Death Grip is one of the most physical tension books I have ever read in years.This books is about a guy named Shane Lockwood who was a violinist.He played the violin so good that he played concerts all around the United States. Until one night he put his prized possesion in the safe. Around 12:00pm he got a disturbing call from a stranger saying,If you do not do this favor, you'll never see your violin again. I definetely give this book 5 stars.

shane lockwood is a very young, bright, and talented person who plays the violin. After his tour in Venice, he plans to go to college, here he meets a girl that he likes. Her name must be something like, like.... oh yea, laurie

I thought it was a pretty good book, for my purposes. It is a collection of academic like articles by different statisticians working in the area of sports modelling and each author wrote one chapter on the sport or topic of his expertise. I found it easier to read than most academic articles. All the chapters I've read so far (4 or 5) have provided me with 1 to 4 ideas that I might be able to apply to my own modelling of sporting events. So for me it was a good buy.

Bennett keeps his famous writing style going in this murder novel. Bennett's layout of bone-shaking lines and crooked plots will keep you peeking a few pages ahead to see just what happens.

I REALLY enjoyed reading this novel. It went so fast and I couldn't put the book down! I tried to guess what happened and I actually was correct! If you love to read horror/ mystery this book is definitely for you! Happy Reading!

Jay Bennet delivers another thriller in this story about a guy who doesn't believe his girlfriend killed herself and goes the extra edge to find out who did kill her.

I hardly read and most of the stuff I read i never finish anyway, but The Pigeon was a mystery i just couldn't put down. Its about a boy named Brian and his friend Donna asked if they could meet up to talk to each other. Brian agrees then he is on his from New Jersey To New York. He goes to Donna's Apartment and he discovers his best friend Donna is dead. He didn't know it at the time but he was being set up for muder. He pick up a phone that was ringing in the apartment and on the other side of the line was a warning for him to run because the cops were coming. He smelled his jackett and it smelled like whiskey, and he looked down in his hand because of a throbing pain and he saw a knife with blood on it. Is there anyway he could prove his innocence. I found The Pigeon to by a top noch thriller! it was a great story and i think anyone he likes mysterys will love this story.

i read this book in 9th grade while perusing the school library shelves for something to read that wouldn't take up a lot of my time, nor expand my mind -- as I was in no particular mood to learn anything. Little did I know about the book when I picked it up -- that i WOuLD make me think -- and that it would eat up a lot of my time that next week. The book is about a highschool senior who's framed for the murder of his girlfriend -- and the reason for the murder is more complex than I'd ever guessed.

In reviewing this book I will only comment on one particular character, for brevity's skae, and that is Jo-Jo, the Gypsy who figures as a prominent player in all of this. He is an extremely fascinating character, the kind that live on the edge -- the kind you'd love to meet, just as long as it wasn't in a darkened alley somewhere. And yet he shows an unusual compassion for Brian, the hero, one not rarely seen in (what we first perceive as) a standard villain. The fact that he is not the villain is even more shocking, due to how Jay Bennett (the author) describes his character -- with words like iron, steel, and darkness that don't make us think exactly of heroes, knights in shining armor. And yet he is not the typical antihero, like R.P. McMurphy or Cool Hand Luke. He is more along the lines of Capote's Perry Smith, one of those "native Iagos" that modern literature shuns so much to portray. He is not the villain, but the fact that he could be and is made a good guy in a way that is unimaginable to us upon a surface reading is reason enough to read the book.

Jay Bennett's novel is what I think should get 5 stars. It is a great novel. It is about a teenager who has been set up for a murder. He goes through a lot of trouble but finds a way out of it.

A Review by Sophie

The Headlines of a local newspaper caught Jason's eyes. A photo of his mother that is in the paper constantly puts dreadful images in his mind. Her dark cold eyes and her shallow soul give him chills every time he thinks of his mother. For Jason's 18th birthday his mother, Marian Feldon is scheduled to die. Everyone in town' even her lawyer thinks that she is guilty for the murder of her lover. Though everybody believes that Marian is guilty, Jason does not. As learns something that could free his mother, from a dying stranger, it leads him into a dark, deceitful, double-crossing, and dangerous path, Even if this means Jason risking his own life he is willing to do anything to free his mother.

One thing I liked about this book is that it constantly keeps you in suspense. It makes you wonder in the beginning, if Jason's mother is gonna come out alive at the end. The problems that Jason has through out the whole book makes you wonder if Jason was even gonna survive himself. Like when this one scary guy wanted a ride from Jason'he pulled out a gun and told Jason to fallow a big gray van' that made me wonder if Jason was gonna live from this guy, I thought that the guys was gonna kill Jason. Another thing I liked about this book was the characters. Jay Bennett makes some of the people seem so real on how he described some of them and how you could relate to them. Like Jason's aunt Lydia. She is the type of person that you would want to get to know'the kind of person that you could really relate to well. And the third thing I liked about this book was how the author described the chapters to make it seem so real. He really described the people and places really well' he makes me want to be at some of the places like the beach. When Jason's mom and aunt took Jason to the beach when he was little makes me feel like I want to be there. He was able to make me connect with the story really well cause he puts Jason in situations that you could possible find yourself in. Like when he was driving to Florida he had ran into people that wanted to get rides from him and he was afraid to go into some places by himself. I just like this book overall and how this book is a lot like reality.

I would recommend this book to anybody that like suspense. This book would be good for anybody that likes kind of mystery books. I would also recommend this book to anybody that likes fast reading books that don't have a lot of hard words to pronounce. This book had really short chapters but it had a lot'but in the long run I think you would enjoy this book as much as I did.

"Sing Me a Death Song" was a quote from the book by Jason Feldon's mother, Marian Feldon, who is on trial for murder. Ironically it is also the title for the book. Jay Bennett was the author who also wrote: The Dark Corridor, The Haunted One, and etc...
The book starts off introducing Jason Feldon dreaming about seeing his mother, Marian Feldon, who is a convicted murderer and is in prison and is also about to be executed in five days, which is in a small town in Florida. While Jason Feldon is living in New York with his Aunt Lydia and is about to turn 18 years old on his mother's execution date. Jason Feldon comes to find out that maybe his mother wasn't the killer, she was frammed.
This information comes from a Detective, Frank Morgan, who is on his death bed because of a heart attack and seeks forgiveness. Jason then goes to Florida with Detective Morgan's information and gets some documents that were hidden in his house that supposably has the info. that Marian Feldon is innocent. On the way back to New York to give the documents back to Mr. Morgan Jason was kid-napped.
In this book the author, Jay Bennett, used some literary elements really well. The characters were well explained, and there was protagonists and antagonists. The plot was explained in great detail. All of the sequence of events was easy to understand. The mood was exellent too. It was dark, mysterious, rainy, and was like there was death around every corner.
My personal opinion is that I really liked this book. I liked the horror, the suspence, and the mystery of the book. It also had death, crime, lying, love, and also desire. It was a good story but the climax was a little dull. I really like all horror, and VAMPIRE books anyway.

In elementary, I was a 3-year champ for this school-wide reading program we had so I know books and which ones are good. I first read this book at my school library one day and I've loved it and it's been my favorite since. It's a haunting tale of love, suspense and willpower which the main character, Jason, had alot of. It takes place in many different scenes and is a fast-paced thrilling page-turner which I would highly recommend for kids aged 10+.

More than any other sport, baseball is a game of statistics. This book goes behind the numbers and looks at where the true patterns are and where the seeming patterns are just the result of chance.

As an example, the book discusses how, in general, hitting is not affected by night play or day play; on the other hand, there is an effect for facing a right-hander versus a southpaw, based on the side of the plate you are on.

Generally well-written, this book only sometimes gets bogged down in statistical calculations and is generally accessible to the nonmathematician. The main flaw in the book is its emphasis on hitting and the relative lack of writing on pitching. While there is plenty of discussion on the value of batting average, slugging percentage or on-base percentage in determining runs scored, there is no similar discussion on ERA or strikeouts and its impact on wins.

The other problem I find with the book is it removes some of the mystique of the game. It's sometimes more fun not to overanalyze things; it's kind of like watching a magic show; if you understand what's happening, you feel smarter but some of the pleasure has gone away. Which is not to say that I'm not going to continue enjoying baseball, but I will look at the game with more scrutiny when it comes to all the statistics that are cited.

I'm not sure who the target audience for this book is. At the beginning the introduce the most basic of statistics concepts as well as the most basic of baseball concepts. And at the end they seem to assume lots of knowledge of statistics. As both a baseball fan and a mathematician, I felt the beginning of the book very slow, but I also worry that someone who isn't knowledgable in both already might have trouble following some of it.

That said, the book was very well written, and posed some interesting ideas and questions. I wish it had been longer, as the last few chapters were really getting me into sabermetrics!

Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics And The Role Of Chance In The Game provides the non-specialist, general reader with a sophisticated by accessible approach to statistics that can greatly enhanced their understanding and appreciation of baseball numbers and the game itself. With their unique and original approach to the subject, Jim Albert and Jay Bennett have successfully collaborated to present a coherent and informative introduction and survey of the many statistics that are a part of the baseball experience. Curve Ball is a "must read" for all baseball fans and enthusiasts.

A Review by Tricia

It was Paul Barrett's eighteenth birthday. He got a job as a lifeguard on a beach at a New Jersey resort and he is also champion swimmer. The summer was going perfect for him when he meets this girl named Jody Miller (a ballet dancer). It was love at first sight. That all changes one night when Jody is calling for him beyond the breakers. He couldn't reach her, but she could she could reach him on the phone, on the street, and on the beach. And now Paul is about to become the haunted one.

I like how this book keeps you on your toes. Like when Jody tries to contact Paul and it is just scary because she is dead. I also like how the book gives you a big twist at the end the end of the book. ...Jay Bennett also gives a lot of description of how Jody looks when Paul firsts sees her and you can really picture what she looks like in your head. You can also get the picture of what the beach looks like every time Paul looks at it. I don't think that there was anything that I didn't like in this book.

I would recommend this book to ages 13 and up. And for people who likes to be on there toes when they read and like suspense a lot. This book is easy to follow so you won't get lost when you read it.

They always give you a chill down your spine. Whenever you see them you become speechless. There's really no way to describe what they are and where they come from even though some people have some theories. The Haunted One by Jay Benette is a spine-chilling book. Whenever you imagine yourself in the book you get a sensation of fear which makes this a good book. First of all the book starts off with a teenage male who is a champion swimmer. For the summer, he becomes a lifeguard, and, since he is a champion swimmer, people would think this would be the perfect job for him. Funny that's what everyone thinks. Most champion swimmers don't drown or let people drown, but in this story that isn't the case. The second thought that came into my head when I picked up the book was, how in the world can a story be scary it's only a book. While I was reading the story I was finding that I was imagining myself in the main character Chris's position. All I could feel was a cold feeling that I was being watched as I was reading the book, a feeling that I never had with any other story. In one sense, it's a great feeling, but in another is so scary some people cannot even believe unless they pick up the book and read yourself. The only book I ever really interacted with had to have been this book. The story isn't very hard to read and is very understandable. At the end of the story, was a surprise that I myself didn't even see coming, and I'm sure not too many other fans of this story have either. That is what makes a story good. The book had so many surprises that were unpredictable, but some ideas were pretty predictable. Most of the surprises in the story I would have never thought something like that could happen. The way I felt when I read this story is the way I feel when I am home alone. The whole house is pitch black. I can't see anything, but I have a feeling that someone else is the room even when I know for a fact that I am the only one there. In the book, Chris the main character meets, then loses the love of his life in calamity. While I read the story, all I could think about was my lovely little kitten when I was younger. I related the story to a real life happening that I experienced myself. One moment the kitten I loved so much was snuggled with me in my room and the next he was dead and he died because I was careless and forgot to close the door. I felt the same pain when my kitten died as Chris left when Helen died. To sum up, I have read many books in my life, but none were as surprising as The Haunted One. This was one of the most fearful books I have read, and, if I do say so myself, I have read some pretty suspenseful freighting books. I could read this book time and time again knowing what happens. But every time I pick up this book, I will always get the feeling of fear. I believe a lot of other fans of this story believe the same, and, if they don't, then maybe they just read some very scary stories.

As like Jay Bennett's style, she wrote this book using simple words but saying a lot. It was a pretty good book but so cold in some parts! i wish there was a sequel to this book but I don't think Jay Bennett means for it to be....It is really annoying that I don't know what happened after the end of the book!

I had to read this book for school and it was very well written.
The only problem that I had was the way he portrayed the skinhead. I myself being a skinhead got many questions coming from others who read the book and thought I was racist. I am not and never will be. If you take offense to this like I do, please do not read.

I cannot disagree with any of the reviews above. This is a well written book using the negative stereotypes associated with skinheadism.

That said, if you are a traditional skinhead (read non-racist) you will be dissapointed with the assumptions in this book.

At no time does the author attempt to differentiate between the many subcultures involved with skinheadism.

Those comfortable with the stereotypes involved with skinheads who like simplistic detective stories you will find this entertaining.

Those who appreciate realism in their reading will be dissapointed with the simplistic descriptions and gross abuse of stereotypes.

The book takes place in Seattle, USA. It is a very good book for people who like reading detective and adventure story. Some information that caught my eyes and made me read this book is: It is an "Edgar Award"-winning book, and it has something to do with detectives and crime. The story is simple but has lots of meaning to it. A short summary of the book is that John is a teenager who lives with his grandfather since his parents were divorced and his mom married another man. Once when he was about to go to sleep he gets a phone call from Seattle saying that an old man is about to die and really wants to see him before he dies. When John reaches Seattle, he finds out that the old man had already died. Well that is where the story begins and John begins his journey to find who that old man was and why he wanted to see John. My opinion about the book is that the author had a really good idea about the story and stayed focused on the plot. The author also had a very good idea on skinheads but didn't give that much information in the beginning, probably because he wanted to keep it as a suspenseful. If the author had changed the idea of this book, I don't think I would have enjoyed reading it. For a first time reader of Jay Bennett I think this book will really catch your emotions and will make you read more and more books by him.

A Review by Nick

Brad rode home with his best friend Alden Whitlock, who was the son of a judge and one fo the richest families in the entire town. Even though Brad doesn't remember it, he has a feeling that something happened on the car ride home. There is no proof on the car, but Brad thinks that Alden hit something on the way home. And he knows that it was something living, but now its not anymore. Brad uses some detective clues to find out but when he comes up with nothing, a woman comes into town and is looking for her lost father. Her father is homeless and left her and her mother when she was a little child. Brad and Ellen find out evidence and convict Alden.

I liked a few things about this book, and yet there were a few things that I didn't like about this book. I liked how this book started out and how Brad had a strange feeling in his gut about the previous night. Also, I liked How Brad was a well known guy and his parents were out of town. And, His Best friend was Alden Whitlock, the son of a judge and in one of the richest families in the town. But, I didn't like how the ending was predictable and sort of boring. There were ups and downs in the book, but I liked more things then I disliked. This book was pretty realistic and seemed like it could happen to some people I know.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery, but doesn't make you think too much about what next is going to happen. It has a really good beginning but a satisfactory ending. Overall, I think this book is a fairly good read but isn't the best it could've been.

A Review by Bree
Alden Whitlock and Brad accidentally hit a homeless man while driving drunk on their way home. Brad returns to the crime scene the next day to find a blood stained watch with the initials P.H.S. engraved on the back. Ellen Hansen came into town to visit her father. When Brad and Ellen meet its love at first site. Brad is now challenged to tell the truth to Ellen knowing she might leave him. He could also hide it from her knowing things might or might not work out. Either choice could result to loss and grieving for both of them.

I enjoy reading mystery books of any sort. "Coverup" appealed and related to me in a way I least expected. Drinking and driving is a common problem with many teenagers. It shows how fast a simple situation can change from fun to drastically serious! "Coverup" is a real page-turner! From the beginning it starts our so incredibly descriptive that you are begging for more time to read! "He awoke in a cold sweat, pale and trembling, his eyes wildly trying to pierce the black night."

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone that doesn't enjoy reading. It is a fairly short book that races by page after page. After completing the book I looked back on it asking myself if I actually read that book. "Coverup" gets you hooked on reading. The vocabulary can easily be understood too. Bennett's writing is clear and precise. I enjoyed this book and so will you!

Alden Whitlock and Brad accidentally hit a homeless man while driving drunk on their way home. Brad returns to the crime scene the next day to find a blood stained watch with the initials P.H.S. engraved on the back. Ellen Hansen came into town to visit her father. When Brad and Ellen meet its love at first site. Brad is now challenged to tell the truth to Ellen knowing she might leave him. He could also hide it from her knowing things might or might not work out. Either choice could result to loss and grieving for both of them.

I enjoy reading mystery books of any sort. "Coverup" appealed and related to me in a way I least expected. Drinking and driving is a common problem with many teenagers. It shows how fast a simple situation can change from fun to drastically serious! "Coverup" is a real page-turner! From the beginning it starts our so incredibly descriptive that you are begging for more time to read! "He awoke in a cold sweat, pale and trembling, his eyes wildly trying to pierce the black night."

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone that doesn't enjoy reading. It is a fairly short book that races by page after page. After completing the book I looked back on it asking myself if I actually read that book. "Coverup" gets you hooked on reading. The vocabulary can easily be understood too. Bennett's writing is clear and precise. I enjoyed this book and so will you!

After Ishmael, this book was the worst book I ever read. It's about a group of kids that smash into a tree while drunk. That part's fine. But the rest of the story, involving a murderer known as "The Executioner," is unbelievable. The characters do things that no one would do in real life. The main character Bruce, for example, gets a phone call. He immediately thinks it's a murderer. Not too realistic. And, the story is too predictable. I knew who the killer was before the second death. These reasons are why I hated this book.

This book is about a group of teenagers that are in a car accident and someone is trying to get them back because the driver died and the rest of the passengers lived. This is a really good book if you like mysteries.

I am recently reading this book in English class with myteacher Oswaldo. I think this book is great it keeps you on the edgeof your seat. Whenever i finish a chapter i have to read another one because i need to know what is going on in the story. The killer came as a surprise to me! I hope that everyone of you has a chance to read this book at one point in your life because you will never forget it, it is truly a great book!