This is a wonderful first movel..and I can't wait to read Black Tide, but the author and/or his editors need to be a little more careful. In Dead Sand, the main character seems to be constantly changing his clothes because of copious sweating...enough with the sweat, already. Second, in this novel, the author twice refers to a police parking pass, the second time as if he were telling the reader for the first time. A little more attention to detail, please?

"Dead Sand" is the first book by Dubois that I've read but it won't be the last. What a treat to stumble across a new-to-me mystery writer who is literate & conjures such believable characters, peopling a well-plotted book.

The author creates a real sense of place - a term much bandied about & often not really true. This one 'puts you there'. I highly recommend it.

These two volumes inaugurated Yale's publication of the complete publication of the letters of Horace Walpole, 18th century conoisseur and man of letters. Letter writing then was an art form, and each of Walpole's letter is an individual performance. Other great letter writers of the period are (in English) Edward Gibbon, the historian, and the poet Thomas Gray, which are also recommended. Walpole, the son of the 1st English prime minister, devoted his life to collecting art, building his home outside London in Gothic Revival Style, and commenting on the literary, political, and artistic developements of the day. The editing job is excellent, if directed more towards the knowledgeable reader than to someone approaching these letters for the first time.

DuBois' Lewis Cole series just keeps getting better and better! You can't put this one down!

I stumbled on this book quite by accident. I actually picked it out because of the New Hampshire location of the story, having vacationed there a couple of times and loving the area. The twists and turns this tale takes, make for a most enjoyable read and the characters quickly become "old friends." I had never read any of Mr. DuBois' books before, but I shall seek them out in the future!! I think this book would make an EXCELLENT movie!

Well, I'll admit that I discovered Brendan Dubois by buying his previous two books on the $1.66 rack at Target. I purchased them because of the price, the covers, and a predicted blizzard weekend. I couldn't believe what a bargain I got. They were absolutely the most fabulous books I've read in a while. Shattered Shell was wonderful. If you need a summary, you can rely on the previous posts. If you are looking for a new author to read, then I recommend all of Dubois' books. Please keep up the work.

This is I think is first book I ever read by a Black Panther Party member. Most certaintly, the BPP was extremely controversial and weighted down with informants, provocateurs, and sell-outs. But Hillard wasn't one of them. He seems to give an honest account of his involvement in the Party. His story will give you great respect for a group of brothers and sisters who dared to take a stand against White supremacy, police brutality, and other forms of injustices. His is an inspiring story.

David Hillard and Lewis Cole's This Side Of Glory (1-55652-384-X, $18.95) provides the autobiography of Hillard and his involvement with the Black Panther Party. The Party's history, focus, and events are revealed in this eyewitness account. Essential to any comprehensive ethnic issues collection.

This book is very interesting. Hilliard follows the idea of self-criticism throughout this book, leaving the reader with a very broad view of the Panthers. He seems to exclude nothing, he shows the promblems and the triumphs of this grand party. All power to the people finally came to mean something to me, instead of being some "crazy sixties thing." This should be read by all revolutionaries trying to start an organization and people questioning their government.

Brendan DuBois has obviously learned much from his previous book, Dead Sand. Black Tide picks up a few months after the conclusion of Dead Sand, and pulls the reader almost instantly into the plotline. Unlike its predecessor, Black Tide does not dwell on seacoast details for pages on end. DuBois learns to get past the filler and primarily utilize events and character to fill the page, rather than physical details of the landscape. DuBois' sense of character is refreshing for the mystery novel genre; he has created a both a protagonist and secondary characters that contain just about the right amount of toughness and humanity, but don't cross that borderline into the exaggerated realm of cliche. One sin Dubois did commit in both novels, however, is that of creating a murderer that the reader couldn't care less about. In both cases, a minor character is chosen as the guilty party -- the typical "seems like a nice guy, but I think there's some sinister under the surface" character that the avid mystery reader can pick out after reading just a few pages that involve the character. This is the fly in the soup that exposes what would otherwise be a fairly unpredictable plot. On the other hand, the story is very readable. This holds true in its pace, action, and dialogue. There are some very exciting moments that take place in this seemingly quiet little seaside town, and DuBois kept me hooked through each new development. In the end, what the reader gets is a good commercial mystery novel. I would recommend this novel to a friend, so long as the friend had not read every Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or Three Investigators novel ever written. It is a great building block for an author that is fairly new in terms of novels (DuBois has published many short stories), and I look forward to his future development and books. I will be waiting in anticipation of his next Lewis Cole mystery...

This is a great mystery...even better than his first, Dead Sand...but the plot is just a little far-fetched, and DuBois/Cole are still hung up on SWEAT. Get over it!

This book totally failed to capture my interest. I found myself unable to care WHAT happened to the protagonist. I gave up a quarter of the way through (very rare for me). Oh, well. A lot of very good writers have written the occasional bomb (like Robert Ludlum, Patricia Cornwell, and Sue Grafton, for instance). I'll probably check out DuBois' next book. Hopefully this one is a fluke.

I am beginning to believe that the same person is behind the spate of ugly reviews lately emanating from Publishers Weekly. Certainly, it's a shock every time to finish reading an enjoyable book and come to the site to post a review only to discover yet another nasty attack by a PW reviewer. Given that I come to the table with my critical faculties intact, a long-term knowledge of what goes into the writing of a book, and a healthy respect for the effort, I'm at a loss to comprehend why anyone would be so negative about this book.

Bottom line: I stayed up until after 3 a.m. this morning to finish this latest entry in the Lewis Cole series. That should say it all. Bad books don't keep you up long past your bedtime. And food, as well as roads taken, are a staple of most mysteries. That said, Killer Waves is compellingly readable, with a particularly well-fleshed cast of characters (most notably Keith Emerson--a touchingly rendered portrait of a man driven to self-hatred by well-founded fear.)

While the PW reviewer may have found the core thesis of this book far-fetched, I guess he neglected to read the author's note at the back of the book citing the true facts upon which he based his narrative. Truth, indeed, can be far stranger than fiction.

Cole's capitulation in the face of governmental coercion--literally stripping him of every last thing he owns --is very believable. They want his help; he says no. They'll force him to help. Works for me. And given his background as, in essence, a Pentagon researcher, Lewis doggedly goes forward, snapping and barking at his "masters" every so often in a viable depiction of man who'll do what he has to do but won't stand on his hind legs and do tricks for bisquits.

There is a most surprising twist at the climax of the book. I thought I saw this one coming but the author had a double whammy planned; one that is very nicely executed. In all, a diverting book with some interesting historical facts. And, finally, there is something heartfelt and believable in Cole's tracking of the space shuttle Endeavour.

Once again, ignore that PW review and get this book. It's well-worth reading.
Recommended.

This book is a real page turner and the scary thing is that the premise of the story is based on fact. Missing Nazi uranium. If you enjoy a good spy story than I highly recommend this book.

From the description of the book, I was expecting much more. I couldn't even force myself to continue reading past the fourth chapter. I was looking for something spiritual, but do not like books where "God" is mentioned in every other sentence (OK that's an exaggeration, but not by much). The first chapter talks about how he went from drinking too much as a teenager to talking about God in front of 72,000 men. Chapter two is about "sedition" and how we should not betray our fellow man by stabbing him in the back. Chapter three talks about the childish man, and gives an example of a man using cocaine who couldn't at first admit his use to his wife. I thought this book would be filled with more "wisdom", so to speak vs. preaching about God and the way to live a good life. Maybe this book would be worthwhile to some, but it was not what I was looking or hoping for.

I managed a media response/counseling center for 5 years. We had 30 counselors and Training replacements was a full time job. Dr Cole spoke to my counselors and gave me a copy of his audiotape on this subject. I played the tape over and over making notes in a spiral notebook. This was a major part of all of our counselor training fron that day forward. I have read may books on this and related topics but there is important truth here that I have found in no other. Dr. Cole presents the material in a way that empowers the reader to act on the truths presented. If you want to break destructive habits and form the habits of a winner in every area of your life this is the book. Keep a notebook handy and take lots of notes. Want to make New Years resolutions that you will keep? Read this book every January before you make them.