I enjoyed reading this book. I am a self-help guru, and love reading books that enhance my spirituality and life goals. This did both. Although it was a little light on the scripture and biblical references, the casual lighthearted stories made for good reading. The illustrations used always suited their purpose and really stuck with me. This is definitely a good book that gives the reader hope for a better life and motivates them to get off their butts and do something! This one will stay on the shelf.

I read "Purposeful Life," and thought it was great. I've never written an on-line review before, but was so incensed at the dismissal in the Publisher's Weekly review cited on this page that I had to say something. I don't think the reviewer did much more than skim it, or if they did read it, maybe they had an axe to grind because of the overtly Christian content. This is a life-changing book for anyone who reads it. The stories are plentiful, but help to flesh out what a purposeful life looks like. Simple? Yes. Simplistic? No. So when White says to go by your values, it isn't just a trite phrase, but is part of a lengthy conversation on how easy it is to miss out on doing just that! PW missed it on this one. Get it, read it, enjoy it.

First I went to see the movie and maybe that's why I found this book has a lack of concise story. First I want to give this book 3 stars but since I start to read his second Alex Cross novel 'Kiss the girls' I found that James Patteson is one of the greatest mystery novelist. The plot is good and reasonable, it has unexpected twists but in the middle of the book after kidnaping, it seemed as Patterson didn't know how to continue the idea he has started with. So there is like 100 an plus pages you can easily skip, but the ending is unexpected and really surprising. It's just somehow irritating as suspense novel is everything but taut in the place where you want to let your dog starve for a day and your finacee is waiting for a ball game just for you, but you are in your own universe. The serial kidnaper is an intelegent person and so the hero needs to be, so this is a good premise which run well in the novel. As it's his first novel, you can see that character of Alex Cross isn't build-up very well yet, so sometimes the hero reacts or behave in out-of-logic manner and in some parts of the book he's not so belivable. Story is well buid, there is enough of suspense and unusual twists. Still, worth of your time and money, just to introduce yourself to the 1st part of great mystery travel to Crossland.

This book flies. I had just read a couple of books that I thought were pretty lame and needed something fast and exciting. A woman I work with recommended James Patterson to me. I did a little research and found that this book is the first in a series for fictional detective Alex Cross. (I hate to read a series out of order, even if the stories are independent and don't continue from book to book.) Along Came A Spider is a perfect "fun" read. It moves at a very rapid pace. (The chapters are usually just a few pages.) It has pretty well developed characters considering its quick pace and more plot twists than you'll ever anticipate. Just when the romance element in the book started to bore me Patterson turns it on its ear. Another thing that makes this book so good is that despite the surprising plot twists everything is fairly believable within the context of the story. I read a lot of mystery/suspense and one of my biggest complaints is that I'll get really into a book and the climax will be totally ridiculous. You know, the killer will turn out to be the sister of the girl that was accidentally drown in the rich family's pool the night of the prom thirty-five years before but nobody recognizes her because she's a master of disguise or whatever! Along Came A Spider has none of that. It's consistent, quick and exciting! Read it!

I enjoyed this book, the first of Patterson's Alex Cross stories. The book was very exciting and well written about a psychopath who kidnaps and kills people. The story begins with the character who is the crazy guy, Gary Soneji/Murphy who has multiple severe personality disorders along with being a complete nut-case due to his terrible childhood. Gary Soneji/Murphy plays a school teacher at a day-school for rich kids when his intent is really to kidnap and kill the Dunne/Goldberg children. And finally, one day he lured the children into his van and kidnaps them, drugging one and eventually killing the other child. This kidnapping has the whole DC area up in arms, and Alex Cross works day and night to capture Soneji/Murphy, but he doesn't do that until he kills a few more people in different places. His whole game throughout the book is that he "Wants to be Somebody." He is the master of killing, and he enjoys the game.

Alex Cross trys to help all he can, and he gets inside Soneji/Murphy's head and gets him to tell him all of his horrible little secrets after Soneji gets captured the first time and put into prison. Later though, Soneji escapes from prison and causes more problems. More than just Soneji/Murphy though, is an accomplice. Alex fell in love with a female detective on his team, not realizing that she is actually the one behind more of these problems with the kidnappings and knows the answers to what happened with the children.

Cross puts the puzzle all together, and the book is very fast moving and keeps you guessing what will happen next!

The God who justifies, by James White, is an excellent study on the doctrine of justification.

Really, the book can be divided into two main sections. The first section (which is about a third of the book) preaches the doctrine of justification. I found it powerful and convicting. He emphasized over and over again that this doctrine cannot be appreciated unless it is set against the backdrop of our sinfulness and God's absolute holiness. He is right.

The second section is a defense of what he preached. It is an exegetical commentary of the most relevant sections in Scripture (Romans, Galatians, James, etc.) pertaining to the topic at hand. He does an excellent job doing just that. It is not discursive and it is not shallow. Rather, it is focused and scholarly. And I appreciated the frequent quoting and interaction with various theologians.

I think that Roman Catholic readers will be challenged by this work. And because Dr. White is such a well known apologist against Roman Catholicism one can expect this book to be the focus of some debate. I think his format and approach will lend itself towards constructive dialogue, in that Dr. White does not resort to emotional outbursts nor unguarded statements. Also, the tone that has been set is good in that it encourages rigorous study of the Word of God and not counter rebuttals to what someone else has said in previous pieces of literature. You don't get bogged down.

One complaint that I want to register here is his failure to discuss the relationship between being justified by God and the function of warning passages. How is it that a justified saint can be told to continue in the faith or else face condemnation- or face the potentiality for condemnation at all (1 Cor. 11:32)? This issue is not discussed. For this reason I reduced the rating one star. This issue is a very important thought that needs to be explored, but wasn't.

All in all though, for the price, it is something to own and read and consider carefully.

Like Jay Adams, who reviewed this book, stated, "In lost sleep over this book."
Once again, James R White delivers us an incredible examination of theology, this time with treatment towards the doctrine of justification.
From almost the start I found myself exploring and ruminating on what Dr. White was saying. The exploration into the depravity of man ("Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God") and why justification ~must~ be forensic broke me a thousand times over, and preached the Gospel to my heart anew. From beginning to end, we see sound Biblical exegesis, and a heart and passion for the truth from this great man of God.
I have been recommending this book to just about everyone who would listen, and do so here. If you buy no other book this year, get The God Who Justifies.

James White's work is definitely the best treatment on this subject I've read in a long time. It is indeed two books in one. The first part is an explanation of the evangelical doctrine and its importance. The second part is thorough exegesis of relevant passages.

James White, in the first part, has hit the nail on the head with this issue. Error on this doctrine is an extension of another doctrine. When we misunderstand the holiness of God (please, please read the Sproul book of the same name), we misunderstand how to get right with God. That's what justification is about. How we get right with God. When we understand God is holy, we understand that He must judge sin. We understand that God He can't overlook our bad deeds. Then we should realize that good deeds won't overcome our past bad deeds, since we already owe God good deeds. I won't keep going on this tangent. Suffice it to say, that this is the key issue to understand which undergirds the rest of the issue.

The second part of the book capitalizes on James White's strength, very complete exegesis. He does not have the space to do this for every passage that pertains to the topic, Acts of the Apostles and the four Gospels have been left out for instance. However, a lot of Romans and James 2 are in there. They are the main passages that pertain to this topic. White clearly shows that justification by faith alone is taught by Paul. He touches on "works of the law." I've seen better James 2 commentaries (Matthew Henry comes to mind), but White does a very good job. The second part is a lot like his treatment of John 1 in "the Forgotten Trinity." He will use a lot of Greek. I do not know coine Greek, but I was able to follow along quite well. He discusses any issues with textual variants along the way. This is a most rewarding treatment of Scriptures!

All in all, it is an excellent resource. Once I got to the second section, I started using it as a Bible study. You would go through a section of Scripture, and then James White would be your commentator.

I knew James Dickey at the University of South Carlolina, and I later spent 14 years living in the interior of Alaska. His last novel is a stunning achievement, missed utterly by anyone hoping for "Hogan's Heroes." Critics who wrote at the time that the protagonist is "a sick puppy" were probably also offended by the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan." If you want standard Hollywood, and you buy Dickey, you will be disappointed.

To be a hunter, keen and alert, raised to know the life of the wild and the ways of the hunted, and then to be placed, as Muldrow was, into a world of aliens, each one a hunter, and to have all the usual means of becoming inconspicuous stripped away: that is the story. That was Muldrow's lot; what exactly was he supposed to do?

No one who hates this book can admit to even a vestigial smidgen of the feral in mankind. Dickey's unlikely and unwilling hero had it, and so when he appears to be camouflaged at the book's end, he really is: no one in the crowd who sees him understands what he is seeing--and that includes some readers.

I had the rare honor of a long telephone conversation with James Dickey 12 months before his untimely death. We talked about "To the White Sea" and the novel I was working on "Greif". James was busy writing the screen play for the novel, which I hope his daughter will finish. When I first read it I was sucked in, shocked, stomped and emotionaly drained. Here we have a novel written in the first person which is essentially some of Dickey's best poetry. At the same time Dickey places the reader squarely into the mind of a serial killer (Muldrow) who has the entire Japanese Home Army tracking him down. They are faced with "Muldrow's" ultimate camouflage! Himself! A wild human being hunting other human beings with absolutely no conscience or feeling for his victims. The reader will, at first, cheer on Muldrow! But as Dickey begins to work on your mind, you feel a chill up your back as he takes you on a wild ride that seems to have no end. I discribed my experiences in Alaska exploring the Brooks Range to Dickey, who merely chuckled. I had the impression this consummate Southern Gentleman had an unreal grasp of those desolate wind swept and COLD plains. COLD IS THE WORD THAT BEST DESCRIBES 'TO THE WHITE SEA'.

This is one of the leanest stories I've ever read about such a complex character. The central conflict is simple and immediate and it doesn't let up until the very last sentence of the book. Dickey's prose is lyrical and captures the mind's eye better than any action/adventure novel I've found. There's virtually no dialogue as Dickey focuses on action, page by page, revealing the protagonist's nature along the way. You'll read this book in a matter of days if not hours.

I found To the White Sea to be better than Deliverance - the book Dickey will always be remembered for. It's both fitting and sad that Dickey's last book was his greatest.

If you're looking for another "Dune", be warned: This book takes place on Earth, albiet an Earth that is about to go through some huge changes.

Our story opens with the death of the wife and children of brilliant biochemical researcher John O'Neill at the hands of terrorists. O'Neil is driven mad with grief and unleashes a biochemically engineered plague on the world, one that is 100% fatal to women.

While not Herbert's best book, it is still fantastic. Frank paints a horrific picture of governments racing first against each other to be the first to find a cure, and soon realilsing that a cure will only come with cooperation. Each country deals with the plague differently and the sweep of the story stretches around the world and back to the beginning as O'Neil admires his handiwork.

The story is quite action driven for a Herbert book. With most women dying off, the planet soon becomes unrecognizable. Will a cure be found in time? What form will it take? How will humanity survive? Herbert's trademark philosophical ruminations are there, just below the surface for plucking if you're interested. I will say, though, that the irony of thousand-year-old cultures having to re-write themselves overnight in the name of survival wasn't lost on me.

Even more tantalizing is the ending which will leave you wondering what will happen next. Not that there's a cliffhanger, but the world is so different you imagine a sequal would have done very well.

This is a really good book. It may drag a bit in spots and some of the science involved is a bit dated, but it is still very enjoyable. There's something wrong when a book as good as this one written by a author as popular as Herbert is out of print. Surely there must be some publishing company out there willing to cash in on the writings of a man whose works have been brought to the screen twice (soon to be three times, with "Children of Dune"). Anyone?

Until that happens, pick up a copy at a used bookstore. You won't regret it.

Herbert weaves a wonderfully chilling tale of loss and revenge in this biotech centered sci-fi offering.

In the book, the main character (a molecular biologist) loses his wife to a random terrorist bombing in Ireland. Fed up with the endless violence and loss of innocent life due to chronic IRA-British conflicts in Ireland, the scientist uses methods of genetic engineering to develop a virus that he plans to release in Ireland. He sends notice to the world of his intentions, and releases the virus.

The virus kills only women. Ireland is devastated, but, of course, the virus escapes and the white plague becomes a pandemic.

The technology certainly exists to develop genetically engineered viral vectors (i.e., viruses that carry genetically engineered DNA or RNA). Is such a plague possible? Technically, yes. That's what makes the tale so chilling.

The spread of the disease in the book and efforts to protect uninfected women are described as effort after effort to stop the virus fail.

This is great summer time reading for anyone who enjoys techno-sci-fi books. The story line is convincing, the scientific premises of the book are within the reach of feasibility, and the potential consequences of such an act are mind boggling.

Please re-issue this book. There are certainly people out there who would enjoy it.

5 stars!

Alan Holyoak

It is tremendously frightening that this might someday soon become a book for our times. A molecular biologist watches from a building window as his wife and two daughters get blown to bits during a terrorist bombing on the street below. This triggers a vengeful madness that culminates in his developing a disease and infecting those he sees as responsible: The countries of Ireland, Libya, and England.

I have met many Frank Herbert fans online, especially on usenet. There is some argument as to what is Herbert's greatest work. Many who have never read the White Plague insist that nothing could top Dune. Many who have read Dune insist that The White Plague is his crowning achievement.

I leave it to you to decide.

Dave Klein's as bad as it gets. B&E's, beatings, murders, erotic fixations on siblings, even slum-lording.

He's a cop.

And he's the main man in James Ellroy's WHITE JAZZ, an new-fashioned pulp tale juiced on speed.

Ellroy's become famous for crackerjack plots, in-your-face bad cops, political backroom boys willing to deal, and a threadbare style north of Hemingway. All these elements are present in WHITE JAZZ.

It's a fast read--sort of like flying through LA at 80 miles per hour (you catch a glimpse of things sailing by, but you never see enough of any one thing to truly take it in). If anything, this is the major problem with the book: you get hyped images but you never slow down long enough to see the view (Klein himself is a bag of unpleasant characteristics, never quite jelling into a character).

This is due to the slash-and-burn style Ellroy deploys here. A master of whip-sharp declarative sentences, in JAZZ Ellroy pares down past the bone into the marrow; the result is often amusingly blunt, but in spots, confusing. The fleshing out of characters is a casualty of the style; sentence fragments do not a human make.

The plot, too, is a bit much. Though it's probably based on actual events, Ellroy might take heed of Tom Clancy's view of fiction vs. reality: "Fiction has to make sense." In JAZZ, every law-enforcement agency is so out of control, credibility is broken about halfway through; the best way to enjoy the second part of the book is to imagine it as a satire.

This is not to say there aren't good things in it. It's never boring, and there are some memorably twisted motivations among the bruises and gore. The final chapter is stinging and almost laugh-out-loud funny.

On the whole, though, it's not a work worthy of the author of AMERICAN TABLOID.

Dig: Every book in the L.A. Quartet is a must. Every one of them. Feature you read just one or start in the middle, you're a chump. White Jazz - a great closer. Can't miss.

After reading the first three novels in the series, I was reluctant to read White Jazz. I was scared off hearing so much about Ellroy's deepening usage of staccato prose and unattributed dialogue. I was led to believe the book was almost written in an experimental language. Well, I am writing this review for one purpose: to keep people from being fearful of this amazing book. If you like Ellroy, and if you've enjoyed the quartet thus far, you'll love it.

Is White Jazz my favorite in the series? No. I still prefer L.A. Confidential, followed by The Big Nowhere. But White Jazz is much more evolved than The Black Dahlia. And as brutal and dark as it is, White Jazz has more laughs than all the other quartet novels combined. While the novel's halting presentation doesn't allow you to roll through the pages, that's almost a blessing, because every line is dense with nuance and information. You want to pay attention.

I absolutely recommend reading the series in order, and if you're through L.A. Confidential, you simply must complete the quartet. White Jazz strikes the perfect notes in capping the series, and ties up a few ends along the way. It is beautiful, savage, powerful and stunning.

Feature it's more challenging than a Grisham book. Feature that's a good thing. Dig: No big deal. Don't get scared off. Brass knucks/brain swelling/reading in bed. Big fun - big reward. CRAAAAZY.

White Jazz: novel, long, odd.

James Ellroy: author. Turns out a good sentence. Knows his stuff. Tough. Uncompromising. Not afraid of risks.

Style: Unusual. Off-putting. Jangled. Nervy. Hard to follow. Worth the trouble.

Dudley Smith: Ellroy's signature character. Evil. Obscene. Brutal. Good to see him again.

Problems: Confusing. Often. Get. Lost. In. Stacatto. Prose.

Plusses: Stream of Consciousness choice inspired. Gets in mind of Dave Klein. Doesn't judge him. Lets us into his world.

Overall: Don't miss. L.A. Confidential - Big Nowhere - Black Dahlia - White Jazz. Terrific. All.

The arrival on bookshelves of anything written by James Lee Burke is a reason for celebration in my household-- as well it should be, for the man is arguably the finest living craftsman of eloquent prose in America today. At my own book signings, my oft-repeated line is that I'd read a phone book written by James Lee Burke.

But I have to confess, I hesitated before taking home a copy of WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING, Burke's most recent release. After all, it features neither Dave Robicheaux nor Billy Bob Holland; it is not a reprinting of what I consider Burke's Golden Age of fiction, the stuff he wrote in the 1960s (which still staggers, with its literary mastery) before disappearing for almost two decades.

WHITE DOVES is, rather, a Civil War novel-- not surprising, in a way, to any reader of Burke's other fiction. His fascination with both combat in general and the Civil War in particular is evident in much of his writing. Nonetheless, for the reader eagerly awaiting the next return of Streak or Billy Bob, the thought of instead plunging into a... historical novel? ...might give pause to even the most ardent James Lee Burke fan.

It shouldn't. Within a half-dozen pages, it is evident that the master is in rare form here. Burke's lyrical, evocative prose quickly sweeps the reader into a story that is impossible to put down.

It helps that much of the setting is familiar ground: Burke's beloved Louisiana bayou country, specifically the New Iberia of 1861 - 65. The smells and sounds of what will, in a century or so, be Dave Robicheaux country, will be immediately recognized by any Burke aficionado-- a timeless land of live oaks, hanging air vines and mosquitoes buzzing in the marshland shadows.

It also helps that many of the character names we've become accustomed to in the Robicheaux chronicles are also present-- this time, as living characters who flesh out the fables and anecdotes and events that later will be passed down to Dave Robicheaux and from him, to we readers. We meet the Negro freeman and slave owner Jubal Labiche, whose skin color will make no difference to the soon-to-be-invading Yankees. We meet brothel owner Carrie LaRose and her brother, the brawling, pirate-minded Jean-Jacques LaRose, both shrewd Cajun entrepreneurs who deal in contraband and live by their own rough code of ethics. We meet Ira Jamison, whose sprawling Angola Plantation will later become Angola State Penitentiary.

And while we do, we realize that we already know their descendants, themselves familiar from the Burke/Robicheaux series: the twin Labiche daughters of another generation, one of whom will be executed for the murder of her molester; the LaRose descendant, elected Louisiana governor only to die in a last effort to save his doomed wife in a pyre that was the LaRose mansion; even the Angola Prison which is so often plays a key dark role in Burke's Robicheaux tales.

It is a masterful device, this intermingling of our recollections from other novels and other storylines, that in less capable hands could have failed miserably. But Burke handles it with ease, even to the point of centering the story on his own ancestor, one Willie Burke.

If there is any flaw in WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING, it is the distinctly too-abrupt conclusion with which Burke has provided us as an epilogue. Here, in a departure from the seductive rhythms, eloquence and rich characterization which Burke uses elsewhere so well, the author merely ticks off, one by one, a digest of the ultimate fates of the characters. It is a decidedly less-than-satisfactory conclusion for the reader; worse, it does a disservice to the characters in this novel. Burke's skill has turned them into living people about whom we now care, and whom he appears now to casually discard.

And it is in this sole failing that WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING gives every James Lee Burke fan a reason for optimism.

We want more than Burke's closing has left us-- far more than the brief, tantalizing, much too incomplete information on the balance of these characters, these lives. We want the author to take us back: back to antebellum New Iberia, back to these characters, back to this compelling chronicle of a time and a place that he has drawn so well.

I don't know if WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING was intended as the first in a new, ongoing series; given the amazing talent that is James Lee Burke, I can only hope so.

Earl Merkel

The rare winner of two Edgar Awards for best crime fiction of the year, James Lee Burke is the author of 21 previous novels including Jolie Blon's Bounce, Bitterroot, Purple Cane Road, In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead, and Black Cherry Blues, and a collection of short stories. He lives with his wife in Missoula, Mont., and New Iberia, La.

Burke is best known for his novels (11 installments) about Dave Robicheaux, a psychologically scarred homicide investigator for the New Iberia, La., sheriff's department. A recovering alcoholic, this moody and broody Cajun cop battles his own demons while apprehending evildoers.

The Dave Robicheaux series and the newer Billy Bob Holland series have garnered glowing accolades for James Lee Burke: "the poet of the mystery novel," "the Graham Greene of the bayou," "Eudora Welty crossed with Conan Doyle, William Faulkner crossed with Elmore Leonard," and "the Faulkner of crime fiction."

Burke's latest novel is a departure from the crime genre. Set during "the greatest epoch in American history," the Civil War, White Doves at Morning is a historical novel that depicts the first day of the bloody battle of Shiloh, at Pittsburg Landing near Savannah, Tenn.

With sweeping brushstrokes, Burke paints vivid pictures of the firestorm near Shiloh church ("the place of peace"); the peach orchard, where peach blossoms, cut by minie balls, fell like snow; the desperation at Bloody Pond; and the furious charges along a sunken road, at a hot spot known as the Hornet's Nest.

The author also brilliantly delineates the arrogance of power, pride, and prejudice on the home front in places such as New Iberia and New Orleans, La. In Chap. 10, Burke writes, "Willie wondered why those who wrote about war concentrated on battles and seldom studied the edges of grand events and the detritus that wars created."

The battle of Shiloh looms large in this story, but the author's main concern is to describe the effects of the Civil War on "the peculiar institution" of slavery, and the flotsam and jetsam created in the war's wake.

In one were asked to cite a quotation for the frontispiece of this book, it would be from the Pentateuch: "The sins of the fathers are visited upon their children unto the third and fourth generations" (Exodus 20:5).

As usual, Burke creates colorful characters and superb dialogue. By employing all the five senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling), he paints a graphic tableau of time and place.

Some of the main characters are: Willie Burke, who enlists in the 18th Louisiana from duty rather than conviction in the correctness of the cause; Ira Jamison, owner of Angola Plantation and the largest slave owner in the state; the archvillain Rufus Atkins, Jamison's white trash henchman; the beautiful slave girl Flower Jamison, Ira Jamison's illegitimate daughter whom Willie Burke teaches to read; Abigail Dowling, a Yankee abolitionist from Mass., who risks her life freeing slaves via the Underground Railroad; and Carrie LaRose, owner of New Iberia's only bordello.

There is a cameo appearance by "that devil" Nathan Bedford Forrest, slave trader in Memphis, scourge of Union troops, and, in the Reconstruction Era, night rider in the Ku Klux Klan.

The conclusion of the novel seems abrupt: an Epilogue attempts to tie the loose ends together. I shall not reveal the name of the following tragic figure, but his fate is a good example of the poet's words: "The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small."

Here is the passage from the Epilogue: "After a while his business associates were bothered by an odor the nostrums and perfumes he poured inside his gloves could not disguise. The lesions on his hands spread to his neck and face, until all his skin from his shirt collar to his hairline were covered with bulbous nodules. His disfigurement was such that he had to wear a hood over his head in public. His businesses failed and his lands were seized for payment of his debts. When ordered confined to a leper colony by the court, he fled the state to Florida, where he died in an insane asylum."

Although White Doves at Morning is atypical of Burke's usual work, the quality of his writing maintains its same high standard and engaging style. James Lee Burke is one of the best authors on the contemporary scene.

Roy E. Perry of Nolensville is an amateur philosopher, Civil War buff, classical music lover, chess enthusiast, and aficionado of fine literature. By trade he is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville Publishing House.

NOTE: The title of this book is taken from a doleful song sung during the Civil War, and, specifically, on the eve of the battle of Shiloh: "White doves come at morning / Where my soldier sleeps in the ground. / I place my ring in his coffin, / The trees o'er his grave have all turned brown."

The creator of David Robiceaux and Billy Bob Holland returns to historical fiction in a work set in Civil War-era Louisiana.

James Lee Burke has reached that stage where his name has become synonymous with his most successful literary creation --- David Robiceaux. Burke's Robiceaux novels have now spawned imitators and fans eagerly await the next installment in the series. In some instances, these fans become bitterly disappointed when a work bearing Burke's name on the spine does not contain a Robiceaux story therein. The series is so engrossing and well done that it is easy to forget that Burke's earliest writing dealt with other, occasionally historical, plots. In WHITE DOVES AT MORNING, he returns to that genre.

WHITE DOVES AT MORNING is a stand-alone novel, thus giving Burke freedom with his characters that he does not entirely have with the Robiceaux books or the Billy Bob Holland novels. One reads WHITE DOVES AT MORNING with no expectations other than that there will be a well-told, engrossing story. Burke has taken this freedom and run with it and, in the process, has created what might well be his finest work to date.

WHITE DOVES AT MORNING is set primarily in rural Louisiana during the Civil War and early Reconstruction. The primary characters are, as we are told, on the inside front cover, ancestors of Burke, though it is not immediately clear how much of the tale told within is family lore and how much is torn from the whole cloth of Burke's imagination. There is in all probability a healthy mix of both. Despite the change in subject matter, Burke continues the theme that runs through the Robiceaux novels --- that the rich are evil and can only transcend their circumstance with a healthy dose of guilt. This worldview, alas, is wearing rapidly thin --- there is no inherent evil in wealth, any more than there is a particular inherent nobility in poverty --- and Burke's incessant dwelling on the premise almost distracts from the beauty of his writing. Similarly, his presentation of the cause of the Civil War --- that it was fought over the issue of slavery --- is worse than simplistic; it is simply incorrect. The magnitude and beauty of Burke's writing, however, is such that one can easily suspend disbelief when encountering these issues and appreciate the beauty of this work.

The beauty and contrast within WHITE DOVES AT MORNING lie primarily in its characters. Robert Perry and Willie Burke, despite their disparities of background and opinion, join the Confederate Army while not sacrificing their principles, as well as their commitment to Abigail Dowling, a Massachusetts abolitionist who had come to Louisiana several years previously to aid in the battle against yellow fever. Burke also forms a friendship, unlikely for that time and place, with Flower Jamison, a beautiful young slave who is owned by Ira Jamison, owner of Angola Plantation and, though he refuses to admit it, Flower's father. Burke secretly teaches Flower how to read and write, an act that places both of them in danger. Flower becomes the catalyst from which much of WHITE DOVES AT MORNING proceeds. She finds herself the object of desire of Rufus Adkins, the overseer of her father's plantation and a source of unspeakable evil. Adkins and Burke, cast together in combat during the Civil War, are uneasy comrades. They wear the same uniform, but are by no means on the same side.

It is this conflict, woven throughout WHITE DOVES AT MORNING, that is the ultimate manifestation of Burke's ability to present through implication the complexity of relationships against a backdrop of social and moral difficulty. There are also passages here which bring to mind some of the best work of Cormac McCarthy, particularly when the author describes the horror of battle and its physical and emotional aftermath. The end of the war, however, does not herald the end of the terror. Burke, Flower, and Dowling find themselves caught between the conquering army of the North and the dreaded night riders --- the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia of which Adkins, ever the lowest common denominator opportunist, is a member.

WHITE DOVES AT MORNING ultimately demonstrates the rippling effect that an act of bravery and simple kindness --- in this instance, Burke's instruction to Flower in reading and writing --- can have upon people over time. Fans of Robiceaux who eschew this work simply because their favorite Cajun detective is not its prominent feature will only cheat themselves. At the same time, those who are unfamiliar with Burke's work will find WHITE DOVES AT MORNING far more than an introduction to a new author. This work, in time, will perhaps become the most highly regarded of all of Burke's efforts.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

A very in-depth book, however if you're really interested in details about James Taylor's thoughts, reasonings, actions or detailed accounts surrounding his career, you won't find a ton of it hear. The book is over 300 pages but you could probably knock it down to about 50 pages that actually talk about James. Perhaps the author just couldn't get enough out of the private james taylor. Instead of finding out what went on in the early days with respect to his career, music and interpersonal relationships, we get pages and pages of family history and backgrounds of other people or events. The author gives more information about his friends than about james. Just when you think you're getting to a portion in the book that's revealing, the author sums it up in a page. We hear about his songs including vocals by other artists like Jimmy Buffet or Keith Richards - why not expand on thier relationship a bit? He was married to Carly Simon for many years but not much is learned about their life together and the effects they had on each other.

All of this said, the details on the family history and make up does help put a frame around his life. Just don't think you're going to come away with a lot of interesting tales about his thoughts or actions other than some descriptions as to what the songs meant and brief descriptions of certain periods of time.

If I wasn't such a huge fan I never would have finished it.

It's interesting how closely Timothy White's eclectic interests mirror my own. I've read his books on Bob Marley, Brian Wilson, and now James Taylor (plus his book ROCK STARS, which has the best interview ever with Pete Townshend). They are easily the best books on each of these artists and I always learn far more about the men and the cultures from which they came than I thought I would. It's sad that White died so young this year; his work will be missed.

This book on Taylor tells the whole story of JT's life and career, with respect but with few punches pulled. The input of James himself, plus family and friends helps flesh out the portrait. JT's important but often neglected place in the pantheon of popular music is firmly established here. I could have done with a little less of the 400 years of Taylor family history, but it does add an interesting background to the story. Highly recommended.

Veteran biography buffs want the interior life of the main persons in a serious book to come alive. This story makes use of family letters in a way that is special. To read what the mother and father felt, and what the children were actually thinking during important times was very emotional to learn, and the author's understandng of these kind of documents was brilliant. You don't always see qualities like this in rock stories, and it hit hard. Great job. Also, I noticed a comment by a reviewer about Gene Pitney's "Liberty Valance" song. As a Pitney fan, I should point out the guy is incorrect. Because Pitney worked on the song in 1962 while John Ford was still filming "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," and it was in fact the themesong too, but as Ford experts know, the film came out before the song was done. The song still was successful the same year, and helped the movie, too. The things about the Livingston Taylor song in the book are also right in the book. I think the author was saying Livingston included that same song in his last album of the century because it meant something to him to look back again. For me, to read the book and not praise the use of the letters is strange. It's a really cool book.

James White has done a excellent job covering the subject. He is thorough in providing manuscript evidence, yet readable enough for the average layman. Instead of resorting to name-calling and circular reasoning, White lets history and the manuscript evidence speak for themselves. Especially insightful is his chapter on the deity of Christ ("The Son of God, the Lord of Glory"), which decidedly proves there is no conspiracy by modern translators to denegrate our Lord Jesus Christ. Even if you do not come away agreeing with every conclusion, you will understand why modern translations read the way they do. The modern conservative versions are not "New Age", but sincere attempts to come closer to God's truth.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who is trying to resolve this issue for themselves, or to someone seeking material to present to a Sunday School class or Bible study.

This book is as thorough as could be possible in presenting its case. Since some have overtly slandered the author (James White), let me tell you what this book does NOT do. It does not tell people that the King James Version (KJV) is evil or that it should not be used. There are numerous places where Mr. White recommends using various translations (including KJV) to ascertain the exact meaning of a particular Biblical passage. The purpose of this book is to refute those people who would claim that the KJV is the only true word of God. Let me say Mr. White goes above and beyond in proving his case. Unfortunately, most of those who disagree will not read this book with an open heart and mind.

White covers basic manuscript and textual issues. He then gives some excellent background info regarding the making of the KJV. He also covers the numerous passages that "KJV only" advocates use in their arguments. After reading this book, I can not fathom how anyone could believe that the KJV is the only valid Bible translation.

Gracious response to a needless controversy in modern evangelicalism. Only Carson's book, "The King James Version Debate" comes close to White's title.

Very helpful and insightful responses to "proofs" of the KVJ position.

"James White "debated" Gail Riplinger [the person who spawned the KVJ-only fad] on two radio programs in Phoenix in 1994. Later, Riplinger refused to do further programs against James, calling him a "rude, crude heretic." In fact, Gail Riplinger won't do any radio debates at all against anyone anymore..." Get this book to find out why Riplinger must back down.

Wasn't Erasmus criticized for altering the "holy" Latin Vulgate? And wasn't Jerome reprimanded by some for translating the Greek into the latin (which later became the Latin Vulgate, which in turn was a primary source for the KJV translators)?

Makes you wonder how Chinese people learn the Gospel doesn't it...oh, yeah, check out the name James in your KJV Strong's Concordance. The book of James was written by Jacob (iacobus), not a guy named James. The first time "James" appears in the Bible is after King James commissioned the 1611 translation. Cool, huh?

I really enjoyed Thayer's book, Terminal Event, that prompted me to buy this attempt at dramatization of an ex-Marine Corps Sniper going one-on-one with an ex-Ruskie Sniper. White Star is an entertaining read but the supposed physical stamina of the players is a bit much for me. The final duel is, shall we say, unbelievable, especially when one considers the geriatrics involved. Both snipers where in Vietnam back 1969, so do the math. I would love to hear what real ex-Marine Corps Snipers have to say about this book. Thayer can do better which he proved in Terminal Event.

this is good book, but the end would never happen. The story line is also not plasable. The book is boring in spots.

But still a very good read

Want to know how juicy the sniping is? This is the one in addition to all of Stephen Hunter's "Earl Swagger Saga". I'v translated this one into Chinese and have published it in Taiwan. During the translation, I've found lot of mistakes, draggings, holes of this book, but I would not blame Mr. Thayer but his not so qualified editor, because those mistakes were just how incompetent the editor was who should not have paired with a great writer. Mr. Thayer has proved himself a multi-layer, multi-dimentional most talented writer and he's continuedly improved himself during the Odyssy of his story tellings and would not border or bond himself in a narrow and small territory. This is one of the books that I've collected and strongly recommanded to others.