_________________________________________________________________

Bravo! A compelling whodunit framed by an intriguing scenario -- a rich, powerful man returning to the hometown that ostracized him as a teen. And the sleuth, Tom Hamilton, is such a fascinating character -- haunted by his murky past in Chicago and the mysteries and abuses of his childhood. I'd love to read more about Tom Hamilton. Hope the author's got a sequel planned....

Tom Hamilton has a long memory. He remember the poverty and insults of his childhood in small-town Colorado. He remember the secrets of the deadly organization he worked for in Chicago. Most of all, he remembers the central tragedy of his boyhood, his mother's disappearance. Now he's back in Colorado, safe from the Chicago associates-and in possession of a large quantity of their money.

When a signer is murdered during a local opera performance, Tom decides to try his hand at finding the killer. He doesn't foresee that this will draw him back into the passions and hatreds of earlier years . . . or that it will put his own life in danger!

A terrific mystery novel from the New York Times bestselling author of TIME FOR SHERLOCK HOLMES, URSUS, and CAPTAIN's HONOR.

You will be impressed by how the author; holds your interestall the way to the exciting conclusion. Basically the aliens wipe outthe Sun and put the earth and moon into orbit around jupiter and communicate with the survivors. The survivors now believe that the aliens were correct to wipe out most of the life on earth and are excitedly anticipating the aliens visit. The protagonist, a computer programmer from one of the few remaining shelters on the earth. ( Remember, the earth freezes solid without the sun). He is able to marry the daughter of the current leader on the moon and eventally inherits the reigns of power. He is not a fan of the aliens so ... (Don't want to ruin it for you). You'll love this book!

There isn't really much action in this book; it's mostly hinted at rather than actually described. This is understandable, as the book is intended to be more of a look at the philosophy of the Federation and Starfleet, rather than an action-adventure story. I found the characterizations intriguing, particularly that of the characters original to this book; mostly (with the exception of Worf and to a lesser extent, Picard) the established characters are background filler. But I found the basic concept of the Magna Romans (from Original series "Bread and Circuses") having advanced far enough in 80 years to have joined the Federation and been entrusted with a Starship of their own more than a bit dubious; I doubt that either the Federation or Starfleet would be that foolish. Further, I found it disappointing that the people who were too pacifistic to defend themselves (but not too pacifistic to ask for help so that somebody ELSE could defend them) were never actually forced to face the consequences of their actions; further, those who were unwilling to allow them the luxury of that hypocrisy were portrayed as villains. Granted, changing their culture without permission was villainous, but it would not have been out of line for Picard (or Sejanus) to refuse to help those who would not attempt to help themselves.

Clearly, the authors intend to bring Sejanus back in some future story. For all I know, they may have already done so; if they have, I've not read it yet.

The return of the Romans from "Bread and Circuses" is unexpected and appreciated, though the use of a Constitution-class vessel is anachronistic, in my opinion. The plot with the cat-like aliens is secondary to the real thrust of the novel: that cultural differences spawn different ways of doing things. The dress of the ship, the holodeck sequences, what foods the Neo-Romans eat, and, most of all, their attempts to assimilate a culture into their own, are NOT Federation standard... but they do make sense in the Roman ethos. An excellent contrast with everything Star Trek has shown us before. Hail Ceasar!

This novel told about how 2 StarFleet captains, Picard and an officer from the Magna Romans (from the TOS episode "Bread and Circuses") squared off against each other in helping a planet deal with 6 ft tall cat-like critters who invade the planet and eat the people. Picard wants to negotiate and help the cats feed themselves (the cats invade the planet because their race is starving). The Romans want to get rid of them (they don't like cats).

There's a subplot involving a Roman officer romancing one of Picard's crew, but who gets killed by the Roman captain. The only good thing about this book is that it follows up on the Bread and Circuses episode into STTNG's 24th century.

Like jedwardp, I thought this book started quite well and was interesting to read at first, but then declined. The author initially had a good handle on both Holmes and Watson, and some intriguing ideas. But as the book progressed, the characters became more like vehicles for the plot than like "real" people. Dvorkin even seemed to forget about some of the questions raised in the earlier parts of the book. For example (without giving too much away), when Watson first meets Lily, he wonders about her family, but doesn't get a chance to ask. Given how much time the two of them end up spending together, surely he got a chance at some point to ask--and we should've seen his reaction to the information. But the matter is essentially dropped. Characters sometimes changed without much explanation--apparently more because the plot required them to do so than for any other reason. It's rather a shame that the book didn't focus more on the people, their motivations, and their reactions to what was happening.

Dvorkin starts this book superbly, as he reproduces Watson's narrative voice of the Doyle works almost perfectly. Included are those splashes of humor the experienced Holmes reader will expect (one being a mention that many pastiches have been written, which is a priceless way for this book to poke fun at itself).

The time-travel elements are believably handled, at least within the scope of science fiction, and for awhile we can feel we're indeed following the real Holmes and Watson into both their futures and ours.

Regretably, the book loses focus, however. It seems the farther into the future it goes, the less believable the story becomes.

By the last two chapters, the book has degraded into over-the-top sci-fi, with Holmes and Watson being little more than names.

I can easily recommend the first half to three-quarters of this book to a Sherlockian, but you might want to stop there, saving yourself from an ending that cheapens an otherwise good story.

One might think the master himself were alive and well and still chronicling the adventures of Holmes and Watson, so skillfully has David Dvorkin carried on the tradition. This beautifully crafted pastiche sticks faithfully to the language, flavor and attitude of the original stories. All our old friends are there: Dr. Moriarty, Mrs. Hudson, Mycroft. But there's an elixir of youth, and an interesting bit of time travel, thrown in for good measure. Get this: "Holmes vanished from the Libration Satellite shortly after I managed to get him unseen off the Exeter, his disappearance as unannounced as his coming." And this: "I pondered what I had come to regard as the central problem of immortality: While physically I was as a man in his twenties, and indeed looked much that age....I surprised myself upon occasion with my mental rigidity, my stodginess, and my querulousness." And another quote too good to omit: "I had lived to see my earlier chronicles of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson become world-famous; and yet, since copyright does not last forever and cannot be renewed indefinitely, I was no longer earning royalities." This is good stuff! You'll love it.

Timetrap is a traditional Trek novel, decently written and with a story that holds the interest but does not excite. Captain Kirk is a little too maudlin here, but nevertheless gets plenty of alien female action (and would we expect anything less?) as he finds himself isolated from the Enterprise and surrounded by "New Klingons." There is some good McCoy/Spock banter here, but the rest of the crew is limited to cameos (and Chekov, although mentioned, never appears at all). Bottom line is that Timetrap is a good, quality Trek read, not as outstanding as The Captain's Table's Fire Ship, but by no means a dud.

Do you prefer your Klingons devious, underhanded, implacable enemies of the Federation, as they are in "Trouble With Tribbles" and "Friday's Child"? Or do you prefer the honorable and rather straightforward, if harsh, warriors we saw glimpses of in "Errand of Mercy" and "Day of the Dove", and which we've seen regularly ever since Worf debuted on "Next Generation"? If your idea of Klingons is the former, you'll doubtless enjoy this book tremendously. If the latter, I suspect that you'll find this book untenable; these are definitely not the modern idea of what Klingons are like.

The story itself is a reasonably good one, if not quite as subtle as it seems to think it is. The writing is fine, the characterizations good, the plot interesting if not entirely plausible, and not just because of devious Klingons. Worth a read, but not the best "Trek" story out there by a long shot.

Star Trek-The Original Series: Timetrap written by David Dvorkin is a Captain James T. Kirk driven book. The charater of James T. Kirk is in a transporter surge accident is transported into the the future wher the Klingons are found to be a rather straightforward race, but harsh by Federation standards.

This whole adventure started out in a remote area of Federation space as the Enterprise picks up a distress call. The crew comes to the rescue, but encounter a Klingon cruiser named "Mauler" in Federation space, but that is not the worst of the situation to come. As Kirk and crew try to sort out the situation, They find the Klingon ship trapped inside of a storm.

As Kirk beams over to the Klingon ship, the storm flares and this is where the main plot of the book takes shape. Kirk is now one hundred years in the future , the "Mauler" vanishes from sight of the Enterprise, much to the horror of the crew of the Enterprise.

This book was written in a time when Star Trek was adding the genre of ST-TNG, so thing were being sorted out as to how the Klingon's were going to be portrayed. Either they were going to be the tricky, sly, or furtive as they were in the "Trouble with Tribbles and Friday's Child." Or were they going to be the forthright, candid, or outspoken charater trait found in "Errand of Mercy and Day of the Dove," or more like those found in the ST-TNG.

Of course, if you feature the character of Kirk, you have to have a love interest. Well, in this case we have Kalrind as Kirk's new Klingon love interest. This is making way for the Shatner inspired novels to come.

I found this book to follow the genre of TOS quite well and is well-written. It also starts some of the framework for the TNG and Kirk inspired books, which makes this book a pivotal. All in all, the was an enjoyable story.

Perhaps The Trellisane Confrontation would merit the typical three stars a Star Trek book receives if I had not just read Dvorkin's later Timetrap - a much, much better Trek novel on every level. The Trellisane Confrontation has a story that keeps the attention but never rivets and which, in many ways, is a huge eye-roller. For example, very early on the Enterprise's bridge is taken over and only Chekov has the gumption to do anything about it - and all he does is try to "kirk" one of the female abductors. There is also, unfortunately, the problem of changed premises. Written in 1984, Trellisane's Klingons are much more like our current understanding of Romulans and vice versa. While we can hardly blame Dvorkin for that, it is discomforting to read about honorable Romulans and the treacherous, honorless Klingons.

Be warne. Whatever pleasure one can have from this book (and there is some, especially with Dr. McCoy) will be completely spoiled if you read the back of the book. Typically Pocket, it reveals plot points that do not occur until two-thirds into the book. All you need to know about the book is that it's Star Trek and it's mindless entertainment.

This book is semi-exciting and keeps you reading, but there is little or no character development and also little depth to the story.

A relatively shallow story, action-driven and (mostly) not overly introspective -- which is good, because when it tries to be thoughtful, as at the end, it fails utterly -- still, it is well-crafted, interweaving multiple subplots well and keeping track of a fairly complex plot, it handles established characters well and shows good understanding of the personalities on the Enterprise, as well as the attitudes that one might expect from a Klingon or Romulan ship captain. The plot is not completely implausible in a Star Trek universe, and the action moves nicely. All in all, a good quick light read.