Yeah, some of the movies in the series were REALLY bad and made Freddy look like a psycho Bugs Bunny. This book brings you really spooky stories where Freddy Kruger shows everyone how bad he really is! Well written by various writers and fun, fun, fun!

Dark, evil, and lovely. Freddy is at his best in these stories, even if 2 or 3 of them don't follow the continuity.

This is another superlative police procedural mystery, set in the fictional Hong Bay section of Hong Kong, starring those inimitable Hong Kong police officers, Harry Fieffer (the boss), Christoper O'Yee (Amerasian), and Detectives Auden and Spencer, playing once again their combination of Marx Brothers and NYC's finest. Anyway, in this outing, the boys are challenged by the arrival of a science-fiction convention, with the usual fans dressed up as their favorite aliens, parades, and general mayhem. O'Yee is hunting for...well, we won't spoil it...something REALLY hard to find, while Audena and Spencer are looking for a mugger in a multi-story parking garage. Feiffer is looking for the fiend who is incinerating citizens for no apparent reason.
Marshall once again combines the zany with the suspenseful, and once again my eyebrows are sore from raising them at all the hair-raising (pun intended) hold-your-breath scenes. If you're looking for a great police procedural series, and one that doesn't take itself too seriously, you are in the right place in Hong Bay with Marhall's band of loonies. Long may they reign!

Oh man, this is the funniest book in the whole series. Yes, it's part of a series, and the whole series is funny. It takes place in "Hong Bay" precinct in Hong Kong, pre-Chinese-takeover. (The introduction to each book in the series points out that the Chinese could have taken over Hong Kong years ago just by turning off the water tap.) Let's mention here, in case it is not obvious, that nothing in this book actually IS science fiction; it's murder mystery/police procedural.

The characters in the Hong Bay precinct station are a mixed lot of mostly Europeans and Asian-Europeans, or European-Asians, the inhabitants of the precinct are a complete cross section of would-be capitalist Chinese. There is a little bit of stereotyping, with the wily Chinese frequently outwitting the Europeans. Everyone, cop and civilian alike, is just a tad greedy and eager to get ahead or to get something someone else has.

In this particular book, an all-Asia science fiction convention is taking place. Like any science fiction convention, there are people who insist on attending in costume, and there are people who indulge a bit too much in recreational substances. In the opening chapters, we have a wonderful scene where the police station is trying to figure out where to put yet another costumed arrestee; various cells are already holding The Swarm - all of it - and other familiar sci-fi characters. As the new one is a midget, our lieutenant suggests stuffing him in the fire extinguisher closet, since that's the only space left.

I won't give away too much of the plot; let me just say that in addition to the murders, the side plot involving the little old lady piano player in the hotel is definitely worth following.

For fans of police procedurals, and of any murder mysteries, who have also ever been to any convention in a big hotel with a costume party, this is MUST reading- definitely worth doing an out-of-print search on. We have two copies, ha ha, so I can loan one out to friends without the risk of losing our only copy, because there are scenes I like to re-read when I need a good chuckle. The offbeat world of Hong Bay is reliably funny.

It's a free-for-all. It dispels any notion that mystery writers--when they start out--always take it slow, take time to warm up, blossom three books later. Yellowthread Street, the debut novel in the series of the same name--is a fireworks display, crackling with nonstop humour, frenzy, jagged but compelling style, and crazy subplots buttressing a crazy main story. Typical Marshall, right out of the gate--and, if anything, this first entry is the most gonzo of all I've read. So far.

The top dog is Inspector Harry Feiffer, who investigates a series of jewellery-store robberies, where the perpetrator wields a nasty blade called a kukri, targeting the fingers of unhelpful store owners or staff. Feiffer is also busy fielding phone-calls from his concerned wife, as well as an anonymous caller with a grudge. Then--when it turns out that certain jewellery stores that were robbed are connected to organized crime--Feiffer has got a posse of gangsters to worry about; he and they hunt the finger-chopping robber simultaneously, but gangsters like to use machine-guns, indulge in shoot-outs, and also employ henchmen who dabble in clubs with spikes.

Detectives Auden, Spencer, and O'Yee also appear for the first time, all working bizarre cases. A cinema-owner anticipates being held up now that an American destroyer has docked in the harbour, a married couple from New Jersey have become separated and are both beckoning the cops to help find each other (???), and there's been a double axe-murder (oh wait, Feiffer's handling that case too). The cops' heads spin--as may the reader's--as they try to wrap up each case in time to help Feiffer face the gangsters and the finger-chopper in a violent finale.

Ed McBain had mined this territory a few years earlier in a frenetic little gem called Hail Hail The Gang's All Here!, so Marshall's opener is not totally original. But he takes frenzied, multi-scenario, multi-cop loopiness to another level, and then actually tones it down in later Yellowthread Street books. I tend to prefer the more controlled chaos of most of the follow-ups, but what a daring debut!

This was the first in the series of ficitonal murder mysteries set in Hong Bay, Hong Kong. Protected by Detective Chief Inspector Harry Fieffer, Detective Inspector Christopher O'Yee, and Detectives Phil Auden and Bill Spencer, Hong Bay seems to be an authentic, frenzied, violent part of Hong Kong. While the station deals with a 'lost' American tourist and his harridan wife, more serious crime intrudes, with a Mongolian who is demanding 'protection' from local merchants, and attacking those who resist. The denouement is typical Marshall, a combination of fast action, violence, and chaos, with chaos being the most prominent factor. In this book, Spencer is the 'new guy', and Marshall convincingly shows us how Spencer has a difficult time fitting in with the other detectives. But as experienced Yellowthread Street readers know, the detectives prevail---at a price. Marshall is the pre-eminent writer of humorous, suspenseful police procedurals writing these days, and I am continually impressed by his expertise. Long may the detectives of Hong Bay continue to fascinate us!

Animal lovers beware! Frogmouth equals terrific and highly original mystery, but the killer's horrid specialty is the slaughter of animals by the droves. In the Hong Bay district of Hong Kong (Marshall's lively fictional setting), a petting-zoo is massacred, no creature left alive. The descriptions of hoards of found-dead "dumb chums"--mainly birds--that occur early in the novel, and then again later as the hateful killing spree continues, are of course unpleasant, and I did not enjoy them; but Marshall goes only so far as he needs to go in describing the carnage, and moves on. I just know, however, that for dedicated animal lovers the scenes involving the murderer's work will be more stomach-turning than they may have been for me, and I was quite unsettled m'self.

The author is smart enough to run an over-the-top, supremely humourous subplot (as usual, really), where two of his stable of Yellowthread Street detectives stake out an automated banking machine, favourite spot for a run-and-grab thief who may simply be too fast for anyone to catch--his escape route, after snatching money out of bank patrons' hands, is up a steep hill that gave one pursuing cop a heart attack. Enter Detective Auden, who ends up running several impromptu races against the thief--apparently a cheery Tibetan who eggs on any intrepid pursuit so as to have some strong competition--while bigger and bigger crowds of people watch and wait for free money to be dropped during the action, and Auden's partner, Spencer, acts as "coach" for his fellow detective, but otherwise does nothing constructive. It is, typically, a very funny little subplot, not without its hidden puzzle (Spencer wracks his brain trying to figure out who is making any money out of this, if it ends up flying all over the street!).

There is a third, also successful, subplot: something is haunting the Yellowthread Street squadroom. Strange, frightening noises prompt Detectives O'Yee and Lim (naive greenhorn) to start tearing the place apart to find ghosts, maybe spectres of prisoners who were tortured in the holding cells (now which of these likeable cops would DO such a thing?). I felt sure that the explanation for the "haunting" would not be steeped in the supernatural--as weird as Marshall's incredile police procedurals get, he does not deal in spectres and such--but just when I convinced myself that there were no poltergeists infecting the cops' headquarters, Detective Feiffer, out at the scene of the second, terrible animal slaughter, thinks he sees a ghost, of an old man, sitting
sadly on a bench in the receding mist. Then, the man, or whatever he is, disappears...

Frogmouth is unique, even among other entries in this series. Ultimately, it is a sad, heart-rending story, with a final revelation that did bring a tear to my eye, because of the poor, dead animals, but also because of the pain a person is revealed to be feeling, which would cause him or her to harm so many harmless creatures. Frogmouth has an inherently disturbing plot, but it is hauntingly, powerfully effective.

This is another in the wonderful series of fictional mysteries set in Hong Kong in the last several decades of British rule. The continuing characters, Chief Inspector Harry Feiffer, Christopher O'Yee, and Detectives Auden and Spencer, once again are challenged to a series of baffling crimes. Marshall succeeds in blending the suspenseful with the humorous. "Zany" is the adjective that seems to describe his humor most accurately. In this adventure, someone is using gelignite to blow up citizens of Hong Bay, part of Feiffer et al's beat on Yellowthread Street. A secondary plotline has O'Yee hunting for a stuffed bird on behalf of a wealthy Hong Kong businessman.
I usually give these books 5 stars. However, the labyrinthine explanation at the end of the book went on a little longer than I thought was necessary. But I readily admit that those readers with a LeCarre bent will probably feel right at home.
I know of no other mystery writer who can combine the gruesome with the gross, the horrible with the humorous, and the suspenseful with the silly. I've already started another Marshall mystery, and hope to review it here shortly.

I'll say this--William Marshall's jagged, chopped-up writing style certainly suits what he has chosen for the opening to this splendid whodunit: an early-morning high-speed freeway crash between a massive truck and a van containing four people and a huge load of plate glass. The resultant carnage, as the glass literally explodes, makes clue-finding tough for Inspector Harry Feiffer--and what he does finally discover about the four shredded victims in the mashed and perforated van makes no sense.

The author also runs two subplots, two added puzzles for other star members of his stable of perpetually harried detectives. O'Yee is working the phone at the squadroom, ignoring various crank callers and assorted weirdos, to try and convince a troubled ten-year-old boy to come in and surrender a loaded gun he says he found by a dead body. The child, untrusting, refuses to cooperate, and when O'Yee carefully tries to instruct him on how to re-set the gun's Safety mechanism while he's still in the phone-booth, that's when a third party attacks the boy. Meanwhile, Spencer and Auden stake out the store of an herb-seller, trying to catch a thieving Dalmatian dog. They decide to fight dog with dog, and soon recruit a German Shepherd named Petal to help capture the dishonest canine. But Petal--even when re-named Fang--proves to be a bit of a dreadful incompetent--though Auden never loses faith, and starts having long conversations with Petal. Together, they come up with a daring plan.

This is a superb Yellowthread Street novel, standing up there with the best of them. The main trickery threw me for quite a loop; I was rocked by the solution to what really went on when the two vehicles slammed into each other before dawn. Need I say that all is not as it seems. But Feiffer wrestles with the clues and contradictions, and the truth leads him to confront a dangerous foe in a confusing maze of halls and doors on the top floor of an empty mansion.

If you have been wondering how William Marshall can keep the Yellowthread Street series going with the Hong Kong changeover, this latest entry will answer your question in an entertaining and surprising fashion. Along the way, the author gives us his usual macabre humor, wacky characters, and far-out plot events. The Usual Gang is all here -- Harry Feiffer, Christopher O'Yee, Auden and Spencer -- all struggling with the impending loss of their lifelong jobs and for some, their only home. The actual murder plot is not that tricky to solve, but in Marshall's books, character is what matters most, and he shines in this department once again. He also has a decided knack for tying together threads of the story that you might think are widely disconnected at first. Marshall also always provides terrific details about the world of Hong Kong you probably won't find anywhere else. A satisfying novel, and a fun addition to this long-running and unusual mystery series.

Well, if you have alot of time to waste this book would be great for ya. it's pretty much memoires of Gabrielle Roy. Some of the little stories inside are interesting others you can easily skip.

I found this collection of stories culturally intriguing and found it quite relevant as well to todays world. The sotries intertwine and a complex plot leaves the reader satisfied. If you need action, this may not suit you, but for drama and intrigue, be sure to pick this book up. An excellent example of the excellent Canadian authors from Manitoba!

This book was for me, unputdownable. Partly because I really didn't know that much about Elvis in detail, and was glad to find a recent book with all the updated information on his life and death. This book covers everything, although it seemed that it wanted to show negative things more than positive. I came to the conclusion that it was balanced, but perhaps just a little toward the negative. In the end he was really just a poor kid who didn't know what had hit him when he became an icon and his life a public feeding frenzy. It's revealed that Elvis died of a genetic heart condition, but it really seems more like Colonal Tom Parker killed Elvis by acting as though Elvis was a money making machine. I drew my own conclusions about Elvis a long time ago, however this book helped to understand the man behind the phenomenon and legend that is and always will be, Elvis the King.

Yes, much of this biography has information covered in other books, but this book pulls ALL of that information together into ONE book. Plus,it adds interviews with those who knew Elvis to give a balanced perspective of the King. No, he wasn't an angel, but he wasn't as bad as Albert Goldman's (1980) sensationized bio made him out to be. If you're a fanatical Elvis fan, you will have probably already read most of the books this bio uses. However, if you are just starting out as a "casual" Elvis fan, this is THE book to read to get started knowing about the life of King, from superstar and philanthropist to a poor boy from a dysfunctional family, warts and all. It's a fast, easy read and a book I consider a MUST for all Elvis collectors. The book doesn't hide from Elvis' bizarre side, but also takes a balanced view of his life as the one and only KING of Rock and Roll.

Others have been disappointed that this book doesn't discuss Elvis' music as much as his private life. But note the title! Taken this way, it is one of the best chronologies of his life. I have read. It was interesting to read it after having just read Guralnick's 2 tomes. In fact I was sorry Guralnick didn't have the latest info on Elvis' autopsy and cause of death. It is a great book for "beginners".

I have given several of Marshall's Yellowthread Street Hong Kong police procedurals 5 stars, and deservedly so, for they mix suspense, mystery, and zany humor in wonderful combinations. This time, however, Marshall has strayed into the King-Koontz genre, and has failed---dismally.
As usual, there are three plots, one involving Detective Chief Inspector Feiffer, one with his deputy, Christopher O'Yee, and one with Detectives Phil Auden and Bill Spencer. All 3 threaten the lives of these police officers more than in other Marshall books. But really! Is a bomb going to do away with Auden and Spencer? I doubt it. And is O'Yee going to be murdered by somnambulist thugs? Of course not. And is Feiffer going to die in some supernatural way? No way.
The bomb plot, in particular, is massively overwritten, with the same sub-basement slime, bomb wires, and tension between Auden and Spencer repeated ad nauseum. The O'Yee plot is interesting, but O'Yee's repeated failure to get help---even though help surrounds him outside the police station and below, in the sub-basement---strains credibility.
And as for the supernatural plot, well I'm not of Asian descent, nor have I travelled much in that part of the world, but I don't find it believable at all. A crime wave caused by an eighty-year old man using magical powers is just too much.
I hope Marshall returns from left field in the next Yellowthread Street book I read, for I am fond of his characters and their travails. But this book is only a nightmare.

It is the final weeks of the ninety-nine year lease that Great Britain has had on Hong Kong before it is returned to China. For the Yellowthread Street Police Station, the countdown to the transition has not changed a thing. They are very busy working on various police assignments. ...... Detective Chief Inspector Harry Feiffer dreads his task of uncovering a murderer who scares his victims into ripping their own eyes out of their sockets. Corpses have been found everywhere on the island. Detective Senior Inspector Christopher Kwan O'Yee struggles with a visiting group of six crazed but armed demons, who nonchalantly stick a sharp knife into the law enforcement officer's desk as their calling card. Detective Inspectors Phil Auden and Bill Spencer are trying to unclog the plumbing that must have been put in the building during Confucius' time. However, instead of clearing the line, the pair uncover a World war II aerial bomb that could go off any minute. This is only the beginning of the new day. ...... The sixteenth Yellowthread Street mystery is a humorous police procedural that has a lot of activity going on at the same time (like a real police station would have). Several of the subplots are very interesting and all the Hong Kong law enforcement official are fun to read about. However, a primary story line never surfaces, leaving readers a bit disconnected with the overall humorous mishaps confronting the local Hong Kong police force. Those fans of Mr. Marshall who enjoy his surreal comic writing style will want to read this novel; however those who want a suspense-laden mystery as well should pass on this book and go to one of his previous Ye llowthread tales that combine the sublime with a charged suspenseful mystery. .....Harriet Klausner