Margaret Truman has entertained us for years with her homicidal tour of Washington landmarks. The current stop at Ford's Theater is no exception. Nadia, a young, sexy, female intern to powerful Senator Lerner is found dead in the alley outside of Ford's Theater, where she sometimes volunteered. The media had previously alleged sexual activity between her and the senator. Clarise, the director of the operating arm of the theater is the senator's ex-wife, currently preparing for confirmation hearings on her appointment to head the National Endowment for the Arts. Their son may be the last person to have seen the intern alive. While there are other suspects, the police narrow in on the son, and Clarise calls on friend Mackensie Smith to help out. Smith, and his wife Annabel, are the usual principles in Truman's Washington tours, but this time we have new characters in the leading roles. D.C. police Rick Klayman, the young white detective and his veteran partner Mo Johnson carry the investigation and much of the story line to its not unexpected but still satisfying conclusion. Along the way we learn quite a bit about Lincoln, the theater, the assasination, Booth, and others. There is even a has-been British Shakespearean actor, and admirer of Booth, who attempts to recreate that worthy's most famous role. All in all, Truman has given us another enjoyable and educational stop on her continuing tour.

In her latest novel, Margaret Truman stages "Murder at Ford's Theatre" with a cast drawn from recent headlines and past novels in her Capital Crime Series. The murder of Senate intern Nadia Zarinski, romantically linked to her boss, outside the historic theatre now run by the senator's ex-wife and Hollywood producer, Clarisse Emerson, who is preparing for her confirmation hearing as the next chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts sets off a media frenzy all too familar in the nation's capital. The case is so sensational that Truman's favorite Washington couple, George Washington University law professor Mackensie Smith and his wife Annabelle, are compelled to play leading roles once again. Supporting cast members and Lincoln buffs, detectives Klayman and Johnson, representing the Metropolitan Police Department, and Sydney Bancroft, aging British thespian and Ford Theatre artistic director, add colorful moments to this fast paced drama.

It is impossible for me to criticise Truman's work. Her attention to detail especially about local landmarks and legends in Washington, DC provides the reader with a sense of place that locals recognize and visitors remember. I don't doubt that Truman strolled the cafes and galleries of Dupont Circle sipping latte at Kramerbooks & Afterwoods researching the details about historic Ford's Theatre that she got correct right down to the spelling.

Above all, "Murder at Ford's Theatre" is first rate suspense. Whether you live inside the infamous beltway or not, add this book to your list right away.

Nadia Zarinski, intern to Senator Lerner, is found dead in the alley out back of Ford's Theatre in DC. She volunteered time at the Theatre now and then. She was found by Johnny Wales, a stage hand at the theatre. The only eyewitness to her murder is John Partridge. He is an alcoholic and thinks he is a CIA agent. He was sleeping it off in the alley.

Detectives Rick Klayman and Mo Johnson are investigating this death. There are rumors that Nadia and Senator Lerner were involved. The Senator's ex-wife, Clarise, is the head of Ford's Theatre and was unaware that Nadia was volunteering time at the theatre. Clarise is also to be confirmed as the head of the National Endowment of Arts within the week.

The Senator and Clarise's son Jeremiah becomes a suspect in the murder when a previous boyfriend of hers mentions that Jeremiah dated Nadia. That information is confirmed by another source.

Mac Smith is now a professor of law. He is teaching a special class on Lincoln the lawyer. He was a criminal lawyer until a drunk driver hit and killed his first wife and only son. He is remarried to Annabel who was a divorce lawyer and now owns and operates a Columbia art gallery. Mac is asked by Clarise to assist Jeremiah when he is arrested. Mac and his former law partner Yale Becker represent Jeremiah.

Detective Klayman wonders if they haven't been hasty in arresting Jeremiah. He's not convinced that all the other suspects were sufficiently interrogated.

Mac and Annabel are surprised by the Senator's and Clarise's detachment from Jeremiah through this ordeal.

Detective Klayman is very interested in President Lincoln and attends Mac's class. They are careful to not discuss this case, just Lincoln.

I am very happy that Margaret Truman has returned to her Capital Crimes series. I like Mac and Annabel and always enjoy seeing Mac get involved in a murder investigation. They feel like very down-to-earth people to me. Like your neighbor next door.

The Senator in this book was very well written. He was very detached and always too busy to deal with the daily problems.

All of the peripheral characters were well constructed as well. In the end of the book, I found myself flip-flopping from thinking one person did it to another. I wasn't able to easily pick out the killer. A sign of a good mystery!

I highly recommend this book and all the books in this series. The fact that I know the DC/VA area that was discussed always makes it more interesting.

If there is a series of books out there that will make you feel like you are actually in it, then its the Flight of The Old Dog series. This debuet book for Dale Brown is by far the greatest story I've ever read. It will keep on the edge of your seat the whole time. not one slow section in the book. In the wake of the World Trade Center terrorist attack, it makes me wonder what the Old Dog crew would do. If the were real of course!

This is Brown's debut novel, and to truly "dig" his others, you should read this one first. It's got an action filled, ambitious plot, even if some of the technology seems a little far-fetched. But who knows? Maybe the USAF has something like the Old Dog EB-52 in Area 51. The story kind of lost a bit of the suspense when the endpaper map clearly shows the Old Dog landing in Alaska at the end of the mission, but still you can truly get into the story after maybe a dozen pages or so. Flight of the Old Dog definetly hooked me onto Dale Brown novels. Bravo to Brown

I have read this book a number of times, Dale Brown's technical know-how and imagination kept me on the edge. I was actually sorry that I had finished it. I recommend it to anyone. The characters, the scenarios, the timing, is all spot on. I will keep reading his books as long as he keeps writing them.

The book starts out at such a leisurely pace that one is fooled into thinking that it will be finshed in a few days read, but Feynman soon plunges into the much deeper aspects of computation. Some chapters are material that are covered by others much more extensively (such as theory of computation) but they are often treated in his unique approach, other topics (such as Quantum mechanical computers) are such rare gems that they alone would be worth getting the book for.

This book is not easy, but like his physics lecture, the effort in following his lectures and working out the questions and problems that he poses make this, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful, albeit difficult and terse, books on computation I have come across in a long time. Certainly belongs in the library of anyone who is serious about the theoretical aspects of computation.

This reference is derived from Feynman's lectures at Caltech between 1983-1986 for the course 'Potentialities and Limitations of Computing Machines'. This small volume introduces computers as a file clerk performing his tasks, moves on to show how the 'file clerk' can be built out of simple gates, how the gates can be built out actual transistors, discusses essential issues in computation theory such as computability and Turing machines, and then discusses essential issues in information theory such as data compression. The physics of computing from a thermodynamics context is then considered. If the general reader ignores the gas equations, this chapter is fairly easy to read and enlightening. The next chapter continues with a discussion of quantum mechanical computers. The final chapter discusses how real transistors function at the atomic level and fabrication techniques for real integrated circuits. Lectures given by invited experts on computer science topics such as vision, robots, expert systems, etc, are not included. Although this reference does not discuss alternative architectures for computation, such as the ones found in the brains of animals, this reference is ideal to introduce the motivated general reader to the concept of computation and the techniques used in commercial computers.

George Pelecanos is one of today's best crime writers. I've read all of his novels and I can honestly say that I've never been disappointed. In his latest novel, Soul Circus, Mr. Pelecanos returns us to the Washington D.C. of Derek Strange and Terry Quinn. It's a Washington that most of us don't know about. Drug dealers, gangs, guns and violence abound, but that's not all these neighborhoods are about. Mr. Peleconos takes us deep into our capitols neighborhoods and culture.
If you've been keeping up with Mr. Pelecanos's writing you'll know that, Harriet Klausner pay attention here, this is Derek Strange and Terry Quinn's third appearance and Mr. Pelecanos's 11th novel.
As I said before I've enjoyed every one of his novels but the ending to Soul Circus is a surprise that I wasn't prepared for. It may just signal the end to Derek Strange's stories. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
If you've read Right as Rain and Hell to Pay then pick up this novel as soon as possible. If you haven't'..What are you waiting for?

"Soul Circus" is the darkest and most complicated in the Derek Strange series by George Pelecanos. There are fewer pop culture references as you experience the violence of the inner city.

"Soul Circus" is a western set in the part of D.C. "rarely seen by commuters and generally ignored by the press, out of sight and easily forgotten." PI's Derek Strange and Terry Quinn are lawmen in a lawless society.

Dialogue driven, full of vivid cultural realism, it is an intense story of the urban battlefield...not a whodunit, but rather a haunting crime novel with all the collateral damage and unintended consequences.

In the midst of a looming gang war between rival drug lords, Strange is driven by a complex moral anger, as he feels inadvertently responsible for a murder.

The interconnection of the subplots is profound. Mr. Pelecanos does have an agenda, but he integrates it seamlessly into the story without preaching.

The reality is truly disturbing, but it is skillfully written and a compelling read.

Not for the sqeamish...highly recommended!

With his 11th novel bestselling author George Pelecanos offers another powerful, disturbing and highly readable story set on the mean streets of Washington, D.C. Private investigator Derek Strange with the aid of Terry Quinn again takes center stage as turf battles erupt in violent grabs for territory and money.

Accomplished voice performer Richard Allen adds just the right amounts of menace and bravado to his reading, ably inhabiting the skins of both good and bad guys.

When a D. C. crime boss is captured and imprisoned he seems a shoo-in for the ultimate punishment. Lawyers representing the gang leader hire Strange to help in getting a lighter sentence. A witness is needed to cast doubt on testimony against the drug lord, and that witness might just be an angry former girlfriend. After all, hell hath no fury like a you-know-who.

Meanwhile with the crime boss in jail two young drug dealers are jousting for the apparently up for grabs neighborhood and profits to come. It is, as Pelecanos makes clear, a vicious circle that goes round and round in an amoral neighborhood where fear rules and friendships are forsaken.

Pelecanos writes thinking man's thrillers, as his legions of fans will attest.

- Gail Cooke

George Pelecanos Hell to Pay is an enjoyable read full of quick wit and fast dialogue. Pelecanos focuses on Derek Strange, a private investigator in DC and his partner Terry Quinn. The novel follows several story lines, some of which become intertwined, some of which don't. Reading it reminded me of watching an episode of C.S.I.--addictive, enjoyable, filled with various, disturbing story lines. The characters are very well-done, rounded, believable. All in all, an enjoyable read which I think will appeal to all--not just fans of crime novels.

Washington D.C. private investigator Derek Strange, a 50-something black man who keeps a well-run office in his old neighborhood, but prefers working from the street, and his younger, hot-head, white associate, ex-cop Terry Quinn, team up again (after "Right as Rain") to rescue a 14-year-old suburban white girl from her new life as a prostitute.

It's an old story with a predictable arc, like the tragic act of senseless violence brewing separately from page one. And that inevitability is a central theme in George Pelecanos' warmhearted, gritty, streetwise series. While the music pounds, shouts and wails to fit his (and others') moods, Strange fights the ugly lure of street swagger by coaching a youth-league football team and instilling respect not only for teammates but the opposing team as well. Meanwhile he's wrestling his own demons and endangering his relationship with Janine (also his office manager) by massage parlor sorties.

Though the spotlight stays on Strange, Pelecanos switches viewpoints to include boys trifling with murder; Strange's young office helper, Lamar, a frightened kid trying to stay alive; Quinn, his life saved by the woman he's falling for, and others reflecting the streets that make up Strange's D.C. - pimps, broken drunks, young mothers, prostitutes.

The story, with its throbbing undercurrent of violence and wasted lives, generates plenty of suspense. Quinn ready to meet any insult with his fists, Strange working on a longer, slower, but perhaps more deadly fuse, work both sides of the color divide, mixing it up with dangerous, confident, soulless people, death an inflection away. Strange is an involvingly complex character, wise and impulsive, moral and angry, goodhearted, blunt, smart, sometimes annoyingly opaque. And Pelecanos brings D.C. alive as an edgy place of thriving, striving neighborhoods marred by drugs and easy money, hot cars and dead-eyed kids. A stand-out series.

Working for the Aiding Prostitutes in Peril non-profit organization, Montgomery County sleuths Karen Bagley and Sue Tracey specialize in locating teenage runaways. They hire DC private detective Derek Strange to help them with cases in the District. After proving his worth to his retainers, Derek and his partner Terry Quinn are sent to bring in fourteen-year-old Germantown runaway Jennifer from the cold mean streets of the city.
While Terry works the child prostitution case, Derek has a more personal vendetta to handle. Someone(s) killed the quarterback of the Pee Wee football team that Derek coaches while the kid was at an ice cream stand. At the same time Derek anguishes over the lad's murder, his longtime lover is all over him for his frequent visits to the massage parlor.

No one describes the neighborhoods of Washington DC better than George Pelecanos who take his audience on quite a vivid tour of the other side of Washington. The two subplots are well written and exciting, but the action is the streets of the city, homicide hot even on a wintry night. The characters are believable and make the story line sing while augmenting Mr. Pelecanos tour guide of the nation's capital. Fans of gritty urban investigative tales will want to read HELL TO PAY and its predecessor RIGHT AS RAIN because these are some of the best the sub-genre offer.

Harriet Klausner

Reel Art is like looking at a carpet sampling booklet. The paperback edition that is. Apart from a few none specific notes given a the front of the booklet the information on offer is very limited. Page after page of vintage posters with no text to accompany them makes this flick book an annoying "read". If all you require is visual this is an excellent choice. However, if you thought this book would actually tell you anything about the posters published, think again.

Hope you find this helpful. JG

...This is a groundbreaking book, the first (and only one since!) that truly unearths the story of how movie posters were created, who drew them, why each studio had a certain 'look' to their posters and what impact they had on the popular culture. The text is wise, witty, thoroughly enjoyable while it imparts vast amounts of fresh and fascinating information. And as for the images, they are magnificently chosen and reproduced, each one of them accompanied by intriguing and smart observations on the films themselves, their making and their role in Hollywood history. This is an ambitious undertaking, yet it's an ideal book to get lost in during a lazy weekend. Hard to put down, beautifully done and crying out for a sequel. A classic!

This is a must have book, even if you aren't "into movies". It is a sheer visual delight and a worthy addition to any library. Those with an interest in the graphic arts should definately acquire it. Arranged in a thoughtful manner, the glorious artwork is accompanied by intelligent text that is never dry and always informative.

I enjoyed reading this book as a layperson, not having gone to medical school. I have a number of minor skin problems and this book allowed me to differentiate the insignificant ones from the ones I need to pay attention to. I think that this book should be in every household, because a person or parent should know what skin affliction(s) they have and how serious they are before they rush off to the doctor. One thing that should have been elaborated on more is the sub-section on The Nails as Clues to Multiorgan Disease. There are only a few pages of examples of this, yet there are dozens of correlations between abnormal fingernails and systemic disease. The book only gives blantant and graphic examples of serious nail problems and then gives the possible associated underlying disease. It should be expanded to include more "soft sign" nail problems to help doctors make educated guesses about what tests to run.

I am a Certified Physician Assistant in family practice. I have used this book both as a student and as a professional and have found this to be an invaluable resource. The pictures are excellent, and more importantly, the discription and synopsis of each clinical situation is precise and reader friendly. I highly recommend this book.

This is the best quick reference dermatology book available. It is concise and well organized. The pictures are excellent. There are great explanations, differential diagnosis, and treatments. This is an absolute necessity in every resident/medical student library.

I was very disappointed with this book. The narrator was smart but yet so stupid. It was easy for him to see that Nicole had this love for Ayanna but he could not see that this was not a healthy relationship. Nicole needed counseling. She couldn't even accept the fact that she was gay. Everything the subject came up she blamed on Paris. And the scene with the mother... GIVE ME A BREAK and some reality. I didn't have a problem with the sex scene (I have seen and read worst), I did have a problem with the fact that Nicole had this power over two people and I can't see why. In my eyes, she was waek. She was so eager to explore this other side but she couldn't handle all that went with it.

This book was poor and a waste of my time and money. I finished in a day and a half. I have to admit that I couldn't wait to get to the end. I hate to start a book and not finish it and I wanted to end this madness.

Maybe in the next book, we will find the EJD that wrote "Cheaters".

Between Lovers is the story of one man and two women who agree to an unusual love triangle. A man and woman openly and willingly divvy up the lips, bed, mind, and soul of another woman and they believe that this arrangement is doable, acceptable, and something that they're willing to endure because of their love for that one woman and her love for them. The center of this emotionally fascinating, yet disturbing relationship is Nicole, a woman who loves deep, loves hard, and if she has things her way, the two people to whom she wants to give all her love are a nameless male writer from Los Angeles, and an aggressive woman named Ayanna. The man is actually Nicole's former fiancé and Ayanna is the individual whose existence caused Nicole to change her mind about marrying him.

I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. For one, the story was written from one person's point-of-view, which is a different read for me from Eric Dickey. However, the writing wa!s detailed and thorough enough so that you're given a complete picture regarding the characters: the writer, Nicole, Ayanna, and especially Nicole's deeply religious mother, and the writer's father, a civil rights activist.

I also really liked the fact that the main characters have living parents. Sometimes their presence helps the reader to understand the main characters a little better. The novel is structurally sound: no noticeable gaps, great intensity, everything was done very well. I enjoyed the setting (Oakland) and the vivid writing makes you feel as if you're walking alongside the characters.

One other thing I was happy about is the word orchestration/combination of long and short sentences (as opposed to a lot of short sentences). To me this gives the novel more of a lyrical or poetic feel and I loved that aspect.

I truly believe the readers will enjoy Between Lovers once they settle down and begin to read...it is the type of story that takes you! to another place and that's what novels are supposed to do.

On the constructive side: the writer might want to watch those spellings of celebrity names...(Atlantic Starr). Sometimes those misspelled words stand out like a cop car sitting in front of your house. :)

In summary, I love that Eric's writing is evolving & going to an even higher level, and Between Lovers is wonderful evidence of that growth.

Between Lovers is fresh look on a classic love triangle. It is the story of a man trying to outgrow his unhealthy relationship with his ex-fiance who left him at the alter seven years ago, for another woman. This story is less about the triangle but one man's journey to move on. This is a must read for anyone who has ever had a broken heart. Many people maybe turned off by the lesbian story line. However, because "the other man" is a woman, he cannot fight for her in a traditional sense. This forces the character face his feelings on an emotional and spiritual level.
Mr. Dickey makes a deviation from his usual multiple person view point and only allows the males character to tell the story. At times I missed the female point of veiw, but at it's heart this story isn't about them but his journey to heal and forgive.
This book is a must read for anyone who's ever had a broken heart, and for any woman who has ever wondered about how men deal with a break-up.

This is an engrossing, compelling book, full of great inssights, and painted against a credible, dark, and wonderfully ominous future landscape. In reading other reviews, I am surprised by the level of criticism, even though much of it is on point. Yes, the race element is at times a little heavy handed, in the last story in especially. Yes, there are places where the story line could be tightened, or is a little predictable--but not often, and not much. But these problems are minor compared to the thrill of exploring a fascinating future world, populated by fresh, fascinating, characters. This is WOW science fiction, like we rarely get. Perhaps the criticisms are a functin of how much Mosley achieved. He's a stone's throw from having created a truely GREAT Science Fiction book, in the Asimov, Heinlien, Clark pantheon. And ok, it is NOT at that level. But at times it comes really close. If you like SciFi, read it. You'll be glad you did.

Nine Stories of an Imminent World is about life in America a generation from now which isn't that different except the drugs are better & the daily grind is worse; justice is now delivered by automated courts & the Supreme Court has decreed that constitutional rights don't apply to anyone who challenges the system.

If your mind is not open when you start Futureland, Walter Mosley will use the crowbar of his words to pry the lid off before he's done with you. He makes you think & he makes you step beyond the stereotypes & look at where they came from.

This near-future science fiction thriller held me firmly in its grasp from the fly leaf to the last page. Every chapter is an individual story yet when all is read & done - it is very well done!

In the not-too-distant future, major corporations have taken over the functions of the state and most workers have been reduced to a perpetual treadmill between subsistence work and a barely livable unemployment. For criminals and anyone who opposes the omnipresent corporate state, punishment is swift, certain, and enforced with dispassionate unconcern for rights or human dignity.

Author Walter Mosley's nine inter-related stories tell of this near-future and, especially, of the position of blacks in a supposedly racially integrated world. While occasional anarchistic resistance can slow the forces of capitalism run beyond any rules (and FUTURELAND is filled with stories of this resistance), the overall tendency of history cannot be stopped.

Although FUTURELAND was written before the events of 9/11, the encroachments on liberties that Mosley forecast in these stories appear far less paranoid and far more near at hand than they could have to the average reader when Mosley wrote them. Readers do not have to agree with Mosley's dark message, nor share his fears about neo-Nazis ready to cleanse the world of non-white blood, to see the frightening possibilities that Mosley shares.

In the initial story in this series, Whispers in the Dark, Mosley adopts a dialect-heavy style that makes reading difficult. Stick with FUTURELAND. The payoff is worth the effort and Mosley's later stories are far more approachable, from an ease of reading perspective, if even darker from their take on the world.

To read Running From the Law is to enter the reality of a driven woman lawyer. Although exciting, fast-paced, and fun to read--taking only a few hours--the main character, Rita Morrone, comes perilously close to caricature. The plot is one of crime and mystery, and the surprise "who done it?" is elegantly structured. There is no lawyer like Rita who would represent her lover's father, a federal judge, on a murder charge, especially after finding out how her (ex) lover figured into the plot

The book is totally unrealistic but it does not matter. It's a fun read that never bores. I have read one other book by Scottoline and find her to be an author that keeps the fun coming. I am not giving it a five star review because there was not enough of Rita in court, the only flaw with the book. Take it on an airplane with you and you will finish before the flight is over.

I thought Rita was a neat person and I really liked her"poker pals". They added a lot to the plot. I also liked the comments she made in her mind before she spoke something different. This is the first book of Lisa Scottoline's that I've read and need to fine more.