The infamous Mary Jane Jenkins murder case that caught the attention of avid readers in the debut novella, All About Mary, continues, with her 14 year old daughter, Sapphire, being the catalyst that sets everything in motion in Christopher's latest, Mary's Little Lamb.

This novella opens with the good citizens of Odelot, Ohio hearing some very disturbing news on the radio: the Mayor's teenage daughter, Brook Lincoln, is missing and a woman is killed during an attempted car jacking. Not long after hearing this broadcast, Private Investigator Mick Hart, receives a call and is hired to look into the disappearance of another teen, the infamous Miss Sapphire Jenkins. What begins as two unrelated missing person cases actually turns out to be more related than anyone imagined. While Odelot's entire police force and FBI are working around the clock on the Brook Lincoln case, Mick Hart, a lone PI, is not only getting close to finding out what happened to his client, Sapphire, but he's also getting close to locating Brook and the folks responsible for both girls' abductions. So, will Mick Hart be able to save both of them in time? You'll just have to read this one to find out!

Mary's Little Lamb is a short, fast paced read that is filled with credible characters and a crisp realistic dialogue that will appeal to young adult readers. I admire the author's use of popular headlines news, entertainment media stories and the Internet to make this a relevant story of our time. But, when it comes to being a well crafted mystery novel, this one lacks all the fascinating clues and intricate plot framework which satisfies true mystery buffs' passion for detection. Still, the overall premise of the story is good and shows that Christopher is an apt storyteller!

Odelot, Ohio is in the midst of history when citizens elect John Lincoln as its first African-American mayor. Two missing teens and a murdered woman turn up the heat when one of the missing teens is the mayor's daughter, Brook, and the other is Sapphire, the daughter of infamous, Mary Jane Jenkins. Returning with his memorable characters in "All About Mary," Lawrence Christopher takes readers on a wild chase of who dunnit in his follow up novella, MARY'S LITTLE LAMB.

Like her mother, Sapphire Jenkins, knows how to use what she's got, to get what she wants. 36-25-40 is not her locker combination, but the measurements of this voluptuous pubescent teen. When Sapphire's adoptive father, Perry Rogers, contacts PI Mick Hart to locate the missing teen, Mick discards his reluctance and jumps on the fast track to obtain
the whereabouts of Sapphire Jenkins. Through a maze of lies and deceit Mick forges ahead turning up child pornography, the Internet and a dead body all in a days work. What do two teens from different sides of the track have in common and what is the catalyst that ties them together? Will Mick find Sapphire and Brook before it is too late? The bigger question is who is responsible for the murdered woman and WHY? Mary's Little Lamb (Sapphire) has all of the answers, but its up to PI Mick Hart to find out.

MARY'S LITTLE LAMB is fast-paced...intriguing ..and cunning! A fascinating addition to the Mick Hart series fans have grown accustomed to. Lawrence Christopher weaves romance, abstruseness and current societal issues of child pornography and the Internet with deft and plausibility. Having not been a fan of mystery reads, Lawrence Christopher has quickly opened the door for this reviewer and I look forward to experiencing more by this author. Don't let the title fool you. This Mick Hart cliff-hanger is far from the nursery rhyme of a docile little lamb.

Reviewed by Nicki Lancaster
APOOO BookClub

Lawrence Christopher reintroduces the literary world to Mick Hart with a case that is full of deja vu. Election Day in Odelot brings a great deal of headline news: the election of its first African American mayor, a car jacking and the disappearance of two teenage girls. Mick is called to duty to investigate the whereabouts of MARY'S LITTLE LAMB. This little lamb happens to be the daughter of Mary whose murder Hart solved previously.

Hart's investigation leads him to realize that teenagers (our little lambs) are becoming victims of the wolves of the world because they are growing up too fast. These wolves found on the streets and also on the Internet disguised as adults prey on our little lambs. As he ventures deeper into the investigation for MARY'S LITTLE LAMB, Hart is faced with demons from his past. Are these missing teenagers connected? Will past demons and secrets hinder the search for the missing teenagers?

Christopher has done a masterful job with this Mick Hart mystery. It is a refreshing mystery that captures the reader with witty chapter titles and journal entries. He provides background for the readers to know the history of his characters that are reintroduced from his previous novella, All About Mary, so that one does not need to read it first. I look forward to the next Mick Hart mystery.

Reviewed by Robilyn Heath
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

the pictures are very exotic,it doesn,t tell how to draw women's faces and body motion,the illustration is not good.

Christopher Hart's contributions to the How-To-Draw genre have been excellent. This is the second good book that I bought concerning drawing (I bought it a few years ago when I first renewed my interest in drawing). Though a little on the scattered side (it includes a little on everything!) this book is great for beginners and those artists who want to polish their art with a little bit of added nuance and panache. Check out his How To Draw Comic Book Bad Guys and Gals as well (These books go in tandem). Happy reading!

This book is great! It teaches you how to do many things such as draw facial features, body poses, costumes etc. One thing that I found that it was missing was a chapter about drawing muscles. Each character drawn in the book has muscles but it doesn't actually show you how to draw them. This is a great companion book to Marvels "Draw the Marvel Comics Super Heroes." Heroes and Villains not only gives you in-depth instructions on drawing, but it also gives you tips from the pro's and also tips on how to get a good start in the business. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn new drawing skills as well as refine old ones.

Stick with the How to Draw Manga original series, it's written by people who actually know what they are doing and can offer good advice, not someone who thinks they can draw anime-style because they have seen Akira and Ghost in the Shell.

I admit I've only browsed through this book at a bookstore.. I didn't buy it because I didn't find it to be worth paying for.

The drawings don't look very... how should I put it? Well done? They look like they're done by a beginning artist. They're not what I'd expect as far as traditional anime goes. I'm a fairly good artist myself looking to hone up on my skills. This book wouldn't be that much help to me at all in that respect.

Maybe I just expect more out of a book that's supposed to be teaching you the proper way things should be drawn? :)

I would rename this book, THE ART OF WESTERNIZED ANIME. The colorful illustrations are great, but there isn't much instruction on "How To" achieve the drawings. It's a much better idea-generator book. There has also been some criticism about the "Americanized" anime used in this book. I agree that hard-core Anime fans will notice right away that there is something "wrong" with the drawings, the characteristic anime nose, for example.

Despite the above mentioned, the Pokemon crowd will really enjoy this book. The most obvious reason is that it is in COLOR and is filled with ILLUSTRATIONS. It also has pages of those draw "cute" anime critters. So, while it may not be traditional Anime, the younger crowd is not likely to notice, and may actually prefer the "westernized" look. And the lack of instructions probably works to their advantange as well (don't most kids like to skip to the end of instructions, anyway?)

For serious Anime fans, who are truly interested in learning how to draw Japanese Anime, I recommend taking a look at HOW TO DRAW ANIME & GAME CHARACTERS, VOL.1, by TADASHI OZAWA. This book/series is popular in Japan, and has now been translated into English (by an American publishing Co, so have no fear of "all-your-base-belong-to-us" English!) It has step-by-step instructions and the characters really look authentic. Why? Well, because, it's written/illustrated by an animation director at STUDIO GHIBLI (Oscar-winning SPIRITED AWAY) The book, however, is completely in black & white, and while it is completely suitable for kids, will probably not be as attention-keeping as CHRIS HART'S ANIME MANIA.

Overall, I give this book 4 STARS. The breakdown:
5-STAR rating for kids and people who's range of Anime consists of Afternoon cartoons. Highly Recommended.
3-STAR rating for serious Anime fans. Neutral Recommendation. (It still makes a good "Art of" book, though)

Not really what you would expect...This book would have been so much better if it had viriety, it had fantasy characters in it but its mostly stuff thats well...boring, thats is the only word i can think of for it. The only section that was worth the book was the unicorns, i mean most of the characters are mounster fantasy, they only had one fairy in it and it look like a bug , and only one kind of angel which was, a fat guy with yellow wings, the mermaid look like a 5 year old drew it. its really not worth the buy just go to the libairy and check it out, in a day you will have it read.

I wish this book had had more vampires, devils, and fairies, which is what I was looking for. What was in it was very creative and made me rethink. All Christopher Hart's books seem to be worth their weight in gold and have helped me tremendously, even though he sometimes jumps ahead in his technique without giving the beginner more instruction on how to do that! Anyway, I am delighted with this book; it has things in it I wouldn't have thought of. Still looking for funny vampires, though.

What originally attracted me to this book were the drawings. But this is a great instructional book as well. My kids and I, all beginners, really were able to advance our drawings at a rapid pace. We are big fans of the Christoper Hart How to Draw Series. Any other fan or newcomer to this series will love this book as well.

Just with all of Hart's books this book cover is misleading.You look at the cover and think I'm really going to learn something and you read the book and get disappointed.He only shows the finnished step.He doesn't show the steps on how to get to the finnished step.Instead of describing how he draws it he gives you a history on each car.I'm sorry but telling a person the car history doesn't show them how to draw the car.I'm starting to think that Hart's books aren't very good.

This book makes a great gift. Both young and old artists can learn from and enjoy it.