Heartpounding, late-night-reading fun! Get comfy when you start because you won't want to stop. This is the book to reach for when you want to escape for a while. When is the next installment due out?

Beware the Serpent is great! Loved it and recommend it, can't wait for the next one. The characters are real, smart, sassy, and some are dangerous. Put it on your summer reading list!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!! The plot, the twists, and the turns. I couldn't put the book down. I loved "Beware of The Kiss", but "Beware of The Serpent" was even better! I could see the characters and feel the fear as the climax was building. I can hardly wait for the third installment of the "Beware" series

I've loved every one of the Alex Reynolds mysteries, not least because I grew up in Chicago and can relate to all of the scenery (it seems to me that "Charlene's" is actually Carol's Speakeasy, which did have big neon lips on the walls and has been long, long gone - too bad for that). Get off the boat, Publisher's Weekly - I'm going to be the fourth Amazon reader to give this book a good review. I did have to wonder, though, what the author thought on September 11. There's a reference to the World Trade Center in the book - a "World Trade Center amount of explosives". There's a great deal that reads differently now, after 9/11, than it would have before then. But that just makes the author prescient, albeit tragically so. "Chicken Asylum" is the first of the mysteries that doesn't use a letter play in its title - ..."National Nancys", etc., but it's none the less wonderful for it. I'm glad to join Amazon's No. 1 reviewer, Harriet, in recommending this book - and if you haven't read the other ones, they're all available here!

I think Publisher's Weekly must've written that review on Sept. 12. The book is not perfect, but it's a very enjoyable read and a worthy addition to the series. I won't bother repeating the summary, since all the other reviews cover the plot, but the book's timing is uncanny. I highly recommend it.

Once again, author Fred Hunter delivers the laughs and more with his new Alex Reynolds mystery. In this one, Alex, his love Peter, and his irrepressible mother Jean are asked to take in a defecting Iraqi soldier. Little do they know, not only is the soldier merely 18 years old, he's also gay and entranced by his new country.

But there are several wrinkles -- unbeknownst to the family, their new charge, James, is suspected of having connections to a terrorist group called the Red Jihad, and the CIA's real aim in bringing him to the states is to flush out the terrorists--and Alex and company take it upon themselves to discover the truth about the young man.

Though this book is more serious in tone than the other Alex adventures, there are still plenty of laughs -- and the story is probably a bit more timely than even Hunter expected it to be. And that's one of the things that makes this effort so important. It manages to put a face on a people that many of us now see as the enemy, and that face is more human than anyone expected (including me). A truly wonderful book.

I treated myself to "Colette's Christmas" by baker extraordinaire Colette Peters while on vacation. It seemed a strange thing to read while at the beach, but I was absolutely captivated. What a fevered imagination Ms. Peters has! The showstoppingly gorgeous desserts and projects she shows within include a layer cake covered with fondant that has been pieced and quilted to resemble and antique quilt (and it surely does); a chocolate bowl filled to overflowing with spectacular chocolate spheres (the cover photograph); hinged, jointed cookies which really move and make splendid Christmas ornaments (all in human forms, like Santa, Raggedy Ann, and so on); gift boxes made entirely of decorated cookie dough; a shimmering "stained glass" cake; and a three-dimensional Christmas gazebo constructed around a towering decorated Christmas tree made of piped icing.

Even if the projects herein appear way too complicated or time-consuming for most people--as they do for me, I'll admit--Ms. Peters gives splendidly clear, concise directions in a conversational tone that make starting your own gingerbread house seem, somehow, not as daunting as it really should be.

Each year I prepare the desserts for my husband's office Christmas party (over 400 guests). I always try to come up with one special "show stopper" and Colette's chocolate bowl and ornaments was it for last year! I'm certainly a beginner but, with a little practice and Ms. Peter's clear instructions, I was able to create pieces that were the talk of the night. Several people even asked to take one home to show their family. I can't wait until next Christmas when I can try something even more amazing!

Once again, Colette establishes herself as the numero uno in desserts and sugar craft. The items shown are very sophisticated and tasteful. The directions are succinct and not pretentious. She does everyone a favor by putting this out! Definitely one of my favorites.

I decided to go to the store to search for a wedding organizer instead of buying from Amazon because I wanted to actually look through the books to see how useful they might be. This organizer is by far and away the greatest. It has tons of places to write things, lots of pertinent questions to ask when searching for various services, lists of things not to forget, suggestions for ways to word things, etc. And, in the back of the book there is an accordian file which contains pockets for the following categories: ceremony, wedding attire, photography, videography, stationery, reception, music, bakery, flowers, transportation, rental items, miscellaneous, honeymoon. The book is hard bound and they've left extra room to let it expand when you fill it up with papers. Don't pay full price like I did...buy this book from Amazon...it's excellent!

I liked it because it's more than a workbook. It has elements that make it a memory book too. It's not something you would throw away after using it. The according file attached to it is basically why I bought it.
I highly recommend it.

Planning a marriage can be very stressful, expecially when both of us work and many of the guests are from out of the country. You need the best advice and methods for getting things done quickly and right the first time. We returned many other books that were too vague or had obvious self-evident "ideas". This book though was a keeper. I can say now, after the fact, that this book saved us much time and stress. The detailed checklists were particulary useful. Everything was clear and well written. I recommend this for anyone who wants things to go right.

This is perhaps Vargas Llosa's best novel and a must for all those well-meaning readers in the developed world who eagerly idealize Latin American revolutions without knowing anything about these countries.

The book is based on the true story of Antonio Vicente Mendes Maciel ("O Conselheiro"), a mad prophet of sorts -kind of a weird Christian ayatollah of the late XIX Century- who ignited, in the most remote corner of Brazil, a bloody uprising among the lowly against Money, Property, Progress, Law, Army, Republic and State, and everything else he found oppressive, sinful and evil.

Little by little, Vargas Llosa transforms this obscure anecdote into a monumental epic of Tolstoiesque proportions that not only hooks you on the plot but reveals the richly interwoven tapestry of Brazilian -and therefore Latin American- society; its illusions and delusions, its races and classes, its loves and hates, its fear of the modern and its contempt for the past, and the fanaticism that pervades both attitudes (to date).

I read this mammoth masterpiece during Christmass '94 at the midst of the Zapatista revolt in Chiapas, and it was sad to realize how little have we changed our societies. Our development always seems to engender inequality and our social struggles to defend backwardness and ignorance. Vargas Llosa is acutely aware of this, and he conveys it in his story splendidly, without preaching, without agendas, without aloofness and without letting you put down the book. Should you decide to read it, ask for a few days off!

This is perhaps Vargas Llosa's best novel and a must for all those well-meaning readers in the developed world who eagerly idealize Latin American revolutions without knowing anything about these countries.

The book is based on the true story of Antonio Vicente Mendes Maciel ("O Conselheiro"), a mad prophet of sorts -kind of a weird Christian ayatollah of the late XIX Century- who ignited, in the most remote corner of Brazil, a bloody uprising among the lowly against Money, Property, Progress, Law, Army, Republic and State, and everything else he found oppressive, sinful and evil. In return, the Brazilian government reacted with indifference, disbelief, concern, anger, outrage and total annihilation.

Little by little, Vargas Llosa transforms this obscure anecdote into a monumental epic of Tolstoiesque proportions that not only hooks you on the plot but reveals the richly interwoven tapestry of Brazilian -and therefore Latin American- society; its illusions and delusions, its races and classes, its loves and hates, its fear of the modern and its contempt for the past, and the fanaticism that pervades both attitudes (to date).

I read this mammoth masterpiece during Christmass '94 at the midst of the Zapatista revolt in Chiapas, and it was sad to realize how little have we changed our societies. Our development always seems to engender inequality and our social struggles to defend backwardness and ignorance. Vargas Llosa is acutely aware of this, and he conveys it in his story splendidly, without preaching, without agendas, without aloofness and without letting you put down the book. Should you decide to read it, ask for a few days off!

A través de esta novela Mario Vargas Llosa nos regala una historia real cubierta de fantasias tan bien entretejidas que facilita una lectura fluída que nos hace sostener la última expiración en cada capítulo siguiente esperando que no sea el último.

El personaje principal es El Consejero, un asceta que recorre todos los pueblos predicando la palabra de Dios y sin haberlo planificado se encuentra dentro de una multitud que veía en él al Santo Salvador que los dirigiría en la lucha contra El Mal. El Mal estaba personificado por los Republicanos que, según los seguidores del Buen Consejero, no eran más que El Anticristo que había bajado a la tierra disfrazado de humanos para transformar el mundo: Instaurarían el matrimonio civil, encargarían los cementerios a los municipios (en la época monárquica estaba a cargo de la iglesia católica), y someterían al pueblo a un nuevo tipo de gobierno, la República.

Es así que se origina la rebelión. El Consejero y sus seguidores golpean a unos soldados republicanos y huyen a un lugar desolado, apropiándose de esos terrenos, llamádo CANUDOS. En aquel lugar alejado del mundo -y también de la imaginación humana- forman una sociedad diferente, en la cual nadie tenía propiedades y no existían autoridades. Era una sociedad donde todo era de todos.

Sin embargo, y en replesalia contra aquella rebelión inicial, el Estado Brasileño envia un pelotón de hombres bien apertrechados que son rápidamente reducidos por los pobladores de Canudos al grito de "mueran los perros republicanos". Fueron tres las comisiones enviadas a disolver a aquellos rebeldes que "atentaban contra la seguridad del Brasil". Una tras otra son repelidas hasta que frente a un contingente bastante mayor al de ellos ceden y permiten el ingreso del ejercito republicano a Canudos. "No dejaron piedra sobre piedra". Los soldados se encargaron de desaparecer aquel pueblo que se resistía a ser sometido a las peticiones de la sociedad alienada. Un mundo aparentemente irreal que parecería una increíble invención y que, sin embargo, existió en Brasil a fines del siglo XIX. Un pueblo cuya aparente perfección no fue tolerada por un mundo sometido a la infelicidad y, por lo tanto fue condenada al peor de los castigos: a la desaparición.

Considero, por ahora -a falta de leer algunos libros anteriores y venideros de Vargas Llosa- como la mejor obra de este escritor peruano que ya merece ganar el Premio Nobel.

one of the three books that any student or writer of poetry needs to own, besides a good dictionary. (The other two are Pound's "ABCs of Reading" and Shapiro's "Primer.") Answers questions & points you in the right direction for more. Once you open it, you'll wonder how you got by without it.

Want to know what a 'priamel' is? Look it up here, "he New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics." Not only will you see 'priamel' defined, but a short history of the use of the concept, examples of priamelic poetry, and a other resources to learn more.

How about Hungarian poetry, what makes a hymn (as opposed to a carol), a discussion on line usage and techniques? It is all here. Exemplum? Septenarius? Metalepsis? What's an iambe? It isn't an iamb, and from their respective entries, you'll see why.

Every student of poetry, whether in college, teaching or writing, needs this book. All the major terms and styles are covered here, but also every country producing poetry.

This is useful to the poet who wants to learn more about what has been done through the years, and how and why a particular style was used. The book is certainly for the intelligent reader, but won't be bogged down with overblown, hard to understand explanations. This an encyclopedia, not a dissertation.

Professors and students can use this book as a reference point as they research poetry. Ever read a literary critique and not have a clue what term Dr. Iam Smart just referred to? I sure have. This book helps me know what I am reading.

The entries are well-structured, and give plenty to get started, and then point you where you can learn more.

I fully recommed "The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics" by Alex Preminger.

Anthony Trendl

This stunningly comprehensive volume truly merits the title "encyclopedia". Nearly 1,400 pages, two columns to a page, with small print (the size of the print being one of the few shortcomings of the book). Over 700 entries, each including a brief bibliography. Detailed discussions of 106 national poetries. Entries on all varieties of poetic schools and movements, including Dada, Surrealism, Beat Poets, and . . . Fyrtiotalisterna (a group of Swedish modernist poets). Definitions of every imaginable poetic term, from anacoluthon to chiasmus to vers libre. Entries written by recognized authorities, from A. B. Lord writing on "Oral Poetry" to M. H. Abrams discussing "Theories of Poetry" to Elaine Showalter on "Feminist Poetics". "The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics" is simply the best single volume on poetry and poetics available, an indispensable reference for anyone seriously interested in poetry, as well as anyone interested in literature, literary history and prosody.

I thought the book was very amusing and enjoyable to read. The charactors were ell thought out and very funny at times. The descriptions of the settings gave you a detailed picture in your mind.

WOW! this book was the best of the three in this series! it was really sweet and well, it was about this girl who was spending the year in france and she wanted to meet a romantic french guy, and then she sees this guy from her home town back in the US and he just wants a french girl who he can't speak too, because he doesnt know french and she doesnt know english to make out with. then slowly they start to fall for each other! IT IS A MUST READ!!

This is an amazing book! I read Kit and Robin, (The London part of this series) first, but you dont have to. Rachel Hawthorne does an amazing job on this book... All Dana wants is to fall in love with a romantic Parisian guy, because Paris is the city of romance...Sometimes love is found in the most unexpected places...

As a CPA and candidate for controller of Montgomery County, PA, it is refreshing to see the long-term planning, comparison, functional issue review, and the "watchdog" functions of a controller so well laid out. Montgomery County will be well served to use this planning approach.

Please tell me it's not this easy to run a city. If all the Giulianis, Rendells, and Daleys of the world would just implement this new direction for urban america, our cities would not be afflicted with the ills they currently suffer. Every big city resident should demand that local government run as recommended in this book. Students, policy professionals, elected officials, and urbanites everywhere should make this book a part of their libraries.

I am a passionate city fan and wish every mayor in the country would read this book and implement the policies the authors advocate. There are no quick fixes to the problems shared by large American cities (crime, poverty, decay). As successful cities prove over and over, local government must concentrate on the basics -- improving schools, reducing crime, lowering taxes -- to make the city a place where people want to be instead of a place people want to avoid. If Philadelphia would adopt the recommendations of this book, the city would truly be a great one.

back in college, "suffering" through hair loss, i found this book, checked it out of the library and took it home to ponder my fate. i finally embraced it and shaved away. its a lot easier these days as the look is more fashionable, but i think everyone could benefit from seeing so many people without such a common differentiator.

This book is one of my favorites. It is a book full of photographs of human heads, with no hair or makeup. I could look at this book for hours! You will never tire of looking at them. Heads are always disguised in public under elaboratley fussed-with hair and a bunch of makeup. This book is oddly satisfying by showing simply a natural human head. They are very beautiful.

I am on page eighty one! i am hermine. this is part of my fifteen minutes of fame, which i plan to enjoy for many years to come. you really need this book, i am NOT KIDDING.

Of all the major "Keys" writers, Corcoran seems least frequent in publication, and this pays off in well written novels, or at least fast moving novels. He really is fun to read. Additionally, if you are "into" Key West, he's your writer. While there are actually two trips up and down to Miami, and a couple of "off island" forays, this book is centered in and plays on the ambience of that "last place in America." Alex Rutledge, Corcoran's photographer hero, tools up and down Simonton on his Cannondale or strolls the sidewalks of Duval, avoiding the overflow from Sloppy Joe's, dodging into Captain Tony's around the corner for an early beer. Certainly the Key West life style. There are many other little treasures: remembered sidewalk restaurants, cascades of bouganvillia on corners, the ocean mist, happy hour at Hog's Breath, regularly painted empty buildings. These are the observations of someone who knows the streets over time.

Dirty deeds in this novel, surprise, are linked to real estate development and illegal immigration. The two plots work, but are not systematically linked to each other. These are mingled with the unraveling of a relationship between Rutledge and his "roomie" Teresa, that not unfrequent disaster that comes about when two decide to live as one and abandon the freedom of separate apartments. As the novel drew to a close, I had the feeling that there were three distinct stories, all joined at Alex Rutledge. Still, both mystery plots are exciting, and enough to keep anyone reading the novel awake an extra hour. The romance ends, as is common in "Keys" novels with a promise of future solace.

For those who remember the days of clearing the pier of ships for sunset, or "tank" island (before the "condofying" of the island perimeter) wise contemporaries who bought Conch cottages for a song seem just a little long in the tooth. Such folk, also, have to be in their mid to late fifties and for we less lucky mortals self-knowledge forms plausability questions. One bit of K.W. zaniness, which someone eventually will seriously propose is a developer's Malory Square Dome with recorded projected sunsets to allow tourists to view the ten best in history. No mention of a guaranteed green flash, however.

I was an inhabitant of the islands in the early 80's before the place got popular and crowded. Corcoran's description of the characters and the long term residents of the keys are dead on. If you know the keys and key west well, you will really enjoy this book and the other Rutledge novels. Fans of the Travis McGee series and Carl Hiassen's books would really enjoy this story as well as the others Corcoran mysteries. Keep them coming Tom!

I have read all of the Alex Rutledge novels by Corcoran and this one beats them all. I felt as if I were on the streets of Key West. The dialogue is gutsy and dead on, characters to love and hate. Tom Corcoran spins a murder mystery with the best of them.