J.H. Hall combines McGuane's command of the language and Gierach's homespun wisdom with his own unique sense of humor in this fine collection of stories. Whether fishing the lakes and streams of his adopted state of Maine, the bonefishing flats of the Caribbean, or the trout streams of Montana, Hall brilliantly shares his enthusiasm and insight into the art of fishing and the fellow sojourners he encounters along the way. His knack of humourously observing the fine nuances of situations will keep any reader smiling from the first to the last page. Best of all he transports you to whatever geographical location he is in so that even if you are not a fisherman you are as excited as he is about the next cast. You might even end up looking at a favorite body of water with fresh interest. Hall is selling fish!

I think this is the first book I have read written by an actual juror. Since the author was a very influential juror, pulling for the winner of the case, his selection of things from the transcript probably is skewed some, but if so it is not obvious. I was fascinated to read how the judge allowed the lawyers, especially the lawyer for Pennzoil, to "run wild" in voir dire, and one cannot but think that the fact the lawyer gave the judge $10,000 for his election campaign may have at least subconciously influenced the judge. This campaign contribution is discussed in the book, but the author apparently does not see the obvious solution: a lawyer who gives money to a judge should be barred from practicing before that judge. This would soon have Texas going to a better method of selecting judges, as many states have. This is a book which anyone who wants to see how a juror reacts to what goes on should read. A fascinating account of a mammoth case.

I should say first of all that this book is not out of print. In fact, the paperback edition was published at the beginning of this year (2000). It is a fasinating read, not only for those interested in sculpture, but for anyone with an interest in the changing nature of modern art. It falls in two halves. The first examines the subordination of sculpture to painting in aesthetic theory and cultural representation from the Renaissance to the 19th century. The second is a truly original and eye-opening survey of the reversal of this hierarchy in the twentieth century, with a fundamental change in the Western sensorium as its basis. It takes in everything from the promotion of touch in Montessori schools to the valorisation of mobility in the urban environment. It is both erudite and entertaining - a tour de force.

This book is interesting. It gives a great and detailed history of the ship Bounty. With her tyrant captain (William Bligh) and the admirable Fletcher Christian the ship sails from England to the south sea island of Tahiti. The whole crew recieves either physical or verbal abuse by Captain Bligh. Finally Christian becomes sick of it and gets most of the crew to rise in mutiny... You will have to read the book to find out the rest of this exciting story. Told in the words of the innocent midshipman, Roger Byam, who is wrongly found guilty of mutiny and condemned to death, this is a classic few can forget. Read this exciting book and I guaranty that you will love it's adventure and suspense. You won't be disappointed!

Mutiny on the Bounty is a stunning work of historical fiction that is a pleasure to read.

The novel chronicles the events of the HMS Bounty as seen through the eyes of Roger Byam, a midshipman on the infamous Bounty. Through his eyes, the reader sees the terrible events unfold aboard the ship--the cruelty of Capt. Bligh that ultimately leads Fletcher Christian and much of the crew to mutiny against the captain. With Bligh left at sea, the crew returns to the South Pacific, seeking to make a new life for themselves and hoping to avoid capture and court martial by the British authorities. The conclusion of the novel is heart-wrenching and simply superb (and will be left as a surprise).

This novel relies a good deal on historical fact, though the authors clearly fill in the gaps with literary license. The characters are superbly developed and the story is riveting throughout. There is much nautical vocabulary, but this shouldn't distract readers as it can be glossed over without losing any significant content. I am not a historian and can make no statements about the veracity of the portrayals in this book. I do know that readers will find this novel difficult to put down. It is simply a classic story.

I recently decided to try reading some classic books. Mutiny on the Bounty was the first one I tried. Although some of the navigational and shipping vocabulary was unfamiliar to me, the plot of the book and the triumph of good and truth made this story one of the best I've ever read. Better still, it is based on actual events! I think you'll agree with me that Captain Bligh makes a most agregious villian-his parts were almost difficult to read. Still, Roger Byam's heartfelt account made this a fascinating read. Give it a try!

It saddens me to see that someone has "reviewed" this book as being the work of someone who "cooks numbers" to suit his own hypotheses. This really cannot be further from the truth, and anyone who actually understands the use and study of statistics in baseball will realize this.

"Politics of Glory" is insightful in the way that it turns the light of context onto the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Now we can better understand just how some members have been elected, and how many deserving candidates have been left out.

What is important to realize is that James, while speaking out on a few poor choices, also takes great pains to say that membership requirements for the Hall are subjective at best, and that it is up to the reader to decide where that magical Mendoza line is for enshrinement.

A 5-star review for anyone who is interested in the history of the game from both prosaic and statistical perspectives. If you don't like stats (really, there are very few - only a number of rankings by player "similarities"), then read it in pieces. The chapters are arranged so that one does not have to read it straight through, and non-statheads can skip the stuff they don't find appealing.

After reading "Politics of Glory" I would like to nominate Bill James for Hot Stove League Commissioner. The Hot Stove League is where baseball hungry fans spend their winter days arguing that "My favorite player is better than yours!" James approaches baseball arguments the way a Philadelphia lawyer evaluates lucrative contracts, by examining every point with microscopic clarity.

A book about the Hall of Fame, with its unending controversies over just who is truly deserving of entry and who is not, is ideal grist for the analytical mind of James. He covers many controversies, two of which surround Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale and Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto. Drysdale had been voted into the Hall by the time James wrote his book while Rizzuto was elected just as James was completing his final chapter. The evaluations of both players were so thorough that James concluded his analysis of Drysdale by covering the tall right-hander's performance in pennant stretch drives of the Dodgers as well as in the twelve games James deemed the most crucial of his career excluding World Series performances. Rizzuto's Hall of Fame worthiness was ultimately evaluated by a statistically microscopic comparison of the Yankee star with his counterpart New York contemporary at shortstop, Pee Wee Reese of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In addition to comparing and contrasting players both in and out of the Hall, James also delves into the politics of Cooperstown. He decries the period of the fifties and sixties for what he deems less than deserving choices made by the Veterans Committee. James pinpoints the reason as the leadership influence of Frankie Frisch, the great infielder of the Cardinals and Giants, whose love affair with the game of his playing days continued even when he was managing teams years later. James notes that the "Fordham Flash" was less than a hit with his players for constantly proclaiming that "The players of my days were much better than the players now." Frisch's period on the Veterans Committee resulted in numerous former teammates being selected, including choices James statistically debunks as inadequate, including three former St. Louis Cardinals, pitcher Jess Haines, first baseman Jim Bottomly, and outfielder Chick Hafey.

Reading James improves a baseball fan's instincts for looking beyond the sheer numbers, such as park advantages, i.e.: Did a pitcher perform in a home park favorable to pitchers or hitters or did a hitter play half his games in a stadium with short or long fences? James comes up with some convincing arguments by searching in places where most fans have never treaded.

Quite simply one of the best baseball books ever. Written with the serious fan in mind this book puts to rest many of the debates about who should and shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame. It is hard to argue to James' logic in every one of the cases he sites.

The idea that James has some sort of hidden agenda, as one reviewer states, is absurd. What could James possibly have against Freddie Lindstrom or Travis Jackson? Besides regular statistics, James does use first hand accounts in helping to determine whether or not someone should be in the Hall of Fame. However, he does not put much credence in something an old teammate says 40 years later. The fact is that James points out obvious discrepancies between the number of HOFers from the 20s and 30s and other decades, and in particular in the number of teammates of Veterans Committee members in the Hall of Fame.

This is just one of the many issues detailed here. All in all this book is a must read for anyone interested in the Hall of Fame.

Blind Eye was an interesting read, but Stewart really draws the wrong conclusion from the data. His flawed conclusion, that the American medical establishment is inherently evil and is responsible for the monster Swango, is primarily due to Stewart's personal bias against physicians and powerful cliques in general. This bias manifests itself by the complete failure of the author to include the dozens of other residency programs that rejected Swango's matriculation, and attributing OSU et al's hiring of him as sinister. The simple fact is that Michael Swango is an evil person who is a master of deception, who having the ability to kill hundreds of people, was only able to ostensibly kill 20 or 30. To use one psychopath's misdeeds as an indictment of an entire industry composed of millions of people who deliver world renowned care is ludicrous. Why not blame Swango's crimes on elementary educators, the Marine Corp or the lawyers, police and judges who knew about this man? Instead Stewart goes for the easy (and most lucrative for book sales) target: the medical establishment. Michael Swango is not the natural constituency of the medical community; he is the antithesis of it. Stewart rightly points out the tendency of physicians to shy away from situations that seem prone to litigation (big surprize!), and the well known "circle the wagon" mentality in the medical profession, but wildly distorting the ontological connection between these and a madman like Swango is libelous. Stewart's sincere concern of the problems in our health care system could be handled much more honestly and effectively than by foisting his specious hyperbole on a stampede prone public. The story of Michael Swango is an importent one to tell, but the author should have reined in his personal bias prior to rendering his conclusions. (A note of interest: I spent an afternoon with Michael Swango in 1990 or !991 interviewing him for matriculation to our family practice residency program in Oklahoma. Though sorely in need of residents and his having a strong academic record, we rejected his application due to our concerns about his dubious past. Swango personally told me he was looking at several other programs at that time; it appears as those programs rejected him as well)

I read this investigative 314 page book in one sitting. If there's a lesson in it, it's that authority figures, such as doctors, suffer pride, envy, lust, just like the rest of us but unlike the rest of us, too often fail to acknowledge their fallibility. It highlights the patriarchal and sexist nature of the American medical profession which, like other parts of society, is not hermetically sealed off from that society. Example: the direct eye evidence of an elderly female patient counts for nothing; the evidence of nurses counts for little; the suppositions and the presumptions of doctors counts a great deal - and so a serial killer doctor continues to practice. Equally frightening is how a number of eminent and respected so called "scientists" of some very prestigious medical establishments chose Dr Michael Swango because they liked the look of him, because he seemed nice. To what extent did Dr Swango achieve his macabre goals because he was the picture of an energetic, white, clean cut, blue-eyed, blonde haired American ex-marine? (The author notes that staff at one mid-western hospital were relieved to find Dr Swango was "english speaking" so many "foreign doctors" had they through their portals).

Although I felt a little uneasy in the beginning of this book at what seemed to be the gossip like approach of the author, about who did or didn't like Michael Swango at school, whose favourite he was at home etc, the beginning serves to draw you in to his life through the eyes of friends acquaintances and relatives so that the real horror of his actions slowly dawns on the reader. In a state approaching disbelief you are witness to a horrible journey. Thanks to the American press and to patients such as Mrs Delbert Cooper Sr and to the author and to the nurses involved the mistakes made can be revealed, and discussed. A tad more humility by some doctors might have helped to prevent a lot of what happened in this story.

I just finished reading this book the other day. Being a patient will never be the same again. To read how the medical community either covered up for Michael Swango, or just didn't want to believe a doctor could be capable of poisoning patients, is unsettling to say the least. Nurses, hospital workers, and patients were all discounted by some physicians as just "gossips." Even a conviction of trying to poison co-workers wasn't enough to stop Swango from getting employment. There were some who knew Michael Swango was bad news even in medical school, but their concerns went unheeded. Its frightening. Every person, whether in the medical field or not, should read this book.

And to think that this guy is about to get out of prison!

My first encounter with Joyce was an English Lit. course in college, some twenty years ago now. We were assigned to read an anthologized version of "The Dead", and I initially approached it as one does all such reading requirements at that foolish age; however, this particular story ending up affecting me quite unlike anything I had ever read before. Dubliners is a beautifully written collection of thematically inter-related stories involving day to day life in early 20th century Dublin - stories that masterfully evoke what Faulkner described in his Nobel address as being the essential nature of true art: A portrayal of the human heart in conflict with itself. "The Dead" is the final story in the collection, and my favorite. I have re-read it numerous times and am so consumed by it that I'm not even able to provide an objective review. The final pages, from the point where Gabriel and Greta leave the party, to the end of the story, are absolutly stunning; the poetry of the words, the profound humanity represented - defies description. As in the final line of Rilke's "Archaic Torso of Apollo" - You must change your life.

Dubliners is a collection of short stories ranging through chidhood, adolescence and adulthood ending with three public life stories and the grand finale "The Dead" Critics have associated many of the stories to Joyce's personal life as he to became dissillusioned with his home city of Dublin. In each story we find a struggle for escapement from each character with the ever burdening features of alcohol and religion amongst other things trapping the protaganists from breaking out of the Dublin mould. Hopes are often dashed such as those of Eveline and Duffy. Joyce intelligently creates an interplay of senses towards the end of each story which creates an epiphany and a defining moment in the life of each character. Throughout the book the characthers start in the middle of nowhere and end up in the middle of nowhere. The text starts with the phrase: "There was no hope for him this time", which symbolises the book perfectly with paralysis being a continuing theme throughout the text ending in the final component: "The Dead". Overall this is a fascinating insite into how Joyce viewed his birth place. Joyce himself can be viewed in many of the characters including Duffy who found love with Sinico in: "A Painful Case" and felt awkward at her death as he had let her go. A thoroughly enjoyable book where nothing actually happens!

The first of James Joyce's books, "Dubliners" is a collection of fifteen stories written between 1904 and 1907. Joyce wrote the first of the fifteen stories in this collection, "Sisters," in Ireland in 1904. The story was published in August of that year under the pseudonym "Stephen Daedalus." Joyce wrote the last, longest and most famous of the stories, "The Dead," in Rome in 1907. The stories were published in the book known as "Dubliners" in 1914. While there are many editions of "Dubliners" in print, the definitive edition of the work is generally considered to be the corrected text prepared by Robert Scholes in consultation with Richard Ellman, Joyce's biographer. Random House publishes the Scholes edition under its Modern Library imprint and I recommend this edition.

"Dubliners" stands as one of the Ur-texts of modernism, a startlingly original collection of stories set in turn-of-the-century Dublin that began the Joycean literary project. That project subsequently moved through the increasingly difficult, and characteristically modernist, iterations of "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," "Ulysses" and "Finnegan's Wake." Like those succeeding texts, the interested reader can find thousands of pages of commentary on "Dubliners," the study of Joyce's works being akin to a Talmudic undertaking, an undertaking that can, if one chooses, occupy an entire life.

Joyce once commented that the stories of "Dubliners" constitute a "chapter of moral history" that represents the "first step towards the spiritual liberation of [Ireland]." He also said, "I call the series 'Dubliners' to betray the soul of that hemiplegia or paralysis which many consider a city." The stories are, in other words, inherently critical (although also, at times, appreciative) of the Dublin life that Joyce abandoned, living and writing as an expatriate in Paris, Trieste, Rome, and Zurich for nearly the entirety of his adult life.

The stories operate on two levels. On one level, the stories are realistic narratives of every day life in Dublin. On another level, however, the stories are suffused with symbolism, with recurring, allusive images of spiritual, sexual and political meanings that mark a departure from nineteenth century literary realism and make "Dubliners" an enduring, and deservedly canonical, modernist narrative.

The first story, "Sisters," begins with a striking example of the tone of the stories in "Dubliners." A young boy stands, in the evening, looking up at the shadows flickering through the window of an upstairs room where a priest is dying:

"Every night as I gazed up at the window I said softly to myself the word 'paralysis'. It had always sounded strangely in my ears, like the word 'gnomon' in the Euclid and the word 'simony' in the Catechism. But now it sounded to me like the name of some maleficent and sinful being. It filled me with fear, and yet I longed to be nearer to it and to look upon its deadly work."

Thus, a vivid, realistic image appears in the reader's mind, but so does a collection of words that suggest meanings and themes that go far beyond the real, that capture physical and intellectual and religious undercurrents, the inner life of a young boy living in Dublin.

"Sisters" is a brilliant story, as is "The Dead" and nearly every other story in "Dubliners" (excluding, perhaps, one or two, the worst being "After the Race," a story that Joyce reluctantly included in the collection). Realistic in its narratives, richly allusive in its language and symbolism, "Dubliners" is one of a handful of story collections that truly deserves the label "classic" and should be read and studied by every serious reader.

This was my first James Hall book, and I plan to read some more in the future as he seems to be a very good writer. His writing flows clean and easy, making for a fast paced read. The main characters Hannah and Frank were good, but I would have liked to see a little more depth into Frank. Hal and Misty are also good villians, but Hal is perhaps a bit cartoonish, particularily his method of killing. The plot was interesting and had some original ideas compared to the typical plot in the genre. The only problem was that you could see how it would end from a mile away. Although the identity of Hannah's parents killer was a nice suprise. Overall, a good read.

James Hall has rapidly become one of my favorite authors, whether he's writing another book in his Thorn series, or the stand-alone thrillers he's been producing lately. _Rough Draft_ is one of his stand-alones, but the characters he creates here are compelling enough to warrant their own series.

Single mother Hannah Keller, a former policewoman turned bestselling author, is concerned about her withdrawn son. The boy apparently was an eyewitness to the murder of his grandparents many years before by a man Hannah's father was prosecuting for embezzlement.

The FBI is aware of her circumstances and an especially devious agent-in-charge sets up an elaborate sting, aimed at the vicious mob killer, Hal Bonner, an odd, inhuman, almost robotic man, with a grisly trademark to his slayings. The agent in charge of the investigation into the death of Hannah's father years before, Frank Sheffield, shows up again and starts to fall in love with Hannah.

Just based on this brief summary, you'd be right in thinking this is a pretty convoluted plot for a thriller, but Hall makes it work. His characters are real, believable human beings and they're often put in situations of extreme jeopardy. Not all will survive. It is also to Hall's credit that he almost manages the feat of making us care about the inhuman Hal, who becomes involved in a love affair of his own during the course of the story.

This is an excellent, fast-moving thriller, and highly recommended.

this is my very first book of james hall that i've read and, since i enjoyed it sooooo much, i'm actively seeking out each and every one that he's written before! this was the ultimate cat & mouse game with a terrific cast of characters! i particularly liked viewing the juxtaposition of hannah (the lead character) and erin (hannah's lead character in HER book)....Hal is a sociopath of the highest order and would most certainly equal Boy in Bogner's phenomenal 'to die in provence'! hall's easy style of writing makes you just zip through this book to the very satisfying ending which was truly a surprise as well as an excellent conclusion! i can't wait to read all of his other books and i'm grateful that there are sooooo many for me to enjoy! grab this book fast...you'll be glad that you did!

James McBride's The Color of Water was a quick and easy read. The main reason for its quickness came from the fact that it was an irresistible page-turner. McBride does an excellent job of portraying life in the projects as well as tackling the racial issues of intermarriage. He discusses the Jewish side of his family with surprising accuracy in terms of vocabulary and traditional background, and simultaneously manages to express the hardships of his mother's life as well as his own.

The Color of Water is a choice book for memoir-lovers and those who appreciate topics that deal with race. McBride handles the issue beautifully, as he is most fit to do so, being of mixed color himself. An especially moving recurrence in the story comes from the gruff responses by McBride's mother to any question of race, belonging, or any other topic concerning the rest of the world. McBride set the childhood view of his mother on a pedestal fortified by her own beliefs: education, religion (Jesus), and privacy among others. At the same time, the chapters that alternate between mother and son show a weaker side of Mrs. McBride, but provide a good balance to the book. While watching his mother's story unfold as McBride makes certain realizations about his own life, a basic question is answered. Often in memoirs readers wonder what it was in a person's upbringing that impacted that person's personality. Here the reader is allowed the opportunity to make that connection himself.

If there were one area of lacking, it was the description of McBride's siblings. I would have like to have known more about his relationship with his brothers and sisters, as this area seemed strangely weak in comparison to the focus given to his parents. The additional background would have strengthened the book by providing and even broader picture of the lives of those who shaped James McBride into the author of the autobiographical, The Color of Water.

After finishing the book, there was an unsettling feeling of unfinished business. I had enjoyed the book but would have had a better experience had my family not built it up to me so highly before I read it. Unfortunately, starting the book with such high expectations was disastrous for the outcome. This does not in any way mean, though, that I do not respect James' McBride's work on this piece and the hardships he has grown from, because I do. I only wish that I had had the opportunity to read the story having heard nothing about it. My recommendation to all prospective readers is to go in with a clean slate and try to read the book devoid of outside feedback.

Subtitled, "A Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother", the author, James McBride, a journalist and musician, has written his true and remarkable story.

Ruth McBride Jordan was born in 1921, in Poland, the daughter of Orthodox Jews. As a baby, her family immigrated to the United States where she was raised in Virginia where her father had a grocery store. Her life was harsh and when she married a black man in 1942, her family disowned her.

She raised 12 children, every one of them college educated, her indomitable spirit strong through poverty and the tragic deaths of two husbands. Her color confused her children who lived in a black world and it wasn't until they had grown to adulthood that her true story came out.

James McBride is a good writer, and his lively clear prose reflect a home that might have been lacking in material things, but was extraordinary in its warmth and love and nurturing atmosphere.

Ruth McBride Jordan's story is told in her voice through alternating chapters and her strength comes through in her words. Never once is there a shred of self pity as she tells her story. When she was first married she and her husband lived in a cockroach infested single room in Harlem with the bathroom in the hall. Her first four children were born while they were living in that single room. "It was one of the happiest times of my life," she says. Later they moved to an apartment with their own private bathroom which was quite a luxury.

The reader feels the emotions that James feels as he struggles with his own identity. He is the 8th of the 12 children and watches his older brothers and sisters being influenced by the "black power" movement of the 70s. Often, he's embarrassed by the color of his mother's skin.

Ruth is an active Christian avid churchgoer. James knows little or nothing of Jews. It is fascinating to read his point of view which is told with insight and honesty. And it is perhaps even more fascinating to hear the words of Ruth.

The book is an inspiration, a testament to love, and social exploration through the eyes of a mixed race family. Read it! You'll love it!

James McBride, in "The Color of Water," writes about his Jewish mother and the tremendous impact that she had on him and on his siblings. Rachel Shilsky was born in Poland and she emigrated with her family to America when she was a young girl. Rachel's father abused her emotionally and physically, and her life consisted of poverty, loneliness and drudgery. When she could stand it no longer, Rachel changed her name to Ruth and she left her father, mother and sister to start a new life. Ruth cut herself off from her entire heritage and embraced Christianity. She was also married twice (to Black men) and she had twelve children. McBride does not wallow in sentiment, and his book is all the more touching because of its humor and realism. He describes his family life, warts and all. McBride admits that, as a young man, he robbed people and experimented with drugs. Gradually, McBride found his path in life, and he also learned the surprising history of his mother's life, which she had taken great pains to hide. McBride's voyage of self-discovery parallels his discovery of how Rachel Shilsky became Ruth McBride Jordan, church founder and mother of twelve mixed-race children. "The Color of Water" is beautifully written, understated, and eloquent. You will not easily forget it.

There are two strong aspects of James Lee Burke's series about Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux that make them unique and memorable: the lush description that absolutely puts the reader in the locale and the recurrance of 'mystic' elements - images in dreams etc - that give the plots a mythic, larger than life, stature. In this book, I think, both elements are overplayed just a bit too much. One longs for more story and less atmosphere, and the materialization of Confederate 'ghosts' that impinge on the outcome of the plot strains credulity severly.

I enjoy this series, even when it is over the top as is sometimes the case. There is nothing else quite like it in contemporary crime fiction. But every now and then I wish that Burke would reign himself in. He seems to get seduced by his own words and carried away to a place that the reader cannot always follow. Of course, when he is on the mark, no one can touch him for description and atmosphere. In the case of this book, I just wanted more story - and more flesh and blood.

James Lee Burke's creation, Dave Robicheaux, is a perfect Everyman. He struggles with demons - his own, and those of others. He is an excellently flawed man, a man of great strengths, towering weaknesses, and deep melancholy: his humanity bleeds from evgery page.

In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead gives us a better, and deeper, insight into Burke's Everyman. The story purports to be a mystery / thriller, and is designated as such by Amazon. It is, of course, much more, and much less, than that. The mystery is satisfying, of course. Mr. Burke doesn't know how to write a bad mystery. But it's a side-bar to what the book really is: a series of character studies. There's Robicheaux, of course. The story is told in the first person, so the reader is swept into his psyche from the first page. There's Bootsie and Alafair, the people closest to Robicheaux - and the people he often feels are the furthest from him. There's Clete Purcell, his psychotic, sweaty, shambling drunken hulk of a partner. There are the figures from his past, who return to haunt him. And there is, of course, the ghost of the Confederate General with whome Robicheaux confers, and exposes not only himself, but the entire landscape of characters.

Speaking of which - the Louisiana landscape is as much a character as any of the others. The dust, the heat, the colours, the odours, the taste of the land play as large a part as any human in the book.

Mr Burke has been writing the best prose in popular American fiction for the past ten years, if not longer. He has always been a superb writer, making every word perform well above its potential. And in this book, In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead, he has written one of his finest works.

I don't know anyone who tops James Lee Burke for excellence in crime fiction; his characters, their development from book to book, the relationships, the dialogue, the humor, the setting, the language - as far as I am concerned, he is absolutely at the top of his class. And this book is exquisite - it just doesn't get better than this. I am constantly recommending this series to friends and total strangers who enjoy mystery fiction - or who just enjoy any fiction at all! Dave Robicheaux never disappoints...