EYES OF THE CRICKET is the serpentine (try flow charting the plot) twisted fourth entry of Lew Griffin. As with its three predecessors, this novel is well written and filled with numerous twists and turns. Lew is an extremely lovable chap, whose new philosophy of "I Quit" clashes with his reality. Jim Sallis has written a book that will please most mystery afficiandos, except perhaps those who prefer a linear story line.

Harriet Klausner

After spending more than a dozen years in prison, always looking over his shoulder for the next attack, he finally got out and set up practice as a psychotherapist. When he got tired of the rat race he moved to a small Tennessee town, fully intending to live a solitary life. His isolation doesn't last long before the local sheriff consults with him on a homicide case. Unable to refuse, Turner gets sucked into an investigation where small time politics and a movie fan's desire to meet his idol collides, killing a mentally impaired innocent who wouldn't hurt a grasshopper.

CYPRESS GROVE is really two stories that form a whole tale. In alternating chapters, readers get to see how a small town murder unfolds and why Turner ended up in the town where the homicide occurs. By only using the surname Turner and not revealing the location of the town, James Sallis dehumanizes the man and town so that readers are forced to use their imagination to fill in the blanks. The mystery is well constructed and believable but it is Turner's story that touches the heart of the reader.

Harriet Klausner

I had hesitated to sample this series because -- with no just cause -- I had concerned myself with the possibility that this series may play better on "The WB", and I encourage you not to make my mistake.

Lew Griffin is a fully-fleshed character -- unusually multidimensional in comparison to any other fictional detective I have had the pleasure of knowing. If I were any other author of the genre I would envy Sallis greatly for his ability to make a character feel so real, so likeable, and so constantly interesting -- more so when I stop to consider that objectively, and only in retrospect, the plotting here seems pretty simple -- its best and perhaps primary feature simply being the means by which new facets and depths of Lew's character are revealed.

But PBS? Well, I also don't want to scare you off by virtue of whatever negative opinions you may have about that. If you want a hard-boiled detective, I don't think they come much harder than Lew Griffin. By the end of the second novel in this series (Moth) Lew has bashed, been bashed and gotten smashed with the best of them. And yes, there are women in his life. Interesting women!

... So, check it out and in so doing, encourage Sallis to provide us with many more additions. These are solid gold.

This mystery is not really a mystery at all. Rather, it's the story of thirty years in the life of a hurting, flawed man trying to live a quiet existence in New Orleans. Rather than being epic in its sweep, though, "Fly" is minimalist. Sallis is a poet in addition to being an author and it shows in this book.

I suppose it's understandable that Sallis hasn't enjoyed wider success in the genre--his books certainly don't grab you in the same way that most mysteries do--but it's definitely a shame. Readers who are interested in more than simply solving a mystery will definitely find something to admire in this book.

A neighborhood lunatic is poisoning the local pigeons so Lew appoints himself as the savior of the park denizen. He begins to investigate his style, resulting in a cerebral evaluation of the murders so fowl. He also feels strongly that he must protect his friend's daughter, an apparent victim of a stalker, and re-find his son who has pulled another Houdini vanishing act. While being the self-proclaimed neighborhood amateur sleuth and recovering from a stroke, Lew ultimately, in his meandering style, investigates Lew. This is all in a days work for one who firmly concludes that Murphy is an optimistic idiot.

The sixth and last Griffin tale, GHOST OF A FLEA, is a fabulous ending to one of the weirdest but delightful series of the past decade. The wild but entertaining story line is all over the place, especially when it wanders through Lew's mind leaving those readers who enjoy a classic amateur sleuth needing to go elsewhere. Anyone who has kept up with James Sallis' books will want to read this novel to gain closure. Those who have not read the previous books, will enjoy this strange tale, but will probably be better off perusing the previous novels first. Mr. Sallis' pulls off quite a heptagon with the grand finale answering many questions left from the previous five.

Harriet Klausner

Given that Delany is himself a formidable critic, writing about him in a way that is just as incisive as he writes about both himself and others is a particular challenge. This volume delivers in spades, especially in two essays successfully look in detail at Delany's criticism (by David N. Samuelson and Ken James), and in Kathleen Spenser's essay "Neveryon Deconstructed," which offers a fresh and invigorating approach to Delany's already self-deconstructing "Tales."

Highly recommended for anyoine interested in Delany's criticism or critical embroideries of his work that suggest new ways of perceiving those challenging works.

The biographical research on which Sallis draws very, very heavily and without citation is the discerning and more succinct (209-page) 1997 biography by Edward Margolies and Michel Fabre, _The Several Lives of Chester Himes_. Margolies and Fabre knew Himes in his later years and did serious biographical research on Himes (and other black American expatriates to France, especially Richard Wright, who helped Himes in many ways when he moved to Paris). Sallis adds no discernible research and does not make more sense of Himes than they did, so I would recommend the Margolies and Fabre biography in preference to the Sallis one (and on Himes's writing, Stephen Milliken's 1976 book _Chester Himes_). One may read both biographies and both volumes of Himes' "memoirs" and still wonder "Who was this guy?" and "What made him tick?" (Himes's own answer was "hurt," but the way he deployed the category made it all but meaningless.)

New Orleans resident Lew Griffin awakens from an almost year-long coma caused by a gunshot wounds head. He remembers nothing about the incident, but quickly learns that he had been leaving a club accompanied by an older white woman when he was shot. Lew does not recall the incident, his healing in the past year, let alone the identity of the woman.

Lew needs to know who wanted him dead and why. With the help of his friend Don Walsh, he begins to investigate who the white

woman is, who was the sniper, and why did they target him? While seeking the truth, Lew also searches for a missing writer, who was looking into a white supremacist group.

The fifth Griffin mystery, BLUEBOTTLE, is a fantastic tale that is highlighted by James Sallis literary and exciting prose. Lew tells his story ashe deles into his own past providing insight into his life. The who-done-it is fabulous as expected by the great Mr. Sallis, who deserves reader recognition. This

series is one of the best on the market.

Harriet Klausner