I'm not sure anyone would want to emulate private eye Bubba Mabry's investigative style, but journalist Steve Brewer takes a delightful look at Albuquerque, New Mexico's beauty and dark side in this thriller. Brewer throws in a bit of the unrealistic by bringing Elvis Presley back to life -- although he shows readers a pretty good depiction of what the King would be like were he still alive. Several murders add enough blood for the morbid-at-heart, and the language makes up for a somewhat shaky plot. The characters, other than Elvis, are pretty ordinary -- the tired private eye looking for some dough, tabloid reporters out for the story of the century, a curvaceous Marilyn Monroe-type blonde who will either sleep with a man -- or threaten to shoot him -- in order to get information, and a couple of hulky thugs. But the combination of all the elements makes for a fast-read full of laughs, even in the face of horrible death.

Another bomb from Lonely Planet. Incoherent, often wrong and poorly written. It amazes me how this company's guide books have become the most popular amongst young travellers. This one covers the entire Scandinavian region - including the baltic republics and St. Petereburg. Like most of the regional LP books, this one doesn't follow a standardised format and provides the reader with reams of useless information. How anyone is supposed to plan a trip using this book is beyond me. Garbage.

This book is obviously aimed at the budget traveler, and does its job well enough, pointing out clean and cheap places to stay, eat, and get around. It doesn't have much to offer however to those travelers who'd like to sleep and dine a notch up. It gives adequate overviews of the cities, but I found the cultural particulars lacking.It seems to have a bias toward Disney style miniature villages etc., more than major museums. Or perhaps that's just Scandanavia; I haven't been there yet, am still in the process of planning a trip this summer.

When you don't have a lot of time you want to know the outstanding sights in museums you'll visit, since you won't be able to see everything. Like most travel guides, this one will work better if you also read its competition, such as Fodors, Michelin Green, Insight in planning your trip. LONELY PLANT however, by skipping those glitzy color photos that might lure you away from home in the first place, creates a light and compact package that's sufficient for the journey, as long as you've used other guides and resources for advance planning.

Give credit to Lonely Planet for packing all of these areas together in one book. It would have been very easy to keep Iceland, Faroe Islands separate, the Baltic States separate, and a St. Petersburg city guide in a different book or just with Lonely Planet Russia.

Besides the fact that the area it covers is very comprehensive, here's why I like this book over others. Lonely Planet does a great job covering budget options for food, hostels/pensions/hotels, and activities. The city maps are extremely comprehensive. For example, there are exact points for each place to stay, place to eat, and other important landmarks (train station, post office, bus station, sights, etc.) in each city map. How easy is that! In addition, Lonely Planet is the best guide to cover how to get there, get around, and get away. I find that many guides only assume you are getting around by Eurail or bus. And unlike other guides that treat only the major cities and outlying areas (Frommers, for example), Lonely Planet is just as concerned with telling you where to find the smaller, less-crowded parts of Scandinavia and Baltic Europe (Norway's fjords, Iceland's hot springs, etc.) Without a doubt, get this book.