Based on a computer role-playing game (starring Dennis Hopper and Stephanie Seymour, no less), this novel stands well enough on it's own laurels. It has an engrossing plot, along with an interesting setting. The book reminded me a little of Robert Heinlein's "Revolt in 2100" with elements of the short-lived TV show "VR.5" thrown in. Unique.

I have had this book since the first month it came out in book stores. Since I have read it, I have not been able to read any other books because it is so good and action packed. I have always wished that a movie would be made of it. If anyone would like to e-mail me about the book (either if you have never read it or if you just want discuss it, feel free).

It mixes virtual reality with the concept of heaven and hell in a very interesting way. It reads like it was written to be a movie. I really liked this book, and if anyone else out there knows of any like it, please tell me.

This is one of the most intriguing premises in a horror novel I've read in a long time. The concept of time travel is interesting, but might have been made ridiculous in the hands of a different author. Mr. Williamson crafted it just right and made the unbelievable seem possible. Its the story of a group of friends who recreate the sixties during a party and wind up going back in time to save the lives of two friends who died in a bombing. Woody loves his college girlfriend so much he is happy to have her back in his life, with a new reality and children. But they unknowningly brought back a friend who ends up being the catalyst for possibly destroying the human race.

This book has everything: time travel, bioterrorism and interesting thoughts about our environment and the way it is slowly being destroyed. It will make you think and in light of September 11, it is relevant for the times. The writing in this is literate and top-notch and the story so interesting you will find yourself unable to put it down.

All in all, a great novel that is beautifully written, thought-provoking, and good to the last page. Excellent!

It isn't too hard to make a decent living in the horror field by throwing in a lot of blood, gore, supernatural monsters and, if there are movie rights to sell, screaming nude females. Fortunately, Chet Williamson doesn't need to use those hackneyed devices.

True horror lives in the human mind. True horror lies in the discovery that a good friend is a monster, or in the realization that a wonderful dream is about to be shattered. True horror waits in the pages of "Second Chance."

Williamson has created a group of very believable, very real characters, and it's very easy to get swept up in the events which soon surround them and the choices they eventually must make. Give it a read. I guarantee, the story will stay with you for a long time to come.

I found this novel to be a smooth read. I did enjoy its content. The author uses minor supernatural elements to bring forth situations that could very easily happen in real life. Sort of time travel via the supernatural but with a more serious twist. Also, one can easily see how time should not be delved with. The past should be left to the past. Let the dead bury the dead and let the living continue. Well worth the time taken to read. Great story line.

Chet Williamson has once again written a horror story that is both inventive and scary. When five people are sealed inside a fortess-like mansion on Pine Mountain, one knows he will probably be dead before their 31 days are done. Three know they will be worth a million dollars each. However, they find out very soon that the old stories about the house are true and they are not alone.

If things get too bad, they all have emergency keys that will release the steel plates closing off doors and windows. But very soon, their numbers are lowered. Those left struggle to survive until two men stationed outside the house open the doors. If only they weren't the only ones making plans.

Soulstorm is a quick read, a real page-turner, with believable characters. Readers who like this book might also enjoy Williamson's Ash Wednesday. Both may be out of print, but they are worth finding.

I was surprised to find no other reviews for this book. It really is an exceptional horror novel on many levels. The plot borrows from Matheson's Hell House and Jackson's Haunting of Hill House, but Williamson brings lots of interesting ideas to the table and does an outstanding job with it. A group of characters are offered large sums of money to spend a month in a mansion in PA that is rumored to be haunted. It is indeed and the entity that lives there is as evil as they get. The characters are interesting and believable, the scares are fresh and inventive, and the story moves quickly. By now, this book is kind of hard to find, but if you enjoy good writing and good horror, then track it down. It's well worth it.

While the movie succeeded in some great visual candy, it didn't do so well plotwise. All in all, the book is better than the movie. Plus, you don't have to wonder what Ashe is saying.

I read this book when it first came out and that was quite a while before the movie. I finished the book in about 3 days and when I was finished I figured that this movie would be better than the first...I was wrong. The book was great, went into great detail about everything and had such ironic ending. Watching the movie they cut so much out and changed the ending. If you didn't really like the movie get the book and see how it was all really suppose to be.

What the movie lacked in depth, the novelization by Chet Williamson makes up for and then some. After reading the book I couldn't help but think "why wasn't the movie this deep?". I highly recommend anyone that has seen the movie pick up the novelization. I enjoyed the movie, but felt it had too many holes in it. Chet Williamson's rendering of the COA story helps to fill the void left by the movie.

The hex signs, the cows on the cover are a clue to the pure fun of reading Williamson's Pennsylvania Dutch Night Before Christmas. The cadence, the w/v sounds are possible to understand from the very beginning. The explanations of the German dialect are not overdone. Even the names of the cows and steers are Pennsylvania Dutch to the core. The book is fun to read aloud; fun to look through: the illustrations are as joyful as the words. Children outside the area of Amish populations may not understand some of the subtle humor, the names used, such as "Stolzfus." But children of all ages will enjoy the overall effect of the book: good fun.

If you ever had "clear toy" candy (still made in Lititz), and know what the words "schusslich" and "nixnootzes" mean, you'll enjoy this version of The Night Before Christmas done by someone who knows PA Deutsch (German) commonly called PA Dutch. Whether or not you grew up in a PA Dutch family, you might learn something. I did! And, there is an explanation of pronunciations (like "ch" for "j" so "just so" becomes "chust so") in the back of the book. There is also a pretty good recipe for Shoofly Pie (similar to mine), but unfortunately none of the great Christmas cookies, like Sand Tarts and Molasses Cakes. I now read this charming parody of Clement Moore's version on Christmas Eve.

The author of this book read it to kids on the Pennsylvania Kids Network, and they loved it - but then, kids would love it when a stranger would come in and read legal advertising from the newspaper. Can you really trust the judgement of a group that loves McDonald's and Pee Wee Herman?Nope, this is a book for adults to enjoy, year after year. Kids will never appreciate the naming of the holsteins, or the authenticity of the Plain Sect traditions associated with Christmas. They'll just laugh when the roof caves in.So don't give this book to your kids. Give it to your boss, or to your webmaster - someone who enjoys subtle humor in the style of Shel Silverstein. An adult will appreciate it a lot more.

Williamson trilogy really begins to smoke with this second entry. Our three agents are hot on the trail of The Prisoner, a mysterious man who has apparently lived for centuries and has been hidden from the public by the Catholic Church and The Knights of Templar. Others are aware of his existence, however, including a twisted but ragtag band of cult followers. And three different groups, including a religious madman with lots of money and power, are racing towards his holding cell in the Arizona desert. Some want to free him of his chains, others want to kill him. But the Prisoner is more powerful than any of them are prepared for... After a wobbly start, EMPIRE OF DUST, redeems the series. I'm turning the pages of book three as fast as I can to find out hwo the world will be saved from The One Who Does Not Die. (Look for my review of the conclusion.)

This series is proving to be very interesting indeed. The first novel plants an idea in your mind. The second novel feeds that idea and suddenly flips you over 360 degrees, although by that time, you're already thinking along those lines based on the direction the storyline is going. Again, excellent writing style, intricate plot, good premise for a series, and no idea where the story is heading. This series could easily compete with the now ever popular "Left Behind" series that in my opinion has become too familiar and too predictable. The Searchers series has what the "Left Behind" series is lacking, surprises at every corner, suspense, and leaves you wanting more. Bring on the third one!

Williamson returns with another stunning chapter in this trilogy. In the previous book, CITY OF IRON, we were left with The Survivor gone to who knows where. In this book the trio find him and now has to deal with the havoc he doles out. This novel is interesting because of the internal struggle of the three members of the Searchers group. Due to certain circumstances, they are all tested in their own belief systems and now adopt some "otherworldly" explanations for what's occurring. In brief, this novel rocks and is a sure-fire success. Please read the first novel before this one to get the full effect of characters and plots. Highest Recommendation.

this was one of the best books i'd ever read i would tell anyone to read it.because it just shows if you love and care for somebody anything can happen for you if you believe.

If you liked the movie or original graphic novel, you are bound to love this book. It deals with the raw emotion of having all you love stripped away, and all that's left is vengence.

I feel that this volume in the Summer set of Crow novels was the best. It definantly was the longest of the 3, for the most part due to Chet Williamson taking more time to setup and explore than the other authors did. Once I hit chapter 25 there was no stopping me as I had to finish the novel after reading chapter 25 that evening. There are familiar characters used, like ANOTHER policeman helping out, but despite the lack of originality there I felt the story was fresh and capturing. I am more and more becoming a big fan of Chet Williamson. I highly recommend anyone to pick up the new Crow anthology book "Shattered Lives & Broken Dreams" and read Mr Williamson's short story in it. He has definantly become one of the best at telling Crow related stories.

I like Chet Williamson and I trust him as a writer. Having read DREAMTHORP, SOULSTORM, and ASH WEDNESDAY, I consider myself a fan of his. So when I started his SEARCHERS trilogy and found CITY OF IRON to be a bit uneven, I decided to forge ahead. And I'm glad I did. (See my reviews for book two and three.) In this first entry, we are introduced to the three lead characters, all operatives for a covert assignment, investigating paranormal activity. It becomes apparent to the agents that there are other reasons behind their assignment and when they catch wind of a mysterious man referred to as The Prisoner and The One Who Does Not Die, the pace really picks up, for both the characters and the reader. Recommended for fans of The X-Files and horror thriller fans.

A team of CIA agent charged with investigating paranormal phenomena uncover hints of a centuries-old conspiracy. Who is involved? Is their own superior part of it? Who can they trust?

Clearly, this book owes its existence to the success of The X-Files (as does Charles Grant's Black Oak series). But that's just a marketing issue. The important question becomes: can an author like Chet Williamson take advantage of X-Files' popularity, producing a story that slakes the public's thirst for similar stories while still creating something new and distinctive? In this case, the answer is a resounding yes.

Certainly, the nature of the mystery the characters find themselves exploring heads into areas network television would hesitate before entering. No matter how edgy X-Files gets, I can't see them even suggesting the possibility that the mysterious prisoner in this book might be who the book suggests he might be. (How's that for not giving anything away?) And the characters are a lot more violent and ruthless than one would expect to find on TV. These characters are charming and likeable, and it always comes as a shock when the reader is reminded that they are professionals, and part of the job means killing.

It's also a good, exciting adventure story. After the first couple of chapters introducing the background stuff, things proceed at a fairly leisurely pace as we meet the characters and follow them on their first mission together. Once everything is in place, though, the book takes off like a rocket and only slows down for a page or two at a time. Williamson brings in a number of different mysteries and paranormal ideas, but manages to integrate them smoothly into one story without things seeming overly cluttered or tied together artificially. Along the way, the book manages to get the reader thinking about proof versus faith in religion.

All in all, City of Iron is a fun, fast-paced start to what I hope will be an exciting trilogy. I just wish I didn't have so many other books to read before I buy the next part. (I hate having a backlog build up.) Speaking of which, I should probably mention that the story doesn't so much end as reaches a stopping point. I expected as much; the cover clearly says that this is book one, so I assumed there would be stuff left over for future volumes. I like that sort of serial storytelling. However, if you're the sort of reader who insists that everything be wrapped up by the final page, with no loose ends, you're going to be disappointed or upset.

I began reading the novel thinking it would be a rip-off of the X-files.I couldn't have been more mistaken.Although these C.I.A. operatives are on a mission to investigate the paranormal,that's where the similarities end. This book is as exciting as any .The action is vividly described.The plot is full of surprising twists with an intelligent,thought provoking conspiracy.The characters are well developed,interesting and realistic. I particularly liked Joseph,whose belief system is brought to question.The only problem I had with the paperback was probably due to the editors or proofreaders ,as in some parts names of characters are mistakenly interchanged.Hopefully Mr.Williamson noticed and will bring this to their attention for the following volumes. Overall,this is one entertaining novel.It,s my favorite book of the year(and I,ve read over a hundred fiction novels this year).

Setting up a murder mystery in a fantasy setting is asking for trouble - it could be done, but it is very difficult and Chet Williamson just didn't make the grade in "Murder in Cormyr".

The main problem with a murder mystery in a magic rich world like the Forgotten Realms is that magic opens up too many possibilities. A temporary clone spell could create the perfect alibi for any criminal. Victims can be resurrected. Culprits can teleport from practically anywhere and to practically anywhere.

Of course, the presence of magic, or technology, does not on its own exclude a murder mystery. Isaac Asimov did it in his one of his Spacer novel "The Robots of Dawn". The Realms Anthologies have some good short stories which could be termed as murder mysteries.

As Agatha Christie's Poirot once commented, a study in crime is a study of characters. An entertaining murder mystery is not marred by technology or magic making the impossible possible, but by interaction of characters.

Chet Williamson appeared to be aware of this formula. However, he fumbled rather badly in his delivery.

The narrator was one Jasper of Ghars, a slop-boy of halfling-human ancestry, apprenticed to retired Cormyrean war-wizard Benelaius after a failed attempt to raid the latter's home.

The scene was Ghars, a hardly noticable village on the Cormyrean side of the border with Sembia, soon to host the annual meeting of Grand Council of Cormyr's Merchants' Guild.

Somewhere in the story was a legendary headless ghost of a brigand leader who was supposed to guard his hidden loot in inhospitable marshlands.

It began with the discovery of the murder of an impersonator of the ghost. Then Grodoveth, King Azoun's envoy-at-large within the kingdom, was found dead.

Chet Williamson painted a colourful picture of a normally idyllic village beset by misfortunes on the eve of trying to make a name for itself hosting a merchants' conference. The characters involved were diverse from money-grubbing barkeepers to lovely daughter of the local tycoon.

Jasper found himself assisting his portly master in the investigation. Theirs was a contrast of methods, Jasper trying to emulate a fictional detective who employed deductive reasoning and logic to solve his crimes, and Benelaius apparently just sitting back and unhurriedly gathering his information mostly through others. Mystery fans should recognise the caricature of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, or rather more aptly, Arthur Hastings and Hercule Poirot.

Unfortunately, though Chet Williamson gave a lot of attention on character interaction, he failed to negate the possibilities played by magic. There were clues around to be sure, but they were not significantly crucial enough, and were open to alternative explanations.

Fortunately for Chet, his endings did tied up these loose ends, though leaving mystery fans not quite satisfied.

Great for the pre-teen reader. A lot too predictable. Spoon feeding of clues and plot. Read it if you have nothing better to do.

I haven't read a book this good in a long time. Chet Williamson is an excellent author. This also makes a great campain in AD&D!

SIEGE OF STONE seemed a little rushed, but it was a satisfying end to this entertaining supernatural thriller trilogy. Fans of the X-Files will find it especially satisfying. Recommended.

Part 3 ends this wonderful series in a very ironic and true way. To say that this is Williamson at his best is not an understatement! DREAMTHORP & SECOND CHANCE may be his best 2 novles but THE SEARCHERS series goes right next to those 2. About time a writer didn't water down an ending just to make it happy! Well done and a must for thriller/horror fans!

I waited to post reviews on the first two books in the Searcher series until I saw how the last volume turned out. I needn't have bothered, since Mr. Williamson maintained the taut writing, finely delineated characters, and sure hand at dealing with paranormal (or is it??) material right up to the cataclysmic end. These are superb thrillers, marrying X-Files style paranormal investigation with a sure hand at action and a trip into the most fascinating corners of strange phenomena. The series feels like one large novel that reaches progressive crescendos at the end of each installment, with the last volume (which I just finished) providing a suitably grand finale.

I hadn't seen much from Mr. Williamson in recent years, but I remember his Ash Wednesday as one of the more literate and emotionally powerful horror novels of the past couple decades. It's good to see him back in top form.

There's no question that these are inspired by the X-Files, but they bring a literacy, craft, and intelligence to paranormal fiction that we see too rarely. Now that the final volume is out, buy them all and read them all together.