Randall Arthur continues the saga he started in Wisdom Hunter and Jordan's Crossing in his newest work, Betrayal. He is again taking on the legalistic worldview but this time he approaches it from a slightly different angle, using betrayal as the driving force (hence the book's title). The story centers on a missionary family in Sweeden associated with an ultra-conservative branch of Christianity. As the story opens, Rachel has to deal with the abandonedment of her husband, Clay. Devestated, she turns to her church body for love and support only to find that their legalistic, dogmatic view of Christianity has no room for acceptance of people in her position (for various reasons). Sin is to be dealt with with a harsh, unwavering hand and even though she was the victim here she is still held responsible in many ways. How Rachel deals with this betrayal (of both her husband and her church leaders), as well as the story of Clay's disappearance contains the key on which this book ultimatly succeeds.

Betrayal holds a strong message, both against the legalistic attitudes still permeating much of the church and for the hurting victims out there who have suffered from betrayal and a legalistic, judgemental church body. This is one of the best Christian novels of 1999, and it suffers only from sadly cheesy cover art (don't let that sway you). I would recommend Wisdom Hunter before and above Arthur's other books. It is a true Christian fiction classic. However, Betrayal is definatly worth the purchase. It is a book that will challenge and heal, yet still leave you entertained by the read. Four and a half stars.

For those who have read the Wisdom Hunter, this is a must read for them. It is as gripping as Wisdom Hunter and keeps your page turning interest more than Jordans Crossing. Be sure and buy two copies because you will definately think of someone who needs to read this book.

Wisdom Hunter was great, Jordan's crossing was so-so, and Betrayal is excellent. You can actually skip the second book and not miss a thing. There is a neat twist in this book in how Jason Faircloth is brought into the story. Arthur does a superb job of expressing emotions in his characters. You can seriously feel and relate to their pain. Arthur must have had a background in the type of legalistic churches he writes about. He seems to know it all to well for an outsider. Seeing it myself, I can vouch that this stuff actually happens. Great eye opener to insiders and outsiders alike.

Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle was a complex and honorable man. Toward the end of his life he embraced spiritualisim as he did everything else, wholeheartedly, and this led to many people dismissing him as a crackpot. However, as author Daniel Stashower pointst out, such was not the case. Conan-Doyle really believed in life after death. This belief filled the void in his life that was left when he renounced his belief in the Catholic Church. Daniel Stashower has written an even-handed fair biography of Conan-Doyle. The book is well researched and Conan-Doyle comes to life on these pages. Conan-Doyle, of course, is best known for creating Sherlock Holmes but as Stashower shows Conan-Doyle wrote many more works of fiction and non-fiction in his long career. If you want to have an idea of what made the man behind Sherlock Holmes tick then I recommend this book highly.

Years ago I read the biographies of Conan Doyle by John Dickson Carr and Charles Higham, and even tried to get beyond Sherlock Holmes by reading as much as I could of Conan Doyle's other fiction. Therefore I thought I knew something about Conan Doyle as a writer and as a person, but Stashower's fine book was still a revelation to me; it's not an exaggeration to say that I found new insights into Sir Arthur on nearly every page.

Stashower has done his research, but he is also unafraid to use Conan Doyle's semiautobiographical fiction, not to mention his poetry, to provide windows into the inner Sir Arthur that Sir Arthur's own autobiography carefully conceals.

Sir Arthur, of course, created a character that (along with Tarzan) is one of the immortal icons of adventure fiction, a character as popular today as he was when his short stories first hit the STRAND Magazine like a thunderbolt. One thing everyone knows about Conan Doyle is how deeply he resented the fame of Sherlock Holmes, but even here Stashower has some startling information to relate.

He is particularly good on the last couple of decades of Sir Arthur's life, when his seemingly mindless advocacy of even the most infantile and transparently fradulent aspects of Spiritualism, and his output of nearly a dozen unreadable religious tracts, left almost all of his readers convinced he had lost his mind. His endorsement of the authenticity of some photographs of fairies supposedly taken by two little girls (who had actually cut the tiny figures out of very familiar magazine ads for Fairy Soap!), and his calling in a psychic detective to "solve" the not-very-mysterious disappearance of novelist Agatha Christie, were the final straws for even his most tolerant fans.

On top of it all Sir Arthur was a terrible judge of the relative merits of his own fiction, and anyone who attempts to read his entire fictional output, as I did some years ago and as Stashower obviously has, will see how sadly he frittered away and squandered his unique gifts as a "teller of tales."

How could a man who created one of the immortal icons of rationality be in person so gullible, irrational, foolish and unworldly? Well, Stashower does as good a job of explaining the apparent paradox as anyone will probably be able to do. Highly recommended.

Poor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle! Acclaimed for his creation of the supremely rational, preternaturally observant detective Sherlock Holmes, he spent many years in later life mocked for his belief in spiritualism, which he considered the "successor to traditional religious thought." Brave, headstrong, and reckless, Doyle was one of England's most vociferous believers in spirits, mediums, ectoplasm, messages from beyond the grave--and even fairies. He was a tireless lecturer on several continents, writing a raft of books on the subject and donating the royalties to various spiritualist organizations. His zeal may have been admired in some quarters, but it was almost universally derided, and in the last ten years of his life, it lost him most of his friends. What happened?

Daniel Stashower's well-written and highly entertaining light portrait of Doyle's career gives some simple but compelling answers. Though Scottish, Doyle was raised a Catholic, but abandoned his faith for agnosticism very early on. Yet he apparently was a born believer, just waiting for a cause. His inventive and appealing Sherlock Holmes stories never struck him as particularly worthy or important and he longed to give the world something of value (he also tried his hand at plays and historical novels). And like many other British citizens during World War I, Doyle suffered heavy family losses and ached for connection with his personal dead.

As Stashower relates with a brisk pace and gentle humor, warm-hearted Doyle's life reads as a succession of fiery causes. A formidable propagandist, Doyle would use his gifts as a writer and lecturer as well as his ever-growing celebrity to raise money and the public's consciousness time and time again. He fought human rights abuses in the Belgian Congo, supported the Boer War, argued for heightened British military preparedness before World War I, supported reforms in British divorce law, and injected himself into famous criminal trials he thought had been unjust. But spiritualism was his ultimate "holy crusade." Stashower minces no words in describing how Doyle was willing to accept or explain away even the most obvious frauds. He was noble and pathetic at the same time and Stashower makes us understand and sympathize with him, though we never see very far into Doyle's personality or his relationships. This is very much a biography of the public man, but given the subject's profound investment in publicizing what he held dear, that focus is appropriate and deeply satisfying.

Personally I think that this is proboly the best book I have ever read. This Story tells a tale based on a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Although the story is based on the dramatic story Romeo and Juliet, I find A West Side Story well writen and very touching. The book is set in New York City, and tells how two rival gangs (the Jets, and Sharks). The 2 gangs are fighting over a section of the city. When one member of the Sharks finds love in one of the Jets' sister, the Jet gets very angry. In a street fight the Shark kills his lovers' brother, the shark retreats to a local hide out. later that night the Shark is gunned down by a rival gang member. In the end the 2 gans realize that there is no reason to fight. I love the book.

West Side Story has always been one of my favorite musicals. The tragic love story of Tony and Maria touches me in many ways. I, too, have had a forbidden romance, which is why I marvel at the earnestness of the story. Set in New York City, it introduces two groups.

The Jets: an American gang.

The Sharks: a Puerto Rican gang.

The gangs attend a community dance in which they plan a fight. Things take an interesting twist when Tony -- the former leader of the Jets -- falls for Maria, Bernardo's sister. Bernardo happens to be the leader of the Sharks, and he doesn't want his sister involved with his rival.

This is, without a doubt, the urban equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. The stories are very similar, but West Side Story has an irresistible urban appeal, an appeal that has captured audiences and readers for many decades. I am so glad I have read the novelization of this popular musical. If you're in the mood for a timeless love story, read West Side Story. Satisfaction is guaranteed!

West Side Story by Irving Shulman is an excellent book about two rival street gangs in New York City. The Jets are the white gang; the Sharks are the Puerto Ricans. Barnardo, the leader of the Sharks, has a younger sister named Maria. Problems arise when Maria falls in love with Tony, a member of the Jets. I've seen the movie and read the book. I love them both.

The book begins with an interesting account of the development of modern astronomy with particular emphasis on Copernicus and Kepler. The section on the trial of Galileo brought up valid points on Galileo's "martyrdom".

Unfortunately, the epilogue drew some questionable conclusions. First, Koestler cast doubt on quantum theory and compared it to the epicycles of the Ptolemaic and Copernican theories. He seems to have ignored some of the lessons pointed out earlier in the book. It was the careful and systematic observations of Tycho Brahe that provided crucial data in the development of Newtonian gravity. Likewise, quantum theory is based on numerous careful and systematic measurements on many different systems. This was true even back when the book was written. I would say that he sounds like the Aristotelian looking at Kepler's ellipses and asserting, "This is not what a good theory looks like."

Second, Koestler seems to have believed strongly in ESP and similar psychic phenomena. He claims that evidence exists validating these beliefs. He did not provide any references, probably because real trials just can't find any such thing.

In spite of these problems, the book is worth reading for the historical points that he brings up.

Arthur Koestler was one of the most remarkable intellects of the twentieth century. In the course of his life and career he experienced and wrote about most of the great movements and changes of his times. Typically, he perceived patterns long before others, inevitably with a truly unique understanding, and wrote about them beautifully.

In The Sleepwalkers, Koestler traced what he thought to be the mainstream of the development of science through exquisitely researched and written biographies of some of science's leading figures. There's no part of the book that isn't well worth reading, but I think that his treatments of Copernicus and Kepler are hair-raisingly insightful.

Readers can confidently expect to put down The Sleepwalkers with increased knowledge and new insights about the history of science and the stellar figures Koestler describes. Still, don't expect a quick read. Koestler thinks and writes in depth, and takes the time to guide readers where he wants to take them.

Robert Adler
Science Writer
Author of Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation (John Wiley & Sons, 2002, ISBN 0471401749).

This is book on the history of cosmology - make no mistake. It tries to illustrate Koestlers masterly thesis in the epilogue on the nature of genius and creativity, and the path of scientific progress. The example he uses is the history of cosmology. Having begun his book so, and paying attention to this mode of thought in the introduction, Koestler soon sets down to business

He begins with the Pythagorean brotherhood and delves a little into the man that Pythagoras was, and speaks of the contributions of Plato and Aristotle in this arena. So rigid is Koestlers focus, that this is perhaps the first book which speaks of Plato and Aristotle with reference to only their works in astronomy and completely ignores Socrates, who had no contribution to this field. The book neglects more ancient theories and incorrect faiths. Rather it concentrates with laserlike intensity on the people who made the Science what it is, namely Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler and Galileo. Once we are through with the Greeks and the intermittent period, the book rapidly moves into a breathtaking narrative, almost biographical, about these giants, on whose shoulder Newton stood and saw further.

Koestler also brings to the reader correspondence and definitive evidence that debunks most of scientific history into the realm of folklore, and shows how different a path cosmological studies have taken. He debunks many old viewpoints and theories and shows the true history of science to be very different. He ends with Newtons arrival on the scene, and leaves us begging for more

In his epilogue, Koestler returns to his construct on sleepwalking and the nature of genius, and in a masterly flourish, the book suddenly picks up pace like never before, and ends leaving the reader wanting to read it all again!

Quite simply a must read, and a must-have book for any book lover

The promos on the jacket did not do justice to this story. The book does an excellent job at describing what it could have been like for knights in the age of Chivalry. It covers loyalties, honor and courtly love in a twist of conflicts, conscience and love, all weaved masterfully into the Arthurian legend. The book is a bit lusty at times, but this adds to the story instead of detracting. Although I read almost anything Arthurian, this book sat on my shelf for a while, due to a lack of interest, had I known how good it was, I would have read it much sooner. If you like the main Arthurian characters and the legend, read this book

One of the richest and well written books on Camelot I've had the pleasure of reading. The retelling of Arthurian times as seen through the eyes of a peasant-turned-knight was inspired and intriguing. Mr. James has obviously researched his subject well. The reader can taste the dust, sweat and blood of an ardent knight as well as feel his honor, valor and love of chivalry. This is a book I did not want to end. One can only hope there will be a sequel.

Reading this book makes one wish it would not end. The absolute passion that "Raven" feels after much strife, and the absolute determination he has for avenging his sisters violent death is mesmerizing. An absolute must read for those who love Aurthurian Novels.

No it doesn't take major working capital to build a successful marketing machine. It does require a focus on the details that are important to your customers. Before you squander working capital on fancy advertising campaigns, read this book. Then you will learn that spending your money on product formulation, service and support are the cornerstones to successful marketing. This book provides exceptional real world examples of how to grow a business by focusing on customer service solutions.

An enthusiastic two thumbs up!

Unlike most businesss books that say in 300 pages what can be said in 3, this book delivers its message clearly and concisely.

It offers many "best practices" learned from direct client experience that can be used immediately in companies. Colored with examples, and punctuated throughout with tidbits of wisdom.

A must buy!

Arthur Andersen executives Robert Hiebeler, Thomas B. Kelly, and Charles Ketteman have brought the company's "Global Best Practices" program to book format. They tell you how to adapt any company's best practices to your business. They highlight dozens of examples from the thousands that they have collected for Andersen's popular database. The authors take a direct, no-frills approach to presenting their ideas and information, and concentrate on case histories that give you plenty of details. This makes the book highly useful, clear, and free of useless jargon, so we [...] recommend it to people at all levels in any business. You are bound to find some useful gems.

I have been interested in Chinese literature for some time now, as an Asian American who does not speak the language. As a child I read an illustrated version of a chapter from the novel, and when I was older I watched the TV show based upon the novel, with my father who translated.

Reading this book I was glued to every word for the first 18 or so chapters, as I read about Monkey's development. However, after the disciples had all gathered together, the translation's appeal severely dipped. While still well written, only 30 of the original novel's 100 chapters were translated. Many of the most interesting adventures were lost in the abridgement. What was supposed to a be a long, difficult journey to India seemed more like a quick visit. While I realize this was done in order to keep the story from being too lengthy, I was rather disappointed. I suppose I will have to purchase another translation in order to read the remaining adventures.

are mine exactly. When I read this book for my Chinese literature class this semester I couldn't put it down. Though it is abridged from 100 to 30 chapters, most of what is removed is not as interesting. The best part about Arthur Waley's translation of "Journey to the West" (he renamed it "Monkey") is that he is one of the first to play up the very hilarious humor in the book, though there is of course a quite serious religious undertone to the whole thing. This is an amazingly funny story from the Ming Dynasty, which will not disappoint any fan of fantasy, peculiar humor or spiritual quests. A true classic of Asian literature.

The story of a monkey, with a priest

In this book, nothing as it seems.

On the road from China, to Gondaro

Will they make it, Nobody knows.

This book titled 'Monkey' is the same Monkey many of us know (And most definetly should love) from the television series also called 'Monkey'. They were both taken from writings penned by Wu Ch'eng-en, who lived between 1505 - 1580. This translation is absolute joy to read.

It is the story of a noble Chinese priest on a journey to find the scriptures of India for his God, Buddhu. On his travels he encounters three part-men part-animal part-naughty-and-therefore-punished creatures who journey with him in his misadventures, in return for going to heaven.

It combines in its reading beauty with absurdity, profundity with nonsense, Folk-lore, allegory, religion, history, satire, and poetry. You will never read anything like this ever again in your life. SO GO AND BUY IT NOW!!

Katrina Clancy October 24, 2002

The Seeing Stone, Kevin Crossley~Holland, 0-439-43524-2

Having your wrist cut of for stealing doesn't seem fair. But for Arthur de Caldicot it is part of growing up in his country manor in England, 1199. This realistic fiction novel takes Arthur on an adventure as he tries to unlock his future, past, and present through a gift given to him by his dear friend Merlin.

The Seeing Stone was a roller coaster of emotions until the very end. Felling sympathy for the characters and also hate towards some. You can't be afraid of terrible things happening because this book is just like normal life. This book is also an extremely interesting book because the genre is realistic fiction. This genre seems to appeal to a lot of people because it allows you to use your imagination all the time. This story basically takes you on the ups and downs of the life of a family who lives on a manor and all their occupants. You won't want to put it down and you won't want to stop reading. While reading this book your understanding of how life was during the middle ages will increase but also the respect you had for people who lived during that time.

The Seeing Stone held my attention until the very last page but I wouldn't recommend it to people who don't really enjoy this genre because it would seem confusing at some points for them. It's also important to remember that life was very different for the characters of this book and they did undergo strong emotional a physical changes. The Seeing Stone is a thought provoking book and anyone who reads it should be proud of their newly acquired skill because this book was not that easy to understand at first. Most people will be drawn in quickly however, because it is really easy to connect with the main character and his life problems as a person in general. I personally loved this book and look forward to reading this sequel. The story is amazing, it holds you to the last page, and I can confidently say that Kevin Crossley~Holland is a terrific author.

The novel The Seeing Stone (Arthur Trilogy, Book One)
by Kevin Crossley-Holland was one of the most amazing that I have ever read. Just recently I read the harry potter series and since then have been waiting for another series of its quality and detail to come out, and this book completely went up to and over the level that harry potter was written at. If you like history, adventure, or even love in an novel, do yoursel a favor and buy this book. You will be extremely happy with this purchase.

A joy to read, aloud as well as silently.
Each chapter - and they all beg to be read aloud - is almost a snap shot into Arthur's life - and the end of the 12th century. People and places have great reality. And, for both readers and listeners, the seeing-stone offers the delight of recognition as the world of Arthur-in-the-stone unfolds.
Somehow, I am reminded of both Rosemary Sutcliffe and Dylan Thomas; this is a book that will only be lent to people guarranteed to return it! And now to the second volume (which is already available in Australia).

I've read Bernard Lewis and so many others, I can't remember them all. I spend a lot of my free time reading about the Middle East, as my family comes from Iraq. This is the one I recommend for those interested in a general overview of the Middle East without being bogged down by all the caliphs and names of tribes that make other books more complicated (and dull). Read this first, then if you want to delve into more detail this book will guide you to more in-depth reading material. If you know the Middle East very well, and understand its history, then move on. Most people do not know the M. East history as well as Goldschmidt, however, and his balanced view is refreshing.

I have given this book away as gifts and the recipients who read it have praised it.

This extremely readable textbook by Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr. was assigned reading for my course at NYU about the history of the Middle East. This latest edition was published in 1998. Naturally there have been changes since then. But this, after all, is a history textbook. I can read about current events in the newspapers. What this book did was to give me that background. And it certainly is a rich background, one that I never knew before.

In clear descriptive language the author describes the Middle East before and after Muhammad and the basic beliefs of Islam. He talks about the early Arab conquests and the differences between Islamic sects. He describes the various empires and discusses the role of European interests and westernizing influences. And he gives the reader a really good understanding of the various the countries and their shifting borders. Finally, he brings us up to date on the causes and conflicts of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Gulf War. It is all fascinating stuff and I soaked it all up, reading quickly and absorbing the context, rather than the details. Not a shabby accomplishment for only 362 pages. Recommended.

Very informative book written by a man who can write to the masses in that he can explain detail of Middle East life, countries, religion and conflicts in terminology that is not too academic but inspiring to read. There is quite a bit of information provided by Goldschmidt who eases the burden of religious Middle East language (foreign to many of Americans) with a glossary for various words, names of leaders, places and things. He includes a historical timeline chart of the great events of the Middle East including excellent maps that keep the reader in place geographically as he covers the evolution of the Middle East by region, dynasties and individual countries. He starts with the definition of history and of the Arabs followed by the land before Muhammad and then a mini biography of Muhammad. What follows is a detailed but easy to read chapter on Islam and how it develops into a civilization. The expansiveness of Islam in the Middle East and the associated power of the Ottoman empire that threatened to dominate Europe and Asia. He covers the invasion of the Mongol hordes and the eventual investitures of the European powers and colonialism as the Ottoman Empire weakens to collapse after WWI. As he writes of the dominance in controling the Middle East by England and France and the initial settling of Jews in the early 1900's the seeds of distrust of the west start to obviously emanate. The term concise history is a bit misleading because Goldschmidt leads his student through WWII and its effect on the Middle East and the birth of Israel and Arab conflict. He also covers the surrogate relationship of English and France in trying to maintain control of trade routes, the Suez Canal and oil along with the USSR attempting to expand into the region. By the time I completed this book of just over 400 pages, I have a greater appreciation for the complex conflicts among the Middle East's Peoples not just Jewish and Arab but Sunni Muslims and Shi'i, Kurds, Maronite Christians, Armenians, Turks, Druze and various tribes within each country. Mr. Goldschmidt provides the reader a building platform to understand the Middle East, a great reference book and an avenue for more detailed reading.

This book started out strong - interesting main character, fast paced beginning, plenty of foreshadowing of things to come and mysteries of the past to unravel.

Unfortunately the past wasn't the only thing to unravel.

The main character, Nicki, is a strong heroine with unique psychic talents and a strong sense of self.

Michael, the vampire hero, was interesting at first but soon became ineffectual to the story and to Nicki.

Even with his knowledge of his enemy (he's been chasing him for years) & his own vampiric powers he never seemed to be much of a challenge for Jasper (the evil vampire). He was constantly in the wrong place and never seemed to be much help in the tough situations.

Also, the romance seemed lackluster and forced. Attraction but no major sparkage.

There is no comparing this book to those written by Huff and Hamilton - where they constantly have/leave you wanting more I was hard pressed to finish this story (something that doesn't happen very often).

To be fair, I also found several publishing mistakes in the book that detracted from the story. (i.e. a character pours two cups of coffee than two sentences later pours two cups of coffee.)

I usually don't nitpick on publishing errors but some of these were just to big to ignore. Between the writer, publisher, copy editor, etc. you'd think someone would have caught the more telling mistakes.

My final take is: I might read the sequel, or I might not - which isn't a very high recommendation in my book!

Nikki James is a private investigator hired to find a missing teenager. She finds the girl, and with her an evil force that threatens to overtake her mind, sanity, free will and make her a slave to an evil master. Will Nikki have the strength to battle her private, inner demons and still have the power to defeat the one that's breathing down her neck?

Michael Kelly is a vampire who is on the hunt for one of his own kind. Michael plans on using Nikki and her psychic powers as bait to lure the evil vampire to his death, instead he soon finds himself trying to protect and comfort her. He's already damned to eternal life; losing Nikki will damn him to eternal hell.

Ms. Arthur creates well-drawn out characters. Nikki is a strong and independent heroine who refuses to be told what to do. She struggles with the choices she's making, and the choices she's made in the past. She's afraid to care too much, afraid to love.

DANCE WITH THE DEVIL is a fast paced suspense, where a touch of romance, loads of psychic abilities, a few vampires and zombies will have the paranormal reader sitting up and asking for more. Isn't it nice that the author has already started HEARTS IN DARKNESS (12/01), which is the sequel to this book?

This is Keri Arthur's first published book.. and in my mind excellent. The story is fast moving and leaves you sitting on the edge of your seat.. I read this book in one sitting and was not amused with anyone who interrupted me. The Story.. is of a psychic Detective.. and her colleague.. The case involves a missing rich girl... once found she leads them to a situation that will mean changing their beliefs in everything.. Enter vampires one good, one evil... a load of yukky zombies and you have a fastpace gripping novel... Romance develops with Michael but both have some serious baggage... this is a story that the more sentimental of us..will need a good mansize box of tissues... Very emotional in places.. I loved this book and I believe that those who love a good Vampire Romance with enjoy this book.. so give it a go.. I think its worth it... I can't wait for the sequel... My congratulations to Keri on an excellent story and very enjoyable to read... and I imagine books always have such interesting covers and the print is nice and easy on the eyes