Amazon.com
In the second of the "Merlin Missions"--hardback additions to Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series--plucky heroes Jack and Annie must once again must travel back in time to rescue Camelot from looming danger.
One wonders why Merlin can't handle this sort of thing himself, but then of course we wouldn't get a chance to see Jack and Annie have another seat-of-the-pants adventure, getting mixed up with shape-shifting magic, armies of birds, a puzzling gem of power, and all sorts of other trouble. With the help of their old pal Teddy (Morgan le Fay's apprentice, last seen in dog form in four earlier Tree House stories), the two "Master Librarians and Magicians of Everyday Magic" must solve the mystery behind a castle full of ghosts and a menacing army of ravens. Not surprisingly, half the trouble comes in unraveling Merlin's riddles and helping Teddy use his rhyming magic correctly.
Osborne doesn't challenge readers overmuch (including the constant restatement of plot elements, perhaps worried that kids might otherwise forget or lose interest) and many parts of the story barely convince (like Teddy's "period" dialogue, e.g., "'Tis cool indeed"), but fans of the Magic Tree House will no doubt love another installment. (Ages 6 to 9) --Paul Hughes
Book Description
The intrepid Jack and Annie are summoned once again to the fantasy realm of Camelot. There, Merlin the Magician tells them that the Stone of Destiny has been stolen. The answer to its disappearance lies within a haunted castle. With a young magician named Teddy, Jack and Annie take on the challenge in an adventure that takes them to new heights and places they couldn’t even imagine!
a Stepping Stone Book™
Customer Reviews:
Another great book.......2007-02-09
Mary Pope Osborne has done it again with this book. A great book for children.
haunted magic.......2007-01-22
I love the magic tree house series!!! I greatly enjoy reading these with my daughter!!!! Keep bringing them on.............mommytess
Haunted Castle on Halllows Eve.......2007-01-16
Book review of
Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve
If you like magical places this is the book for you. The ages are 7-11. Jack, and Annie, and teddy have to finish a mission. That they were assigned by sorcer. They have to restore a castles order.
Jack, Annie, and Teddy have to restore a castle to normal. Jack is the leader. Annie helps and takes to animals. Teddy is a young sorcer. Teddy has rims to make the magic work.
Jack, Annie, and Teddy have to work together to save the castle. Teddy comes up with a plan to get the diamond. Jack found the diamond right away and flew to the castle. They help each other to protect the diamond. These three have to work together to over come obstacle.
The story takes place in a castle, tree house, and a nest. The castle is hunted. The tree house is failed with books. It can also transport you almost any ware. The nest is failed with jewelry and rare items.
Jack and Annie have to get back. Sometimes supped up on the ledge. It was the raven king. He had Teddy in a bird cage. You will have to read it to find the rest out.
READ THIS BOOK PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2006-11-07
If you like adventure books, than read this book. This book is about three kids who go to a castle and try to help a family, while trying not to be too scared. This is a really good book for anyone to curl up and read. It also has easy text for young readers to read and understand. Maybe you will like this book if you read it too.
Great series. .......2006-11-04
My son absolutely adores this series. He just turned 7. I still am reading the stories to him, but he can pick up some words and phrases as I read to him. We read the series in order and now are beginnning to reread them.
This story can be read individually, but I recommend reading the earlier ones to get to know the characters. Jack and Annie are very likeable. They try to achieve their goal with the assistance of clues given to them by the magician Merlin. It is good for problem solving and also has alot of educational tidbits.
Amazon.com
Carl Sagan muses on the current state of scientific thought, which offers him marvelous opportunities to entertain us with his own childhood experiences, the newspaper morgues, UFO stories, and the assorted flotsam and jetsam of pseudoscience. Along the way he debunks alien abduction, faith-healing, and channeling; refutes the arguments that science destroys spirituality, and provides a "baloney detection kit" for thinking through political, social, religious, and other issues.
Book Description
"A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought."
*Los Angeles Times
"POWERFUL . . . A stirring defense of informed rationality. . . Rich in surprising information and beautiful writing."
*The Washington Post Book World
How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don't understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions.
Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in today's so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms.
"COMPELLING."
*USA Today
"A clear vision of what good science means and why it makes a difference. . . . A testimonial to the power of science and a warning of the dangers of unrestrained credulity."
*The Sciences
"PASSIONATE."
*San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle
Customer Reviews:
The Demon-Haunted World.......2007-09-29
Excellent book. Carl Sagan gives an analysis of how our lives are effected by many legends and superstitions in a respectful and considerate way.
All you need to know about critical thinking.......2007-09-20
Unfortunately, this book is often considered a science book or about the scientific method. The subtitle is "Science as a Candle in the Dark." That was an unfortunate choice because, with the exception of one chapter (I won't say which)it is much farther reaching than that.
It is about how we know what we know and how and why that frequently is incorrect. It considers why we are so un-critical in our acceptance of authoritarian statements from any source - scientific, social, business or political. The book is worth it just for the description and discussion of the "Baloney Detection Kit."
Though Sagan was by training a scientist, his knowledge of history and culture makes this (as well as most of his books) a compelling, enlightening and enjoyable read.
The case for a sensible worldview.......2007-09-18
As the 20th century's greatest voice for the popularization of science and rationality, Carl Sagan performed a noble public service. In this age of nearly instant communication and information overload, we each need to develop a quick and reliable method for sorting good information from interesting but bogus anecdotes. Sagan's "baloney detection kit" offers us that very tool for avoiding credulity.
As our society becomes ever more dependent on complex technology, it seems that an ever shrinking proportion of the population has a grasp on how that technology functions or what consequences its failure might give rise to. There seems to be a widespread desire by many individuals to divorce themselves from understanding in favor of immersing themselves in comfortable fantasy. Sagan argues that such a turning away from rationality and reason could usher in a new dark age.
For those who have an interest in seeing our society continue to progress, this book is somewhat of an eye-opener. The current increase in interest in the supernatural is precisely what Sagan was warning about. His writing style is personal and narrative, with many examples from his own life. The book is an easy and engaging read that holds your interest.
Highly recommended.
Excellent book...........2007-09-06
This is a fabulous book. Sagan does a wonderful job of promoting the field of science to non-scientists.
I wonder how many young - or open minded - people have been pulled into science fields after reading it?
My highest recommendation.......2007-09-05
This book can be the antidote to so much nonsense that fills the heads of well-meaning people everywhere. Sagan makes a convincing case for reason and skepticism.
If you remember just one thing, remember that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Average customer rating:
- Great Pop-up Book!
- Mommy?
- Never had this much fun getting scared!
- Great pop-up
- MOmmy
|
Mommy?
Maurice Sendak ,
Arthur Yorinks , and
Matthew Reinhart
Manufacturer: Michael di Capua Books / Scholastic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Action & Adventure
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Humorous
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Spine-Chilling Horror
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Fiction
| Parents
| Family Life
| People & Places
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Picture Books
| Ages 4-8
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 4-8
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Yorinks, Arthur
| ( Y )
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sendak, Maurice
| ( S )
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Hardcover
| Sendak, Maurice
| ( S )
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Monsters
| Obsessions
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Flotsam (Caldecott Medal Book)
-
Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Sharks and Other Sea Monsters
-
Castle: Medieval Days and Knights (A Sabuda & Reinhart Pop-up Book)
-
Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich
-
Adele & Simon
ASIN: 0439880505
Release Date: 2006-09-26 |
Book Description
They're all here! Everybody's favorite monsters are just going about their business when a plucky little boy wanders into their cuckoo house. And what does he want? He wants Mommy!
No matter how scary these monsters are, there's no besting a little boy who's looking for his mommy. In one hilarious pop-up extravaganza after another, this kid shows them a thing or two.
Customer Reviews:
Great Pop-up Book!.......2007-08-23
This is probably the greatest pop-up book I've ever seen. I just recently got this as a birthday gift from a friend and I really love it. It seems a little fragile though...not sure if I would let a kid play with it...they would rip it apart in a few minutes.
Mommy?.......2007-07-27
I am a big Maurice Sendak fan and have a great collection of Pop Up Books. I am thrilled to have this as an addition to my collection. The art work is truly amazing!
Never had this much fun getting scared!.......2007-07-25
My 6 yr old loves this one, keeps it under her bed. The pop-ups are too cool!
Great pop-up.......2007-03-29
This book is amazing and It has great illustrations. You'll have to look at the book over and over just to see everything in it. I wouldn't recommend it for small children unless you are doing the handling.
MOmmy.......2007-02-19
Enchanting. So lovely I ordered more as gifts for teachers I work with.
Book Description
A new way of dealing with chronic trauma from leaders in the field.
Life is an ongoing struggle for those who have been severely traumatized. Here, leading trauma experts present a theory and practice for dealing with chronic trauma. Recognizing the structural dissociation (splitting away of part of the self) that often results from trauma and proposing a plan for action that a survivor must implement in order to put his or her haunted past to rest, this book will be of interest to researchers as well as clinicians.
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Text for those Working in this Controversial Field.......2007-07-15
At last - a truly excellent text on the psychological aspects of trauma-related disorders! This book provides a clear and comprehensive account of the theory and management of complex PTSD and complex dissociative disorders. In approaching the difficulties of categorising all the phenomena seen in these severely disturbed patients, the authors have taken a bird's eye view, presenting their theory of structural dissociation and linking it in a useful and meaningful way to a phased treatment model.
The issue of dissociation has been phenomenologically challenging and even more difficult to unravel theoretically. Van der Hart, Nijenhuis and Steele have accomplished this task with a quite densely written, but lucid, volume which draws on the work of Janet, expanding his concepts and defining a range of terms that greatly assist in conceptualising how dissociation and its consequences occur, and how its manifestations produce the symptoms these patients present. It draws on the growing neurobiological research into the underpinnings of dissociation and highlights the centrality of the phobic response to the traumatising event in the maintenance of dissociation.
The authors importantly distinguish between potentially and actually traumatising events, and traumatic experiences, recognising that only some people develop psychopathological symptoms or mental disorders in response to exposure to a particular event, which can then be identified as a traumatising event which produced a traumatic experience. This can be seen in contrast to the person who does not develop psychopathology and to whom the identical event may be quite stressful, but by definition is not traumatic.
While this theoretical analysis might seem a sufficient endeavour, the second part of the book provides an overarching map to treatment, connecting it throughout with the previously described theoretical framework. In contrast to many previous attempts, the plan provides an understanding of how the phased model of treatment seeks initially to consolidate the patient's response to the traumatising event, thereby attempting to diminish the likelihood of further disintegration. Further it does not view fusion of the dissociative parts, if this can be achieved, as the final therapeutic goal for those who dissociate in response to the traumatising event, but rather suggests that the ultimate task of treatment is to assist the patient to overcome the `phobia of normal life'.
Without doubt, the most helpful text yet for clinicians working in a psychological framework in this controversial field.
A Major Advancement in Understanding Trauma and Dissociation.......2007-05-11
In THE HAUNTED SELF the authors, Onno van der Hart, Ellert Nijenhuis and Kathy Steele present a theory of structural dissociation that builds upon the work of Pierre Janet and ties together the recent developments in the areas of trauma and dissociation. They build their theory methodically and concisely, tackling the difficult subject of dissociation and its effects on survivors of trauma. Their writing is compassionate and understanding, illuminating their therapeutic skills while at the same time delving into one of the most misunderstood and confounding areas of psychology with clarity and thoughtfulness.
The book is a challenging read, not because of the language, but because of the thoroughness and detail devoted to the construction of the authors' somewhat complex theory. Divided into two sections, the first constructs the theory of structural dissociation itself, with the second section presenting the phase oriented treatment, including examples illustrating the therapeutic processes involved.
The theory the authors present is consistent with recent advances in neuroscience and has the potential to impact the treatment of those suffering from a range of psychological disorders. The authors fully acknowledge and solicit feedback for those parts of their theory that are in need of further research. They also use the work of many others who have extended our knowledge of trauma and dissociation and its treatment over the past century.
Rather than approaching dissociative disorders by only examining the modern theories and developments, they begin with the work of Janet and thus are able to define the sequential breakdown of the personality in the face of traumatic incidences. Their theory respects the varied nature of individual responses making their approach most accessible for those who work directly with any dissociative system, from the simplest ranging to the most complex or polyfragmented.
This book is great advanced reading for those DID'ers who have already read everything else out there and are looking for more. Although it is dense, if you can make your way through it, you will find yourselves, as I did, commenting on how `on the mark' it feels.
THE HAUNTED SELF should be required reading for all psychology and neurobiology students as well as for all private practitioners and those currently working with the mentally ill in institutions, programs and educational settings. It is also excellent material for those seeking to understand more about the functions of the brain.
Three leading researchers and clinicians share their lessons from treating such individuals.......2007-05-08
Those who have been chronically traumatized have a range of symptoms which make for difficult assessment and treatment by therapists: THE HAUNTED SELF: STRUCTURAL DISSOCIATION AND THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC TRAUMATIZATION is thus for college-level mental health holdings and practicing therapists who would identify and treat these issues, from daily living challenges to the recurrence of memories about a painful past. Three leading researchers and clinicians share their lessons from treating such individuals - over sixty years of collective experience - and provide a powerful set of insights for clinicians, students of clinical psychology and psychiatry, and any involved in mental health issues.
A Great Exposition of Understanding for Human Suffering.......2007-04-26
I must express extreme praise and admiration for the work and eventual understanding the authors of The Haunted Self have so relatively displayed in researching trauma related disorders and maladaptive behaviors. But the amazing thing is they were able to explain it in terms a sufferer can understand. This is not something that happens in research very often. I have been involved in research of some sort all my adult life and know that research produces facts and figures from which decisions and theories can be constructed with a reasonable amount of certainty. The one thing research cannot do is produce empathy and compassion. Being a post-modern theologian as well as an engineer, I know these two expressions can only come from a calling to help humanity. I am a fifty-one year old male who has suffered the agonizing pain of the effects of trauma in many different ways and forms all my life. After reading well over one-hundred and twenty thousand pages of research on my symptoms and problems and theorizing and journaling thoughts, I finally found not only an explanation but compassion and empathy within the pages of this book. I believe this is vital in any therapeutic relationship. Without a shadow of a doubt, the reader can make a therapeutic relationship with this book that can be externalized and extended into their patient therapist relationship. This book is to trauma and mental health as Einstein's theory of relativity is to physics or what the personal computer is to how we view information or, more importantly, what parole is to a prisoner.
I have been treated for many anxiety related symptoms but another symptom would just take its place after treatment. Then the original symptom would reoccur. This cycle has lasted all my life with devastating personal effects. But like most people with psychological disorders or underdeveloped functionality, it was hard to talk about what was really going on inside of me. I could neither express nor have the courage to face my inward demons. I was stuck in a living example of structural disassociation. My emotional self (EP) was stuck in the state of both somatic (empty) and exaggerated memories of accumulative trauma (or of personal perceptions of life events) while my normal every day self (ANP) was in a defensive war keeping me from dealing with the pain, relived trauma and torture of those memories. This actually caused a somatic type of discomfort. Of course this psychosomatic physical suffering just kept the cycle of mental distress going in a spiral of disassociation. Actually I was fighting for the gift of life as found in wholeness.
I have been inducted into the lifer's panic attack hall of fame. If that were not enough I have fought phobias, struggled with intrusive misplaced thoughts bordering OCD, mimicked heart attacks getting intimate with the EKG machine. I endured the embarrassment of publicly displaying tics and jerks and leg movements during stressful situations that I was ill equipped to handle. I would have to find some excuse for losing my current thought process during emotional and trying times. The list could go on but at this point I think you have the idea. I felt like a loser with no hope. Make no mistake. All of those labeled disorders were real. That is; they were symptomatically real due to trauma related structural disorder which affected and distorted my understanding of the gift of life. Treatment was nothing more than an aspirin for the pain. Healing started, however, through understanding the complex make up of my person.
The Haunted Self provided that understanding. I introduced the book to my therapist, whom is very good and someone I trust very much. She embraced the detailed theory as it applied to me much to my surprise. By the way, did I say she was good? Something amazing happened with this embrace. I know that what I am about to say will sound patronizing but healing is something one must share. Within five weeks of therapy using a facilitated understanding of this book by my therapist, symptoms began to weaken (of course I had already completed my homework and I desperately wanted change). Wholeness began happening in my life. Doors began to open to things I never understood. Changes began to happen to my thought process bleeding over into my actions (synaptic psychotherapy). I was actually creating opportunities for myself. I was able to accept past trauma perceptions and started believing and knowing that the defense used by my everyday self (ANP) only made things worse. I feel a life time of treatment, attempted understanding and suffering came to a head with nothing more than simple insight made clear to a somewhat neurotic person. Actually this understanding was presented as a detailed expression of the conflicting forces that wreck havoc on the lives of so many people that make up our world (makes one question the concept of spontaneous panic attacks).
This review is way too long so I will end here with a challenge. I challenge anyone who has been beleaguered with anxiety related disorders to look at themselves and their disorders from a different point of reference like the changing colors of light through a prism as presented in The Haunted Self. I also challenge all mental health professionals to at least look over this book and allow it to provoke your thoughts (it should be required reading for all doctoral students in psychology if only because of the post-modern interpretation of prior research). I believe this book is a holistic expression for a broad range of disorders that are now being treated separately and in this sufferer's opinion sometimes ineffectively. I do not pretend to be an expert in psychology as some of you who are will notice, while chuckling at my review, but I am a seasoned professional at suffering due to trauma or perceptions of trauma and the extreme bizarre anxiety and actions it produces.
A Brilliant Contribution Toward Understand and Healing.......2007-04-21
The Haunted Self is an illuminating and welcome contribution to our understanding of the effects of trauma on the human organism. The author's theoretical work, an extension of the work of Pierre Janet, offers a unifying theory by which one may more fully apprehend Dissociation. The theory and its practical clinical application are presented in a manner that helps to bridge the often disparate and confusing perspectives about this disorder and its treatment.
Complex concepts are clearly organized and articulated as the reader is guided to understand both the processes by which trauma fractures the self and the reparative therapeutic processes necessary to heal such fractures. The author(s) explain the physical and emotional mechanism(s) that contribute to the formation and maintenance of the pathology of Structural Dissociation. They describe the intricate neurophysiology that likely underpins the disorder and how the patient's and therapist's neurobiology (as expressed in a broad array of attachment, affect, sensorimotor, cognitive & behavioral manifestations) is considered and integrated into a collaborative phasing of the treatment plan.
This is an often dense but thoroughly satisfying read. Onno van der Hart, Ellert R. S. Nijenhuis and Kathy Steele know their subject and have meticulously explained and structured it in a way that makes sense.
Amazon.com
The Haunted Wood fills in a valuable part of cold war history: the Soviet Union's attempts to spy on the United States from the time of FDR's New Deal, through the Second World War, and into the 1950s. Allen Weinstein (author of a highly regarded history of the Hiss-Chambers case, Perjury) and Alexander Vassiliev (a KGB agent turned journalist) show that among the Americans caught in the Soviet orbit were many top government officials, including a Congressman from New York and a close advisor to President Roosevelt, as well as an American ambassador's daughter. Most of these early spies were leftists driven by ideology--as opposed to money, which seems to have motivated many of the later cold war traitors, such as Aldrich Ames. (The Congressman, interestingly, is an exception--he demanded so much compensation that the Soviets gave him the code name "Crook.") The greatest windfall for the U.S.S.R. during this period was the acquisition of atomic secrets, with contributions from agents like Ted Hall, Klaus Fuchs, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (the authors do not believe, however, that the scientist Robert Oppenheimer was a Soviet spook). Yet there were also notable failures, many brought on by Stalin's insatiable appetite for purges; defections by Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley also dealt several mortal blows. By the end of the 1940s, the Soviet spy ring in the United States was in serious breakdown. Weinstein and Vassiliev make use of both American sources and Soviet archives to deliver what will surely be an authoritative account for many years--or at least until more top-secret archives on both sides of the Atlantic become declassified. And don't expect that to happen anytime soon. --John J. Miller
Book Description
Based upon previously secret KGB records, The Haunted Wood reveals for the first time the riveting story of Soviet espionage's "golden age" in the United States throughout the 1930s, World War II, and the early Cold War. Historian Allen Weinstein, author of Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case, and Alexander Vassiliev, a former KGB agent-turned-journalist, were provided unique access to thousands of classified Soviet intelligence dispatches that documented the KGB's success in acquiring America's most valuable atomic, military, and diplomatic secrets.
The Haunted Wood narrates the triumphs and failures of Soviet operatives and their American agents during the 1930s and 1940s, describing as well the compelling human dramas involved.
Reconstructed from Moscow's messages to its operatives and reports from Soviet recruits in America, The Haunted Wood describes many previously unknown personal tales: struggles for control among contending Soviet operatives and American agents, love affairs, business ventures, defections, and plotted or actual murders. The authors also detail the remarkable range of classified government documents and information stolen for Soviet intelligence during the 1930s and the war years.
Complementing its use of the KGB archives, The Haunted Wood incorporates, also for the first time, a number of the previously classified VENONA cables released in 1995-96 by the CIA and NSA. Among these thousands of translated intercepts sent by Soviet agents in the United States to the USSR during World War II were dozens that matched those found in the Moscow records.
The highly placed Americans who assisted Soviet intelligence operatives during this period included:
the passionate daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Nazi Germany
an influential member of the U.S. Congress
one of President Roosevelt's personal assistants
key officials of the OSS, America's wartime spy agency
a flamboyant Hollywood producer-director
the head of the American Communist Party
Several chapters provide major new accounts from Moscow's own record of its relations with Alger Hiss and atomic spies Klaus Fuchs, Harry Gold, David Greenglass, Theodore Hall, and Julius Rosenberg, among others, along with fresh information on Soviet espionage in the United States by British agents for the Kremlin--Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, and Harold "Kim" Philby.
The Haunted Wood's pages are filled with extraordinary and previously untold stories, including those of one war-time American spy ring whose head lived in a domestic ménage à trois with other agents, of Soviet involvement in a Hollywood music publishing company and possible major film investments, and of a station chief who proposed (with Moscow's agreement) funding U.S. journalists and congressional political campaigns.
The authors show how defection at war's end by a single emotionally depressed agent, despondent since the death of her Soviet station-chief lover, provoked the swift and virtually complete shutdown of Moscow's intelligence operations in the United States--ironically, years before the FBI and congressional investigations began their decade-long pursuit of "Soviet agents," who, by then, had either returned to Moscow or left the U.S. government!
With its new and uniquely documented information, The Haunted Wood offers the first fresh, realistic, and non-judgmental understanding of Soviet espionage in the United States during the Stalin era.
Customer Reviews:
The Soviet Penetration of the Roosevelt Administration.......2006-11-27
Authors Weinstein and Vassiliev were in the relatively unique position, in writing "The Haunted Wood", of having access to the Soviet as well as the American side of the story. They took advantage of a brief period of access to Soviet espionage achives after the breakup of the Soviet Union. What emerges is an exhaustive study of the penetration by Soviet spies of the U.S. government in the 1930's and 1940's.
The Soviets were materially aided in their espionage efforts by an admiration of Soviet communism shared by some Americans. This admiration looks badly misguided in retrospect, but apparently seemed very rational in the context of the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the subsequent Great Depression and rise of Fascism. This admiration produced a generation of American (and British) traitors who gave away information on American foreign policy, military and industrial secrets.
Some of the names are familiar: Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs, among others. Less familiar may be the names and operating methods of their Soviet handlers, who worked not just against American counterintelligence but also against the increasing paranoia of the Soviet Government they served. Despite the continuing delivery of invaluable information, Josef Stalin repeatedly purged Soviet intelligence. The disruption caused by the purges almost certainly kept the Soviets from acquiring even more information than they did.
"The Haunted Wood" is written primarily for an audience already fascinated by the topic of espionage. The average reader may find long stretches of dry and sometimes repetitive reading. This book is highly recommended for those studying the history of espionage.
partially an advertisement for two Soviet Agent's talent.......2005-01-02
This book was written with the help of several present and former Soviet Intelligence officers. Be aware that that colored the book with favorable views of these people's talent level and Soviet Intelligence in general. The book does contain valuable information along with important omission and advertising style hot air. I would suggest that you consider Venona by John Earl Haynes or The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors by Herbert Romerstein. The former is an academic description of the 450+ Soviet agents disclosed by the US breaking Soviet codes used during the war. The latter is an inside story by two US espionage agents and experts. One of the gems it reveals is that President FDR was gullible and had several advisors who were Soviet agents. Stalin was afraid of a two front war in Europe and with Japan in the Pacific. He composed an insulting message for his agents to present to FDR who sent as is it to the Japanese government. This provoked the war in the Pacific. Had this not been done, The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor would have been done much later or not at all.
Second thoughts.......2002-06-27
I reviewed this book in 1999, and gave it three stars. Over time, I've decided it was better than I first thought, and came back here to up it to four...
A Critical View of "The Haunted Wood".......2002-06-04
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Critical View of "The Haunted Wood"
The thesis of this book is that KGB documents prove many New Deal and other US government officials were spies for the Soviet Union. The documentation in the book, however, does not support the thesis, in my opinion.
The co-authors state that one of them, a former KGB agent named Alexander Vassiliev, saw the KGB documents in Moscow on an exclusive basis, in exchange for payments by the publisher, Random House, to an association of former KGB agents. There is no way to verify the authenticity of the KGB documents; no way to check the accuracy of the excerpts and paraphrases printed in the book; no way to study their context, such as the rest of the file from which a particular document came, which every historian and student knows can be crucial to a correct reading and interpretation. We do not even know whether the documents Vassiliev saw are in the Russian language and, if they are, who translated them and how accurately.
The book contains 1099 numbered footnotes, of which 1049 are citations to those off-limits KGB documents. Readers may well ask why those footnotes are there at all. Another frustrating puzzle for readers is the way the co-authors purport to quote KGB documents that contain code names (which the Soviet intelligence agencies routinely assigned to spies and occasionally to non-spies such as Roosevelt, Truman, Churchill, and lesser figures): the co-authors delete the code names and replace them with real names in square brackets -- but often without disclosing what code names they have deleted, and without citing any KGB document or otherwise explaining how or where they got the real names. Compounding the confusion, they state that the Soviets sometimes assigned the same code name to more than one person and sometimes assigned two or three code names to the same person. For instance, the co-authors assert that the American diplomat Alger Hiss had two code names, "Ales" and "Lawyer", while the US Treasury official Harry Dexter White had three code names, "Lawyer", "Richard", and "Reed".
In The Haunted Wood, the co-authors do not explain why they cite no authority or source for ascribing "Lawyer" as a code name for Hiss. For their assertion that "Ales" was another code name for Hiss, they do not cite any KGB documentary source, but they reproduce (and misquote) a so-called "Venona" document, released in 1996 by the US National Security Agency and said to bear a translation of a partially decrypted 1945 KGB cablegram about "Ales". In 1950, an FBI agent tentatively identified Ales as Hiss and said the FBI would attempt to verify the identification; but it never did so, nor could it have done so.
The Venona-KGB cablegram itself, reproduced with the photographs in the book, shows that Ales could not have been Hiss. Ales was a military intelligence (GRU) agent who obtained only military information. Hiss, however, was charged with obtaining only non-military State Department materials; the papers that were used to convict him were copies of State Department documents. Ales was the leader of a group of GRU agents, whereas Hiss was accused of acting alone (except for his wife and his accuser, Whittaker Chambers). Ales conducted espionage throughout the eleven years 1935-45, whereas Hiss was accused of having conducted espionage not later than 1938, etc. etc. But The Haunted Wood does not mention, let alone attempt to explain away, any of those discrepancies that preclude Ales as having been Hiss.
Furthermore, there is an earlier Venona document that tends to exonerate Hiss, but I can not find any mention of it in the book. It contains a fragment of a GRU message that, in the original, included the name "Hiss" spelled out in the Latin alphabet, rather than the Cyrillic. For the GRU to use the Latin alphabet just for the name strongly suggests that the GRU had never before heard of Hiss and wanted to be sure to get the name right. (No first name is given, so we can not tell whether "Hiss" was Alger or his brother Donald, who was also in the State Department.) Moreover, for the GRU to use Hiss's real name suggests that he had no code name and was not an espionage agent, because Soviet intelligence agencies, for reasons of security, normally assigned code names to their agents and referred to them only by their code names. Given the many pages that The Haunted Wood devotes to Hiss, Ales, the GRU, and Venona, it is a serious lapse, in my view, for the co-authors not to tell their readers about this GRU message and not to discuss its implications.
The lack of verifiable documentation in The Haunted Wood, its plethora of errors, and its strategic omissions leave it demonstrably untrustworthy. In my opinion, the book falls too far below minimal standards of scholarly or journalistic rigor for any serious consideration.
Very informative. One of the best. But it is a boring read.......2000-11-25
I have read many books on the issue of intelligence. The insight provided by this book is excellent. In particular, the nature and history of America's volunteer ideological spies is the very best I have ever read. But I have found it a hard read. It is possible to be too through. Honest, it is. I had an easier time with Mitrokhin.
Average customer rating:
- Up-Chuck
- Trying too hard
- Don't pick this for your 1st Chuck novel
- Peeling an Onion
- God help me, I enjoyed this!
|
Haunted: A Novel
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United States
| Horror
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Horror
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Choke
-
Survivor: A Novel
-
Lullaby
-
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
-
Diary: A Novel
ASIN: 1400032822
Release Date: 2006-04-11 |
Book Description
Haunted is a novel made up of twenty-three horrifying, hilarious, and stomach-churning stories. They’re told by people who have answered an ad for a writer’s retreat and unwittingly joined a “Survivor”-like scenario where the host withholds heat, power, and food. As the storytellers grow more desperate, their tales become more extreme, and they ruthlessly plot to make themselves the hero of the reality show that will surely be made from their plight. This is one of the most disturbing and outrageous books you’ll ever read, one that could only come from the mind of Chuck Palahniuk.
Customer Reviews:
Up-Chuck.......2007-09-19
This book is sorry and pointless. I've read six of Chuck's novels because I read good and bad writers for the fun of the pain. It's horrible. Haunted doesn't have a point, and it seeks to disturb, as if society hasn't desensitized us enough. We are not able to be shocked anymore, so stories glorifying guts for gut's sake are pointless.
Trying too hard.......2007-09-16
You can always tell when someone is writing a book just to be artsy. What was great about Fight Club, Choke and Diary is that they were simply written and could be enjoyed. With Haunted he seemed to go out of his way to make this book unenjoyable to read. Take Catcher in the Rye, a great book, maybe one of the best, and yet any 8 year old could make their way through it. A book does not have to be wordy and written in a style that makes your head hurt. There are so many people that read books like this only so that they can brag about reading them and put up a front that they are far more intellegent then anyone else. Give me a book that I want to read, and enjoy reading anytime.
Don't pick this for your 1st Chuck novel.......2007-09-14
First let me start by saying that I am a fan of Chuck Palahniuk and find most of his satirical, grossly creative material refreshing and amusing. I was intrigued by Fight Club, entertained by Survivor, and hooked after Choke. Compared to his other work, Haunted falls very short.
If you've read any of his previous novels, you're already expecting to be grossed out and entertained by absurd characters in disturbing situations. While Haunted succeeds in that aspect, it lacks Chuck's usual quick wit and clever storytelling. The story starts off very promising with an awesome openning short story and some interesting characters. The characters are developed well through the poems and bizarre short stories, but never seem to progress the main plot. The cannibolism and sabotage comes way too early and the rest of the story gets boring from there. The twist near the end was predictable and left me with a headache after being hit several times over the head with the story's obvious message. Although a few of the short stories, mainly Guts, were entertaining and pleasing to read, I feel the story as a whole was pretty weak.
Peeling an Onion.......2007-09-12
Reading this was very much like peeling an onion - after every layer, there is yet another. Like onions, some people are sensitive... and this is truely eye watering material. Chuck writes a story that isn't for the faint of heart.
There are a collection of "personal" short stories written by the principal charachters within the book, and each story reveals darker and darker avenues of the human psyche. At various turns the stories disgusting, amusing, disturbing, joyfully macabre, sad and just plain eerie. The characters themselves? Pushed by greed, fear, love, and some indescribable. This isn't a traditional ghost story - the charachters themselves carry all the ghosts and demons they require.
With every successive story, the compulsion to find out just what everyones secrets are becomes more and more pressing. "All hope abandon, ye who enter here."
God help me, I enjoyed this!.......2007-09-06
This is by far the most disturbing Palahniuk book I have ever read. No, this is the MOST DISTURBING book I have EVER READ! Every story gets more twisted and sinister as the people take turns telling their tales. The plot of the book is something you would expect from Palahniuk's mind.(think of the show survivor, but sinister and downright wrong!) If you want moments that you tense up certain parts of your body, or moments when you think you might lose your recently eaten meal, pick up this novel. It's my favorite by Palahniuk and on my top 5 list for sure. GUTS!
Book Description
THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF THE SMART, SEXY — SUPERNATURAL — WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLD
Eve Levine — half-demon, black witch and devoted mother — has been dead for three years. She has a great house, an interesting love life and can’t be killed again — which comes in handy when you’ve made as many enemies as Eve. Yes, the afterlife isn’t too bad — all she needs to do is find a way to communicate with her daughter, Savannah, and she’ll be happy.
But fate — or more exactly, the Fates — have other plans. Eve owes them a favor, and they’ve just called it in. An evil spirit called the Nix has escaped from hell. She feeds on chaos and death, and is very good at persuading people to kill for her. The Fates want Eve to hunt her down before she does any more damage, but the Nix is a dangerous enemy — previous hunters have been driven insane in the process. As if that’s not problem enough, the only way to stop her is with an angel’s sword. And Eve is no angel. . . .
Download Description
“Armstrong has created a persuasive, finely detailed other-worldly cosmology — featuring sorcery, astral projection, spells, telepathy and teleportation.”
—Toronto Star
From the Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
Forced myself to finish it.......2007-07-19
I have enjoyed the Women of the Otherworld series thus far. I read them as quickly as I can so I can pass them off to our nanny, who is also a big fan. However, this book was a chore to read. The ideas were so far fetched and bizarre. Child ghosts being raised by ghost parents who couldn't conceive? Ghost hockey leagues? Magic being used in the afterlife? I realize that it's a bit contradictory to love books about werewolves, witches and vampires and call this far fetched, but it was just so hard to do much more than roll my eyes and trudge through.
I would have skipped it if I weren't concerned I'd miss something from the other story lines. This was just such a disappointment from an author I have been very impressed with. I have moved on to Broken and am already back in love again, though.
How far would you go to protect those you love?.......2007-07-17
When Eve Levine (while alive, a witch not afraid of using Dark Magic to reach her goals and protect herself and her daughter Savannah) is called by the Fates to do them the favor owed (see Industrial Magic (Women of the Otherworld, Book 4)), she is taken by surprise. It seems that there is a nasty spirit out there - a demi-demon called the Nix - who has escaped from her hell dimension and is periodically possessing murderous young women, who only need a little encouragement to get their lethal tendencies going. Even more surprising, Eve finds herself teamed with an angel (Trsiel) to accomplish this.
While Eve and Trsiel race the clock to try to find the Nix before she causes more havoc, Eve also struggles with her feelings for Kris Nast, who is in the same Afterlife dimension and who is doing his best to convince her to try starting over with him. Kris is, however, concerned with her obsessive need to watch over Savannah and often calls her on this.
A fast-paced and fun read, "Haunted" is just kind of book that book-lovers can devour in a few hours. Eve's restlessness, impatience and dark sense of humor is balanced out by Kris' patience and the need Eve has to complete what she has started.
This series of books continues to be a joy to read. I do hope Ms. Armstrong keeps 'em coming for a good long while.
Loved It!.......2007-04-01
I am new to this author and this series. However, I have blown through five books in about a month (which is AMAZING as I have a 1-year-old at home) which means I gave valuable SLEEP TIME up to read them. The book was a great easy read with characters that you can't help but root for and villians you can't wait to see fail. Although I have a few more to read, I am already missing all the characters when I am done...
Seriously creative.......2007-03-29
After "Bitten" I think "Haunted" is may favorite of the Women of the Otherworld series. I'm not really sure I could tell you why exactly. Maybe it's because the setting is so different-it's the real world with a hidden layer, it's literally the underworld, or multiple underworlds. And it's just so well built.
The afterlife world of Kelley Armstrong draws a lot from Greek mythology. First there are the three fates, who determine the outcome of mortal lives, but they basically run the ghost lives as well and act as a sort of supernatural enforcing agency for pesky ghost-such as our new narrator, Eve the half demon witch ghost who makes a real pest of herself. Then there are different levels of the underworld, hell dimensions of varying badness, places for the angels (yup there are angels) a whole world for the supernatural departed, maybe more than one, and even some opportunities for reincarnation-if you deserve it. It's a little bit like Hades, only more modern.
Now, as you may recall from "Industrial Magic" Eve owes the Fates a major favor for getting them to send a misplaced Paige and a very dead Lucas back to earth, now they've decided to collect, which interrupts her bust schedule of Savanna watching. Kristof, Savanna's father (from "Dime Store Magic" and yes, he's dead too, remember?) is not too pleased Eve can't let go of mortal life and join him in happy dead love (apparently they really did love each other) and thinks this will be a great distraction. Except it turns out Eve's favor is to hunt down a demi-demon serial killer called the Nix who gives people who want to kill that extra will power.
This turns into a fabulous action packed story with Jamie Vegas, our favorite celebrity necro, a demon in a castle, an angle who reads entertainment weekly and the freakiest and most imaginative hell ANYONE has ever come up with. Serious props to Kelley Armstrong for this book, her imagination was working way overtime.
And you gotta love the ending. I mean not only is just plain fall down laughing ironic, but its pretty damm sweet. Another five star novel.
Wonderful.......2007-01-12
Basically this story is Eve's story and it is about her being trapped in her afterlife that is not quite hell and not quite heaven. When the Fates call her in to repay a favor she accepts.
But the Nix that she is sent to bring back in is causing massive chaos and then it starts to affect Eve's life, by going after Savannah and her guardians, Paige and Lucas. Eve, with the help of Kristof, her ex-lover, must do all it takes to bring down this Nix.
Average customer rating:
- Fantastic book...
- YUCK!
- Desperately Grand... Until the End
- Chuck's entertaining and exploratory adventure into horror
- you must have not actually read the book
|
Haunted : A Novel of Stories
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| Horror
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Horror
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
-
Survivor: A Novel
-
Invisible Monsters
-
Choke
-
Diary: A Novel
ASIN: 0385509480
Release Date: 2005-05-03 |
Book Description
Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk is a novel made up of stories: Twenty-three of them, to be precise. Twenty-three of the most horrifying, hilarious, mind-blowing, stomach-churning tales you’ll ever encounter—sometimes all at once. They are told by people who have answered an ad headlined “Writers’ Retreat: Abandon Your Life for Three Months,” and who are led to believe that here they will leave behind all the distractions of “real life” that are keeping them from creating the masterpiece that is in them. But “here” turns out to be a cavernous and ornate old theater where they are utterly isolated from the outside world—and where heat and power and, most important, food are in increasingly short supply. And the more desperate the circumstances become, the more extreme the stories they tell—and the more devious their machinations become to make themselves the hero of the inevitable play/movie/nonfiction blockbuster that will surely be made from their plight.
Haunted is on one level a satire of reality television—The Real World meets Alive. It draws from a great literary tradition—The Canterbury Tales, The Decameron, the English storytellers in the Villa Diodati who produced, among other works, Frankenstein—to tell an utterly contemporary tale of people desperate that their story be told at any cost. Appallingly entertaining, Haunted is Chuck Palahniuk at his finest—which means his most extreme and his most provocative.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic book..........2007-10-09
Haunted is an amazing book. It hooked me from the start, I just had to know how the book was going to end. This book is disturbing, shocking and appalling. But the fact that this book is so deranged is exactly what makes it enjoyable. Chuck Palahniuk has some serious talent for writing, I love reading his work to find out what is going on in his mind. Haunted is not for everyone, light headed/weak stomach people need to keep away from Haunted. If you enjoy reading novels outside of the 'norm,' then this is the book for you. Overall, Haunted gets an A+ grade from me.
YUCK!.......2007-08-17
I am typically prepared to be somewhat horrified and grossed out by the grotesques in his world, but this was way too much. No one in the story had any redeeming qualities, I hated them all to the bitter end. I finished it because I kept thinking that something would happen at the end to make reading all the horrible things worth it, but no...bad book, bad ending.
Desperately Grand... Until the End.......2007-07-25
This book is undoubtedly a tough read for anyone who thinks that a writer is validated solely by the fact that a feature film was made of his work. I know, I know, Fight Club was great, but let's move on for a bit.
The overlying story of this book isn't the best. However, the main function of the book is to be a compendium of short stories, and it delivers those in spades. The short stories are engrossing, compelling, disturbing, shocking, desperately clever, and they will absolutely not leave your head. Nightmare Box, Guts, and the story (the name eludes me) of the "invisible" killer of random victims are all absolutely fantastic.
The problems with the book lie within the main story, which is wholly unbelievable. The characters were wonderfully created, but their actions seem incredibly rash and unrealistic. In addition, the ending was entirely too predictable. You can see it coming from a quarter into the book. It comes on rushed and poorly executed. To have a character who thought of absolutely everything on the planet being foiled by a knife in the lock seemed absurd. Walking ahead of his captive seemed absurd. Leaving anything to chance at all seemed absurd. And what that final short story was all about, I have no clue. Stay away from the sci fi, Chuck.
Still, with the short stories as brilliant as they are, you forgive the other transgressions and enjoy them for all that they are. A thoroughly enjoyable read.
Chuck's entertaining and exploratory adventure into horror.......2007-05-24
Overall, Palahniuk did a marvelous job of cobbling disparate stories into the framework of a writer's retreat.
The story 'Guts' is nearly the most awful thing you'll read, personally I thought the worse thing i read was the story of the police rape doll story. It changed my life: yet I cannot say for the better. I cannot eat southern biscuits and that white gravy anymore, for example.
Some have compared Haunted to Stephen King, and I disagree. SK is-in my view- not so clever, he's like mass production horror. I read it, i get it. Haunted is more Kurt Vonnegut, and less twilight zone, more shock-value. Gross-out in bite-size chunks. IF you like this, the book is for you. Otherwise, leave it alone.
Some say the book's cannabalism theme is a metaphor in that 'all artists are thieves'. Powerful! So from a metawriting perspective, who is Chuck intimating he stole these stories from? Could be from all the fascinating weirdies in Portland. Since after all, Portland is quite weird. After reading stranger than fiction, the lines between the two are pretty well blurred by his colorful and envious experience touched up here and there.
you must have not actually read the book.......2007-04-11
i was actually quite upset to read some reviews on this book. It seemed like people either didn't understand it or skipped through pages. First of all, of course the story may seem unbelievable.. ITS FICTION!!!! it doesn't have to take place in a reality scenario. Second, if you actually paid attention to the story, people weren't chopping off their fingers because they were hungry; they wanted to look tortured. Sure, the idea may have been far fetched but thats what made it so interesting. and whose to complain about this story if you've read "lullaby". in my opinion, "lullaby" was more 'unbelievable'.
Overall, i believe this was one of Chucks best novels. I couldn't put the book down because all of the characters storys were so incredibly interesting. I even found the overall story (the writers being in the old movie theater) mind grabbing.
I would also recommend "Choke"
Book Description
Annie Wilder suspected the funky 100-year-old house was haunted when she saw it for the first time. But nothing could have prepared her for the mischievous and downright scary antics that take place once she, her two children, and her cats move into the rundown Victorian home. Disembodied conversation, pounding walls, glowing orbs, and mysterious whispers soon escalate into full-fledged ghostly visits-provoking sheer terror that, over time, transforms into curiosity. Determined to make peace with her spirit guests, she invites renowned clairvoyant Echo Bodine over and learns fascinating details about each of the entities residing there.
Wilder's gripping tale provides a compelling glimpse into the otherworldly nature of the lonely spirits, protective forces, phantom pets, and departed loved ones that occupy her remarkable home.
Annie Wilder (Minnesota) is a mother and writer. She continues to bravely live in her spooky old house with three cats and numerous ghosts. This is her first book.
Customer Reviews:
Not Good........2007-09-01
A. Wilder must have been on some heavy drugs or something. This book started off fairly decent, then progressivly worse and worse. That astral BS simply turned me off completely. Grave's End was a lot better..
House of woo-woo.......2007-08-07
I found Wilder's account interesting not so much for the ghost story as for her complete credulity and confidence in her own abilities-- not only to understand spiritual entities, but to *control* them.
She assumes spirits respond to her every thought and action, protect her home and family as requested, and go away when she says. Wilder always thinks she's accurately perceived and interpreted the spiritual "energy" in her home; she believes without hesitation pretty much anything she's told about the supposed haunting; and she assumes her dreams are real. She's awesome, but not really in a positive way-- more in a "good god, Annie, your hubris is absolutely outrageous" kind of way.
The visual phenomena she describes aren't uncommon-- many people see geometric light shapes and patterns when half-awake-- there are medical explanations for that (Wilder thinks the lights are sent to teach her something in the spiritual realm).
Great reading!.......2007-06-22
I had heard about this book so I decided to give it a try. I was NOT disappointed. Annie Wilder is a talented and BRAVE lady. I would love to meet her one day just to hear more about her encounters. Read this book and you won't be able to put it down.
Love it!.......2007-05-15
This book was fascinating from the beginning. I read it in two sittings. I've had experiences with ghosts since I was a child. In fact, the house my parents lived in when I was born was haunted by the couple who lived there before them. This mystery of a book not only intrigued me, but brought back memories as well. A fine book worth anyone's shelf.
readers will be hooked.......2007-05-05
Some houses call to us and we just know it will become our home; some houses have spirits that do the calling. Can a haunted house be home? Of course it can, and probably more so than some others if you can get along with the previous residents. After all, the spirits don't want to leave their home so it must be the perfect place! Annie Wilder finds out just how haunted her new home is, and shares her experiences with readers in her book "House of Spirits and Whispers."
Leon was the previous owner of the house and he wasn't ready to move out when he passed on. It seems Leon was quite picky about who was to move in because out of all the people who were shown the house, Annie was the chosen one. She respected Leon's presence right from the beginning and in the end was grateful for his being there. A good number of spirits frequented Annie's house. Some were former residents of the 100-year-old home, and others were just passersby, perhaps visiting from the funeral home across the way. Annie gives testament to the numerous goings on that she and her children, and her friends and family experienced.
From knocks on the wall in the middle of the night, to whispers coming through the radiators (even in the summer), from a timely touch on the shoulder to appearances at parties, spiritual happenings were frequent. Through the years Annie developed her own abilities and even astral traveled in the house only to meet up with two sister spirits who apparently disapproved of her practice. If you realize that you live among spirits you become more attuned to them, and Annie certainly did.
The story is quite interesting. Who doesn't wish to discover the secrets of their home? The author openly shares what she finds and right from the beginning readers will be hooked. A fascinating tale, well told.
Book Description
At first glance, decorator Erin Gilbert fell in love with the charming little bungalow on a quiet street in Crestview, Colorado. Until she stepped inside. There, eccentric widow Helen Walker has created a maze of bric-a-brac, papers, and just plain junk that she won’t throw out. Even worse: two bizarre deaths have convinced Helen she is being stalked by a serial killer–and that any one of her nosy friends and neighbors might be to blame.
Erin has been hired to bring the home back to life–and she’s not going to back down, even when her insufferable, irresistible competitor, Steve Sullivan, barges in. But it doesn’t take long for Erin to realize that there is a method to her client’s madness. A murderer does haunt this makeover. And somewhere in the clutter is at least one thing to die for.
Customer Reviews:
Really Reaching.......2007-04-14
The problem with so many cozies these days is that authors try to be innovative in the jobs they give their main characters, and they end up giving us characters whose involvement in murder makes no sense.
The book is best summed up by a line from the character of Steve, talking to the main character, Erin: "You were acting like a member of the family instead of their designer."
Erin is hired to declutter a house. In less than 12 hours, she's the homeowner's confidante, rushing to her aid at all hours, sticking her nose into family business that has nothing to do with her. She puts her livelihood on the line, as well as Steve's, without a second thought, and then defends herself when there really is no defense. The fact that Steve would even want to partner up with someone who has no concern for him and his business was completely unbelievable.
Also, the Gilbert and Sullivan thing has already been done by Selma Eichler -- that made it doubly annoying to me.
charming cozy .......2007-03-04
Colorado Interior decorator Erin Gilbert enjoys walking through a house that she is seeing for the first time and redesigning each room in her head. So when she first observes the outside home of Helen Walker, Erin is euphoric as the Crestview bungalow is a designer's delight. Euphoric as this seems, it is also a nice easy job though she knows she must show proper respect to the grieving owner. Then she steps inside; to her horror she concludes the cluttered home needs weapons of mass destruction as Helen and her recently deceased sister kept anything and everything. The surviving sibling refuses to toss out what is classic junk clutter.
Still Helen tries to organize, mess and pitch what is obviously worthless in terms of money or sentiment. The problem is Helen insists everything has sentimental value. Helen's neighbor Rachel and Erin's two friends Teddy and Kay support the surviving sister' frustrating Erin who may dump her so-called pals if they don't mind their business. However, these intrusions are irritants; the fourth invader causes colossal issues as that unknown visitor leaves behind murdered bodies amidst the clutter.
The fourth Domestic Bliss mystery (see DEATH BY INFERIOR DESIGN and MANOR OF DEATH) is a charming cozy especially when Erin is cleaning the house or furthering her relationaship rivalry with competitor Steve Sullivan. However, that is also the weakness of the story line as the homicides come across as just additional clutter to clean up when the heroine gets around to it. Still Leslie Caine provides a fun domestic tale starring a harassed heroine struggling with saving a house on the verge of being KILLED BY CLUTTER, something this reviewer can relate to.
Harriet Klausner
Books:
- High Fidelity
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- Hope Rising: Stories from the Ranch of Rescued Dreams
- How To Be A Happy Lesbian: A Coming Out Guide
- How to Write a Children's Picture Book: Learning from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Corduroy, Where the Wild Things Are, The Carrot Seed, Good Night, Gorilla, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and Other Favorite Stories
- I Love You Like Crazy Cakes
- In the Prince's Bed (Royal Brotherhood)
- In This Mountain (The Mitford Years #7)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Big Picture: A Systems Thinking Story for Managers, Leaders, and other Visionaries
- I'd Rather Eat Chocolate: Learning to Love My Low Libido
- Fight Choreography: The Art of Non-Verbal Dialog
- Fifty-Two Simple Ways to Make a Difference
- Marketing: An Introduction
- Obsidian Alliances
- Microbiology: Principles and Explorations
- Stock Options-Getting Your Share of the Action: Negotiating Shares and Terms in Incentive and Nonqua
- Governing Japan: Divided Politics in a Major Economy
- The Washingtonienne : A Novel
Christmas in Camelot (Magic Tree House #29)
Summer of the Sea Serpent (Magic Tree House #31)
Winter of the Ice Wizard (Magic Tree House 32)
Carnival at Candlelight (Magic Tree House #33)
Season of the Sandstorms (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))
