Wow! NOWHERE TO HIDE by Joan Hall Hovey held this reviewer riveted from the prologue to the hair-raising conclusion. A mesmerizing walk with evil, NOWHERE TO HIDE moves with grace, introducing motive, characters, and background information in a smooth fluid narrative seldom matched.

Willing to break all the rules, Ellen is ruthlessly determined to find her sister's murderer. Bonded by their survival of alcoholic and abusive parents, Ellen was remarkably close to her kid sister Gail. When their parents died in a car crash, Ellen had become like a mother to Gail. So when Gail's body is found, raped, beaten and strangled, Ellen will sacrifice her career and very life to find her sister's killer.

Evil is watching, even as it watched many years ago from its hidden place. Power courses in his veins when he takes a life, and he's thrilled to have an opponent as interesting as Ellen. Using her position as a psychologist, Ellen persuades a news station to give her a live interview. Breaking all the rules, Ellen challenges the murder to come after her, 'Why don't you come after me? I'll be waiting for you.'

Unable to resist, the evil serial killer takes the bait, leaving the following note on her windshield: 'YOU'RE IT.'

Hovey writes with a crispness that quickly becomes addictive, sweeping the reader into an engrossing narrative. With the subtle voice of a master, she reveals the weaknesses and strengths of her characters, making the reader a part of the suspense, and also making the reader care very much about the outcome. This reviewer heartily recommends NOWHERE TO HIDE.

Reviewed by Cindy Penn...

Also recommended: Listen To the Shadows also by Joan Hall Hovey

This one is more wordy, a description of what goes on at the Massachusetts General Hospital Pain Reduction Clinic, where Kabat-Zinn uses a combination of (physical) yoga, mindfulness meditation, and something called the "full body scan" (lying down and concentrating on different parts of the body at a time) to help people with serious, stress-related illnesses such as heart disease, back pain, migraines and cancer.

There are instructions on how to do the above; statistical information on how well this program works; descriptions of the types of illnesses they deal with; lots of case studies of typical patients; and some general conclusions that the very insightful Kabat-Zinn has drawn from his work. I hate pop psychology but that's not what's delivered here - these are very real insights, not facile at all, on the damaging stresses of modern life and concrete advice on how to cope with them in such a way as to not get sick.

He says, for instance, that "your pain is not you" - that you can and should separate yourself from the pain, and from the negative feedback voice ("I'm never going to get better," for example) that makes things worse.

They do recommend (as I do, and as I see another reviewer does) that you buy the tapes listed in the back of the book to help you with your program. But you can use the book without them: it just takes more willpower and concentration.

As far as personal testimony is concerned, I haven't had to use this program to help me cope with any serious illnesses, thank goodness. But (like most women in their post-childbearing years) I do have a lot of miscellaneous aches and pains which I do deal with much better using the techniques in this book. I have not yet had time to make the recommended commitment for optimal results (45 minutes per day, 6 days a week) - I just use the techniques (which include, for instance, imagining that you are breathing in and out of the painful part of your body - it's hard to describe, but it works!) when I feel headachy or in pain, and medicine either doesn't help or isn't possible to take because of stomach upset.

What I'm saying is, this book is valuable even if you don't have a serious, chronic illness.

Besides, it really is preferable to use these techniques BEFORE you get sick, rather than after.

And they do give the advantages of regular meditation, too: a sense of deeper understanding of yourself, a sense of wonder, etc. (so hard to describe without sounding silly).

George MacDonald, a Congregational minister turned novelist, who seems nearly forgotten now, was one of the seminal figures in the development of Fantasy. His influence on other Fantasy authors is obvious, he was a childhood favorite of JRR Tolkein, who especially liked this book, and C.S. Lewis named him one of his favorite authors. His own stories draw on many of the themes and characters of classical European fairy tales. But where they were often merely horrific and meaningless, MacDonald adds a layer of Christian allegory. Thus, Irene and Curdie are eventually saved by a thread so slender that you can't even see it, but which leads them back to safety, teaching Curdie that you sometimes have to believe in things that you can't see.

The book would be interesting simply as a touchstone of modern fiction, but it stands up well on its own and will delight adults and children alike.

GRADE: A

There is a boy named Peter Pan. He sprinkles fairy dust in Wendy and her two brothers. Then he shows them how to fly. He takes them to Neverland and shows them to the Lost Boys who live there. Wendy becomes their mother. She makes up rules, like any other mother would do. The boys have to follow these rules. Everything was fine until Captain Hook came with his crew to where the boys and Wendy were. While Wendy and the boys were at the lagoon, where they go every day after dinner, they see a girl named Tiger Lily, princess of her tribe. She was captured by Smee, one of Captain Hook's men. Then Peter saved her. A few days later Wendy and the boys were on their way to Wendy's house when they too were all captured by Captain Hook. Then Peter saves them. Then the lost boys, Wendy and her brothers go home. All except for Peter.

It is mostly about what the people in the book think is right with childhood. The kids in the book think that if you grow up it is bad, but in our case it is actually good.

Peter Pan is a violent book not really made for children under the age of 10 but people 10 and up can read it. It is violent because of the language that is spoken and the idea that killing could be fun. Also, the vocabulary is very difficult for children under 10 to understand. Even if you're older it is difficult to understand.

Overall, it is a good book but watch out for the violent ideas if you are reading it to little children.

It's difficult to know what to say about a book like this... everybody knows the story. But I guess that unless you've read this book (not just seen a movie or read a retelling), you don't really know the character Peter Pan, and without knowing the character, you don't really know the story. So read it.

By the way, if you enjoy this, you probably would also like "Sentimental Tommy" and its sequel "Tommy and Grizel", both by Barrie. There are differences (for one thing they're not fantasy), but there are also compelling similarities. Anybody who found Peter Pan a deep and slightly bittersweet book would be sure to enjoy them.

-Stephen

One of the best books any child, young or old, can read is Barrie's Peter Pan. Although written in the past century, it has something for any generation at any time. Its humorous views at the world from a child's mind left me rolling over the floor, laughing; the exciting storyline kept me busy with reading until the end; and the serious undertone made me think of whether the world wouldn't be a better place if we realised that deep down, however deep, we are in fact all children. So if YOU are a child, which you most certainly are, get yourself a copy and enjoy your ongoing childhood.