Although the premise is fascinating - is Elvis alive and appearing at a competion for Elvis impersonators in Las Vegas? I found the execution of this installment somewhat dull. This was due mainly to the absence of the usual supporting cast for most of the book. Where is Temple's nemisis - Molina? And half the fun (Okay, more than half) of these books comes from the ongoing romantic triangle between Temple, Max and Matt. This has been diminished in recent installments by having Temple return to her former flame, the Mysterious Max, but it was totally absent from this book. Max is missing in action for most of the story and Matt is around only to serve as a call-in radio sounding board for the possibly living King of Rock and Roll. I also was disappointed that this installment did nothing to explore the growing relationship between Matt and Carmen Molina. Even Midnight Louise, Louie's daughter and favorite sparring partner, is suprisingly absent for most of the novel. Interesting in parts, but not the best effort in the series.

I returned home from a recent trip to Memphis, where we toured Graceland, to find "Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit" in the mail awaiting my arrival. The coincidence was amazing. Finished reading it last night and think it is one of the best books I have ever read. The author's thought process gets deeper with each book and her exploration of the never-ending Elvis mystique casts an accurate eye on the sociology of the 50's and 60's and the perception of those times having been so innocent. Having been a teenager in the 1950's, I could also totally relate to the Electra character. The author's use of words gets cleverer and funnier with each book. As with any "whodunit," you have to keep reading to find out who was the perp, but you finish the book with sadness because there will be no more show-stoppers on each page. Thank you, Carole, so much for Temple and Louie and Chatter and all the rest of them!

Carole Nelson Douglas' Temple Barr and Midnight Louie investigate the ups and downs of glamor and glitz when they meet Elvis?, Elvis's ghost? and a company of Elvis impersonators. I think my favorite parts were those that involved Matt and his enigmatic guest on his new call-in radio show. I found the conclusion to this particular subplot satisfying enough to put a Cheshire Cat smile on my face. Louie's snake charming techniques for interviewing anacondas worked like a--er--charm--for me. Eschewing her usual series characters' entanglements and troubles, Douglas focuses in this book on having her protagonists and even one of the antagonists pull together to solve a mystery with their usual panache, and more importantly to seek resolution for the troubled soul of the charismatic entertainer. I never liked Elvis in his heyday but I must say, after reading this book, I feel much more kindly toward him now. I also LOVED the Fontana Bros. as Full Spectrum Elvis impersonators. The only problem with this book for me is that it seems to have been too short because I keep wanting to read some more and wondering what the people are doing NOW. I'd love it if Elvis's ghost turned up now and again in later books, just to give the little lady (Carmen Molina) a hand now and then.

If you loved Ninja then prepare to be disappointed. None of the fascinating detail that made Ninja such a page turner. Minor moments when describing the world of Heta I, a South American healing art that stores power in stones. Lew Croaker's biomechanical hand has more of a personality then Lew, and is much more fascinating.

Twisted plot involving South American magic, South Florida sleaziness, black market human organs, and secret government agenices.

Although I read this book to the end, I can't say I recommend it.

the books of mr.Lustbader have something different from the others:a way of seeing things unusual.This book has nothing like this.By far his best ones were JIAN and SHAN.Anyway,i'm still one of his fans

Despite of the lack of exotic settings and having a more ordinary hero,this novel is still a page-turner, thanks to the complexity of its charachters. Croaker ends up being a much more intersting person than Nicholas Linnear (who is something of a demi-god by now), however, DH lacks the thrilling changes of location in time and space characteristic of former novels. It's on the whole a fine novel, but I would suggest Mr, Lustbader to improve his Spanish spelling and grammar, there are lots of mistakes which undermine the credibility of the Spanish-speaking characters.

It does look like this is a good time for Robert B. Parker to come up with a new character, and judging from this first book, Jesse Stone could be a winner. He's certainly different from Spenser. While he shows some wit, he's of a darker and brooding nature, having messed up his professional and personal lives by hitting the bottle too heavily. In fact, he even goes to a job interview after drinking and surprisingly gets hired as police chief in Paradise, Mass. He figures that he was hired in spite of his condition when the truth is he was hired because of his drinking...he appeared to be far easier managed than he turned out to be.

Obviously, Parker intends to have the two series interrelate to a degree. Vinnie Morris and Gino Fish appear in the story, although interestingly, they never interrelate with Stone. Somehow, I suspect that might change in future novels.

Like the Spenser novels, this is a fast and easy read. It's not quite as much a fun read maybe, but what the hey, it's good and satisfying light reading.

Anyone who has read my reviews knows that I love virtually anything written by Robert Parker. Therefore, it will come as no surprise that I bought this new book as soon as it was in the bookstore or that I am recommending it.

It is interesting that Parker has now written enough different novels about his male private eye, Spenser (28 books), his female private eye, Randall, (2 novels) and his small town police chief, Stone (3 novels) that he has parallel series running simultaniously. In addition he has written a diverse series of other novels.

In this episode Jesse Stone is wrestling with a broken marriage, a drinking problem, a number of other women who are interested in him, and a vicious killing.

As in all Parker novels you get his version of how life really works, a pretty good mystery story, a fascinating soap opera in which you sense more hope than pain and a continuing belief in the power of endurance to help people get through life.

Having read almost all of Parker's work I cannot tell how much of his core philosophy is autobiographical and reflects his own life, how much is an idealized version of what he believes to be true, and how much is what he believes his readers will pay to buy a book and read. In any event he keeps me hooked and I will come back for the next Parker novel on any topic and with any central character he wants to write about.

Robert B. Parker once again scores a winning run with his third novel in the Jesse Stone series. Former L.A. homicide detective Jesse Stone is now Chief of Police in Paradise, Massachusetts after alcohol ruined both his detective job and his marriage. When the body of a young girl is found in a lake during one of Jesse's softball games, Chief Stone must use his well-honed investigative skills to find the killer.

Just as Jesse feels the need to lead his softball team (he once played in the minors), he must lead his police force in his quest to find the killer of the unidentified girl. Just to name a few on the force, there is Molly, with her Irish-Catholic sense of humor, a perfect combination with Jesse's dry wit. And Suitcase Simpson is only too eager to please his Chief though his experience with surveillance is nil.

As Jesse follows the trail of clues to discover the murderer's identity, his personal life is carefully revealed. His dependent relationship with his ex-wife, Jenn, is inextricably intertwined with his alcohol problem. And there is Lilly, the high school principal he is seeing seemingly to avoid loneliness.

Mr. Parker has penned another sure success, one of his best yet. The mystery is nothing short of excellent, as previously unrelated characters become suspects caught in a web that begins to unravel as their connection to each other is exposed. And Jesse is portrayed as a very real hero, a man who seems rather sure of himself to his peers and to women, but a man who battles quite a few demons in private.

Having read and disliked Master Executioner, but seeing all the rave reviews Estleman gets, I thought I'd try another of his books.

This book is better than Master Executioner by far. The essential difference is the use of language -- nearly poetic here, plodding in the other book. Journey of the Dead is the combined story of Pat Garrett, the man who shot Billy the Kid, and of an old Spanish alchemist who lives as a hermit in the desert.

Estleman does a good, understated job of showing how Garrett is haunted by Billy's death throughout his life. The effect would have been stronger had their friendship been more extensively described. Still, the changing Billy the Kid legend provides an interesting way for Estleman to show changes in Garrett's life and in the West.

I found the plot to move a little slowly, probably because it concerns the life of a real person, more or less accurately reported as far as I know. Garrett tried many careers and had rather little success in any, according to Estleman, until he was finally murdered. This imposes a sort of flat quality on the plot. There are no big moments of drama, aside from Billy's death, and even that comes across as understated. Toward the end of the book, I got a trifle bored and wished for more tension and drama in the narrative.

I have never heard of this author before I picked up the book in a local thrift store. What I can't believe is that I've never heard of this author after I finished reading the book. I can't wait to go out and find more of his books!

This book is essentially a fictitional account of the real life of Sheriff Pat Garrett--infamous for killing Billy the Kid. It has a secondary character who narrates and intersperses personal observations throughout the story, which adds an interesting dimension to the story. I'm not totally sure why he's there at all, but it does add a little 'drive' throughout the book--I wanted to keep reading to see what this narrator character was going to divulge next.

Estleman is deliciously ingenious with mental images. His passages read so brilliantly with his descriptions and metaphors that you can't help but instantly develop an image in your head as you watch your own internal moving picture. Simple phrases such as "...the clatter of a heavy wagon built of elm delivering a load of rocks smelling of moist earth..." jolts your own memory to relive personal images that almost match this scene and let you fall into the arms of the storyteller.

Ths story itself takes place over several decades and highlights supposed 'facts' of the life of Pat Garrett, but seems to fill in details while skipping them alltogether. You don't feel anything missing at the end of the story.

If you haven't read this book, or any book by Loren D. Estleman, I highly advice you to try him out -- even if it isn't this particular book. While I haven't read his other books yet, if his methodology and story-telling skills are equal to this slim volume, I can't wait to read the rest!

Qualifies as a well-written work of literature rich in symbolism, with an entertaining story and a history lesson as well.

Kind of reminds me of something Cormac McCarthy would write if he did a historical western novel...

Absolutely one of the WORST Books I've ever had the displeasure of reading. Kept plugging away at it in hopes that something would change.... ANYTHING!!! What A Crock...... A little Sci-Fi never hurt anyone, a little supernatural can be tolerated but this thing is a mass of Kung Fu, ESP, and Ghostbusters all wrapped up in one....

This is the sixth and final installment of Lustbader's saga of Nick Linnear. On the plus side it does clear up all the loose ends that were left hanging in the previous five volumes. However the main problem is the final battle scene. After five books, each over 500 pages long, the final battle between Nick and his ultimate antagonist only last a page and a half! I felt that Lustbader was working his way up to a real no holds barred fight but just sort of sizzled in the end. An overall great series and overall a good ending if you discount the brevity of the final fight.

This is one of the best books I've ever read

This was a good book, but far too oversexed. It's something that Elizabeth George is beginning to do, and it's not impressive. Fine, put some sex in a novel, taht's all well and good, it adds another layer to the book, but we don't need it overdone. We don't need obsession with it.

The plot of this is quite good, but even though it's quite a short, it seemed a drag on a bit, i don't know why, as i actually really enjoyed it. The characters of John Steafanovich and Sarah McGuiness were interesting ones, and their romance was quite touching. The villain is one of your typical "in the shadows you see him" ones, a bit 2-d but still very frightening and bristling with menace.

At times there seems to be too much gun-toting, and it seems a bit overcomplicated. but nevertheless he packs in some great twists and turns, culminating in a novel that, while it may not be his best work to date, is worth a read, even if just to watch how once upon a time he actually coudl write. (But it is plain from some of his recent efforts that he now CANT)

In James Patterson's, The Midnight Club, Patterson uses a variety of literary devices to enhance his writing. First, Patterson uses just about every element of plot in this book. He uses rising action and complications to create vivid pictures of what is happening. For example, when Alexandre St.- Germain, the antagonist, is supposedly killed at the beginning of the book. This poses a complication because the "bad guy" is killed early in the book, or so you think. Also, there were many things that could only be answered through the climax. This rising action helped in creating suspense. Second, suspense was used throughout the book to keep you turning the pages. Wanting to know what would happen next. Further the short one to three page chapters assisted in producing suspense. These short chapters make it easier to read allowing us as the readers to get into a flow. At every thrilling and suspenseful moment the reader is forced to consider all possibilities. It is impossible to guess what will happen next. Last, Patterson is among the best at concocting riveting and exceptional serial killers while still manufacturing detectives who are heroic and complex. He reveals his characters personalities only through their actions and thoughts. Each character has a purpose and is used to make the book better. James Patterson's use of literary devices not only uplifts the books quality but also help the readers to understand it. Patterson shows why he is considered one of the masters of writing a true thriller.

Nicely written! I enjoyed the book a lot. It really kept me going especially the villain St.Germain. The last 75 too 100 pages unfolded very rapidly. Some parts of the ending and begining were predictable. I believe the book contained exciting characters. It had just the right amount of drama and suspense. It was very exciting to read. The setting in Manhattan reminded me much of back home. I could easily picture everything. I felt like a character in the book.I look forward to more James Patterson books. Job well done!

I simply did not understand the story. I had to force myself to continue to read and when I was finally finished - I could hardly believe it. I felt cheated and betrayed. I could hardly understand what had happened and could not figure out the ending. Was the mystery solved? Who was the killer? I could only guess. So I visited this site to read other people's review and was stunned to find to find that the average rate was 5 stars! They must be loyal to the author or be crazy about anything that has to do with cats. Or I must be from Mars. I love books and I love mysteries - but this is the worst mystery I have ever read. Perhaps the author should consider another genre of writing. I feel bad giving a bad review but want to warn others not to read this book.

I've read all books in the series (which I'm normally fond of), but this one was just a little too overloaded with characters, plots, and angst. I didn't really care about the too out-there Shangri-la villianess or her cat, and I was annoyed with the heroine Temple (who actually seemed to be more in the background). I think Ms. Douglas does a much better job juggling a complicated storyline in the next book, Cat in an Indigo Mood.

I've read all of the first nine books, except for the first and they are absolutley incredible!. I just ordered the first one and I'm getting ready to order the tenth one INDIGO MOOD. The books are fast paced and very exciting, I read 8 of the books in just two weeks, I couldn't put them down! Cat on a Hycanith Hunt was one of my favorites in the series. If you're looking for a good read, these are definitly it!