It really was. The whole idea of Professor X going mad clearly came from Bob Harras, not Lobdell, and if you're editor in cheif at the company you can do anything you want, even if it only succeeds in angering more readers then it actually attracts. Another story like this one, and there won't be a Marvel Universe anymore.

Well this chapter of the Onslaught war sees Spider-Man, the Punisher, and the good Green Goblin trying to save New York city from a fleet of Sentinels which Onslaught has send to control the city. But the heroes are badly choosen for the task here. Spidey can only do so much aganist the Sentinels, the Green Goblin is knocked out of action, and the Punisher has to rescue Shield agents from a downed heli-carrier. It would have been more intresting if Nick Fury and Dr. Strange had led the charge against the sentinels on the Front Line, but they were never used for this story and it's a shame.

I've just a few things to say of this book. Superb. It keeps the pace, but, nevertheless, it asounds me how much suspense you can go through with all that going on. 'WillNate & franklin get out?' or, simply 'How's it all going to end out?' or even 'Won't hate for mutants rise again?'. I consider this to be the best chapter of the 6, although, all are worth reading. In closing, I have to say, The watcher's presence add's a touch of finesse, and Apocolypse's statement brings me to believe that he'll have something up his sleeve, and could pop up anytime (but I have a feeling it will be in Cable between '99-2000).

My father told me that most of the old Sam Spade-type of books were of the same ilk as this one. They're certainly not bad, but they leave something to be desired. "Death" seems to be written with great care and attention as the murder happens and the mystery begins, but then it just ends. It seems to me that the author was given a page limit and once he reached it, he simply "solved" the crime. The criminal isn't necessarily someone we've ever met before, it isn't someone integral to the plot, it doesn't make sense - it just is.

Zubro made me feel cheated. I was teased with an engaging read, only to be left unfulfilled by the outcome. When you read a mystery there should at least be enough clues for the reader to make some viable guesses at who the murderer is: that just isn't the case here.

This is my favorite in the Tom and Scott series. For one thing the picture perfect (think Monette not Monet) couple actually QUARREL. Not just once, but intermittently. There are hints of jealousy, problems with communication--they almost seem human.

For another thing, the action never stops, the pace never flags. True, the gun battle with Mexican drug lords is a bit much, but it's entertaining. Imagination is not Zubro's weak point. He shows plenty of invention in the fifth excursion of his very own Hardy Boys.

But familiar problems weigh down this novel. Tom and Scott still do not have strong, distinct personalities (Adam Niklewicz's cover says it all), and their relationship continues to seem shallow and unreal. Although they frequently have sex they rarely exchange meaningful dialogue or simple gestures of tenderness. In his effort to stress the manly-man aspects of Tom and Scott, Zubro robs them of personality. They have no interesting flaws or weaknesses. They have no distinguishing marks or characteristics. But to be fair, in ECHO OF DEATH Tom and Scott are their most real. They cry, they bleed, they argue--and I don't remember them working out once. I could get to like these guys

I just got back from a month in Mexico. The book was probably quite impressive back in the early 90's. However, many of the hotels and restaurants listed in the book have gotten so much business that they have lost what good attributes they originally had. Also, many of the prices quoted in the book were way off. The book prices were frequently one-half what the concierge or waiter quoted. The peso has not changed enough for a 5 dollar hotel room to become 12 or 15. Perhaps that is the risk one finds with any guidebook.

Museum hours were consistently incorrect, especially for Mondays, weekends and evenings.

This book might keep you out of trouble, but it is not the guide for a budget traveler.

Lonely planet guides are absolutely invaluable for the independant adventurous budget-minded traveler, and LP Mexico is no exception. Included are informative sections on pre-departure info, cultural tips, etc. I travelled extensively throughout Mexico with the 5th edition last year, and it really got me to explore some of the remote places I otherwise wouldn't have found- such as the silver towns of Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Taxco. Plus, out of the way beaches, hard-to-find ruins, centotes, you name it. They're covered. Don't borrow you'r friend's old dog-eared copy of the 3rd of 4th edition. Spend the money on the latest edition, because price info is almost always out of date within months after printing, and an older edition is usually hopelessly out of date. I found myself disregarding their accommodations recommendations, because once a place finds its way into the LP Guide, their visitor traffic usually increases exponentially, the staff gets surly, and prices go up. If you're just going to Cancun, Mazatlan, etc, skip this book, but if you're not afraid to venture out into the 'real mexico', grab it.

I have just returned to Norway after backpacking around in Latin America for a year (of course accompanied by the Lonely Planet book). I do not claim to be an expert, but I do know what I am looking for in a travel guide.

The Mexico guide is a good, complete guide. Filled with information, history and beautiful pictures about almost every corner of this gorgeous country. Reading the whole book gives you a good update on your history and geography knowledge! (Something to do if you are trekking around by bus like I did!)

I have always been satisfied with the LP guides. The information given is good, just what you need to get around. The only negative with this book (and the reason I give it 4 and not 5 stars) is that it was completely outdated on prices etc. Another thing (that goes for most of the travel guides) is that many of the hotels that are listed in the book has gotten so much (too much?) business so that the service is down to a minimum. This we found especially in Isla Mujeres where the price was the double of what the book said, and really lousy customer service, if any.

There's a bombing downtown and Tom is one of the victims. His lover Scott is frantic and begins his own investigation into the catastrophe. Was it random, or aimed at the clinic where Tom was volunteering, or was it aimed at Tom himself? After Tom wakes from a coma, the duo find even more clues pointing in many directions. And when a drag queen friend of Tom's is killed, they know they're targets themselves. The plot is action-packed and hardly gives the reader time to breathe, and yet I never felt involved in the story. Of course, this is the first Zubro I've read, so that's part of it, but each book in a series ought to bring the reader into the series and entice. The solving of the bombings and murder was well crafted and believable, and Zubro certainly is a great writer. This just may not be his best overall, so.

I liked the idea that Zubro shifted the focus of this novel from Tom, ex-marine superman, to Scott, the "sidekick". Unfortunately the plot in which Zubro involves Scott on his first outing (no pun intended) is rather weak when compared to previous novels ("Why Isn't Becky Twitchell Dead?" is one of my favorites). A good read for fans of the series, but it needed more meat. I am not sure if the subject (the bombing) was thought to be too sensitive for a real murder mystery; if that was the advice given to Zubro, he shouldn't have heeded it, because it provides a sub-par novel.

They have been a happily married, faithful couple for years. Scott Carpenter is a well-known professional baseball pitcher while his spouse Tom Mason is an English teacher. They hid their sexual preference and their relationship out of fear for their careers, especially the athletic Scott. However, unable to hide any longer, they reveal their relationship to the world and to their sock and joy, most everyone supports them.

Tom and Scott begin to openly support gay rights, but soon become symbols and targets of the opponents. Things begin to turn ugly forcing Scott to hire bodyguards. Scott assumed that he, being the more public figure, would be the target if tragedy struck. Instead, while Tom is at the Human Services Clinic, a series of bombs go off destroying a whole block, killing many people. Tom is lucky to survive, but is badly injured. Scott wonders if Tom ultimately was the target. He begins his own investigation that will lead to a dangerous person with a deadly goal who will do anything to attain it.

ONE DEAD DRAG QUEEN is as much a relationship drama as it is an amateur sleuth mystery. The tale stars two heroic, realistic males trying to make the world a better place. Mark Richard Zubro has written a mystery inside the mystery. The technique can slow down a story line, but works extremely well in this plot because the author never loses sight of the main theme and ties the subplot back to it. By providing color and insight, the secondary characters are vital to the beat of the tale and lead to a special treat for readers.

Harriet Klausner

One morning in 1989 gay school teacher Tom Mason unlocked his Chicago classroom and opened the door to one of the most successful mystery franchises in gay fiction--the real mystery being the apparent popularity of this implacably mediocre series.

And yet there is much to be said for Zubro's work. His plotting, though predictable, is crisp and clean, a balance of action and analysis, with all loose ends tidily knotted. Through the (currently) eight books of the series--not even counting the Paul Turner series--Zubro worked out a formula which has served him well, although his characters, ex-Viet Nam vet and high school teacher Tom Mason, and southern baseball star Scott Carpenter, never evolve. When we first meet them they have already been a couple for eight years. Scott, we are given to understand, is initially closeted, but it never puts much strain on their relationship. The differences in their personalities are never explored--possibly because there aren't any. The books are written in a passionless, simplistic style ideal for teaching English in ESL courses.

In ARE YOU NUTS?, the seventh book of the series, Tom echoes his 1989 entrance by finding a body in the school library. (No wonder the PTA is in an uproar; it probably has less to do with Tom's orientation than the fact the man is a walking health hazard, an academic Jessica Fletcher trailing death and disgrace in his wake). As usual one of Tom's closest friends and allies (there's still some alive?) is arrested for the murder, and Tom and Scott (Scott, suffering mild depression--and who could blame the guy) set off in flat-footed pursuit, following the blueprint so successfully laid down eleven years earlier.

That, eleven years after Tom Mason stumbles on his first body, there are still very few gay mystery series' probably explains the relative popularity of Zubro's books. It's interesting that this series is published by the Stonewall Inn imprint and Keith Kahla, who recently asked in "Having Our Say" why so many gays seem to have abandoned the written word? Just a clue, Keith, but possibly if publishers offered something a little more substantial in the way of genre fiction, readers might be more interested.

The value of the book as a mystery is pretty average. However, I found, as usual, the portrayal of gay characters very affirming and supportive. Especially good for gay teens or people just coming out.

They have been a happily married, faithful couple for years. Scott Carpenter is a well-known professional baseball pitcher while his spouse Tom Mason is an English teacher. They hid their sexual preference and their relationship out of fear for their careers, especially the athletic Scott. However, unable to hide any longer, they reveal their relationship to the world and to their sock and joy, most everyone supports them.

Tom and Scott begin to openly support gay rights, but soon become symbols and targets of the opponents. Things begin to turn ugly forcing Scott to hire bodyguards. Scott assumed that he, being the more public figure, would be the target if tragedy struck. Instead, while Tom is at the Human Services Clinic, a series of bombs go off destroying a whole block, killing many people. Tom is lucky to survive, but is badly injured. Scott wonders if Tom ultimately was the target. He begins his own investigation that will lead to a dangerous person with a deadly goal who will do anything to attain it.

ONE DEAD DRAG QUEEN is as much a relationship drama as it is an amateur sleuth mystery. The tale stars two heroic, realistic males trying to make the world a better place. Mark Richard Zubro has written a mystery inside the mystery. The technique can slow down a story line, but works extremely well in this plot because the author never loses sight of the main theme and ties the subplot back to it. By providing color and insight, the secondary characters are vital to the beat of the tale and lead to a special treat for readers.

This book is hampered by stilted dialogue, one dimensional characterization, lack of humor, and a cloying adherence to political correctness. One longs for Donald Strachey's wit or Henry Rios's empathetic angst, something that would these characters more believable and identifiable. As it is, they're deadly dull. On top of that, the writing reminds one of a creative writing class reject in need of proofreading (early on, for instance, "homicide" is spelled "homocide" - an unintentional glitch or some copy editor's idea of a joke?) Stick with Nava, Hansen, and Stevenson.

I found this book to be a bit better than a lot of the books which pigeon-hole themselves into the "gay fiction" genre. One of the other reviewers for this book noted the weakness of the main characters. I totally agree. I was not inspired or engaged in any way by the main character or his lover. That was rather odd considering that I did quite like some of the more minor characters (especially Daphne). One of my main complaints about mysteries is that so very often the plot unfolds by clues and leads simply jumping into the characters' laps. A Simple Suburban Murder is no exception, although I've read books which have been much more unrealistic. I found the plot interesting enough to pull me through the book but the over-the-top political correctness put me off. I liked the ending ok but at this point it's a total toss-up as to whether I will ever read another book by this author or in this series.

I've read each and every one of Mark Richard Zubro's Tom and Scott novels, but that says more about the shortage of gay mysteries than it does the talents of the unnervingly prolific Zubro.

In the first of the series we meet highschool teacher Tom Mason and his celebrity ball player lover Scott Carpenter. When these two gorgeous hunks are not working out or having sex, they are solving mysteries--call them The Thin Men. Now I give Zubro this, he can construct a decent, fast-paced mystery. In fact, he is better at plotting a mystery than, for example, the much-revered Michael Nava (whose Henry Rios mysteries wouldn't challenge an eleven-year old Nancy Drew fan). But the writing is awkward, often stiff, and Tom and Scott are as lifeless as the mannequins they so resemble. And that's odd, seeing that Zubro is reasonably deft at sketching minor characters.

A SIMPLE SUBURBAN MURDER is for me one of the strongest entries in the Tom and Scott franchise. The mystery is tightly written, the Chicago local realistically drawn, and it's an appealing premise: gay lovers and partners in crime-solving. A sort of Nick and Nick Charles. If we are grading on the Pass/Fail system, than Zubro easily passes

I suppose Scott Thybony's Havasu Trail Guide told me most of what I needed to know. However, it was very poorly organized. It read like a term paper that was thrown together the night before it was due. Rather than have clear sections such as history, geology, Native Americans, and the trail itself, Mr. Thybony drifts aimlessly back and forth between topics. After I finally finished the book, I still did not feel like the trail had been completely explained. I had to skim back through the book and piece together his information about the trail.

In short, I do not feel confident about my understanding of the Havasu Canyon Trail after reading Scott Thybony's guide.

This is better than your average gay murder mystery. Parts are funny, and nothing sticks out as being particularly bad. Not the best Zubro, but one to read after you've finished all the others. Good beach reading material.

Several years ago there was a British lecturer who, in order to win a competition for the most boring lecturer of the year, wrote -and delivered- a Marxist analysis of a fairly ordinary joke about a coconut. The lecture went on for several highly tedious hours.

Mr Solomon's "attack" on Dilbert and Scott Adams reminds me of that lecture.

Mr Solomon makes an error common to many so-called media critics. They over-value their own importance and fail to identify terrible faults in themselves. Whilst, mysteriously, being able to see minor (or imaginary) faults in others.

Mr Solomon further attacks Scott Adams for making money from his intellectual properties. Mr Solomon's attack on Mr Adams would, therefore, only be valid if he criticises from the position of a man who writes entirely for free.

Unless Mr Solomon does work for financial reward?

In that case it would be very easy to dismiss Mr Solomon as a self-serving hypocrit and to ignore anything else he has to say on any subject.

For people night suspect that "once a self-serving hypocrit..." But that would be an unfair attack on Mr Solomon,would it not? Almost in the same way that Mr Solomon made an unfair attack on Mr Adams.

In "The Trouble with Dilbert," Norman Solomon seeks to expose the supposedly distressing truths behind the popular comic strip character, Dilbert. In this review, I'd like to expose some distressing truths about Solomon's "book." First off, it's hardly a "book" anyway; at barely 100 pages, if one were to remove all the various cartoons, lengthy quotations from assorted media pundits (including an entire chapter by another writer!), and Solomon's constant repeating of the same few points over and over, all that would be left would barely constitute a short magazine article. Working through the repetitive and pretentiously written text, it becomes clear that Solomon holds the Dilbert comic strip (and especially its creator, Scott Adams) in contempt, mainly because the strip doesn't go as far as Solomon would like it to in trashing C.E.O's and traditional corporate structure. Solomon considers Adams a traitor for giving frustrated workers a mere outlet for their anger rather than producing a "call to arms" for them to unite and overthrow the system as it exists. Ironically, Solomon never offers any concrete ideas on just how this should be done at any point in his book either; what comes across most powerfully is bitterness and jealousy that Adams has achieved the widespread acclaim and popularity that has eluded Solomon so far. Solomon's posturing and holier-than-thou attitude wear thin, and his claims that Adams is some sort of "double agent" for C.E.O's border on self-parody. Scott Adams is happy making money off Dilbert and freely admits it; he's not trying to change the world. This is unacceptable to Solomon, and one can only wonder which other comic strips he'll go after next ("Garfield Revealed"?). Additionally, I noticed no mention anywhere in "The Trouble With Dilbert" of Solomon intending to donate his profits (shudder!) from this book to help any downtrodden, downsized workers he claims to be so deeply concerned about. Of course, Norman Solomon has the right to say whatever he wants. And maybe if he came up with something more intelligent to say, and did so in a more entertaining manner, he'd achieve some of the fame and influence that he begrudges Scott Adams for having already earned.

One can often tell much about a book from the opinions of its detractors. For instance, the most common arguments in the negative reviews of this book so far have been, "But downsizing really IS a good thing" and, "If you disagree with me, you're a Communist." A close runner-up is, "For cryin' out loud, it's just a cartoon; it's not like Dilbert's being hyped as `a cartoon hero of the workplace' or `ripping aside the flimsy corporate curtain' or anything like that." Honorable mention goes to "But Dilbert has shown top managers doing stupid things, too," breathtakingly missing Solomon's point that we the workers are not suffering because top management is stupid (or because we are), but because top management is actively screwing us over - and Adams is helping them get away with it by telling us, "You can't do anything about it; just lie back and enjoy, er, laugh at it." A must-read.

Without a doubt, this book is a must for fans of Jack Ryan, the character who dominates most Tom Clancy novels. The story in "Red Rabbit" fills a gap in our knowledge of Ryan's life. However, Clancy could have done a lot better by Ryan. This novel is talky to the point of being tedious. The characters, American, British, and Russian, seem to say the same things again and again. And talk is about all the story consists of.
That snapping, twisting action and suspense that we have come to expect of Clancy is missing here. Part of the problem, of course, is that we already know that the Pope, who was attacked in the nineteen-eighties, survived the assassination attempt. The other part of the problem is that Clancy does not create any real suspense in the process of giving us his fictional version of how it all occurred.
In fact, the plot is ponderous and stretched far too thinly. Clancy wrote an extremely good novel once about the spy game between America and Russia. It's called "The Cardinal of the Kremlin." If you are not a big Jack Ryan devotee, but you want to read Tom Clancy when his writing and plotting crackled with tension, try "Cardinal of the Kremlin." You won't regret it.

Much like The Bear and the Dragon, Red Rabbit is another mediocre book. It just doesn't give the reader what Clancy has been able to give in the past. Like Without Remorse, Clancy takes a character (this time Jack Ryan himself) and goes back in time to probe one of the episodes in his career. The episode in question is an assassination attempt on the Pope before the end of the Cold War, which is somewhat interesting to read with historical hindsight, but does not deliver the kind of suspense that Clancy delivered in his early novels.

I personally liked it but clancy is really getting carried away with the profanity. It suddenly showed up in Bear and the Dragon and it disturbs me. Its as if he cant find a more colorful word to describe the situation.