When WestAir flight 1324 goes down in flames claiming the lives of everyone on board, one person's remains are conspicuous by their absence: those of flight attendant Roseanne Dresden. Her parents, Shareen and Farley Lodestone, think it's because she never was on the plane in the first place, and that her unfaithful husband, Ivan Dresden, murdered her, and made up the story that she was on the flight list so he could collect the insurance money. Lieutenant Peter Decker isn't sure what to think, but does his best to calm the Lodestones down and assure them he will help them find out what happened to their daughter. Is it just that they are in denial, and that for some reason they don't get along well with their son-in-law? Or is it that Roseanne really was murdered? Check out The Burnt House, Faye Kellerman's latest suspenseful page-turning novel, to find out!
The intrigue deepens when the remains of a woman are discovered below the foundation of a burnt house at the crash site. She is burned so much she is unrecognizable, and she is wearing a pink tour jacket of a 1970's musical duo called Priscilla and the Major. Her teeth - what's left of them - don't match up with the dental records of Roseanne Dresden, though, and now Decker and his officers have their work compounded for them. Instead of one missing persons and possible murder case to solve, now they have two. And, talk about a cold case - the woman in the pink jacket has been dead for thirty-two years! What, if anything, is the connection between the two women?
There are no psychotic serial killers in The Burnt House, as is the fare of many popular mystery bestsellers. It is a nuts-and-bolts procedural crime novel, sort of a Cold Case Files story but with heart. Part of the enjoyment of reading a Decker and Rina novel is reading about their home lives and how much Judaism plays a large role in their lives and relationships. You get to know them and love them, as if they were members of your own family. When Decker agonizes over a case, you feel for him, and when he makes headway in it, you are included in his rejoicing.
The Burnt House is a novel that any mystery lover or anyone who likes procedural crime stories will be glad to make a space in his library for. It is a New York Times bestseller already, and has enough suspense in it to keep you reading until late into the night. An added bonus is that it, like many paperbacks lately, has a chapter at the end from the next book in the series, The Mercedes Coffin. Both off these books should be very good news for fans of Decker and Rina, and are sure to attract even more fans to Faye Kellerman's suspenseful and dynamic novels.
Dr. Bloodmoney is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which much of America has been devastated by hydrogen bombs. There are pockets of humanity left alive, trying to rebuild and maintain a semblance of civilization.
Though the novel is entitled Dr. Bloodmoney--he's a scientist who helped bring about a previous nuclear holocaust in P.K. Dick's alternate-reality vision of 1972--and he is a major character in the book (his actual name is Dr. Bruno Bluthgeld. He feels intensely guilty about his role in the previous holocaust, and has moved to the Californian town of West Marin to try to start his life over again, with a sheep farm there, under the name of Jack Tree.
The novel is populated with some of Dick's best-developed characters, such as the phocomelus Hoppy Harrington, a person who becomes West Marin's Handy, or handyman. He is a Thalidamide flipper-armed and legged person with psychic abilites who is also very good at repairing machinery, which is vital in a future where machines exist, but the knowledge to keep them going is gradually becoming a lost art.
The people of Earth who remain are inspired to keep struggling on by hearing via radio the folksy voice of Walt Dangerfield, who had been sent up into space on a voyage to Mars with his wife, who passed away. His ship's retrorocket didn't fire, though. so he ended up continously circling the Earth. He dispenses wit and acts as a disc jockey of sorts, playing requests from the ship's vast store of recordings, and reading from the book Of Human Bondage.
Like with all of Dick's works, it's not easy to give a brief synopsis of Dr. Bloodmoney, because it is such a complex work. It is not, in my opinion, his best novel; but, it has many moments of sheer brilliance, and is well worth adding to your scifi library.
Do you know someone who has had a stroke? How about someone with a learning disability? Or, are you interested in maintaining your intellect and mental facilities as you get older? If you've answered "Yes" to any of these questions, then The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, M.D., should interest you a lot. It's like an "Owner's Manual" for the brain, filled with stories of personal triumph against all odds, like recoveries from strokes that people would have believed to be impossible a few short years ago.
Far from being dry and boring, it's filled with engrossing information about advances being made in neuroplasticity--the idea that the brain is not some "hardwired" type of machine, but is plastic, and one part can take over functions of another part that's been damaged. The information is made very pertinent and relevant by giving names and faces to many people who've been helped by neuroplasticians. The Brain That Changes Itself is a great read I highly recommend.
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The Burnt House by Faye Kellerman
Douglas Cobb, August 27, 2008
When WestAir flight 1324 goes down in flames claiming the lives of everyone on board, one person's remains are conspicuous by their absence: those of flight attendant Roseanne Dresden. Her parents, Shareen and Farley Lodestone, think it's because she never was on the plane in the first place, and that her unfaithful husband, Ivan Dresden, murdered her, and made up the story that she was on the flight list so he could collect the insurance money. Lieutenant Peter Decker isn't sure what to think, but does his best to calm the Lodestones down and assure them he will help them find out what happened to their daughter. Is it just that they are in denial, and that for some reason they don't get along well with their son-in-law? Or is it that Roseanne really was murdered? Check out The Burnt House, Faye Kellerman's latest suspenseful page-turning novel, to find out!The intrigue deepens when the remains of a woman are discovered below the foundation of a burnt house at the crash site. She is burned so much she is unrecognizable, and she is wearing a pink tour jacket of a 1970's musical duo called Priscilla and the Major. Her teeth - what's left of them - don't match up with the dental records of Roseanne Dresden, though, and now Decker and his officers have their work compounded for them. Instead of one missing persons and possible murder case to solve, now they have two. And, talk about a cold case - the woman in the pink jacket has been dead for thirty-two years! What, if anything, is the connection between the two women?
There are no psychotic serial killers in The Burnt House, as is the fare of many popular mystery bestsellers. It is a nuts-and-bolts procedural crime novel, sort of a Cold Case Files story but with heart. Part of the enjoyment of reading a Decker and Rina novel is reading about their home lives and how much Judaism plays a large role in their lives and relationships. You get to know them and love them, as if they were members of your own family. When Decker agonizes over a case, you feel for him, and when he makes headway in it, you are included in his rejoicing.
The Burnt House is a novel that any mystery lover or anyone who likes procedural crime stories will be glad to make a space in his library for. It is a New York Times bestseller already, and has enough suspense in it to keep you reading until late into the night. An added bonus is that it, like many paperbacks lately, has a chapter at the end from the next book in the series, The Mercedes Coffin. Both off these books should be very good news for fans of Decker and Rina, and are sure to attract even more fans to Faye Kellerman's suspenseful and dynamic novels.
Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K Dick
Douglas Cobb, August 23, 2008
Dr. Bloodmoney is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which much of America has been devastated by hydrogen bombs. There are pockets of humanity left alive, trying to rebuild and maintain a semblance of civilization.Though the novel is entitled Dr. Bloodmoney--he's a scientist who helped bring about a previous nuclear holocaust in P.K. Dick's alternate-reality vision of 1972--and he is a major character in the book (his actual name is Dr. Bruno Bluthgeld. He feels intensely guilty about his role in the previous holocaust, and has moved to the Californian town of West Marin to try to start his life over again, with a sheep farm there, under the name of Jack Tree.
The novel is populated with some of Dick's best-developed characters, such as the phocomelus Hoppy Harrington, a person who becomes West Marin's Handy, or handyman. He is a Thalidamide flipper-armed and legged person with psychic abilites who is also very good at repairing machinery, which is vital in a future where machines exist, but the knowledge to keep them going is gradually becoming a lost art.
The people of Earth who remain are inspired to keep struggling on by hearing via radio the folksy voice of Walt Dangerfield, who had been sent up into space on a voyage to Mars with his wife, who passed away. His ship's retrorocket didn't fire, though. so he ended up continously circling the Earth. He dispenses wit and acts as a disc jockey of sorts, playing requests from the ship's vast store of recordings, and reading from the book Of Human Bondage.
Like with all of Dick's works, it's not easy to give a brief synopsis of Dr. Bloodmoney, because it is such a complex work. It is not, in my opinion, his best novel; but, it has many moments of sheer brilliance, and is well worth adding to your scifi library.
The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books) by Norman Doidge
Douglas Cobb, June 23, 2007
Do you know someone who has had a stroke? How about someone with a learning disability? Or, are you interested in maintaining your intellect and mental facilities as you get older? If you've answered "Yes" to any of these questions, then The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, M.D., should interest you a lot. It's like an "Owner's Manual" for the brain, filled with stories of personal triumph against all odds, like recoveries from strokes that people would have believed to be impossible a few short years ago.Far from being dry and boring, it's filled with engrossing information about advances being made in neuroplasticity--the idea that the brain is not some "hardwired" type of machine, but is plastic, and one part can take over functions of another part that's been damaged. The information is made very pertinent and relevant by giving names and faces to many people who've been helped by neuroplasticians. The Brain That Changes Itself is a great read I highly recommend.
(7 of 8 readers found this comment helpful)