Until the End of time is Polly Whitney's second of three "Until" books. Once again Ike (female) and Abby (male) are the detective team bent on solving a crime. The detecting pair, TV news producer and director for a TV network, are this time looking for the killer of nine homeless men. Why are each found dead with their faces painted yellow and a tag labeled "U.S.S.R. stuck into thier clothing? Ike and Abby are unique. They are ex husband and wife who zip around New York City streets on rollar-blades. The book is well researched and written. When I read this one and first novel "Until Death" I couldn't wait for the her next novel in the works. This books deserves the attention of mystery fans.

Until the End of Time and Ms. Whitney's previous book, Until Death, are rich and flavorful, as satisfying as a well-planned meal cooked by a master chef. Ike and Abby, the detecting duo, are thoroughly creatures of the late 1990s, and their New York City is realistically gritty and menacing. Yet, the books manage to evoke the great mysteries of the 1930s and 40s. Comparisons to Nick and Nora Charles are inevitable and on-target, but don't do justice to these endearing characters. Like a well-executed meal, all the ingredients are finely balanced and delicately seasoned. There is just the right amount of action, of character development, of humor, of "insider" information. The plot is complex but clear, devious but fair. I was carried along on the momentum of the plot and the action -- but by the end, I had come to know Ike and Abby. And, I had (painlessly) learned a little about television news production, homelessness in New York (including the potter's field where indigents are laid to rest), roller-blading, glass-blowing and other subjects I never knew were so interesting. This is mystery writing at its best, an important series by a talented and exciting writer.

The first time I read "This is Graceanne's Book,"
I did so without pausing. When I closed the
book's cover at four in the morning, I knew that
I had just been privileged to experience a tale
of American literature that will remain in my
heart and my mind's eye forever.

The second time I read the novel, I found myself
poring over the chapters -- absorbing the beauty
of Whitney's vivid settings and inventive dialogue.

I treated myself to a few chapters each day, wanting
to prolong my reunion with the lovable and precocious
Charlie (the boy narrator) and his irrepressible yet
noble sister Graceanne.

Whitney archived a time in American history when
women struggled for financial independence; society
struggled with racial issues; and children struggled
to remain out of crossfire of their elders.

The kids of Cranepool's Landing didn't have television,
they had something far greater: imagination, and a gritty
determination to puzzle through life's mysteries on their
own terms, using their own self-taught codes of honor.

Charlie, Graceanne, Wanda, Kentucky, and Collier
will win your heart as Jem, Dil and Scout did in
"To Kill a Mockingbird."

Reading "This is Graceanne's Book" gives you an insight
into the American experience that should not be overlooked.

What an amazing book! The soul-touching story, combined with some of the most incredibly natural, infectious humor since Mark Twain, makes this one of the most uplifting books I've read in recent years.

The main characters -- 9 year-old Charlie, the narrator, and 12 year-old Graceanne, his sister -- are immensely endearing and admirable. They are growing up -- along with their older sister, 16 year-old Kentucky -- living with their recently-divorced mother on the 'wrong side of the tracks' in a small town in northern Missouri in the early 1960s. Their dad isn't in the picture much -- an alcoholic soldier who beats their mother, he's sent packing early on in the story, and makes himself scarce after his exit.

The mother, Edie, would probably be diagnosed today as being neurotic or psychotic. In her never-ending struggle to 'keep up appearances', she constantly nags her kids about their manners, the company they keep, &c. On several occasions, she asks out loud 'What have I ever done to deserve such demon children?' She takes most of her frustrations with her life, along with her complete misunderstanding of her children, on the intelligent, precocious Graceanne. On several occasions, she beats her until she's bloody. It's easy to understand how the kids would come to see themselves as a burden to her -- if it weren't for their seemingly indestructable spirits.

Graceanne is a tough child with a reputation to match. Near the beginning of the book, Charlie (actually short for Charlemange, which should tell you MORE about their mother), who has a correctable club foot, is musing about being bullied by the other children in town. He dismisses worrying about the other kids with these thoughts about his sisters (from p.9): 'The two worst bullies in Cranepool's Landing were ALREADY exercising their license as family members to beat me silly -- "whale on you, young man" -- on a regular basis, leaving all other potential assailants the status of respectful, but backward, admirers of my sisters' originality and prowess.'

Graceanne has an IQ of 165 -- and Charlie's is a very respectable 139. The author gives these children -- especially Graceanne, acquired by Charlie possibly simply by being in her presence -- incredible voices. Graceanne's use of newly-absorbed vocabulary words doesn't come across as much as an attempt to show off as it does as a means of asserting her inteligence and individuality in an atmosphere that tends to crush it.

She is also a universally feared and respected softball player. Some of the parents of the other kids even suspect that she's a boy. From p.248: 'She could hit anything that came at her, and she'd slice the ball belt-high through the infield, so close to the player she was aiming at that most players couldn't possibly catch it. A couple of parents complained that Graceanne was trying to peel the skin off their kids; the ball would come so fast and so hard and so tight that the only sensible thing to do was to hit the dirt when they saw it coming...'

There are several notable events in the book -- which takes place over the course of a little over a single year, from April 1960 to July 1961. It is the time of the Kennedys and Camelot, of the boiling pot of race relations in American coming to a head, before Vietnam -- a time of innocence and discovery, tailor-made for an imagination and spirit like that possessed by this young heroine. After her parents' divorce, her mother is forced by economics to move her family to a 'bad' part of town. Graceanne becomes fast friends with Wanda, the young black girl who lives next door -- which brings out some revealing comments and feelings from her mother, showing her to be anything BUT the color-blind person she has professed to be.

There are some tender, poignant moments in the novel as well -- both between Graceanne and her friend Wanda and between the siblings. Little brothers at this age historically do not endear themselves to their sisters, or vice versa. Through the course of the book, Charlie wrestles with what he eventually recognizes as growing feelings of love for his sister. From p.275, he wonders about his feelings that are awakened by hearing Elvis' 'Love me tender': 'I wondered if I loved anyone tenderly. I knew I loved Mike the dog, who you couldn't sing an Elvis song to because he was an animal. And I looked around and saw Graceanne with her doll hair and her glasses and her soft skin and I thought maybe I loved her, who would laugh at me if I sang Elvis to her. It came as a big surprise to me that I loved my sister.'

The novel is filled with moments like these -- but the action sequences never become over-the-top or unbelievable, and the touching moments never become maudlin. The author transposes her vision of this story onto the page with an easy grace and eloquence, touched with humor and sympathy for these wonderful characters. This is a story that can be enjoyed by adult readers -- and indeed, I came away with the impression that it was written for them -- and intelligent young people as well. It's quite an achievement.

Sometimes the most profound things are very complex and sometimes they are very simple. This is a simple story about complex human beings who appear simple. Confusing? Not very. I urge you to read this story about a mid-western family hurting in every place imaginable but which still manages to move into parts of the human heart where few of us have the nerve to go. There are scenes of such poignance that you will put the book down and reflect with your eyes closed as you feel what the characters are feeling. I finished the book about a week ago, and I find myself thinking about what Graceanne did on the other side of the bridge and wondering why Charlie never saw his sister Kentucky again. Did Edie ever get herself straightened out? The story stays with you and I will be thinking about it for a long time. It will be on my bookshelf in the section reserved for the very special. It is very simply, a wonderful book and although the story has ended, I wish the Farrand family the very best.

Muttering became a way of life for me the few days I took to read "Until it Hurts," Polly Whitney's third book about the battling ex-couple, Ike and Abby Abagnarro.

The Ike and Abby series rates high on the "cute setup" meter. Ike is a woman, Abby a man, and if you can keep that in mind, then it won't bother you as much as it annoyed me. She's the producer of a network morning show, her ex the show's director. Although divorced, they work together, compete in ballroom dance competitions and skate the streets of New York on Rollerblades. Since Abby didn't want the divorce the books provide plenty of opportunities for bickering, misunderstandings and the possibility of a reconciliation.

But the wheels quickly come off this "Moonlighting" on Rollerblades. The mystery, involving the murder of New York Knicks star center, Archie "Big Chill" Thorpe, is loaded with improbabilities, starting with the notion that someone could stand ten rows from the courtside during a pre-game warm-up, shoot Thorpe and escape without being seen.

Now, "Moonlighting" didn't make people forget Agatha Christie, but the sparks between Dave and Maddie made up for it. Ike shows little interest in Abby, whose whining, posturing and bad jokes deaden the sections that display Whitney's talent for manic humor.

"Until it Hurts" is Polly Whitney's third "Until" novel. This time the TV news director Abby Abagnarro and his ex-wife Ike Tagart are at New York City's Madison Square Garden. They are granted an interview by the Icemaan, a New York Knick player. The Garden floor is pelted with buckshot. The Iceman is dead but not from the gun shots. He has been knifed. There are other shootings and yet another murder. The two, both Abby and Ike, are bickering as they have in the other two "Until" books. Abby's attitude is bit more flip this time around and that's why I rated it as an "8" as opposed to "9s" on the two precious novels. As with "Unil the End of Time" and "Until Death," "Until it Hurts" is worth the search for at booksellers and libraries. Get they now, read them and wait for the next "Unil" book which I hope is in the works.

I must say, this was one of the best books I've read in awhile. Abby's comments were just hilarious! Abby and Ike make a great mystery solving team. Although a little unrealistic near the end, I thought Until It Hurts was excellent. I actually laughed out loud during many instances of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries, basketball, or just a good laugh. In my opinion, Polly Whitney's Until It Hurts definitely deserves five stars!!

I'd read several highly positive comments about this book on the DorothyL mailing list, so I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, I couldn't get beyond page 42. Nothing in those pages had grabbed me sufficiently to make me want to continue. Where the cover blurb raves "lighthearted and sparkling" I would substitute "trite and sophomoric." The main characters are Ike and Abby, recently divorced but still managing to work, tango, and skate together. Ike is the woman, and Abby is the man. Isn't that cute? They set out to solve the murder of Connie Candela, the new co-anchor of a morning television program at NTB, where Ike and Abby are both employed. I think there may be a decent puzzle in there somewhere, because the circumstances of the murder do immediately raise questions about how this murder was committed as well as who committed it. However, I was unwilling to slog through an additional 257 boring pages of narrative in order to satisfy my mil! d curiosity.

I don't normally bother going to the trouble of reviewing the books I read, they have to make a serious impact on me. My opinion isn't necessarily only for "Until Death", but more for the series as a whole. Not only are Ike and Abby two of the most fabulous characters I've ever read (I wanted so badly to reach in and pull them out into my world), but the mystery that surrounds each of the books is stunning in it's complexity. The two main characters have a lot of developing to do, I'm not saying that the author has created the perfect book. There are several slight inconsistencies, but that's part of their charm, you can't wait to watch them grow. I read one book in a day and that same evening I had to go buy the other two, I couldn't wait. I laughed through all three of them, mainly because you see everything through Abby's eyes and he's just such a clown. I'm impatiently waiting for the next book, and while I can't guarantee that everyone will like them you should at least try. Because if not, you could be missing out on great entertainment.

I first learned about Until Death while unline several years ago when I was on the same on-line service as the author. I enjoyed the novel from beginning to end. The two main characters, TV news director Abby Abagnarro and his former wife and TV producxer Mary "Ike" Tygart come across a shocking murder of Connie Candela, the show's anchorwomen. She's found at her desk, dressed to kill, or should I say be killed the medical examiner rules she drowned to death. That's only the beginning. The book is worth searching for in your library or book store.