I HAVE A STRONG BELIEF IN A HIGHER POWER BUT I WOULDN'T CONSIDER MYSELF TO BE REAL "RELIGIOUS". I PURCHASED THE BOOK SHORTLY AFTER THE PASSING OF MY FOUR YEAR OLD'S FATHER. THE PICTURES ARE BEAUTIFUL AND COLORFUL BUT THE CONSTANT REFERAL TO THE BIBLE MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO SHARE WITH MY SON. INSTEAD WE MAKE UP OUR OWN STORY. THIS IS A GREAT BOOK IF YOU STRONGLY BELIEVE IN JESUS, BUT IF YOU DON'T YOU WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM THIS BOOK.

When my daughter was small, this was her most requested bedtime story. Written in tender, simple syntax, Let's Talk About Heaven helps to bring the abstract concepts of the spiritual into commonplace terms. The illustrations are delightful, and best of all, Anderson doesn't try to fill in all the gaps. She leaves room for a child's imagination to ponder and propose. Even for the not-so-religious, this book offers a loving response to a question that every child will eventually ask..."What's heaven like?"

I'm 14 years old, but when I read this book I had so many questions answered. Even at my age, this book can answer my questions. I think that's cool. I recommend this book to ANYONE who has ever wondered about Heaven.

My three year old loves this book! Along with each story (and there are a lot of them!) are questions to ask your child about the story's topic, a real short story from the Bible, and a one sentence prayer for your child to pray. The illustrations are great, and, for the most part, the stories are situations that real-life children can relate to. While I think there are much better devotional books out there for older kids, this is by far the best devotional I've seen for the preschool age group.

I appreciated all that the women shared regarding their Native history, culture, what it was like to live as they did and how things have changed-for better or worse. The editor did a sensitive and intelligent job of bringing out the uniqueness of each women's story. I spent last summer up north and this gave even more color to what was already, for me, a trip never to be forgotten.

I have read most of Julie Smith's Skip Langdon novels, and enjoyed some of them. Her later ones are starting to bother me. There are way too many subplots going on, at the middle of this book I had forgotten all about the main thread of the story until the author suddenly brought it up again. She also uses multiple points of view, which works in some books, usually long epic stories, but in a short mystery it is jarring and distracting. I see some reviewers of 82 Desire questioned whether she was also doing racial stereotyping or at least not portraying black characters realistically. To be honest, I wondered about that also, both in that book and House of Blues. I am white and have only had two brief visits to New Orleans, one in 1969 and one in 1995, so I don't have personal experience to draw on. However, it seems to me that if anyone is going to write about something they dont know, or that they themselves are not, they should at least run it by people who do know to make sure the story has some credibility. Based solely on my reading, I also felt many of her black characters appeared stereotyped and two-dimensional. She seems to be trying to draw an all-inclusive portrait of the city and its population, but it would be good to know that readers were getting an accurate picture.

I loved New Orleans Mourning, so I wanted to read more.
Sorry I did...not that I won't read another Skip Langdon
novel...I only gave this three stars for the main character,
because she's so real and so loveable.

But the editing of this book was a slap-dash job; I got very impatient with the inappropriate character responses: things slowed up when they should have been fast; and vice versa. I found myself doing something I hate to do with a book...skipping ahead just to get it over with.

I'll try Axeman's Jazz next, and if that doesn't work, I'll chalk
it up to someone who wrote one great novel and then, because it was popular, was forced to keep producing work that was a shadow of its original self.

I have read many of Julie Smith's books and this has got to be her best work! The story is engaging, the characters are rich, the whole book is a treat! If you're not sure whether to try Julie Smith, start with this one. Some of her later Skip Langdon novels get a little far out there, but this one is a gem.

This was a diverting read mainly for the colorful descriptions of The Big Easy and the central characters. The mystery was acceptable but the ending felt tacked on and was less than gratifying. Still, her central character, female police officer Skip Langdon is interesting and complex enough to want to ride shotgun with as she progresses through the story. The problem for anyone who likes to read about Southern Louisiana and the New Orleans area, is that James Lee Burke owns this territory and so far nobody else has measured up to his skill at describing it.

Sometimes mystery writers forget everything but the mystery in their books; you get one-dimensional characters and shallow writing. Not this book. The characters are interesting and complex enough to allow you to follow their journey eagerly from start to finish. New Orleans becomes a 'character' in itself as Melanie travels from suburbia to homelessness to Jazzfest. Her transformation from Melanie to Rwanda Zaire strains credibility, but that's the only quibble I have about this book. Check it out, says the librarian!

Julie Smith in Jazz Funeral presents a Homicide Detective, Skip Langdon who is big beautiful and brash. She also presents a wide array of intriguing suspects in the death of Jazz Festival promoter, Ham Brocoto.

The deceased himself turns out to be an interesting study for Skip as she uncovers his true personality, you may wonder why any one would want to kill him.

His sister, Melody has run away and is looking for love in all the wrong places. She is a very sympathetic character and you find yourself hoping that she doesn't self destruct along the way.

This is a good mystery with lots of intricate plots and sub-plots. I was guessing until the end. I loved the atmosphere and the character and the story of their lives.

"New Orleans Beat", the 4th Skip Langdon mystery, is probably the weakest of the series. However, considering the overall strength of Julie Smith's novels, it is still an enjoyable read for those who have followed Skip's career from "New Orleans Mourning".

In "New Orleans Beat", Homicide Detective Skip Langdon is assigned a case in which an "accidental" death has too many oddities to leave it uninvestigated. The victim was a "computer nerd" who lived with his mother & stepfather in a dilapidated house. As Langdon investigates, she discovers there are a number of people who have already been playing private eye for days; these are the victim's friends from his cyber-world. In addition, an open case from the late 60's has a direct bearing on the current case.

Smith attempts to make "...Beat" hip & timely by having the mystery revolve around a computer bulletin board group called "the TOWN". This is a mistake, as it makes the story seem dated & clunky to a reader in the year 2000. It ends up not even being particularly vital to the story, except as a gimmick. The story itself isn't one of Smith's stongest, & could have taken place just as easily in San Francisco (the scene of her other mystery series). Unlike it's predecessors, "New Orleans Beat" really doesn't use the city as a vital character, which is partly the reason it isn't very successful. Personally, I feel that Smith's habit of writing chapters from suspects point of view is a mistake & in "New Orleans Beat" even a glaring plot hole. These books would be much stronger mysteries if they focused only on what Skip Langdon discovers & thinks.

Still, if you have read earlier installments in this series ("Jazz Funeral" being especially recommended) you will probably want to pick up "New Orleans Beat" if only to fill in gaps in Skip's personal story. It is enjoyable, just not particularly memorable.

Detective Skip Langdon investigates the suspicious death of computer nerd Geoffrey Kavanagh.

Geoff had mentioned on a computer network that he had witnessed the murder of his father Leighton twenty-seven years ago. Leighton had been a cop whose revolver and citrine ring were stolen at the time of his killing. Geoff was hoping to get a flashback of the murderer's face.

Skip believes the key to the crime lies somewhere within the computer network which has 10,000 subscribers. As she goes about her investigation, Geoff's girl friend and his grandmother are also eliminated. The killer turns out to be closer than we like to think although the suspects are numerous.

I just happened to pick this book up the other day and thought it sounded good. It was.

I particularly liked that it was based in New Orleans and yet didn't get into all the voodoo type of mystery that so many New Orleans mysteries seem to involve. What a refreshing change. I also liked the fact that the story had several stories within a story- in other words, it wasn't just about Skip solving a crime end of story. There was the boyfriend substory and the best friend who has kids and needs help story and more. That kept the book interesting and the realistic.

There were several things I didn't like- First, this book seems very dated to me regarding the internet. The characters on an bulliton board site that had thousands of users and yet they all seemed to be good buddies, at least that is what the author would have you think. Also, has been widely used for a long time, yet for Skip this is a new thing. It makes the book seem very dated. This one thing really bothered me. I kept wanting to jump up and explain to her how this whole internet thing worked. The people around her were not doing a very good job of explaining things or demonstrating things to her.

The other thing I didn't like was that I wanted a happy ending for her and her boyfriend and that just didn't seem to happen. However, even despite that the book ends with a hint of optimism and hope.

I enjoyed this book. I'm going to go back and swipe up the other 3 earlier novels and read them.

Cheez, it went on and on. Someone said it earlier...the Edgar has given Smith the "clout" to pour out bad writing.
If you just like to skip through a book til you find the (unbelievably implausible) culprit, you might like it. The 12-step theme and Skip Langdon are the only reasons to even pick it up with two fingers...but the writing is drawn out, repetitive, unimaginative, choppy - hell, if this were a senior high school thesis I'd send it back for revisions!

Julie Smith should know better. We all had such high hopes with New Orleans Mourning. She should have stopped there, written a totally different kind of book. She has the potential of an artist...how far she has strayed. They should have made a movie of New Orleans Mourning so she could "retire" gracefully with stacks of money and not have to turn out detective stories over and over. Believe me, she's not good at it. She's not a James Lee Burke or Moseley or Sandford or Block. These writers can keep it going for some reason. How disappointing. Skip is a great character, but characters are only as good as the writing that surrounds them, and I'm afraid that, without a movie, Skip will be so much molasses in a few years.

I have read all of Julie Smith books and for an easy and fun read they are good. I especially like the Skip Langdon series as she is not a femme fatale and has her fits and faults, which make her more human like the rest of us.

I just don't understand these folks who give bad reviews to this series! I'm a voracious reader and quite discriminating and I find it to be perfect, simply perfect! I've now read every single one of the Skip Langdon books (even one that is out of print) and I can't find one single complaint about the ENTIRE bunch! The plot was ingenious and riveting in this 12-step murder whodoneit. There were so many suspects, I was baffled to the very end---but I *did* have my suspicions. LOL! Thanks, Ms. Smith for the best reading entertainment I've had in years.

Smith's cardboard characters include a perky gay man (ooh, he cooks, how original), foul mouthed alcoholic mom and her thoroughly dislikeable teenage daughter, raving psychopath bad guy (honestly, could she make it a little clearer that he's evil?), and chronically depressed main character, Skip Langdon. Okay, Skip, here's some advice -- lose 20 pounds and take a vacation.

I found few redeeming features in this poorly written, badly plotted exercise in tedium.

This is less a whodunit than a thriller, since it's clear from the start who the Bad Guy is. But that doesn't make it any less entertaining.

It's true, as another reveiwer says, that Skip is less confident in this novel. But to me, this adds rather than detracts. Skip's uncertainty, false starts, and growing fear are realistic, and her sense of doubting her own reality increases the tension in the novel.

As often happens when reading series novels, the side plots and secondary characters often are more interesting than the primary puzzle. Smith's teenagers are particularly good -- she seems to me to be that rare adult who hasn't been struck with nostalgic amnesia about the pain of being a 15-year-old girl.

Beware, the ending does not "sew up" all the loose ends, so you'll have to be ready to move on to the next one in a hurry!

Officer Skip Langdon is back, but she's not quite who she used to be, she's on a leave of absence from the New Orleans Police Department. A recent assignment has left her a bit tattered and torn. She's lost some of her humor and strength, characteristics that made Skip so lovable. Now she's tormented by a new evil, a preacher running for Mayor, that she is convinced is a cold blooded killer. Enter Errol Jaccomine, a charismatic man, leading his flock. His followers are more cultists than parishoners and his expectations of them are way beyond that of a traditional religious leader. And while many see him as a savior for the corrupt New Orleans, Skip sees a sadistic manipulator who just wants more power.

Smith has created a complex villian. who we will no doubt see again, as he embodies everything Skip is not. His character is evil incarnate and every scene he is in is at once riviting and repulsive. My reservation is that Skip seems to be losing herself in this latest story and that would be a crime.

This book was about Mr.Mann, who was kidnapped! His granddaughter Anita was suspecting he was! The Hardy boys,Frank and Joe, were visiting Mann, they are friends. They knocked and knocked but nobody answered. They came back later, and someone answered the door. It was Anita. They heard these weird noises comeing from outside, they looked and Anita's tires were flat! For days weird stuff had been happening to Anita.

My opinion of this book is it was exciting, you didn't know what was going to happen next. I suggest that you read this book to find out what happens at the end of the book.

Tourist Trap is not Julie Smith's best book but it still ain't bad. Her heroine is a bit too dithery for my taste and the plot is not as tight as it should be. Read New Orleans Mourning or True Life Adventure-they are both great books.