If the axiom ‘Write what you know’ is at all true, then James Lee Burke must have some truly frightening skeletons in his closet. It isn’t so much the subject matter, as it is the passion and intensity with which he pours the narrative onto the page. Burke’s characters live and breathe corruption, and ignorance, and violence, in a manner most of us would scarcely think possible. But he draws us in, into a world so vividly sketched that part of our being yearns to visit it again and again.

A SHINING WHITE RADIANCE is vintage Burke, another steamy and scintillating exploration of crime and corruption in New Orleans. His familiar hero, world-weary police detective Dave Robicheaux, is unwillingly enveloped in the twisted lives of the Sonniers, a local family with a history so unnerving that it’s a wonder any of them got out alive. Following the brutal slaying of a police officer in Weldon Sonnier’s home, Robicheaux is swiftly sped along a road of clues and red herrings, stopping at various points to involve late-night tele-evangelists, local crime bosses, past loves, Air America, drugs, and the AB (Aryan Brotherhood).

Burke has so far (as far as my readings of the Robicheaux novels are concerned) avoided the pitfalls that can trap the author of an ongoing series. The temptation must be great to simply graft a plot around the characters, and let it all just slide by. Burke takes the effort needed to not insult his readership, never content to let the characters simply act as they have in the past. Burke comes up with new ways to reintroduce us to the characters, allowing for new developments that expand what we thought we new about his universe. Robicheaux’s past experiences in Vietnam are brought in as integral elements of the story, not simply ‘character filler’. His deep self-loathing for past mistakes, his never-ceasing battle with personal demons (both internal and external), and his ceaselessly evolving relationship with his wife Bootsie, adopted child Alafair, close friend Batist, and even closer friend Clete Purcel, keep the tale rooted in reality.

Burke can also compose one fine episode of menace after another. Just watch Robicheaux’s prison-cell conversation with Joey Gouza. Burke teases the reader, never showing his hand too early, and climaxes the scene with a harrowing interlude of incipient violence. The vignette is all the more striking for its lack of outward activity. The suspense is completely internalized, and mesmerizing. Only afterwards to you realize that you’ve been holding your breath.

Burke can also pen descriptive and atmospheric language with the best of them. His characters all speak with the accent of local patois, adding to the laid-back (but not lazy) environment of Burke’s New Orleans. His finesse with the undercurrent of racism permeates every moment, and his depictions of the backwoods swamps and seedy taverns are vivid. Maybe this New Orleans doesn’t exist in real life, but it feels like it does.

Does it all wrap up satisfyingly? No. After all the set-up, the promising situations, and the pacing that is both leisurely and break-neck, the ultimate denouement is somewhat lacking. But in context, perhaps it’s the only ending that would fit. As Robicheaux himself comes to understand, not everything in life is fair, and not everyone gets what they deserve. Evil will continue, but so will good. How we react to it, deal with it, is what defines us. If we’re still standing at the end of the day, then we’ve won.

Burke's descriptions are so vivid and well written. And some excerpts really are like poetry. His characters are real. You care about them. This is the fourth I've read in the Dave Robicheaux series. I think they are all very good. This one is great.

This is the fifth Robicheaux book I have read. I think this one was the best so far. It had lots of action, a good mystery going on. Dave is great as usual. I really like Cletus and his loyalty to Dave. I like the language that Burke weaves into the book. Batist is also a very good character. Burke lets you feel the pain and hurt Robicheaux has for himself and his love for Bootsie and Alafair. You can nearly feel the heat lighting and the dust from the roads. Many good characters, much suspense, a good ending. If you like Burke you will like this book, if you have not read him before I think you he will become one of you favoite authors.

This book of Billy Elliot is the complete script of the movie. The script itself is fantastic but this book is very thin: the book has more or less 120 pages so as you may imagine you can read it all on one day...

Curiously, this version of Billy Elliot (a novelization written by Melvin Burgess) was obviously written to appeal to young adult readers of about jr. high/high school age, who, strangely enough, would not likely be old enough to go see or even really interested in a film such as Billy Elliot in the first place. This novelization unfortunately washes away the directness and vividness so apparent in the written screenplay. The descriptions interspersed within the dialogue take much of the original starkness of the play and movie away, leaving Billy to seem rather flat emotionally. The strife and hardship of Billy's struggle to attain his goals in light of his difficult family situation is largely defused. Lee Hall's excellent screenplay is FAR superior!! Pick that up and by-pass Melvin Burgess's attempt.

It is just brilliant although it isn't very long you just have keep reading you cannot put it down it is just brilliant!

This guy just flat out writes well. This is the third book of his that I've read, and although it's not his absolute best, it's still a very good read. The book is actually deserving of 3 1/2 stars.

style is dense, yet compelling. narrator spends half the time on introspection, slowing the pace to explain his thinking. the one-upmanship in legal strategies becomes as tedious as reading commentary on a sports event. the main character's ruminations come off more like polonius than hamlet. still, worthwhile reading.

About 75% of this novel takes place in the courtroom. If you love well done trial scenes this is the book for you. The technical aspects of the trials seemed quite complex at times, but were always interesting. I was amazed that the author, who doesn't seem to have a law degree, was able to write so convincingly about the legal world. The author even varied from the usual protagonist stereotype of "tall, dark and handsome." His hero prosecutor, is short, dumpy and not handsome at all. The first thing I did after reading the book is to come to this website and order all the other Gruenfeld novels.

Benjamin Franklin and his young apprentice (illegitimate son) are off on another adventure in 18th c London -- this time during the Christmas season in "Benjamin Franklin and a Case of Christmas Murder." I enjoyed the mystery on several levels. First, it's an old-fashioned mystery with enough clues given for readers to try to guess the outcome. Second, the holiday traditions of stirring the pudding, decorating with greenery and Morris dancers, add an additional colorful element. And third, there are numerous references to actual people and concerns of Franklin's years in England.

I bought this book at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and I came to amazon.com to buy more books in the series. "Benjamin Franklin Takes the Case" is the first in a series of historical mysteries featuring -- surprise! -- Benjamin Franklin. His side-kick is Nicolas Handy, a young boy-of-work who Franklin rescues from a truly sinister situation in a London printshop. When Franklin arrives at the shop of Eben Inch, Printer, he discovers that the proprietor has been murdered. It turns out that Mr. Inch was the only person in the household who offered young Nick any kindness. Everyone else -- Dora Inch, her daughter Tilda, the apprentice Buck Duffin -- treated him horribly, so Mr. Franklin rescues him. Together, they set out to solve the mystery of Mr. Inch's murder.

I really enjoyed this book. It is extremely well-written, with interesting characters and a plausible mystery. It reminded me a lot of the Bruce Alexander series that features Sir John Fielding. In fact, Fielding is a character in "Benjamin Franklin Takes the Case." I'm anxious to read the next book in the series.

Halls cookbook is wonderfully laid out. The pictures are sharp and detailed and the instructions are clear. However, I only gave four stars because when, as a Master chef, I sent one of my trainees to get the required ingredients for the meal, she came back crying stating that the Supermarket assistant laughed when she asked which aisle Elvis was in. Needless to say, I didn't ask her if she had any joy with my bollocks.

Still, his other book, "Sauces made from semen" was a real winner.

Exit Sherlock Holmes was the first Non-Doyle Sherlock Holmes book I ever read, so I naturally have fond memories of it. However, reading it again I was surprised at how well it held up after all those years.
The villain is Moriarty, but not the Moriarty you'd expect. Watson points out that the only other time he saw the Professor was on the back of a speeding train and he didn't get a good look at him. That becomes very important in this novel.
I could tell you more but it would give away major plot points. Let me say that this book is more relevant today than it was in the seventies, when it was written. Mister Hall did a great job using Watson's "voice" and Doctor Doyles style of writing, something missing from many Holmes stories of late.
Return to 1895, where people are not what they've seemed to be and others are not who they've claimed to be. You'll be glad you did!

The book is divided into two major sections.

The first section's greatest contribution is its perspective on individual Old English words. If you are intrigued by kennings, then there are two or three interesting chapters in this book which seem to offer a novel treatment of the subject. This work has a comprehensive bibliography and seems solidly based in text.

The Christian context, in structure, language, character, etc. is the overarching theme of the second half of the book, which is divided into chapter length essays. This section would be most useful to someone investigating the pagan/Christian juxtaposition in Beowulf. At times I disagreed with various points/premises, but the overall argument was compelling.

While the idea behind the Friends of Ed series is admirable and useful - that is, to cover the broad and expansive areas of Flash development that are not so well documented elsewhere - the books so far have been spoiled by the inconsistent quality of their ActionScript.

Too often, I get the feeling that authors that have been invited to contribute have simply re-worked a pre-existing project - and this all too often includes (the usual) hacks and workarounds which all of us use when faced with deadlines. Bits and pieces of Flash4 ActionScript creep in every now and again - and occassionally the authors seem to be entirely unaware of new methods introduced in Flash5 that make their workarounds obsolete (the onClipEvent for loaded data is one example - see Chapt 9 of this book to learn how to do it the *old* way).

Furthermore, the tutorials often lack focus - as though the editors can't decide where to pitch the level of instruction: so that some hard-core ActionScript is often mixed-in with superfluous detail about how to build the interface for the tutorial example.

Anyway, my advice if you really want to *learn* ActionScript for yourself - and also avoid the mistakes, hacks and workarounds that plague the Friends of Ed books - put Phillip Kerman's excellent "ActionScripting in Flash" together with Colin Moock's "ActionScript: The Definitive Guide" on your desk - you'll never look back.

If you are a newbie,......their are other alternatives that will get your feet wet, but if you are a practicing Flash developer and have a firm understanding of ActionScript...this book will inspire you to build real dynamic Flash apps. It touches on Flash Javascript methods, Flash and textfiles and goes into server side middleware solutions like, CGI,Perl and PHP. It also introduces you to database integration. This book gives you real world solutions, which maybe a bit elementary, but overall it lays the foundation for you. I found this book to be inspiring and to be the book which pushed me to learn CGI,PERL,PHP and MySQL. If your looking to build real dynamic/interactive Flash applications or websites this is the book.

I've bought numerous books on Flash and the Dynamic Scripting that can be intermingled with Flash.... Flash 5 ActionScript F/X and Design, Flash 4 Creative Web Animation, and different Wrox books on ASP, ASP databases, and ADO. This book ties ALL of them together. It explains motion scripting for beginners, and then it shows how to import variables from ASP, PHP, Perl, and Cold Fusion. These 1000+ pages contain EVERYTHING you want to know about Flash, it it with out a doubt, THE BEST FLASH BOOK EVER CREATED!!!! It even branches out Flash to other programs like Dreamweaver UltraDev and Generator, it explains how to display information from databases using Flash Turbine. If you read this book, you will be a master at Flash.

I have read all of Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels, and, up until the last two (including this one), have thought they were exceptionally well-conceived and well-written. Burke does bring an almost tangible immediacy to the scenes he describes, and in places his prose still has the evocative ability to almost make the reader see, taste and smell the scenery. But I really felt cheated at the end of Sunset Limited. The characters, including Robicheaux himself and his wife and daughter, were poorly drawn, I thought. There was just too much action and running around without the author having made the characters seem real. I really didn't much care, by the end of the book, what the outcome was going to be (though it was not that hard to anticipate most of it). It makes me sad to see this writer getting formulaic and losing what had made me enjoy every page of his earlier works and look forward eagerly to his next novel. I think, like another commentator, that I'll be taking a vacation from Burke in hopes that he'll regain the depth and gift for character development that once distinguished his writing.

As a die-hard Burke/Robicheaux fan, I ordered this work pre-publication, and waited anxiously for it to be delivered. I am glad I didn't hold my breath, as the result isn't worth the risk.

By far one of the darkest Robicheaux novels, Sunset Limited is simply...incomplete. Although "outside" characters are well drawn, to an extent, some of their motivations are, to say the very least, elusive. Robicheaux's relationship with both Bootise, his wife, and Alafair, is virtually non-existent, whereas in previous Robicheaux novels, it has served as Dave's "center;" his grounding area. While not every work I read has to have a "happy ending," this one is not only not happy, but somewhat meaningless, and aimless. It is as if Burke has also lost direction, or no longer knows what to do with his creations. In fact, other than the evocative descriptions of atmosphere, none of the characters evoke sympathy, liking, or, better yet, active dislike. Burke so utterly fails to engage the reader that no strong emotions (other than exasperation at having wasted money on a hardcover version of the book) are created.

In summary, if you absolutely must, then buy Sunset Limited. However, for those of you who can wait, purchase the paperback. This book is definitely not worth purchasing in hardcover. I hope Burke regains his stride with his next work.

'Sunset Limited' is pretty good - not great, but pretty good. Burke has moved even further than his previous novels into the realm of atmosphere and psychological context, sacrificing narrative coherence along the way (whether this is a worthwhile exchange depends on your point of view).

This is the sixteenth book centering on Burke's increasingly battered hero, Dave Robicheaux; he is still haunted by old demons, although generally he seems to have found a way to live with most of them. His sometime-friend, Clete Purcel, is still half-heroic, half-pathetic.

The plot centres around a series of decades-old crimes, particularly the grisly murder of a union activist. This leads the book into a series of narrative strands, but sometimes Burke seems to be straining to connect them: there are more than a few unlikely coincidences, and some incidents seem to go nowhere. It is characteristic of the book that the initial reason for Robicheaux's involvement - to locate and perhaps clear a petty crim called Cool Breeze Broussard (Burke has not lost his talent for wonderfully appropriate names) - fades away at the book's half-way point.

But there are villains aplenty: in fact, there are few sympathetic characters here. Some of the bad guys are rich and clever, some are poor and stupid, and some of the worst carry a badge. You can't trust anyone these days, and justice prevails only occasionally.

All this darkness of spirit would be somewhat suffocating, except that Burke has a knack of inserting passages of striking beauty. He has a remarkable feel for the social and physical texture of Louisiana, and a grasp of detail which is almost Chandleresque. Neither has he lost his ear for dialogue: each character has a noticeably different way of speaking, or even of being silent.

'Sunset Limited' - the title is symbolic of a journey into a painful past - is not as good as Burke's 'Black Cherry Blues', 'The Lost Get-Back Boogie' or even 'Heaven's Prisoners', but most readers will find the journey worth the pri! ce of the ticket.