The authors tried to be witty and irreverant like James was, but most of the time came across as just being mean.

And, to top it all off, there are many typographical and grammatical errors scattered throughout the book. My favorite was the pitcher with the "soar" arm.

Spend your money somewhere else.

Equally brilliant is the probing of the psychology of obsession. The search for his son becomes Marshall's initiation into an aspect of manhood -- compelling, grotesque, sensual, violent -- that his previous experience has barely hinted at. Even if he never finds Jeff, the search has become all-important. He'll see it through to the end even if it gets him killed. However much Marshall may want to recover his son, what he wants most is to prove to himself that he won't let himself be defeated. Ironically, he would have been defeated but for his wife's more modest and clearsighted bravery.

My only reason for not giving this gripping and beautifully crafted tale five stars is because of the editing. A lot of the dialogue, especially among the Norse workers, should have been cut and sharpened. Sometimes the writing runs away with itself and, especially with Dingo, gets repetitive. Chalk these flaws up to the editor, though, not the writer. (On the other hand, some of the exchanges are hilarious.)

There's a rumor going around that Adam Barrow is the pseudonym for Tom Kakonis. Yes or no, I think this novel is worthy of Kakonis' Criss Cross and Double Down. Despite all the muck, it turns out that kindness and human sympathy prevail against overwhelmeing odds.

One small nitpicky point. Given Buck's West Side address, his occupation and social class, he'd more likely be a White Sox than a Cubs fan!

We get to know our intrepid detective-turned-sculptor Adam McCleet very quickly. When we first meet up with him and his substitute father, Max Faverman, they are on their way to visit Max's son Buddy. Buddy is the mastermind behind the creation of a brand new country. The country of "Bob". Why would someone want to start their own country? And even more to the point, why name it Bob? You'll have to read this story to find out!

The country of Bob counts amongst its citizens: a paranoid-conspiracy-theory-believing Reverend, a radio vixen obsessed with Wayne Newton, a gorgeous organic farmer whose crops run towards the illegal, a Head of Security with a Napoleon complex the size of Oregon and a mysterious ninja pajama-clad man named Spanky who appears out of nowhere on a dazzling white horse.

Add to this a group of rather perturbed federal agents waiting outside the gates of Bob... a soon to open casino... several murders... an errant hydrogen bomb... and you get most of the main ingredients of "Extreme Odds".

There are some light hearted chuckles to be had throughout this tale. I won't say that it's a side-splittingly funny novel... it's just cute. A light read that I finished in one sitting.

Buddy Faverman, affectionately dubbed "The Putz" by his father Max, sells real estate in Oregon. However, this time Buddy insists he has purchased a country, Bob, in Eastern Oregon near the Idaho line. Former marine Adam McCleet wonders if his former school mate (two years his junior) has finally gone over the Cascades even as he drives Max to the "border" gate of Bob.

The duo is greeted by a security officer carrying an AK-47 and insisting that the two undesirables leave the area immediately. Before Adam can blink, he is arrested as a spy because it becomes known that he was a former Portland cop and supposedly worked on VP Quayle's security team (a lie that Adam had once fostered). Soon, Adam learns what Bob is al about. Buddy and his partners, local Native Americans, have seceded from the union in order to create a gambling oasis. However, when the Bank of Buddy is robbed, Adam is hired to solve the case of who would rob buddy bucks.

EXTREME ODDS, the fifth entry in the McCleet mystery series, tries to be a weird, Python like humorous tale. At times, this works extremely well, leaving readers laughing and upbeat over the characters' shenangians. However, just as often, the jocular efforts require Major Bowels and his hook to yank the jokester off the page. Conceptually, the novel is well designed and has an ironic twisting story line. However, the secondary characters are not fully developed, leaving their Youngman-like pace of a joke a line falling flat. Overall, this remains a unique, enjoyable series, but Rick Hanson's current effort drips with too much cream pie in the face.

Harriet Klausner

What stands out about this mystery is the nautical/Cape Cod element. Boats and ships and ship building are the core of this novel. I found this interesting. The plot is a little far fetched, but I'm not a bored guy trying to get through a mid-life crisis by poking my nose into a murder. My middle aged husband has gotten quite a kick out of this book - so maybe it's a guy thing.

Bottom line: a good read - easy to imagine the reader on the beach with this story. I'll check out at least one other Boyer book.

If you are politically correct you will especially like this book. It's a celebration that the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-everything America of Bill Clinton's dreams has arrived. You won't find Jack and Jill here. Luigi,Heinrich, Sean and many other western European names are also missing. The examples are about Chayyal, Juana, Shanelle, Mustapha, and La Shonda. Hopefully, the authors will receive a letter from "Conjugates-With-Alacrity" complaining about the lack Lakota Sioux names.

PC gender politics are evident in the examples "Captain Janeway found the universe to be bigger than she had thought" and "Darla left the house because of her husband's violence." Four pages are devoted to "Biased Uses of Language."

There is an entire section devoted to "ESL (English as a Second Language) Writers," who are all immigrants. Little world symbols throughout the book highlight points of special concern to ESL writers. Bad grammar is "nonstandard English" rather than bad grammar. Those who use plantation English like "She love him until he die" are admonished to "include the standard endings when you are writing." How about when speaking during a job interview? Apparently the authors would rather be PC about not offending those who speak this way than to condemn this as bad grammar on all occasions.

Much of this book is for students but that is not revealed in the title. The sections on writing school papers and ESL are about half the book. Those extra pages and the plastic spiral binding are probably why it costs about twice as much as a grammar handbook should cost. If you need a book that will remain open at the desired page while you use both hands to cook or repair your motorcycle then it may be worth paying for spiral binding but it is unnecessary in a grammar book.

Unless you plan to carry it around a campus in your backpack, you would do well to compare this to The Chicago Style Manual of Style before buying.

At the beginning Rita doubt herself and is absolutely not satisfied with her life. Till she meets Frank.She becomes more and more independent and self-confident. And so she finally leaves her husband and starts her life new. At the end she also leaves Frank because she doesn't need him any longer. Frank is lonely now; he has lost a good friend and his job too, because of his alcool- problem.

She has changed her life, but she isn't happier with her new life, because she can't go back and she doesn't arrive to manage her new life.

( two Swiss students

The play is interesting, but there are a lot of authors mentioned who make the whole text a bit difficult to read. It has been written in dialogues and threw the whole play there are only Rita and Frank talking to each other. We can recommend the book.

(two students) Aarau, Switzerland