Imagine if you will, a death defying situation, earthquakes, evil henchmen chasing you. What do you do? You stand around and tell each other how wonderful you are and how much everyone (the good guys, that is--the bad guys are all unremittingly evil) loves everyone else, especially the main character. I finally decided that I could only read this book as a camp fairy tale--that despite unbelievable odds nothing remotely bad happens to the good guys. Then I guess someone pointed this out to the author, so in a jarring change, the ending takes on a few tinges of reality. The editing allows things like characters supposedly a few hundred miles away popping up in a scene to make a comment. Typos abound. This book feels like a first draft with a cover slapped on it. Read it only if you want a (very) mindless lesbian adventure.

Unlike the first review on this page I found Storm Rising to be a rollicking good adventure story which continued the plot lines from the previous 5 novels by this author. I read Tropical Storm first and enjoyed it so much(and desperately wanting to find out what happened to Delta) I bought this, the sequel. I thoroughly enjoyed them and so, bought the first 4 books. I found the characters to be believable and the plot chock full of action which is how all the books are written. In SR, all the favourites are there sharing the highs and lows in their quest to retrieve Delta from the jungles of Costa Rica. I found reading this book a delight and am eagerly awaiting the next book to find out what happens to the *gang* with the addition of the baby! Oh, and Megan's reaction to Rikki...My rating - Unputdownable!!!!

Storm Rising was an exciting page-turner that serves up plenty of suspense. For those of you who have not read Tropical Storm (by the same author), I would recommend it prior to reading Storm Rising to understand all the intricacies of Linda's latest book. I promise you won't be disappointed in either one. For those of you who have read Tropical Storm, you can finally find out what happens to Delta, Megan, Connie, Sal, Josh and the others. With the help of many of their friends, Connie and Megan go into the rainforest to find Delta. Be prepared to be unwilling to put this book down.

It's awesome!

This story is a beautiful telling of learning to accept ones self emotionally, physically, and sexually. Many of us can relate to the ups and downs of being human, and this story is a must to own, especially for the sensual person who isn't afraid to take a few steps off the beaten path. I can not even guess how many times I have read it, but the binding is barely attached. My desire now is to find out whether or not the story has a sequal. If it doesn't, this is one story that definitely deserves one!!

The Tutor was wonderful fantasy reading for women. There is a great variety of exciting and interesting sensual situations to more than tease the reader and carry her (or him - or them!) to all those places most of us only go in our imaginations.

Rosie has a bit of a self-esteem problem. She thinks she's fat and not at all attractive. Yet she finally managed to dump her jerk of a boyfriend who wasn't helping matters. She then responds to a want ad for a job to catalog a private library of books. The man who hires her has plans for her though... to teach his very shy nephew the ways of sex. Rosie is suddenly thrown into the midst of a very decadent family where she's fair game to the nephew, the man and his wife... even the sexy little masseuse. Rosie also finds her self-esteem in this world, where she's considered beautiful and voluptuous... and she comes to enjoy this lifestyle as well.

I tore this book when I read it. It reads fast and it's wonderful. It's very easy to identify with the main character... I mean who hasn't had a bout of poor self-esteem? Yet she finds acceptance where she is. The erotic bits deliver and will leave you breathless.

I found this book to be way too long (701 pages) with very little information. He wrote about 4 murders but didn't bother with information on 2 of them. It also was a little boring. It should have been way shorter but more informative. not worth reading.

I've read In His Garden well over 10 times! Each time I closed the book feeling there had to been someone helping Tony with the murdering of those girls. I don't think he did it alone. The book was very informative, pictures were a great to familar me with the area of what I was reading about. I will probably read it again next winter! I have referred this book to several of my friends who still search book stores for it. I won't lend mine to anyone. It's too great of an addition to my library.

This book was extremly detailed and graphic.being a cape codder i could not believe there was such horrid crimes being commited The book was soo interesting. I spent many late nights reading it. I even went to the sights they talk about in the book.The book was very informative and very factual.It named the actual places and raods and people on the cape.My only wish is that they talked more about all the other girls that were murdered. There were far more than thirty and only a few were really discussed.

...i lugged this around and liked, at first, looking at the pics -- however this book is not comprehensive in the least to the even slightly curious and adventuresome traveler. this is a tourist guide, not a travelling guide. fyi!

Although I find the large Insight Guides to be useless, the pocket guides have worked VERY well for me in Morocco and in Costa Rica. By being condensed, they choose very interesting itinaries for you.

Vacation photos are the ubiquitous, clichéd chronicle of the average person's travels. Yet few travel books include more than a small smattering of so-so photos, offering only a peek at a destination's sights and environs; even though a great deal of our travel memories and experiences are through images. This book, along with the Insight Guides series in general, is different, offering a comprehensive set of fantastic photos that not only showcase the sights, but bring the details, richness, and life (some gorgeous, some gritty) of Costa Rica closer.

The accompanying text, while a bit uncharacteristic (likely due to editorial consistency), is informative and comprehensive, giving you a great overview of Costa Rica, its history, its people, and places of interest. Its travel information, such as lodgings, appears targeted towards middle-class travelers, although it touches on a wide range of styles and budgets. And when you're ready to plan your itinerary the maps outshine those of any other guide book, and are good enough to use on your trip, even for 90% of the driving most folks are likely to do.

Other guidebooks might offer more in-depth and "insider" information with a particular slant (e.g. the excellent, down-to-earth, and environmentally conscious book by Harry S. Pariser, "Explore Costa Rica") but the Insight Guide should be the first one you buy to "see" where your travels might take you.

It's a good book & great for those who have CD players. BUT it would be great to also offer it on cassette (for those people, like my father, who do not have a CD player, but would LOVE it).

Following up on the one-two punch they delivered in last year's bestselling And the Crowd Goes Wild, Garner and Costas stick to the winning formula: a coffee-table compilation of great moments in sports with a companion two-CD collection of original broadcasts of those events, starring Joe Montana, Mary Lou Retton, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and dozens of other champs.

There are a few muffs -- why use an audio clip from 1956 to illustrate Jackie Robinson's historic 1947 debut with the Dodgers? But there's much more to celebrate, such as Lyell Bremser's call of Johnny Rodgers's 72-yard punt return in Nebraska's 1971 victory over rival Oklahoma: "Holy moly! Man, woman and child, did that put 'em in the aisle!"

A true sports paradise. A great gift combo of book and CD audio delights.

These books are great for sports fans of all ages. The book is narrated really well and the moments highlighted are truly memorable.

I selected this book because it was well reviewed and I wanted to "get to know" Costa Rica before I visited there. Unlike other historical novels I have read about other places before I travelled there, this one failed to give me a sense of place. In fact, I could not finish it.

This is an interesting book; limited to one view of one episode in the development of this unusual part of the world; and a one-dimensional perspective on the Conquistadores; an already badrapped bunch at worst not too much fiercer than what they replaced; there's so few virgins in the world today, if the sacrificial practices in place prior to the Spanish occupation had survived into the present it would impose a critical crimp.

Which is not to overlook the Spaniards' own assassination rites in the form of the Inquisition -

so maybe it all balances out.

Paradise is under assault by Europeans again - and likewise Asians - ravaging the landscape under jungles of honeycomb hutch highrise, and loggers' seeming unending decimation of the rainforests. History repeating? Ongoing examples of human nature the spoiler, down through the ages...

It's likely that ASSAULT ON PARADISE accomplished a heightened focus of attention on Costa Rica. Perhaps A CAT'S FULL NINE, in its fusing of past and present - and its fantasy/fictional Perfect Crime gimmmick - will enlarge upon this effort.

Tatiana Lobo's Assault on Paradise is a deftly crafted exploration of colonial Costa Rica. From Juan de las Alas, who defies the Church and gravity, to Pedro and the child Catarina, the characters have depth and personality. In a story that is engrossing and entertaining, the author sheds light not only on a forgotten corner of colonial Latin America but also on the place of women, Indians, and heretics within it.

This guide seems to be far too subjective rather than factual . My husband and I found it to be incomplete in several key areas. It is not as detailed as several of the other guides on the subject. We have read them all since we live in Costa Rica.

This book not only provides a tremendous amount of valuable information on virtually every aspect of living in Costa Rica, it gives you a true feeling of what it's like to live there. Most other books just provide the information. This one puts it in a perspective that allows you to understand all the nuances of the country and understand truly what living there is like. I especially like the day in the life of the author, where he lists what he does during the day from waking up on.

If you only buy one book, I'd buy this one. The Golden Book is also good, but this is better.

Choose Costa Rica is a wonderful guide for anyone who is looking for a safe, affordable, and enjoyable place to spend one's retirement or to start a business. Particularly helpful is the detailed description of the most interesting and hospitable communities throughout the country. Not only does this book provide a wealth of information about such bread and butter matters as laws, prices, weather, and the like, but it also paints an irresistible picture of the country's natural beauty that draws so many travelers and new residents.

Howells obviously knows his way around and he does a great job of sharing his extensive knowledge with his readers and helping them to understand what is so special about the country. I found it useful as a first-time visitor because of its beneath-the-surface treatment of subjects ignored by the hotel and restaurant guidebooks.

The case studies of people who have gone into business there helped me to think through not only the potentialities, but also the risks and potential hazards of following their examples.

I also appreciated the Web link to a site that keeps you abreast of changes in Costa Rica through frequent updates of the information in the book.

Altogether, I highly recommend Choose Costa Rica to anyone who would like to explore the possibilities "the Switzerland of the Americas" offers, either in a new career or after retirement.

As far as Bay Area hiking books go, this is the best one I have for the East Bay. However, it is not my *favorite* hiking book. There are a lot of parks & trails that you just won't find in regular Bay Area hiking books. I like that. BUT, I found the trail descriptions long winded & sometimes confusing. What I often do with hikes from this book is find the park & get a real map to sort out my route before I leave my car. Then I leave the book in the car. I just use it as a sort of pre-hike guideline for mileage & scenery, etc.

I'm glad I picked this up. It got me motivated to get out and enjoy the stunning beauty of the East Bay. The book has only a general description of the plant and animal life you would expect to see, so if you're into that you may want to bring an Audubon guide along for more detail. I only wish he was more descriptive about the steepness of some of these trails!

I'm really enjoying this book. I've been hiking in the east bay for long enough that I was in something of a rut and this book is really breaking me out of it. It has good coverage of the area, with one or two good trails per park instead of concentrating in any given area. The hikes are mostly loops, and the distances and difficulty measurements are more realistic than some of these books where the author seems to be trying to show how tough they are. The trail descriptions are actually interesting and there are nice maps, again unlike most hiking books.

A taut thriller set during Spain's hosting of the 1982 World Cup. Former ETA Basque terrorists own a hotel outside Barcelona where the Polish team is staying. One of them, Carlos, has allowed two fugitive terrorists to hide out on the grounds without telling his compatriots. The tension gradually mounts as the police close in, others at the hotel find out, and relationships get tangled and tense until the stunning denouement. What raises the book above the level your average thriller is the author's brilliance at getting inside Carlos's head to illuminate his ambivalence about his former activities and current allegiances, as well as his relationships to his dead mentor and mad brother. Gripping book, would make a very interesting film in the right hands.

This book starts quite slowly and during the first half I wondered if it was going anywhere, but I stuck with it and was rewarded with an exciting second half. Most of the action takes place not on the football field but in Carlos's extraordinary head: it is inhabited by his paranoias, lusts, dreams and memories of his homeland ...and by a series of loud voices alternately mocking, warning and advising him. These battles in his head are intense, compelling and convincing - they are the book's greatest strength. The book's other arena, the one outside the protagonist's head is also small - a few acres in and around a hotel - everything is tight, tense and claustrophobic. Although football is only a backdrop, anybody who loves the game will enjoy the way the author integrates the Polish team and the 1982 World Cup into his narrative. One may stop to wonder about a sympathetic central character who is a vain, womanising terrorist, kidnapper and murderer, but Atxaga is - like Greene and Dostoevsky - clever enough to make us side with his villain in the psychological battle with the chief police officer. Because the author made me care about Carlos, I found the last 50 pages very tense and the book hard to put down.

This novel takes the form of a thriller but it is really a psychological portrait of the main protagonist, "Carlos", who is alienated from his revolutionary past and also from those around him because of his revolutionary past. Set outside Barcelona during the 1982 World Cup, in the Polish team's hotel, the drama centres on Carlos's attempt to free two ETA fugitives who the organization has persuaded him to hide before the police (disguised as a TV crew) find their bolt-hole. But this is really just a backdrop for Carlos's interrogation of his revolutionary past via his memories of his long-dead ETA mentor, his mad brother and his own cynical bad conscience. This novel brims with ideas (there is an interesting sub-theme about vanity and the importance of ornamentation and decoration to people). A prolonged meditation on how experience and (lost) committment can isolate and distance a person from others.

this seems to be a thourough map,only one problem it does not have a city or town index....they are listed on the map but you have to look a bit to find them which kinda sux if your not sure of the general area

I traveled many times in Costa Rica and this one is the most accurate and detailed map I found. Much better than the awful Tourist map they give you when renting a car.

It's also shaded with mountains, very useful to estimate travel time. Even the smallest villages & roads are on it. Thumbs up!