of the colonists: "good" Indians used to justify mistreatment of "bad" ones. In a new consideration of this religious encounter, Kristina Bross argues that colonists used depictions of praying Indians to create a vitally important role for themselves as messengers on an evangelical "errand into the wilderness" that promised divine significance not only for the colonists who had embarked on the errand, but also for their metropolitan sponsors in London.
In Dry Bones and Indian Sermons, Bross traces the response to events such as the English civil wars and Restoration, New England's Antinomian Controversy, and "King Philip's" war. Whatever the figure's significance to English settlers, praying Indians such as Waban and Samuel Ponampam used their Christian identity to push for status and meaning in the colonial order. Through her focused attention to early evangelical literature and to that literature's historical and cultural contexts, Bross demonstrates how the people who inhabited, manipulated, and consumed the praying Indian identity found ways to use it for their own, disparate purposes.
Customer Reviews:
great service.......2006-08-31
just what my husband was looking for; service and condition was more than what was promised. thanks
Average customer rating:
- If Carl Hiaasen was Texan...
- Hilarious Slap-Stick Sequel to Buck Fever
- didn't hesitate
- Bone Dry a great read!
- strong, humorous regional game warden procedural
|
Bone Dry: A Blanco County, Texas, Novel (Blanco County, Texas, Novels)
Ben Rehder
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Comic
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Series
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Comic
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Series
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Buck Fever: A Blanco County, Texas, Novel (Blanco County, Texas, Novels)
-
Flat Crazy: A Blanco County, Texas, Novel (Blanco County, Texas, Novels)
-
Guilt Trip: A Blanco County, Texas, Novel (Blanco County, Texas, Novels)
-
Gun Shy: A Blanco County, Texas, Novel (Blanco County, Texas, Novels)
-
Southtown
ASIN: 0312994605
Release Date: 2004-08-03 |
Book Description
The opening of deer season always brings a Texas-sized wave of excitement to sleepy Blanco County, but this year, game warden John Marlin is finding mysteries as thick as ticks on a whitetail's rump. First, there are reports of a blonde bombshell who's been raising Cain with hunters, scaring away wildlife and trashing vehicles. Then, there's the tragic discovery of a local man shot to death and left in his deer blind. Further muddying the watering holes are the schemes of a recently relocated East Coast wiseguy now called Sal Mameli, who along with his son Vinnie-a wannabe gangster with more muscles than brains-has been trying to corner the area's lucrative brush-clearing market. And finally, a feisty old rancher has disappeared, leaving behind a trail of blood and enough questions to keep both John Marlin and the local sheriff chasing their tails for some time to come.Just as he did in his Edgar Award-nominated novel Buck Fever, Ben Rehder serves up a generous helping of murder, mystery and down-home humor in a place where the sun is hot, the beer is cold, and 'most every neck is good and red.
Customer Reviews:
If Carl Hiaasen was Texan..........2007-03-15
I listened to the audio edition of this book and my comments pertain to that edition.
I read the first book in Rehder's Blanco County series last year and enjoyed it. When I got the chance to listen to the second on audio, I jumped at it. If possible, I liked the second even more than the first.
If you love the zany Floridian adventures of authors like Tim Dorsey and Carl Hiaasen, you will probably want to take a side trip to Blanco County. As those authors do, Rehder throws a bunch of semi-competent crooked folks (in this case including a Mafia family in hiding), a few well meaning folks (this time around it's a couple of tree-huggin' types trying to save a rare bird from all the brush clearing going on) and in the middle of it, a bemused decent good guy trying to sort out all the events. The center of the Blanco County novels is game warden John Marlin, who does his best to stay sane and sort out the string of bizarre events.
He has his hands full in this second book, as some bodies turn up, others go missing, and that's in between the eco-terrorism, county jail hostage stand-off, Marlin's personal life going to hell, and oh, yeah, opening week of hunting season. Rehder does a fine job of juggling multiple plot lines and a huge cast of supporting characters while keeping all the threads moving toward a neatly wrapped up conclusion. I could often see where the plot was going a few chapters ahead of time but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride nevertheless.
The unabridged audiobook is competently read (I'm sorry I don't have the name of the narrator). While nothing was particularly gained or lost by listening to the book rather than reading it, I didn't have to put the book down to do chores like washing dishes--as long as you aren't listening in places where people will give you strange looks if you occasionally laugh out loud while listening.
I recommend this book and the whole Blanco County series to anyone who likes a light, funny mystery, particularly fans of the Carl Hiaasen style.
Hilarious Slap-Stick Sequel to Buck Fever.......2005-03-05
If you enjoyed the outrageous humor in Buck Fever about cross-species sexuality and good old boys poaching deer, you will be thrilled with Bone Dry. The talented Mr. Rehder has added more targets for his humor, made them funnier and further developed the excellent goofballs, Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock.
In Bone Dry, you will find Italian mobsters mixing it up with the local Texas drunks, a supermodel who uses her looks and her scent to save endangered species, lots of brush-busting and scams galore. In the middle of all the resulting mayhem, John Marlin, the Lone Ranger of game wardens, finds himself running the investigation into a hunter's suspicious death.
The book combines a satire of the Godfather, a Carl Hiaasen-type story about Texas, an excellent police procedural, lots of environmental lessons and a love story with enough irony to keep your eyes blinking with surprise for days. It's a remarkable, guffaw-inducing achievement.
Save this book for the next time you really need a good laugh.
I recommend that you also go on to read the latest book in the series, Flat Crazy, which is even better than Bone Dry.
didn't hesitate.......2004-07-12
i didn't hesitate to pick up ben rehder's second book when i saw it and was not disappointed.....this book was even more fun than the first one.....peace mary
Bone Dry a great read!.......2003-09-08
Murder and mayhem in the Hill Country? A comedy mystery a hunter could love? A compelling read you'll want to finish in one sitting? "Bone Dry," Ben Rehder's latest novel answers: Yes, yes, and yes.
Witness protection program member Sal Mameli, has been relocated to Blanco County in hopes of avoiding his old "associates." Learning there's big money in cedar clearing, he quickly succumbs to old criminal tendencies. Only this time, Game Warden John Marlin is there to see things don't get out of hand.
Enter a six-foot blonde bombshell activist, bent on saving the Red-necked Sapsucker -- an endangered bird dependent on cedar, and the action begins. While Marlin tries to keep the peace, the murders pile up.
I dove into Bone Dry not knowing what to expect, and surfaced pleasantly surprised. The 339 page yarn grabs and holds your attention, reads quickly, and keeps you laughing -- making it hard to come up for air. Rehder does a good job weaving several action-packed sub-plots into one good story, while avoiding superfluous detail.
"Bone Dry" is Rehder's second mystery novel. His first, "Buck Fever," was nominated for the prestigious Edgar, the murder-mystery writer's Oscar.
An avid hunter from childhood and advertising copywriter for twenty years, Rehder is relatively new to story telling.
"I wrote my first book at 37. I'd always wanted to write a novel, but on what? I was told, write what you know. Well, I know deer hunting and I know the Hill Country, so my choices were obvious."
Asked about advice for aspiring writers, he urges: "Go for it! You'll never know unless you give it a stab. I'm glad I did. I only regret it wasn't sooner."
Rehder pens his tales from a small hilltop cabin in Blanco County. When not writing, he's hunting. "I'll hunt 3-4 days a week during deer season," says Rehder. "Bow and rifle seasons combined, I'm almost burned out by the time it's all over."
Let's hope Rehder doesn't get burned out - on hunting or writing. We'll be worse off if he does.
To any Texan who's picked up a deer rifle - pick up Bone Dry. But be warned, you'll have trouble putting it down.
strong, humorous regional game warden procedural.......2003-09-04
Blanco County, Texas Game Warden John Martin knows that the opening day of deer hunting season is always a disaster, but this time the hunters come up with a new one. Apparently a six-foot blonde Amazon has wrecked the deer blinds of the locals using an assortment of tricks and devices and which even includes peeing on them. This female ghost even shot up Rodney Bauer's pick-up using the man's 12-gauge that she easily took from the paralyzed man in shock by her beauty.
As John works on his relationship with Nurse Becky, environmentalist Inga Mueller has become an avenging angel. She is dedicated to protecting endangered species from the ravages of the hunters. However, though her victims drive John crazy, he considers her a minor amusing nuisance especially when compared to the rash of corpses that suddenly surface.
Readers who appreciate a strong yet humorous regional police procedural, game warden style, will want to peruse BONE DRY. This is a great tale that leaves the audience laughing at the antics of the secondary cast along side a bemused John that is until the murders start. However, the key to this terrific who-done-it is the mystery is first rate and the characters are fully developed so that the audience receives a fabulous plot that will send newcomers seeking more works from Ben Rehder.
Harriet Klausner
Average customer rating:
- From a book club
- Interesting ideas about our ancestors...
- HISTORY is GREAT, October 18, 2002
- A Bone From A Dry Sea
- A fascinating view on evolution
|
A Bone From a Dry Sea (21st Century Reference)
Peter Dickinson
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Adventure & Thrillers
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Dickinson, Peter
| ( D )
| Authors, A-Z
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
( D )
| Authors, A-Z
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Adventure & Thrillers
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Boy of the Painted Cave
-
Dar and the Spear Thrower
-
Maroo of the Winter Caves
-
The Ropemaker
-
The Kin
ASIN: 0440219280
Release Date: 1995-05-01 |
Customer Reviews:
From a book club.......2007-09-08
I recently joined a new book club with my local museum. I am planning on being a teacher and thought it would be could to give this book club a dry run before I am in a classroom. This is the book I selected to read.
It had a nice pace. I enjoyed the author's choice of volleying between two time periods having both stories converge. Although this was a fictional read, I felt like I was right there in Africa on a dig. The author included many modern day issues political, professional and personal. I also felt like I was right there millions of years ago watching a story play out. As you read, you think that maybe we are not so different from our ancestors afterall. It was a fun escape.
Interesting ideas about our ancestors..........2004-03-07
There are really two, very parallel, stories told in this book, and they are only separated by a couple of million years. In the present, a young teenager named Vinny has convinced her mother to let her spend summer vacation with her father in Africa. Her father, Sam, is working in an archeological site in Africa without much success. Vinny turns out to be his good luck charm. Flip back to the past and we see a teenager called Li that is half-ape, half-human that thinks way beyond her time. Each chapter goes back and forth between past and present. A couple of times I was lost in the paleontology talk and the present storyline was a bit boring, but I liked the author's way of describing the past storyline.
HISTORY is GREAT, October 18, 2002.......2002-10-21
The book was great and people don't appreciate the topics stated in the book. Many people just skimmed through the book and found it horrible but if you read it for meaning, you will find the book to be very good.
A Bone From A Dry Sea.......2002-10-21
I had to read the book "A Bone From A Dry Sea" for school and since no one else in my group wanted to read it, I ended up reading it and loving it. The book tells about the adventures of "Li" a girl who lived in Africa 4 million years ago and the story also talks about the life of a girl named "Vinny" who discovers the remains of a dolphin's shoulder blade and who also discovered some of Li's life when she visited her father in Africa.
A fascinating view on evolution.......2002-05-12
A Bone From a Dry Sea is an overall good book. Allthough some parts were I admit a little boring the book brings up some very important topics. I felt I could relate to the present main charactor Vinny. Li was another question. Even though it was hard to relate to Li, I found the part of the book concerning her to be very interesting. The way Li thought and used trial and error was what kept the book interesting, that and the parts of Vinny getting to know her dad...
Customer Reviews:
You have to watch books originating in Britain.......2007-07-11
I've noticed that more than one of Peter Robinson's books have two titles. I just figured it is because British books often have different titles than they have in the US. I had to check the author's page on line to keep the order straight, but I found the extra effort worth it.
Sixth Book in the Series.......2007-05-23
It was the middle of the night when Chief Inspector Alan Banks arrived at the barn and saw Keith Rothwell for the first time or perhaps it would be better to say what was left of him. A short time earlier two masked men had brought the quiet accountant out of his farmhouse and blasted him with a shotgun
It was pretty obvious that this was a pre-meditated killing, the sort that a large wad of cash could buy, no questions asked, but Rothwell was not the sort of person to make enemies, certainly not ones that wanted to kill him. The investigation only muddies the water even more.
The deeper Banks digs the more he wanders what lies beneath the surface of the apparently happy and contented Rothwell family. When is old sparring partner Detective Superintendent Burgess arrives from Scotland Yard, the case takes yet another unexpected turn . . .
Just Average or Worse: Inspector Banks is not a Sympathetic Character Here........2007-03-03
This is an early book in the Banks series. Robinson has written almost 20 novels. This is approximately #8 written about 7 years after the first. In the early novels - including the present work - there is a lot of filler trivia on life in the UK. He manages to graduate from that in later works and goes on to write more complex and better novels.
As a side note, the present book is available from Pan as ISBN 0330 43265 6 which is two novels in one book, i.e.: In a Dry Season and Dry Bones That Dream. That is a great value since you get two Peter Robinson novels for the price of one.
I did not read Final Account, and perhaps it is identical or similar, but I have read about six novels in the Inspector Banks series of the near 20 Robinson novels in print. I liked most of the other novels. But my impression here is that Dry Bones is probably the worst of the lot.
This present novel has the potential to be his best but it might be his worst. It is short; it is well balanced and has a good story that keeps the reader entertained. It is not bad for a quick light read. But it has many flaws, too many flaws to be a good novel. The first 50 pages are good and then Robinson seems to lose his way and wander as the obvious plot unfolds.
A major flaw is that Robinson talks down to the reader. First of all the plot is transparent, and I could figure it all out after about 30 or 40 pages and found the 10 page plot summary at the end - which goes on and on - just goofy. There was no need to explain an obvious plot to the reader.
Secondly, the novel is crammed with useless trivia. One is supposed to accept that Banks is a classical music buff who would rather go into a music store than solve the case. Peter Robinson insists on describing to the reader countless descriptions of classical music, other novels, single malt scotch whisky, etc that are just filler materials that detract from the story. The story itself becomes very much watered down. It looks as if Peter Robinson made some sort of research trip to Leeds for a few weeks taking notes and must now drag the reader though all of his observations. It does not work here. When Banks goes into a bar, a short description is all that is needed, not an endless inventory of the liquor. And, does Banks have to have a pint in his hand at every meeting? Do police in Leeds meet only in pubs?
Because he spends so much time on trivia in a short novel, the characters are not developed and after a while it is hard for the reader to relate to Inspector Banks. Compared to - as an example - Dry Season, this is a weak effort. I guess if you write 20 there will be a few duds in the bunch. This is one.
The pity here is that the novel has great potential which is never realized. So I pose the question: is this his worst?
I have been reading a number of the Banks novels and also recommend some of the Detective Wallander series by Henning Mankell. He has less trivia padding and more action. He has nine novels in the series and I read seven. The stories are set in southern Sweden near Malmo-Copenhagen. Two 5 star novels by Mankell are One Step Behind and Faceless Killers.
Neutral recommendation: 3 stars.
Exact Book As Final Account.......2005-11-11
I wish I had read the reviews before ordering this book. I read all of Robinson and was delighted to see a "new" title. When I received it, it was familiar right away, but I knew I had not read any book by this title. This is a Pan paperback publication, and Final Account is an American publication. I expected the Final Account copywright page to list "Previously published as...", but it was not there. It was not possible to "look inside the book" to get the copywright date, so I don't know how you would have avoided this error, except to have read the reviews. Actually, it was ok the second time around!
What a Rip-Off!.......2005-03-17
This book is Identical in every way to "Final Account" except for the title and the Copyright date! It is even listed by Amazon as a recomendation to those who bought Final Account which is how I wound up with it. Imagine my disappointment when I opened the book to find this out. I enjoyed Final Account but it really steams me to have paid for it TWICE!
Product Description
Men everywhere are sensing that something is missing from the life of the church. We have a form of religion but no power. The joy of sacrifice is gone. Complacency is the norm.
Books:
- Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust
- Every Heart Restored: A Wife's Guide to Healing in the Wake of a Husband's Sexual Sin (The Every Man Series)
- Faking It: How to Seem Like a Better Person Without Actually Improving Yourself
- Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood of Traveling Pants, Book 4)
- Front-End Analysis and Return on Investment Toolkit (Learning and Performance Toolkit Series)
- Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry
- Ghettonation: A Journey Into the Land of Bling and Home of the Shameless
- Giraffes Can't Dance
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Principles of Marketing
- History: Fiction or Science
- Black Film/White Money
- Conservation Is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea
- Essentials of Stage Management
- Haywire: Poems
- Field Guide to Alaskan Wildflowers: Commonly Seen Along Highways and Byways
- Mean-Variance Analysis in Portfolio Choice and Capital Markets
- Administracion y Estrategia - Enfoque
- Code Of Conduct For Responsible Fisheries, 2004