My two boys giggled the whole time I was reading this to them. I referred to each of them as This One and That One, which they thought was very funny. A story about cookies, of course, can get any child's attention any time especially at our house. I enjoyed it because I appreciate a story about a family who shares in a lot of fun, laughter and love. A family that doesn't take life too seriously and can see the humor in things. The fact that it's about a family of cats really appealed to my children. A fun read that will be a part of our bedtime routine often.

I picked this up again on a second-hand book shelf in a local hospital having read it when it first came out. Fourteen years later it hasn't lost any of its appeal. Brilliantly narrated with quick precise action, the James Bond-esqe 'joie de vivre' and panache of Dirk Pitt means he is the modern Indiana Jones. The plot weaves as intricately as ever from the Roman galleys in Tunisia to modern day Mexico without any let up. The formula is the same as ever, the results we already know but it's how Cussler delivers his hero's victory against the odds with his faithful sidekick and NUMA friends that makes these still readable after all this time

Having recently started reading Dirk Pitt and his Numa Gang, I read this book for the first time and it introduced me to Dirk Pitt and his friends at Numa. As I have read this book twice already I have enjoyed every aspect of it especially with a new twist to fans of Indiana Jones and James Bond. Clive Cussler has really caught my attention after reading his novel Treasure which discusses Dirk Pitt and Numa's hunt for the Lost Library of Alexandria. In it Clive Cussler catches all us fans of modern day adventure and action which involves the fight of counter-terrorism with one of the main villains being kinda like the terrorist assasin known as the Jackal.
In the way the James Bond and Indiana Jones brought the thrill of Saturday Movies back Cussler keeps the reader moving and continually wanting to read more of his book. I especially love the way Cussler brings the final showdown of this book in an unexpecting area where people would not find the legendary Library of Alexandria. Cussler even adds the famous James Bond comical wit and finesse in his book between Dirk Pitt and his partner in crime Al Giordino and the other characters within this book. It always make you laugh and smile once the finesse and wit are done throughout the book. At times when the story can be serious in his writing.
Treasure has really opened my enjoyment and interests in Clive
Cussler and his hero Dirk Pitt and Numa gang. To the new reader of this book it will make you enjoy Clive Cussler as one of our best action adventure writers in the 20th and 21st Century. Thanks so much Clive for the enjoyment of reading your hero and his exploits.

as usual my favorite heros Dirk, and Al have taken us around the world and have saved the day. this book was quite the page turner. I could barely put it down ( i did get a sunburn from forgetting to turn over while reading this book):o)

Kudos to Cussler!

This book is terrible. Does Rosemary Wells demand to star on "Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman?" No. However, Jane Seymour decides she can write a children's book. The characters are completely thin, there's really no plot, and the entire book rests on one concept. It's tremendously boring, and not very well-written. Basically, it's a vanity project for someone famous, and a total waste of money.

The title Splat! The Tale of a Colorful Cat will grab anyone's attention. The story's plot and colorful pictures will keep it from beginning to end. The story starts out describing how the father cat is going to spend the day alone taking care of his twin kittens. In the rest of the story, the authors describe the struggles that the father goes through during the day. Some examples: the father cat couldn't get the kittens dressed, made a mess out of the kitchen, and ended up getting covered in paint by the kittens. This book shows kids between 4 and 8 believe that what moms and dads say is always true. Kids also take what parents or adults say literally. Authors Jane Seymour and James Keach show how kids take what parents say literally toward the end of the book, when the father cat tells This One and That One (the twin kittens) to paint him, but not to get any paint on themselves or the floor. The two kittens literally end up painting their dad from head to toe with bright colorful paints. Throughout the whole book, the authors refer to the two kittens with the names This One and That One instead of real names. Seymour came up with the idea of calling the twin kittens This One and That One when she was pregnant with her twins. Seymour and her husband referred to their twins as This One and That One before they were born. This grabs your attention while reading the book, not only because it is odd, but also because This One and That One are in bold print and stand out in the text throughout the whole book. The font isn't the only thing that grabs your attention. The illustrator, Geoffrey Planer, does a great job with using bright and bold colors, which is a great way to keep the attention of children between the ages of 4-8 while they read the story. There are also a lot of pictures on each page that help the reader to better visualize what the story is trying to get across. Overall, the illustrator does a terrific job of keeping a child interested in what might be in the next picture. This story is one that children will love. The story's plot and colorful pictures will keep their interest from beginning to end. Kids will want to hear it over and over again just to get a chance to take a look at the colorful pictures throughout the book. -Lindy Davison

I thought this book was so funny, so did my four year old. It shows how literal children really are. It is such a cute little story about dads and their children. It is a tale of "Cute, but, Clueless." You know how Dads are....they try hard and mean well...but sometimes just don't get it.

My husband thought it was hilarious. I have her other book, and it is cute too.

I read a prior review on here that gave it a poor rating because it lacked a plot and substance...All I have to say to that is... this is a young childrens book! Give me a break. Let them laugh and enjoy.

They'll have the rest of their life to learn Shakespeare ,Dickens, etc.

I've seen Lustbader's books around, never read one until I got handed a copy - I had known Japan and Asia were the mainstays of his books. "Zero" hasn't aged well, written as it was at the tail-end of the fall of communism, 1988. It reads like one of those run-of-the-mill action movies a la Steven Seagal, super-gaijin-turned-samurai with an unnatural understanding of mysterious eastern ways kicking Yakuza butt. Some of the dialogue is pretty bad, especially the conversations between Japanese people. Whenever a Japanese character is surprised they burst out saying "Buddha"! I'm living in Japan now, and though I'm no authority, I've yet to hear anyone say "Buddha" when surprised - usually they say "kuso!" or "chikusho!" your run-of-the-mill expletives! I thought this was funny. Other than that, I thought the sex scenes were really cool - learned some new words for the female anatomy so this book can't be all bad. If you want a fair, cliched exotic Japan read, this might do the trick on a long trip - otherwise, avoid. Read Alex Kerr for the real deal!

Micheal Doss tries to get away from all of the violence but after the death of his father he has to find the killer.

When word got out that "The Twilight Zone" would make its move to radio with Stacy Keach filling in for Rod Serling as
host, the response was generally on the order of, 'Uh,
how can you go from TV back to radio? And why
Twilight Zone to make the regression?' Well, the producers
of the series obviously saw no problem with it...they
pay CBS their fees, get the product on the shelves,
and collect the cash from the sales.

This is, unfortunately, another example of an

over-commercialised, slapdash attempt to revive
and sequelize a classic masterwork....sort of like
taking Shakespeare and cutting out all the middle-English
so everyone on the planet can understand it in "plain"
English. Bad example...and call me a mindless dolt
for using it. But that's exactly what's happening
with these Twilight Zone radio dramas.

The producers hooked Dennis Etchison, an excellent
writer, to expand and water-down the great old stories
of Rod Serling (and yes, the stories of Richard Matheson,
Chuck Beaumont, and other writers are going to be
adapted for radio as well, sans a few segments
that don't work well on radio including Matheson's
near-silent "The Invaders" and Serling's highly visual
"Eye of the Beholder"). Sadly, it is all too apparent
that Etchison knows, deep down, that the work of
the old writers can't be topped. For a show like
"The Twilight Zone", whose domain was almost like
a world parallel to our own, with the entire universe
as its breeding ground,
to take its stories and bring them back to the mundane and the reality-grounded
as radio programs is pointless. These first two sets
really come off as no more than bland recitations of
old stories that fans know inside and out from the
original TV versions.

The actors for the first series of eight dramas
include Jim Caviezel, Lou Diamond Phillips, Tim
Kazurinsky, Jane Seymour, James Keach, Blair Underwood,
Kim Fields, Chris MacDonald, and Ed Begley Jr.
Of these, only Jane Seymour does a credible job
as star of Serling's episode "The Lateness of the Hour"
(which originally starred the late Inger Stevens).
Tim Kazurinsky and Lou Diamond Phillips do earn
their paychecks with fairly humorous performances
in episodes "Mr. Dingle the Strong" (originally
starring Burgess Meredith) and "A Kind of Stopwatch",
respectively. The rest of the actors quite obviously
have no clue as to what they were doing, reciting
all their lines as if read directly from a cue card
(which in fact is probably what they did!)

In the role of ersatz-Rod Serling, the narrator,
Stacy Keach pretty much mails in his performance.
His readings of the intro/closings are but
lacking the gripping sincerity and meaning that
Rod always imparted to each and every narration.

Further hampering the dramas is the inclusion
of sponsor commercials, which pop up several
times. The CD versions are all one continuous
42-minute track with no option of fast-forwarding
through the commercials unless done manually.

In short, this new radio series does not yet offer
anything that the original series didn't. The
days of good ol' radio are gone, never to return.
But there are many more of these dramas still yet to
be released. Collections 3 and 4 have already
been released and do offer some nice sound
effects and a fabulous performance by Morgan
Brittany in episode "The Passersby". So perhaps
there's hope. Brittany is the first actor who
appeared in the TV series, to star in these dramas,
and more celebrities are reportedly going to
appear in future installments. Stay tuned...but
keep the volume on low until the producers come
full circle and prove their worthiness to carry
Rod Serling's gauntlet.

Okay, So I was all geared to be disappointed with this whole package. And, unfortunately, the producers picked the weakest of the four stories to begin the set. The actor in "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" sounds like he just walked out of some ivy league acting school and not like a hardened pioneer who has been wandering through the desert for months on end.

The next story, "The Lateness of the Hour," is ruined by a too-long explanation of the "daughter" being a robot at the end. Does it take that much explanation for today's "dumbed-down" society? I hope not.

But the next two shows blew me out of the water. Lou Diamond Phillips is superb in "A Kind of Stopwatch." His over-the-top performance is one of the greatest I've ever heard in any radio drama. Then "Mr. Dingle, the Strong" followed and it was wonderful, too.

Another plus is the original Twilight Zone soundtrack music which is used and other pains that are taken to maintain the flavor of the original classic TV series. I would suggest buying one collection and seeing if you like it before buying the second.

This is not everyone's cup of tea, but the people who put these dramas together did the best they could and it's well worth a listen.