"The Church has made the hereafter into a place of mystery, and the whole subject of a future state has been wrapped round in a mantle of religiosity, until people have come to look upon it with fear, with awe, with scepticism, with ridicule, with horror..." So reads part of the introduction by Anthony Borgia, the 'scribe' to The Late Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson.

Dictated in 1957 (the author died in 1914) by means of clairaudience (and independently verified by twice-weekly circle-sittings with a non-professional trance medium,) 'Monsignor' has in this book (along with its predecessors, 'Life in the World Unseen' and 'More about Life in the World Unseen') shown that the life he now leads is both natural and unquestionably healthy!

At the beginning of the first chapter, 'THE THRESHOLD', Monsignor raises within us important questions regarding the Churches attitude towards a future state; born out of fear of the unknown (for The Bible tells us little, if nothing, about what we will find in 'Heaven'), with the prospect of finding oneself before some dreadful, stern God, who will decide if you are to be accepted into 'Heaven' or sent down to 'Hell' for all eternity - little thought, however, being given to the fact that death is but a natural phenomenon, happening to all, religious or not.

From the start, Monsignor addresses these and other profound questions with both humour and compassion, in straight forward language that all can understand, with no pre-acquaintance with Spiritualism being necessary.

We are told how each of us go to our SELF APPOINTED PLACE. The whole notion of a 'Judgement Day' is shown to be childish and merely a weapon, used by the Church throughout the centuries, to scare good people into believing as they do - OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!

In the second chapter, 'THE SPIRIT WORLD', Monsignor speaks of the Spirit World proper, and, in effect, takes us on a 'guided tour' of the countless beauties that await us all - free to enjoy, without condition. Mention is made of the architecture, and of the superbly beautiful materials that the buildings are composed; the private dwellings that dot the landscape, giving the impression of being one immense park-land, with no territorial boundaries. (overcrowding is unheard of, despite the countless millions of inhabitants.)

One of the most surprising things to be read is the fact that churches, of all denominations, exist in the Spirit World. Monsignor explains, that, as the members of the congregation look around themselves, and see what they regard to be 'Heaven' - brought about by their great faith - what better way to give thanks to God but to build a church to his glory? (and hope for his continued benevolence.) Monsignor explains, however, that those who live in this 'home-made' Heaven are strictly confined to themselves, with no prospect of converting others, and that for as long as they stay within their constricted Heaven, so will their spiritual progression be at a standstill.

A large portion of the second chapter is devoted to the extremely important subject of gardens and the infinite variety of flowers (with many types only to be found in the Spirit World.) Where there is no night-time, or seasons, it can be appreciated that all manner of flowering arrangements are to be had. We are told how colour produces sound, and how sound produces colour, and therefore how everything is arranged to produce consonance with its neighbour.

Spiritual progression is also touched upon. We are told how great personages from the high realms often come down and freely meet the inhabitants, bringing with them encouragement and unconditional love, direct from the Father of us all.

The third chapter, 'SPIRIT PERSONALITY', deals with thought and how it is the 'building-block' of life in Spirit.(Although not touched upon in great depth in this book, 'Life in the World Unseen' has an example of an extension to a library being constructed entirely by thought, with no 'hands-on' participation.) We are also told how the power of thought can transport us throughout the entire Spirit World, and how it is possible to communicate telepathically.

Throughout this book, it can be seen to be Monsignor's sole purpose to show us something of the brilliant prospect that lies before each of us when our moment comes to join the happy band of contented, NORMAL, people, who, FOR ALL TIME, are enjoying the reality of what we so readily think of as merely being the end result of a religious exercise - only for the 'select few'; who, in reality, can have no notion of what life in the Spirit World is really like, for one simple reason - THEY ARE AFRAID TO ASK!!

(128 pages, paperback)

With great regret, 'Life in the World Unseen' is currently out of print. (Concerning the U.K.)

However, a fourth book 'Heaven and Earth' is available. MARK NAFTEL

I suggest that you replace this with: write articles that you have published, on topics that you believe you are an expert on. And do this, even if you are told that you won't be paid. What you are interested in is establishing your name, and having many people identify you according to your chosen expertise.

Also, place all of this information in loose leaf binder, so that you free to make notes, as you ask questions to people in the public speaking industry (meeting planners; publicity agents; journalist; etc.).

To be an public speaker you must decide that you are a public speaker, then do what they do, so that you have all that that means.

An excellent author, on this topic, which Dr. Anthony also recommends is, Lily Waters and her daughter (both have an excellent standing in teaching public speaking).

Today Kuklinski now stands accused of the 1980 shotgun slaying of NYPD Officer Peter Calabro. In 1999 a reviewer here was critical of THE ICE MAN because author Bruno wrote about "the undercover agents who sought to bring [Kuklinski] down because the cops are always the stereotypicals. Big Yawn!"

The lives of police officers may be a big yawn to that person, but hopefully not to the majority. I applaud Anthony Bruno for recognizing & recounting just how much of themselves police officers put on the line to bring the likes of Kuklinski to justice... It is as fine a read today as it was 9 years ago. Like a fine wine, maybe even better.

Anyway, the things that irritated me about the book would go largely unnoticed to anyone who doesn't live in Boston. I didn't mind the geographical liberties that were taken, since it is fiction after all.... but Boston is presented as a kind of Irish theme park.... and while nobody would deny the impact that Irish immigration has had on Boston and its culture over the past 150 years, Boston is a large and very ethnically diverse city.... the Brahmin-vs.-Irish thing is about 120 years out of date. Most people that read this probably won't care about that though.

The rest of the book, while sometimes far-fetched, was a gripping, entertaining read. The pacing was quick and the way that Sheridan's team stayed on top of their adversaries kept the storyline from insulting my intelligence. Lovers of legal chess game-type thrillers should find this hard to put down.

I had some issue with the resolution of the mystery at the very end (if that person was actually guilty of killing the woman,he/she would not have done some of the things he/she did, in my opinion). However, it made for a nice plot twist.

Better character development than Grisham... good legal drama. Like the story "Silent Witness", by Richard North Patterson, in this story, you didn't know if the defendant was guilty or not through the whole story, but you rooted for him anyway, since his lawyer was the "good guy." Makes for an interesting ambivalent feeling when reading.

As a footnote, I listened to this as a "BooksOnTape" auciocassette (unabridged), read by George Guidall from a local library. Too bad that version doesn't seem to be available anymore, as I just love Guidall's delivery.

On the other hand, the story really fell short for me. As it went on, it became less of a coherent story and more of a list of (mostly dire and unpleasant) events. While at the beginning it seemed that the characters had some relationship to one another and that the story had a point, by the end it all seemed random and arbitrary. I enjoyed the narrator as a character, but I kept expecting his story to tie in with the main story. It never did, and I was left wondering why it was he felt so compelled to tell the story in the first place. As well, the ending fell flat. I was looking for at least one or two of the characters to undergo some change or experience some kind of redemption. Maybe I missed something, but it didn't seem like that happened. As a result, I was left feeling cheated.

This story is not nearly as tight as other Anthony novels. I usually like his work. This book was a disappointment to me.

On the back flyleaf of my copy, Anthony tells the story of how this story was originally rejected by eight publishers and how its merits were miraculously discovered only after he was a popular author. I found myself instead thinking that the editors were right the first time and prostituted themselves once he was a popular author and that both of them are relying on the Anthony name to trick as many of us as possible into buying this book. Don't.