"Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife" by Mary Roach

Okay, I can say whether you are a skeptic or a or a "believer," the afterlife, or what happens after we die intrigues all. C'mon admit it you do find yourself curious. Well Mary Roach has written a book for you. For the skeptics, well Mary is one herself, as for the believers Mary Roach seeks out scientific proof of the soul, heaven and the great beyond.

This book "Spook..." is actually a sequel to Ms. Roach's book, "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers." In "Stiff..," Ms. Roach explored what happens to cadavers/bodies after death. So why not go and find out what happens to the soul?

This book tackles the many aspects of the soul. From reincarnation to near death experiences. Mary Roach approaches the subjects with a mix skepticism and open mindeness, but let me tell you she does so with such a great sense of humor that you actually don't realize you are reading scientific material. The book is anecdotal and mixed in with some of the scientific theories of quantum mechanics and the chemicals of the brain, it is a very fun read. Quantum Mechanics fun read??? Yes, and even more so when Ms. Roach shares the stories and interviews.

The author goes out and crosses the globe to find the subjects and professionals involved. From the poorest neighborhoods in India to taking a course on mediumship in England, Ms. Roach goes all out for this book. She also dedicates a lot of time on the swindlers of the Spiritualists movement which occured in the early part of the 20th century in the U.S. In this section she talks about how spiritualists claimed to talk to the dead and even produced "ectoplasm" from thin air. As the investigation continues it is found that the ectoplasm actually is a gauze like material that the female spiritualists would extract from...umm..er...ah ...their nether regions.

The book also covers such phenomenon as Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP), the weight of the soul (21 grams?), electromagnetically induced hallucinations, a legal case involving life after death, and more. In each of the sections she uncovers evidence that could go either way...but usually tended to lean more toward debunking (or maybe that's the skeptic in ME).

In the end when forced to say whether she believes in life after death, she says the believers are much more fun to visit a cemetery with than a scientific skeptic, so "What the hell, I believe."

This book is really fun and informative...but I like the fun part more. Really you'll find this book hard to put down.

"Strangers in Death" by J.D. Robb

The latest book in Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb's "...in Death" series featuring the kick @$$ future NYPSD detective, Lt. Eve Dallas, is one more to add to your must read list. The whole "...in Death" series has a lot going for it, such as; Sci-fi (being set in the year 2060), detective/crime thrillers, and with the background of Nora Roberts a little romance. The best thing the series has is the characterization. Not only do you have the great character of Lt. Dallas but all the other characters in the books are well written and full of depth. You've got Dallas' extremely wealthy husband Roarke (he owns most of the planet and some off-planet interests thrown in), her partner Detective Peabody is fun as well as a great host of many others. Sure it helps to have 30 some books in a series to build depth to the characters, but each book is written independent of the series. You can jump around through the books in no particular order (like i've been doing) or you can read them in order...just set aside some time.

This book has a few differences in the other books in the series, which makes it seem this may be a turning point in the series. But at the same time, it seems business as usual. Normally each book can be read without reading the earlier books in the series, but this one, for the first time I know of, makes some references to previous happenings in earlier books. They do not stop the story by any means...in fact they intrigue and make the reader more apt to read the earlier books. Another difference is that Roarke the multi-billionaire is taking more of a part in the investigation process in this book as a civilian consultant. He has been used as a consultant before...but this time a lot more use of his resources is being made.

In "Strangers in Death" a prominent business man is murdered in his bed. His body, tied down with velvet rope and surrounded by sex-toys, is found by the "House Manager" (housekeeper). She immediately calls the police and then calls the man's wife who is vacationing in the Virgin Islands. It seems Thomas Avers was cheating on his wife and died during some kinky action. At least that's what the murderer wants you to think. To Lt. Eve Dallas, this doesn't hold water. Avers had a huge sports equipment franchise and ran several charities for children. When Dallas meets the wife, Ava Anders, her gut tells her the wife did it. But Ava was miles away when the murder happened and has a rock solid alibi.

Thanks to Eve's husband Roarke owning most of New York, doors are opened much easier for her and her investigation becomes easier, at least for the footwork part, most of the investigation is trying to hurdle the brick walls which make the investigation seem to end with no suspects.

At the same time some fellow detectives have a cold case that is bugging them and they hound Dallas to look into the case to see if they missed anything. She only sees that the dectives did their job and says, "Sometimes they just go cold."

But, (SPOILER ALERT!!!!) could these cases be tied together? Upon further investigation Roarke mentions an old Hitchcock film "Strangers on a Train" and now the investigation rolls on like a runaway train with only Lt. Eve Dallas ready on the brakes.

Great action, great mystery and as usual great characters.

Book Review: "Burn Factor" by Kyle Mills

After reading all the Kyle Mills books that revolve around the character of FBI agent, Mark Beamon (who by the way is a great "everyman" crime fighter, better even than Clancy's Jack Ryan) I've been reading his other books. They have proven to be some fun books, I'll have to admit this is only the second "non-Beamon" book. This book, "Burn Factor," however does cross into Beamon territory and even has a very brief appearance of Mark Beamon. This book is a little different from the Beamon books in that this starts out being a novel about a serial killer, but soon becomes a serial killer novel with a government cover-up in place.

Quinn Barry is an ambitious employee of the FBI. She works on databases and coding for the FBI's systems. She very much wants to be an agent and as soon as her superiors see fit to send her to training that's what she will be. But for right now she's working on some coding to help matchup new hardware with the FBI's CODUS database for DNA. Her new search engine seems to have a glitch. 5 extra results are found for unmatched DNA. These results were not in the original programming. She soon finds that embedded in the old coding someone hid some DNA markers that were to be ignored. Thinking this is just some test code that got stuck in the old system she sets out to prove her program is better.

Once she announces the DNA code error, she gets transferred to Quantico to reprogram some databases. But she doesn't give up. She requests the police reports from the 5 extra results, knowing they don't exist and that once and for all she can show how she saved the FBI time and money she can get that agent training. However, it seems the 5 cases are real and are very heinous crimes of what appears to be a serial killer. At this same time her CIA boyfriend is snooping through her stuff and all of a sudden acting nice to her.

The action builds and never stops once Quinn decides to investigate the murders herself and is lead to a physics genius Eric Twain. She soon discovers this is a cover-up by an unknown government entity and her life is in danger as she tracks down the killer and the cover-up.

This is a great book for an adrenaline junkie. The character of Quinn Barry never knows when to stop and takes the inevitable good guy/bad guy chase to all new highs.

The fun part of the book is when Quinn is trying to determine who she can tell to reveal the cover-up and the only name she can come up with is Mark Beamon, but as the name comes to her she once again must be on the run so we have to settle just for the mention of his name...at least (SPOILER ALERT!!!) until the end.

THE ATLANTIS PROPHECY

Book Review "The Door to December" by Dean Koontz

Every so often you have to go back and revisit an old Dean Koontz novel and get some good old fashioned chills. Even Dean himself has to do so. This book was originally released in 1985 under Dean's psuedonym Richard Paige but has been re-released under the proper artist's name, Dean Koontz.

This book is a classic Koontz novel. It features the hero with a soiled childhood, in this case Dan Haldane the police detective that takes on they mysterious case of Melanie Rafferty. Melanie is a 9 year old girl who was kidnapped by her father, Dylan, 6 years prior after Melanie's mother, Laura, filed for divorce. The story begins with Dylan's house the scene of a brutal crime in which he and several "occupants" have been found bludgeoned to death. Melanie is found wandering the streets of L.A. naked and in a catatonic state.

Lt. Dan Haldane calls Laura to the scene to try to put together what happened. Laura hasn't seen or heard from her husband and daughter for 6 years. What happened in that 6 years immediately sends a chill up the reader's spine. In this house which was the base of research for Dylan Rafferty, who was a psychologist performed a series of bizarre psychological experiments. To make matters worse it becomes clear that Dylan had been using his daughter as the main subject of his experiments, strapping her to a shock therapy chair and isolating her for hours in a sensory deprivation tank encouraging her to discover the full potential of her psyche.

As the police continue to investigate the murder other bodies start to appear. In each case the victim seems to have been killed in a very extreme way far beyond the abilities of any normal person. At first the victims don't seem to have anything in common but as the investigation continues they start to discover that all of the dead were somehow linked and this link is that something (not someone) is killing those involved in Melanie's experiments. The link also leads to find what was actually being studied and who was funding the experiments.

This is Dean Koontz's classic thrill package wrapped within the covers in this book. A little paranormal activity and great characters to follow to the ultimate battle of the psyche.

Book Review: "Duma Key" by Stephen King

Well I finally read the latest from Stephen King, the master of horror. Actually I would say Mr. King is the Master at taking something pretty plain and making it downright horrifying. In "Duma Key" he goes even further and takes something extraordinary and makes it "hyper-extraordinary. But before I go further I will warn you, constant reader, that while this book has a lot going for it, it also seems to lack that big extra scary "umpf" that only King does so well. While there were no super scary moments the book is still a great, fun read. No, I take that back, what could be more scary than paintings coming to life and a spirit known as Perse drowning children and sending their ghosts back to make sure she lives forever. I think what it is, is that I have built up a Stephen King tolerance, and nothing scares me like Pennywise the Clown or Jack Torrance.

Okay let's talk about Duma Key. This latest novel starts with the life of Edgar Freemantle going through a major life changing event. Edgar is a 57 year old contractor that is involved in a terrible accident which involves a large crane smashing into his truck. Edgar loses his right arm and suffers severe head trauma. He spends some time in the hospital in a coma and when he wakes he finds it difficult to communicate and unable to control his temper. His psychologist suggests a little doll for him to focus his anger upon. Edgar's wife soon asks for a divorce after he tries to choke her (this is one of the many things Edgar doesn't remember doing). The psychologist then recommends a change of scenery and to take up a hobby. Edgar used to draw so he decides to take up painting, but before doing so he decides to move from Minnesota to one of the Keys in Florida, Duma Key.

On Duma Key, Edgar's paintings take on a supernatural feel and even the process becomes supernatural with the paranormal phantom limb from his missing arm. It is on Duma Key where Edgar meets Jerome Wireman, Wireman to his friends. Wireman is a former attorney who once tried to take his own life after losing his wife and daughter. Wireman is now a caretaker for Elizabeth Eastlake, an eccentric old woman who is a native of Duma Key, and possibly owns the whole Island. After Edgar's daughter comes down for a visit, Elizabeth warns him that Duma Key has never been a good place for daughters. And thus the story begins to unfold. Twin sisters drowning, a mysterious spectre that seems to come from the bottom of the ocean and the mysterious ship of the dead, "The Perse."

Now Edgar, his assistant Jack and Wireman must destroy Perse. To do so will not be an easy task. Perse works through Edgar's Paintings and he becomes an extremely popular artist and everyone wants his art. His art also is supernatural in that just by panting when the phantom limb is throbbing he can make what he paints become reality, like killing a man that rapes and kills a child by simply painting the man with no mouth or nose. Perse goes after Edgar's family and the war is on.

Earlier I said this book wasn't a huge scare factor for me, but then again I am proud to say I've read every book that has been published by Stephen King, and I have built a tolerance. But the saving grace for this book was the excellent characters that were written, especially Wireman. Wireman is full of great lines that could be great ways to lead the perfect life. Between the idioms of Wireman and the inner turmoil of Edgar Freemantle, this book is a fun read. All Stephen King fans should read this book, and non-King fans will enjoy the great dialogue between the characters and the great descriptions of the artwork by Edgar plus the extra chills thrown in to remind you, Stephen King wrote this.



The official book trailer/promo:






Stephe King talks about the book and how it came about (thanks to Bookvideos.tv)

Book Review: "Smoke Screen" by Kyle Mills

Okay so I've now read all of Kyle Mills' books that feature FBI agent Mark Beamon, now what? Well, I now am reading his other books and "Smoke Screen" is one of them. While this book is not the thriller that the others are, it does keep you on the edge of your seat and anxious to turn the page to find out more.

This book is actually quite fun and some nice humor thrown in to a "What-If" situation. The what-if is; What if the tobacco companies all shut down and stopped producing the deadly products? Kyle Mills ponders this question and in the middle of telling a fun and interesting story gives a little lesson in civics. You see the government is so dependent on monies from the tobacco industry that while saving lives a lot of other lives would be put in harm's way and, most important to the government, lots of money would not be arriving in the political coffers they've come to depend on. These monies come in the form of taxed product, bribes/donations from the tobacco industry and even the people working in the industry.

So what would happen? This book offers one possible outcome and does so in a well researched way that it makes you stop and think about this crop that pretty much was highly influential in the development of the United States of America as a country back in the break from England.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys have finally found the weakness they’ve been searching for and filed a $200 billion lawsuit that the industry will be unable to appeal. America’s tobacco companies react by doing the unthinkable - they close their plants and recall their products from retailers’ shelves.

The book's hero, Trevor Barnett, is from a family who made the tobacco industry what it is. One of the most powerful industries and political decision makers. However Trevor is not a rich person. He lives off a trust that basically pays little until he's 60 then he gets a few million dollars to enjoy. But until then he must be in the constant employ of big tobacco. So he's got a mindless job in the company his family founded.

But now he's charged with the task of going on national television and making the announcement: Not another cigarette will be manufactured or sold until the industry is given ironclad protection from the courts. This all because he wanted to get fired. When asked to summarize the latest surgeon general's report for the CEO of the company, he simply writes "Tobacco still kills and we don't know what to do about it." This is the first time anyone has ever talked "straight" with the CEO, Paul Trainer. So through an inexplicable series of unwanted promotions, Trevor Barnett has become the lead spokesman for the tobacco industry just as it’s on the verge of extinction.

As the economy falters and chaos takes hold, Trevor becomes the target of enraged smokers, gun toting cigarette smugglers and a government that has been off from one of it’s largest sources of revenue. Soon it becomes clear that this has always been his function - to take the brunt of the backlash and shield the men in power from the maelstrom they’ve created.

While the author, Kyle Mills, is a great thriller writer, in this book he takes a different approach that makes this book fun. Lot's of humor, tongue in cheek pokes at pretty much everyone and to top it off it's told in first person with Trevor Barnett as the narrator.

This book is a fun read that may also jolt the brain into thinking about some interesting issues. Some great sarcasm here for folks that love it (like me).

Book Review: "Rapture in Death" by J.D. Robb

One of the things I like about not reading the "...in Death" series, by J.D. Robb, in order in which they are written is that I get little surprises about the pasts of the extremely well written characters from this series. In this book which was actually book #3 in the 30+ books in the series. In this entry into the series we join Lt. Eve Dallas and her new husband just as their honeymoon ends.

Now one thing to point out is that these books are set in the late 2050s which brings in some cool sci-fi gadgets which make the storytelling much more fun and for me it helps offset the romance/love scenes which I find "icky." Yeah, I'm not a romantic fiction fan. This book had more than the usual amounts of romance and sex but they were key to the plot...so, I let them slide.

Just before Eve and Roarke are finished with their honeymoon on an orbiting resort satellite, a death occurs. And sure enough, Lt.Dallas is a cop first and foremost and is immediately called to go to the scene. However it's not a homicide which is Eve's forte, this one is a suicide. But the suicide is that of a young computer whiz that was very happy in life and had no reason to "self-terminate." After all he was helping design the holo-suites on Roarke's resort. Did I mention that Roarke owns nearly everything on Earth and almost everything in the solar system? Yeah, he's rich. One other thing about the self-termination is that he has a huge unnatural smile on his face. This doesn't sit well with Dallas but she turns it over as a self-termination to the local authorities since orbiting satellites are out of her jurisdiction as a homicide detective from New York.

Arriving back on planet Dallas has her normal duties to solve cases and appear in court to make sure those cases are seen to their finish. One attorney that tries to break Dallas on the stand, is found the next morning as a result of self-termination. Dallas again thinks that this person was one of the least likely to self-terminate.

When the publisher of a big tabloid jumps to her death while Dallas is trying to talk her down, Lt. Dallas starts putting all these cases together and realizes some other force is at work and tying in these cases. What did they all have in common? Okay a bit of a spoiler here...they all relaxed with a new Virtual Reality system created by Roarke Enterprises.

This is also the book in which Dallas' friend, the rockstar, Mavis, gets her start. However the producer may have alternative motives. He may be the best producer/artist in the music world of 2058 but he experiments on Roarke and Dallas by sampling their brainwaves and becoming able to nearly make them puppets. This is where the strong amount of sex comes in. After a "session" with the producer, Jess, Dallas and Roarke end up making love like animals on the lawn of the lush Roark Estate.

This book is non-stop action, great mystery, great thrills and great characters. One such character makes her step in becoming a regular in the series. That character is Lt. Dallas' aid, Officer Peabody. Delia Peabody is such a fun character and her interaction with Dallas and Roarke create some great humor that helps to break from the constant action and mystery without halting the story. And of course Dallas and Roarke are fun. The dialogue in all these novels is natural and brings out all the relationships in the story.

Book Review - "The Husband" by Dean Koontz

All married couples recite the words "til death do us part." (Okay except for those few that have "alternative" weddings) Those five words are pretty much taken for granted, especially when you look at Hollywood and today's divorce rate. But there are a few of us out there that not only take that seriously but feel that sentiment with our heart. But digging down deep how far will you go to prevent that parting?

In this novel, "The Husband" by Dean Koontz, we find out just how far Mitch Rafferty will go, including killing someone and finding out the dark side of his family. The cover of the book reads "We have your wife. You can have her back for 2 Million- cash." This sounds like a typical kidnapping crime book, but as any Koontz fan knows nothing is ever typical.

Mitch Rafferty is simple Landscaper/Gardner who has his own small business in California. His wife, Holly, is a secretary that wants to become a real estate agent. Living their own lives simply and normally. That is until when one day at work, Mitch receives the call from Holly and then the kidnappers telling him they want $2 million. Mitch says, "I'm just a gardener, I don't have that kind of money." To which the kidnappers simply reply, "We know." Then to prove they are serious they kill a man walking his dog across the street as Mitch watches in horror.

So what would a man do to get back his wife? Well without giving away too much, Mitch will do anything. But an insistent Detective Taggart seems to think Mitch is hiding something. Mitch was told not to involve the cops but was forced to call 911 after he sees the man shot.

It is soon revealed that (as with most of Koontz's "heroes") Mitch had a very troubling childhood. Mitch's parents were tenured Professors of Psychology at UCI and had their own way of raising children. This bizarre upbringing for Mitch and his 4 siblings included such abuses as "the learning room," a sensory deprivation room where the children could spend up to 2 weeks in said room to "think about" what they did wrong.

While Mitch may have turned out pretty normal, his brother Anson, the family Jewel, turned out to be very successful. Mitch soon learns that Anson is also hiding a secret.

With more action and thrills than any movie ever produced this book will keep you riveted and not wanting to put it down even after the extremely exciting conclusion.

"The Husband" proves when it comes to thrills/chills and plot twists, Dean Koontz delivers.

Book Review: "Free Fall" by Kyle Mills

Mark Beamon is the FBI agent created by Kyle Mills and is the main character in 5 of his 9 books and has to be one of the most interesting fictional characters created. You're never really sure if Beamon is on top of everything or if it's just a bunch of dumb luck. No matter what the case Mark Beamon is the one to turn to when wanting to find someone that can't or doesn't want to be found. Even the FBI top brass that don't like his ignore-the-rules methods, will pick Beamon to be the guy in such a situation.

In this book it seems more of a mix of both dumb luck and some smarts from Beamon that helps find an alleged murderer of a rock climber/government employee. At first tracking the murderer who is an expert rock/ice/mountain climber as well as being the ex-girlfriend of the victime. What at first could be a lover's tryst unfolds before Beamon to be a darker side of the run for the presidency.

Before I get too far ahead of myself in this review, let me first applaud Kyle Mills for creating an edge of your seat thriller that includes his personal passion/obsession of rock climbing. Mills spends his off time rock climbing in his native Wyoming (as well as other prime climbing sites). With 2 successful books under his belt ("Rising Phoenix" and "Storming Heaven") it was time to combine his passions; writing and climbing.

FBI agent, Mark Beamon is being held accountable for some leaked wiretappings that incriminate several prominent political figures. The recordings were discovered in his previous case and somehow leaked into the media. While he did not release the tapes, the political elite need a scapegoat and that's what Beamon is best at being. The FBI offers him a deal in which he will do minimal jail time if he confesses. They give him 3 weeks to decide. During that 3 weeks he is suspended. As he prepares for the political machine to mow him over, he breaks it off with his girlfriend so she can move on and not have to be wrapped up in this mess. But being Mark Beamon he can't just do nothing.

Trystan has pretty much given up the free life of rock climbing and is working on a law degree at Georgetown, he gets a job working for the government looking for newly declassified documents. Trystan runs across a file called "Prodigy," in which the Hoover era of the FBI kept tabs on promising upstarts in order to use against them in case they became too powerful, Kennedy is one such person that would fall under the Prodigy profile, with his affairs. What Trystan sees in this file is so amazing that he risks his job and takes the document from the storage house to hide somewhere.

Enter Darby Moore, the world class female climber, pop philosopher, Trystan's friend and once girlfriend. She convinces Trystan to go rock climbing for the weekend. During the night of the climb Trystan and Darby are abducted by men looking for the file. Trystan is injured, but he and Darby escape. They split up and plan to meet back up to evade their unknown pursuers. When Darby returns to her van the next morning she finds it surrounded by police and the body of Trystan hanging out of the van.

Turns out that 3rd party presidential candidate David Hallorin wants that file to use the information to guarantee his election bid. Now Darby is wanted for the murder of Trystan and is pursued by all the law enforcement agencies and Hallorin's men.

Someone wants Darby found and wants her found fast, and since the best man to do the job is not busy, Mark Beamon is hired by an unknown person and promised enough payment to cover his legal fees and get out of the frame job from the FBI.

So the adventure begins with Mark Beamon trying to track down a woman who can live in the mountains and not be dependent on society, while at the same time finding more and more that Darby is also being framed. To find out why he has to find Darby Moore.

The thrill of the chase and the constant twists and turns are what Kyle Mills is good at writing and he doesn't let off with this book. The descriptions of some of the climbs and the struggles made my knuckles turn white.

DVD Review: "Justice League - The New Frontier"

The next installment of the DC universe original animated movies soars onto shelves when Warner Home Video releases- Justice League: The New Frontier on February 26, 2008, and let me be the first to tell you it is pretty darn good. At the end of this review I will tell you how 2 lucky winners will get their very own copy of this DVD.

Normally, I'm a pure Marvel fan, but right now I will confess my secret fan-boy craving for The Flash and sometimes Green Lantern. This DVD had a treat for me with those two characters being featured, so I gave it a chance, and I was not let down.

The story and the artwork on this film are superb. The artwork had that classic 50s feel to it but at the same time meeting with today's High Definition standards. The scenery was complex and beautifully drawn. The same goes for the heroes. Not your primary colors only scheme here, this film really captured the colors of the costumes and even kept them toned down so as not to have that campiness that comic book heroes can have. (Remember the 60s Batman TV series? 'Nuff Said.) It also manages to be dark but not too dark like, say for instance the Spawn animated series. There are moments like when Hal Jordan (soon to be Green Lantern) kills a Korean soldier. The blood does splatter but the moment passes and the scene is not dwelt upon. But I'm starting to give away some of the story so let me give you some more background before the synopsis.

This movie is inspired by the best-selling graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke and produced by the multiple Emmy(r) award winning animation legend, Bruce Timm, The New Frontier is the epic tale of the founding of the Justice League. Superman, Batman, The Flash and Wonder Woman are all here of course, and so are Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter whose incredible origins are told. Strangers at first, these very different heroes must overcome fear and suspicion to forge an alliance against a monster so formidable, even the mighty Superman cannot stop it. If they fail, our entire planet will be "cleansed" of humanity.

The graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke re-envisioned the DC heroes as getting their start in the 50s in the height of "The Communist Scare," "McCarthyism" and the end of the Korean War. This movie, written by Stan Berkowitz captures that idea and really punches home the idea that the heroes have other things to worry about other than just fighting crime. For instance, The Flash wears a RED costume...red is for commies. So as you can see suspicion can be a formidable foe especially if one wears a mask.
It is 1953, and the US is coming off yet another war, and the start of the cold war. The Justice Society has been disbanded, with members hunted by the government in an era of McCarthyism. People are suspicious of each other and their motives. Even the super heroes question what is right and wrong.

Despite all the turmoil, heroes like Batman work underground as a mysterious cult envelopes the world and clues about something called, "The Centre" may spell doom for mankind. Along the way, characters such as Hal Jordan, John Jones - the Martian Manhunter, Flash trying to fight off this unknown enemy.
A scientist tries to make contact with what could be life on Mars; instead he beams back John Jones, a real live Martian. The scientist dies of heart failure due to the shock and John Jones takes on his identity and others before settling on that of a detective.

Batman is seen as suspicious by the public and unknowingly frightens children. When this secret is revealed to him, he takes on a young crime-fighting ward known as Robin.

The Green Lantern Corps, who have been fighting "The Centre" across the galaxy, give Hal Jordan a ring so he may help join the fight, thus becoming the Green Lantern.

Many more heroes are revealed throughout the movie including some Golden age heroes. It was actually fun to sit and try to identify the many heroes.
One final note about the film itself...HOLY ENSEMBLE CAST, BATMAN. The actors voicing the heroes are just as great as the heroes themselves. One of my favorite actors Miguel Ferrer is the voice of John Jones (btw, in the comics the name was Jon Jonnz) the Martian Manhunter, David Borreanz (you know, Angel the vampire) is Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Neal Patrick Harris (yes Doogie Houser, will he ever not be Doogie?) is Barry Allen/The Flash, John Heard is Ace Morgan, Lucy Lawless is Wonder Woman, Kyle MacLachlan is Clark Kent/Superman, Joe Mantegna makes an appearance as a crooner, Kyra Sedgwick is Lois Lane and Brooke Shields is Carol Ferris.



Now let's talk a bit about the DVD extras, there's one really cool feature called "Super Heroes United!" this features a great comprehensive history of the DC comics universe. There's even some mention of Marvel comics and the world's greatest comic hero creator Stan Lee makes his appearance, as well as Fantastic Four creator Marv Wolfman. Oh yeah and all the big names from DC as well. So you can see it's clearly bi-partisan comics in action.
The double disc set has even more extras like; "The Legion of Doom-The Pathology of a Super-Villain," "Comic Book Commentary" pays homage to the fans of the New Frontier books and Justice League Unlimited animated series bonus episodes.

This DVD is a must have for any comics fan...even Marvel fans. I sat with my 7 year old son and watched this movie and we had a blast watching the great heroes in some great action. By the way the Centre is one really cool creature...Superman cannot defeat this massive villain.



Okay now for the part some of you have been drooling...er..uh..I mean waiting for. So do you want to win your very own copy? It's easy and maybe fun. I will have 2 winners, so there will be two contests.

Contest 1 is what I like to call "Share the Joy/Link." All you have to do is repost the link to this review in as many places you can think of, blogs, bulletin boards, and MySpace comments, anywhere. Once you have done that email me and let me know you have done so and provide me with the links so that I can verify the posting. The person with the most shared links is the winner of the first contest.

Contest 2 is a random drawing. I will place the names of all the people who comment on this review into a hat and draw out...better yet I'll have my son draw out a name and I will contact you to let you know you won.

So there you have it 2 contests, 2 winners.
Good Luck!!

The drawing will be held on the date the DVD is released February 26, 2008
Winners will be notified no later than February 29th, 2008.

Book Review: "Mistress of the Art of Death" by Ariana Franklin

I have just read another very interesting historical fiction. But I was fooled as I was reading it. Let me clarify that a little, Ariana Franklin writes of murders and death around the year 1171 in Henry II's England. But Franklin uses the prose and style of today's thriller writers mixed in artfully with the language of the time. The story never falters nor did it leave the me confused by archaic language. I guess what I'm trying to say that without the Historical Fiction label this was a great thriller/mystery.

I think the best way to describe the synopsis of the book is to take the tv series CSI and plop the characters down in 12th century England. Adelia Aguilar, a female doctor (unheard of to the Brits, in fact a woman even dabbling in healing would probably be punished as a witch) specializes on listening to the dead and determining cause of death, much like modern medical examiners. Adelia is sent by the King of Sicily to help King Henry II with her companions to root out who is killing the children. The locals are accusing the Jews, but 3 of the 4 murders occured while the Jews were locked in the castle. The Christians don't let this stop their wild stories of Jews taking flight and eating children.

Adelia's companions are Simon of Naples, a Jew and investigator, trusted and employed by various European monarchs to sort out their more intractable problems. Mansur, a Marsh Arab, helped and sheltered by Dr Aguilar who found him running away from the monks who had him castrated as a child in order to preserve his soprano singing voice– a not uncommon occurrence. He is Adelia’s devoted protector.

Not does this book involve the thrill of the chase of tracking down a child killer but the prejudices and superstions of the time are explored and even at times hinder the investigation. The murderer, it is determined, is a returned Crusader, this puts nearly every male in town in suspicion. Even the tax collector Sir Rowley Picot. Notice the "Sir." Sir Rowley was knighted upon taking Henry II's first born's sword to the Holy Land during the crusade. He has his own motivations for tracking down the murderer. These are discovered when he tells his tale of his "adventures" on the Crusades.

There are several humorous occasions in the book to break the dark story line. My favorite, for some reason unknown to me, is when Adelia asked if the coroner looked at the children and the response was (paraphrasing here)yes but he had no info on their death, the coroner has no need to know medical things.

All in all this book has great characterization and the strong female lead character of Adelia at times seems out of place for the century but makes the book that much stronger. If you are a fan of CSI, turn off your TV and pick up this book and get lost in a great thriller.

Win the New Justice League movie on DVD from me.

The next installment of the dc universe original ANIMATED movies soars onto shelves when warner home video releases- Justice League: The New Frontier –ON february 26, 2008 !


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Great for comic book fans of all ages your chance to win a DVD of Justice League: The New Frontier. Details coming soon.

Book Review: "Storming Heaven" by Kyle Mills

I've recently become a fan of Kyle Mills and especially of his character, FBI Agent, Mark Beamon. And this book, makes me even more of a fan. "Storming Heaven" is Kyle Mills second book and the second of 5 books (so far) with Mark Beamon. Let me tell you in this book Mark Beamon gets everything thrown at him that can possibly go wrong...but, spoiler alert, he wins in the end. However it is an extreme rollercoaster ride of thrills in this book before we get to the end.

Mark Beamon, just off the case of solving who's poisoned the drug supply, is put out to pasture, that's right the FBI director still doesn't like Beamon, even though Beamon gets the job done. So now serving in Flagstaff, Arizona, Mark Beamon gets what could almost be called a simple case of murder and kidnapping, but nothing is simple when Beamon is involved.

Agent Beamon arrives on scene where it seems the Davis' have been murdered and their 15 year old daughter, Jennifer has been Kidnapped. The girl's boyfriend has an alibi and Mark seems to have hit a brick wall when it comes to clues for finding the girl. With the help of his young assistant, Chet Michaels, Beamon starts uncovering some clues that lead to a very bizarre story of corruption and the politics of religion. The religion in question a newly formed religion in the Church of the Evolution in which the leader of the church is the self proclaimed new messiah.

The church has its fingers in everything and sometimes those same fingers clutching the necks of some pretty high ups in the corporate world and politics. Through the book we know that Jennifer is the grand-daughter of Albert Kneiss the founder of the church. She has been kidnapped by the woman who is running the church, Sarah, while Kneiss slowly dies. The plan is for Jennifer to die on Good Friday leaving Sarah with all the power. So on top of Mark Beamon trying to solve the case, we have the adventure of Jennifer surviving the abductors.

As Mark Beamon gets closer to the church as the answer to sloving this case, the church does everything in its power to destroy Beamon's already shaky reputation. First they convince the head of the FBI to get Beamon off the church angle. seeing that not working they publish stories in major newspapers of Beamons credibility, especially with his drinking. Then the church destroys his life by releasing misinformation labelling him as a child molester, and to make matters worse they destroy his credit and cause the IRS to come after what little he has left.

But it takes a lot more than that to take Mark Beamon off the case, no longer an agent and now a wanted fugitive, he puts together a team of a computer expert that is a former member of the Church of the Evolution and a cantankerous old electronics bugging genius from the J. Edgar Hoover days of FBI work. Now not having to keep to the rules of the justice system Beamon and his team take on the Church of the Evolution. The rollercoaster ride becomes more thrilling at this point when at times Jennifer is rescued only to be abducted again and then rescued and then Beamon is double crossed by a trusted ally and so on and so on.

You will not be able to put this book down check it out.

Book Review: "Naked In Death" by JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts)

Nora Roberts had a great idea for a story, A female cop that kicks serious but around the year 2050. But due to contractual reasons she had to write the story under the pseudonym of J.D. Robb, thus launching the "...in Death" series of books. This book, "Naked In Death" was the first in what is now 26, with more to come and some short stories in some anthologies.

This book launched the coolest cop character I've ever read, Lt. Eve Dallas. Lt. Dallas is one tough cop and with some cool sci-fi tools from the mid 21st century she can get the job done. Before I go any further I've got some things to say about the series. First I didn't get interested in the series until the 24th or 25th book but I'm glad I did pick them up. I'm now going back and reading the series in somewhat publication order. I've skipped around some and am just now getting to book one. Also I want to point out that yes, Nora Roberts is a romance writer, and yes these books have those moments. In whole I don't mind, (I'm just not much of a fan of romance novels, something about the airbrushed models on the covers or something.) Each time in these books that I get to one of the romantic moments, I trudge through this book seemed to have more than the others I've read in the series, and at times it seemed like they went on for too long. I'm a thriller sci-fi type guy, not a mushy kissy kissy guy, okay, not with books anyway.

"Naked in Death" introduces us to Lt. Eve Dallas, a hardcore NYPSD detective that takes no bull from anyone and kicks serious butt. She has a dark past which comes back to haunt her usually in her dreams. She was abused and molested by her father and then abandoned at the age of 8. She was raised in the "system" and turned out to be a tough detective that cares for the victims and won't give up until justice is served.

Also introduced in this book is what turns out to be Eve's love interest, known simply as Roarke. Roarke though, also has an interesting past. Right now he's a multi-billionair that owns nearly everthing on Earth and a few interests off-world.

The story starts with a murder of an LC (Licensed Companion, prostitution is legal as long as they are licensed in this near future). The big hitch in this murder is that the LC also happens to be a member of an influential Senator's family. Senator DeBlass, at the time of his grand-daughter's murder is introducing a morals bill to ban LCs. The murderer also left a note at the scene and sent a video to Lt. Dallas saying "1 of 6." Then there are two more LCs murdered each with the corresponding numbered notes. Also each victim was shot with antique bullet style guns (hey it's the mid-21st century, they now have lasers and stunners) and each time the gun was left at the scene. The suspects are all collectors of antique weaponry.

The list of suspects is a tough one. First there's Roarke, the multi-billioniare, who does not have an alibi for the nights in question and he's a known weapons collector. Another suspect becomes the man who tries to stall the investigation at every turn, the Chief of Police.

The romance between Roarke and Eve is a dangerous one, in that he's the prime suspect and Eve risks her job just being seen with him, but she has already ruled him out. The actual murderer has a darker and more heinous motive that hits close to home for Eve.

So when it comes to futuristic thrillers, J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) has me convinced. Check out this book and get hooked on the "...In Death" series.

Book Review: "The Real Frank Zappa Book" by Frank Zappa with Peter Occhiogrosso

Not only have I had a very interesting adulthood, but I was also lucky to have a very interesting childhood. Sure there were the typical good times and bad times, and there were things I wish I would have done different (like learn to play guitar). But all that aside, My dad taught me to really appreciate music. All sorts of music. In the 70s he would play Frank Zappa alongside Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Ry Cooder, Commander Cody and others and when the 80s hit we became fans of the Talking Heads, Devo and others.

As I grew older I came to further develop this appreciation by learning to love classical music, real hard core blues and more. It all goes back to Frank Zappa. Seriously. Many folks who hear the name Frank Zappa only think of such songs as "Yellow Snow," "Dinah Moe Hum" or even "Valley Girl." Not to mention the unmentionable titles that described various female body parts. For those folks that think of Frank Zappa as only a "potty-mouthed" hippy singer...you've got it wrong....WAY WRONG. His greatest works are typically instrumental songs like "Peaches en Regalia," or relatively harmless songs like "Inca Roads." This book describes the best features of Zappa that were constantly overlooked.

Frank Zappa passed away in 1993. (As a side here, in college a friend of mine Jim Damm and I hosted a 6 hour tribute to Zappa on the college radio station, WIDB in Carbondale, IL the night after his death.) He was just in the process of seriously announcing his candidacy for U.S. president, but he found out, too late, that he had prostate cancer and passed away before this could be more than a mention on some talk show. This book was published in 1988. In early 1990, Zappa visited Czechoslovakia at the request of President Václav Havel, a lifelong fan, and was asked by Havel to serve as consultant for the government on trade, cultural matters and tourism. Zappa enthusiastically agreed and began meeting with corporate officials interested in investing in Czechoslovakia. Within a few weeks, however, the US administration put pressure on the Czech government to withdraw the appointment. Havel made Zappa an unofficial cultural attaché instead. So this book doesn't cover the political career of Frank Zappa, but it does have several chapters that show he was getting started.

One of the very unique aspects of this book is that it is the ONLY book about Frank Zappa written by Frank Zappa. On the back cover there is a quote from the New York Post that says, "This book belongs in Every Home." I would have to agree with that. Not for the informative look at his early career, but for the views and opinions on politics, censorship and over-organized religion.

The breakdown of the book by chapters looks like this:

The first 7 chapters cover his career and how he came to do what he did with music and performance art, with some great anecdotes about being on the road with The Mothers of Invention. Chapter seven had me rolling with laughter. This Chapter was about the indecency hearing Great Britain held concerning his Orchestral performance for what would be the movie "200 Motels" starring Theodore Bikel, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon and, of course, The Mothers. Apparantly a stage hand had filed a complaint about some of Zappa's lyrics. Which I should note here, his lyrics were all about absurdism. So this chapter takes the court record and reprints it. The funny part is the setup of all the old Brittania Judges (old men in white wigs) reading and trying to determine the lyrics of many of Zappa's songs and Zappa explaining to the best of his ability, I'm assuming while trying to not crack up laughing.

The next chapter of the book is a very in depth look at music. Including scoring compositions for orchestras and the many headaches involved. At this point Zappa explains the personalities of musicians and how they relate to the instrument they play.

The last part of the book is spent on politics, including the famous PMRC hearings in the 80s on Capitol Hill. Frank shares his knowledge of why the wives of senators wanted legislation on music and why certain senators' wives were the ones wanting said legislation. He ventures to say that Tipper Gore was funding what looks like would be a run for presidency for her husband...and this book was 1988?

If you want some fun rock and roll info with some great political discussion and debate thrown in....this is the book for you. I'll tell you Zappa is not what you think...even if you think you know him.

Book Review/Discussion: Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

The Dune chronicles have come to a close with this final book in the series, "Sandworms of Dune." Frank Herbert created a great novel in the original "Dune" and then continued with 5 more books covering the philosophies and adventures of the planet Arrakis or Dune. Dune is the only place in the universe where Spice Melange was to be found. "He who controls the spice, controls the Universe." The Spice was needed for Guild Navigators to be able to fold space, enabling travel throughout the universe in the blink of an eye. Spice also was known to bring about psychic prescience in some individuals. The Spice is what gave the Bene Gesserit witches their powers. Finally Spice was known to prolong life. Spice was the commodity to be traded instead of coin in Frank Herbert's "Duneverse."

The last book Frank Herbert wrote in the series was "Chapterhouse Dune." In this novel the planet Arrakis (Dune) had been destroyed and the universe was dividing into many separate factions, and an unknown enemy was coming in to destroy all traces of humanity. Of course, this left a major cliffhanger for all Dune fans, and Frank Herbert's Death made it so we would never know what happened.

Enter Frank Herbert's son, Brian. Brian Herbert teamed up with fellow science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson after finding Frank Herbert's notes on the final book of Dune. He and Kevin Anderson put together the notes and found they had what Frank had intended for the ending of the book. As they worked together on the final book they wrote some prequals to the series; The Legends of Dune Series which covered the times which led to the outlawing of "machines in the likeness of the human mind" (Thinking Machines) and the Prelude to Dune series which described how the major Houses in the Dune series came to power.

With the backstory in place it was time to finalize the Dune series. In putting together the material the 2 authors discovered there was 2 books worth of material so they wrote 2 final books in the series; "Hunters of Dune" and this book, "Sandworms of Dune." Now the series is over. Or is it? This final book "Sandworms..." brings about a great closure to the series but the younger Herbert and Anderson are prepared to write some more books for the series. These will be a trilogy titled "Heroes of Dune" with the separate books focusing on "Paul of Dune," "Jessica of Dune" and "Irulan of Dune." The release dates of these books are some time in 2008 or 2009.

Let's start now on this book by saying that Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have wrapped up the series in a very pleasing way for the fans to actually have some closure on all the major characters in some form. At the same time they maintain the philosophy and feel of the original books creating a seamless story from the point where Frank Herbert left off. Many fans felt cheated that the great unknown enemy turned out to be robots, the Evermind Omnius, and thinking machines. I can see that some could have been misled thinking that the great enemy could be spiritual but if you read the series you can see there is some great schism that occured in the books' mentioning of "The Butlerian Jihad." Out of this Jihad a law came to pass, "Thou shalt not create machines in the image of a human mind." Herbert and Anderson in writing the prequals and these final 2 books have very adequately explained this rift and turned it into a great climax to the stories.

In this book, humanity is continuing to fracture in to several factions while a single enemy will be using this division to destroy all human life. The factions consist of; The newly combined Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres, the "no-ship" on which are several Bene Gesserit who don't agree with the merging of the Honored Matres into the Bene Gesserit order, the Spacing Guild are replacing all navigators (who are dependent on spice) with machines that will fold space, since spice is a rare commodity, the Navigators who are being sacrificed are combining forces and getting help from the mysterious "Oracle of Time," The new breed of Face dancers who are not only able to look like whoever they want but also to take the memories of those they take on the appearance of, and finally the fast approaching thinking machines led by the Evermind, Omnius and his co-hort the independent robot Erasmus.

The character of Erasmus the independent robot is one of the most fun love-to-hate evil villians I've read in a long time. His character is one that represents curiousity. He's constantly wondering what makes humans tick. In fact, just like Pinocchio and Data from "Star Trek the Next Generation," Erasmus just wants to be a "real boy," or rather he wants to be human and experience such human traits as love, honor and faith. In the experiments on finding out what makes a human love another human or object Erasmus created some bloody dissections of the human brain and heart in the prequal books. The Evermind Omnius represents the logic and facts portion of humanity. Great characterization exists here and all created by Herbert and Anderson.

The no-ship containing the faction of Bene Gesserit that didn't want to merge with the Honored Matres continues to hide in the universe while at the same time searching for a new home for the Bene Gesserit and the Jews. The Jewish faith has lived on for tens of thousands of years escaping the new religions that have come and gone in the universe over time and the last few known Jews have escaped on the no-ship. The ship is commanded by the ghola of Duncan Idaho and the Bene Gesserit on the ship are led by Shianna who is able to communicate to the sandworms. On this ship there are 5 sandworms which were rescued before Arrakis was destroyed by the Honored Matres. Also on board are other gholas grown from cells found in the last Tleilaxu Master, Scytale's null entropy tube. A ghola is a clone of a human which has the capability to "awaken memories" of the person they once were. The gholas are; Paul Maud'dib Atreides, Lady Jessica Atreides, Chani (Paul's Wife), Liet Kines (planetologist on Dune), Stilgar (Naib of the Fremen on Dune), Yeuh Wellington (Suk Doctor that betrayed Duke Leto in the original Dune book), Alia (sister of Paul and an abomination). These are basically young children until their original memories are restored.

Duncan is constantly barely escaping the tachyon net thrown out by the thinking machines to catch the no-ship. The thinking machines know that a Kwisatz Haderach (a super human who is able to be in all places at once) is on board and wants to possess him to win the war against humanity. But at the same time the no-ship is being sabotaged by an unknown person and the running away from the thinking machines is becoming impossible.

Another Tleilaxu, Waff, is working with the guild navigators to create a new source of spice. He genetically alters the sandworms to create worms that can live in the ocean and they create a new form of spice "ultra-spice." These new worms are planted on the ocean planet of Buzzel and soon thrive.

The new order of Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres are preparing for the arrival of the thinking machines by creating a fleet of ships and weapons to destroy the enemy. They hire the guild and Ixian forces to create the ships and weapons. But soon find out that the guild and Ix is infiltrated with face-dancers working for the thinking machines.

The climactic battle between humanity and the thinking machines is one that creates a great philosophical discussion to be had by all that read the books. This being, that mankind can find peace through cooperation. I've decided not to give any real spoilers because this book must be read and appreciated.

Book Review: "Phoenix Rising" by Kyle Mills

This is the book that not only introduced my latest hero, FBI agent Mark Beamon, but also my new favorite author, Kyle Mills. I should say this wasn't the book that introduced me to the Kyle Mills "Beamonverse" but that this is his first book and the character of Mark Beamon's introduction to the literary world. The first book that got me hooked on Kyle Mills was "Darkness Rising." I then read "Sphere of Influence," in which Mark Beamon teams up with crimelords to fight Al-Qaida. But let's talk about this book.

Kyle Mills first shopped this book among friends to find out if he had anything worth publishing. I'm glad he had some good friends because this introduction to Agent Mark Beamon and his not-so-by-the-book methods is a fascinating read. Not only do you get a book you can't put down but one that also has you questioning what is wrong and what is right.

The premise to this book is; how to tackle America's drug problem. A former DEA agent has the answer but it won't be pretty, nor will it be cheap. The former agent, John Hobart, is working security for a Televangelist. This man of the cloth is seeing many folks die in the "War on Drugs" and seeks a solution. Hobart has an idea how and works on a way to be funded and put the plan into play.

The plan; poison all drugs coming into the country thus killing off all dealers and users. So Hobart begins his dark life of finding the perfect poison and putting it into the drug supply right at the source. The poison is placed into the drugs right at the point of manufacturing in Columbia for the cocaine and then other poisonings to take place after the initial scare to make sure the point is driven home. Hobart starts up the process and forms the CDFS (Committee for a Drug Free Society)but the Televangelist says that the public should be warned. So Hobart must place ads in all major media stating what will happen. Then the deaths begin.

In what begins a great cat and mouse FBI search and a philosophical discussion of whether tens of thousands of people dying is worth it, Kyle Mills has written a great thriller.

If this is not on your list of books to read...put it there, you won't be sorry.

Book Review: "The Accident" by Elie Wiesel

This is the 3rd and final book in the series written by Elie Wiesel. The first book being the Nobel Prize winning, "Night," which was the author's account of the holocaust. The second was a story of a holocaust survivor coming to grips with the terrors experienced in the holocaust by becoming a freedom fighter in Palestine.

"The Accident" (The original French title of the book was Le Jour [Day]) is the story of a holocaust survivor struggling to adjust to life after World War II. The main character is a journalist whose own experiences during the holocaust have left him, like many others, with a strong sense of despair and self-loathing that he finds it impossible to find any satisfaction in life. Despite the efforts of his girlfriend and others, he finds himself withdrawing from life more and more. The title of the novel refers to an accident that occurs when he is hit by a cab, while on his way to the theatre at the beginning of the book. This accident sets off a series of memories that take the reader through the protagonist's psychological and emotional struggles as he grapples with his urge to end his life while simultaneously recovering from a near-death experience.

During the journalists reliving moments of the past the reader is haunted by many horror stories of the holocaust. One can find it easy to see how the journalist can find no happiness in life. This book is a story that digs in that hope HAS to survive. It's easy to see how one can lose hope but this book really points out how much humankind NEEDS hope.

This book is not one of those uplifting feel good books but it does allow you to enjoy what you have.

Book Review: "Imitation in Death" by J. D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts)

Once again I've read a Nora Roberts book and well I'm happy to say so...okay, sure it is her writing as J. D. Robb, and sure it's not her normal genre but wow she can weave a great sci-fi/mystery/thriller when she puts on the pseudonym cap.

The summer of 2059 is a scorcher and crime is on the rise but Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the New York Police and security department has a case that will soon make things hotter. The body of a prostitute is found in a back alley in Chinatown and the way she was killed is identical to Jack the Ripper's signature. On the toe of the victim is a letter addressed to Eve challenging her to try and catch him.

The only clue he left behind is the stationary addressed to Eve that is illegal in this country since it is not recycled. Only a few outlets in Europe sells them and Eve is able to get the names of the people who bought it who are now living in New York. All the suspects are rich and powerful so Eve has to tread carefully even when the perpetrator strikes two more times mimicking The Boston Strangler and Ted Bundy.
Her superior soon gets complaints and that just makes her job harder. Eve is in a race against time before the suspect kills again but she needs one more piece of evidence before she can take him down.

J.D. Robb (Nora) has written another exciting futuristic romantic mystery that will have fans of many genres jumping on the "...In Death" series bandwagon. I should say at this point, that yes Nora Roberts doesn't completely shrug off her romance writing when writing as J.D. Robb. The romance between Roarke and Dallas really makes the characters human and definitely makes the story more real.

"Imitation in Death" is yet another example of how the characters make the book and that help you get lost in a great story. Secondary characters including Peabody, Eve's assistant, who is preparing to take her detective's exam and move in with her lover, E.D.D. officer McNabb. The heroine solves this dark and bloody case with her usual panache and a little help from her busy billionaire husband Roarke, who along with helping out the police force also manages to find time to buy the Boston Celtics.