Selasa, 17 November 2015

^^ PDF Ebook Berlin 1961, by Frederick Kempe

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Berlin 1961, by Frederick Kempe

A fresh, controversial, brilliantly written account of one of the epic dramas of the Cold War-and its lessons for today.

"History at its best." -Zbigniew Brzezinski

"Gripping, well researched, and thought-provoking, with many lessons for today." -Henry Kissinger

"Captures the drama [with] the 'You are there' storytelling skills of a journalist and the analytical skills of the political scientist." - General Brent Scowcroft

In June 1961, Nikita Khrushchev called it "the most dangerous place on earth." He knew what he was talking about.

Much has been written about the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later, but the Berlin Crisis of 1961 was more decisive in shaping the Cold War-and more perilous. For the first time in history, American and Soviet fighting men and tanks stood arrayed against each other, only yards apart. One mistake, one overzealous commander-and the trip wire would be sprung for a war that would go nuclear in a heartbeat. On one side was a young, untested U.S. president still reeling from the Bay of Pigs disaster. On the other, a Soviet premier hemmed in by the Chinese, the East Germans, and hard-liners in his own government. Neither really understood the other, both tried cynically to manipulate events. And so, week by week, the dangers grew.

Based on a wealth of new documents and interviews, filled with fresh- sometimes startling-insights, written with immediacy and drama, Berlin 1961 is a masterly look at key events of the twentieth century, with powerful applications to these early years of the twenty- first.

  • Sales Rank: #725244 in Books
  • Published on: 2011-05-10
  • Released on: 2011-05-10
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: 2.00" h x 6.40" w x 9.10" l, 2.05 pounds
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 608 pages

Amazon.com Review
Author Q&A with Frederick Kempe

Q: What led you to write this book?

A: The Cold War is still the least understood and worst reported of our three world wars. Berlin was its epicenter. The year 1961 was the most decisive. I wanted to tell the story of that year. And I wanted to tell it through its protagonists, as rich a cast of characters as history could provide. I also wanted to satisfy my own questions about whether the Berlin Wall could have been avoided—and whether the Cold War could have been ended much earlier. Might we have been able to help liberate a whole generation of Eastern Europeans—tens of millions of people—three decades earlier?

Then, after President Obama’s election, I was even more motivated to finish my research. The reason is that this is also a story of a brilliant but inexperienced president dealing with issues far beyond his skill set. Kennedy’s first year in office proved to be one of the worst of any modern presidency. U.S. presidents shape world history—and in this case it is not a positive story.

Q: Much has been written about the Cold War in general and about this particular time and place. What’s different about this book?

A: Two aspects are quite different from what has appeared before. First, I pull in all the strands about this historic year that haven’t been in a single book: the Kennedy story, the Khrushchev story, the Ulbricht and Adenauer stories. I also draw upon recently released documents in Russia, Germany, and the U.S. that haven’t yet been put into a single story. I weave these into a narrative that is both human and historic, as has been my instinct to do as a journalist. Second and more important, the book builds the best cases to date that Kennedy acquiesced to the border closure and the building of the Wall. The record shows that in many respects he wrote the script that Khrushchev followed—as long as Khrushchev restricted his actions to Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East Germany, Kennedy would accept his actions. Kennedy falsely believed that if East Germany could end its refugee stampede, Khrushchev might become a more willing negotiator on a set of other issues. It was a tragic misreading of the man and of the situation. Berlin paid for it—as did tens of millions of people.

Q: Among the main points you highlight in this book are the self-reinforcing misinterpretations, miscommunications, and misunderstandings between the U.S. and the USSR. What examples stand out to you as the most important?

A: They began years before Kennedy took office. The U.S. never fully recognized or acted upon how dramatic was the break between Khrushchev and Stalinism at the 20th Party Congress in 1956. Khrushchev’s call for peaceful coexistence with the capitalist West was never fully explored. Nor did we ever answer or reward his support for Finnish and Austrian neutrality and his reductions in military personnel and spending. During Kennedy’s presidency, the misreading began when Khrushchev released captured U.S. airmen and Kennedy failed to recognize the potential importance of the gesture. It continued when he misinterpreted a relatively unimportant hard-line propaganda speech by Khrushchev as a declaration of an even more aggressive Soviet challenge aimed at him. From Khrushchev’s side, he often listened more to his own insecurities than what was warranted by the situation. He was enormously vulnerable to perceived slights—he would respond excessively to moments like the U-2 incident and Kennedy’s State of the Union speech and the U.S. Minuteman missile test. However, there was one moment when Khrushchev listened closely to Kennedy’s communication—and that regarded what the president would be willing to accept in Berlin. Then Khrushchev acted very much according to the clear messages he received.

Q: Do you think we could have ended the Cold War earlier if Kennedy had managed his relationship with Khrushchev differently?

A: As General Brent Scowcroft says in the foreword to the book, history doesn’t reveal its alternatives. My own view is that the Soviet empire would have begun to unravel earlier had Kennedy held the line—but we will never know. It is unclear how the Soviets would have responded to that without a Gorbachev and a Yeltsin in charge. Would they have backed down, as they did during the Berlin Airlift of 1948, or would they have defended what they controlled, as they did in Budapest in 1956? The key difference between those two events was a demonstration of resolve by the U.S. with its nuclear superiority. I am certain of one thing: East Germany would have collapsed if the communists hadn’t put up the Wall to stop the refugee flow—and that would have had severe consequences for the rest of the Soviet bloc. After all, it is the refugee flood that prompted its collapse twenty-eight years later. Whether or not the Cold War would have ended earlier, Kennedy certainly saved Khrushchev from a lot of trouble then by acquiescing to the building of the Wall.

Q: Berlin 1961 is described as being based on a “wealth of new documents and interviews.” Please tell us about the research you did. What sort of new documents did you uncover, and what new interviews did you conduct?

A: Some of these were new documents I was able to find through additional research in Berlin, Moscow, and the United States. Some were new interviews with witnesses of the time— and the unearthing of interviews and oral histories that had previously received little notice. However, the real wealth of new material came from documents that had been released in all three countries that hadn’t been brought together in a book that explained their meaning and their connections. Almost all of the most significant players from 1961 are no longer living; however their memoirs, oral histories, and documents recounting some of their most crucial meetings have either gone unnoticed or have attracted too little notice. Sadly, much of what we still need to know remains classified. But this book does make clear what we should be watching for most intensively when new documents are released, particularly those of President Kennedy’s brother Robert.

Q: What surprised you most as you worked on the book, and what do you think will most surprise readers?

A: What most surprised me is the body of evidence that Kennedy not only was relieved by the Berlin border closure, but in many respects wrote the script for it. Reading the documents, I was also struck by how refreshingly self-aware Kennedy was about the failure of his first year as president and the danger that Khrushchev would consider him weak. On the Soviet side, what interested me most was the power of a weak client and his failing state, Walter Ulbricht and East Germany, to influence the actions of a great power. The greatest mystery to me remains the Georgi Bolshakov–Bobby Kennedy relationship, which I’m now confident played a larger role than can be documented.

Q: What do you want readers to get out of this book?

A: I want Americans to understand how the decisions of their presidents—then and now—shape world history in ways we don’t always understand at the time of a specific event. I want readers to know that Kennedy could have prevented the Berlin Wall, if he had wished, and that in acquiescing to the border closure he not only created a more dangerous situation—but also contributed to mortgaging the future for tens of millions of Central and Eastern Europeans.

The relatively small decisions that U.S. presidents make have huge, often global, consequences. Though most U.S. analysts and even historians have forgotten the events around Berlin in 1961, I want to start a debate about whether the U.S. actually could have ended the Cold War earlier. I also want to remind Americans of the cost to the world of perceived American weakness. Luckily, we escaped a nuclear conflict—both over Berlin and over Cuba—but the greatest danger came not because we overreached but because our adversary had concluded that we wouldn’t act to defend our interests.

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Senin, 16 November 2015

? Download Ebook Angel of Death (Sean Dillon), by Jack Higgins

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Angel of Death (Sean Dillon), by Jack Higgins

British Brigadier General Ferguson and Sean Dillon, hero of Thunder Point and On Dangerous Ground, set out to hunt down the deadly ""January 30"" terrorists in a world-class thriller filled with heroes and villains. BOMC Main.

  • Sales Rank: #935878 in Books
  • Brand: Brand: G. P. Putnam's Sons
  • Published on: 1995-10-01
  • Released on: 1995-03-21
  • Ingredients: Example Ingredients
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: 6.28" h x 1.23" w x 9.26" l,
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 311 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The main plot device in Higgins's new thriller has a certain comic-strip blaze to it: a female British motorcyclist in black leather who carries a Beretta pistol and kills only to create chaos. This angel of death is also Britain's greatest actress, Grace Browning, relishing her new role as assassin of political activists of every stripe, be they Arab or Israeli, Catholic or Protestant, CIA or KGB, East End gangster or American senator. Browning belongs to a group that calls itself "January 30," seemingly in honor of Bloody Sunday in Belfast but actually in honor of nothing but the chaos that she and her homosexual superior, an old KGB hand who's now on Prime Minister John Major's staff, hope will usher in a worldwide Communist state. Pitted against January 30 and Browning are Brigadier Charles Ferguson of the PM's elite Group Four and his most devilish agent, returning Higgins hero Sean Dillon (On Dangerous Ground), ex-actor, ex-IRA hit man and master makeup artist. It's assassin vs. assassin, actor against actor, in this shallow and far-fetched yet exciting yarn, which needs all of Higgins's considerable expertise to stay on course as it hurtles from one nervy thrill to the next. BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Sean Dillon, a former Irish terrorist turned undercover agent, and his boss, Brigadier Charles Ferguson, make their latest appearance (following On Dangerous Ground, Putnam, 1994) in a lively but rather predictable shoot-'em-up set primarily in the United Kingdom. A terrorist group, born from communism, is killing in the name of Irish nationalism. Their real purpose, however, is to foment anarchism and chaos among the major powers. Can Dillon, partner Hannah Bernstein, and Ferguson track down this band and prevent additional murder? Given the author's writing talent, it is disappointing to find the characters barely sketched and the plot clunking from one episode to the next. Unhappily, by attributing his characters' need for mayhem solely to bloody episodes witnessed in their youth, he cheapens the achievements of real people who have managed to survive Bloody Sunday and other violence. Purchase only where Higgins has a following.?Elsa Pendleton, Boeing Computer Support Svcs., Ridgecrest, Cal.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
What if there was a terrorist group with no discernible agenda? Jews and Arabs, Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics, commies and fascists are all fair game for a group known only as January 30. Brigadier Charles Ferguson of the British prime minister's top security group is charged with determining January 30's plans, its members, and their whereabouts. With the whole world as a potential hideout, it won't be an easy task. But Ferguson's right-hand man, former terrorist Sean Dillon, is tugging on a thread that might prove valuable. He's hot on the trail of one Daniel Quinn, who's been a thorn in the side of both the British army and the IRA in Ireland. Quinn tried to sell an arsenal to an undercover Dillon and, though the deal broke down in the end, Dillon has Quinn headed for the Middle East. The novel follows the formula for most recent spy thrillers: terrorists threaten the world order by appearing to get their hands on weaponry that could unleash widespread devastation. Higgins has the formula down pat and does a better job than most at putting his own spin on it. Ferguson and Dillon function much like Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin: Ferguson is the at-home brain {…}a la Wolfe, and Dillon is a violent, coldhearted version of Archie. Toss in elements of the Russian Mafia, leftover KGB agents, and a black-hearted actress, and one has a novel that will keep international conspiracy buffs turning pages long into the night. Wes Lukowsky

Most helpful customer reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
A real page-turner
By Amazon Customer
Sean Dillon was once the most feared soldier in the Irish
Republican Army, until one day he had enough of the destruction.
Now he works for the other side, the most successful agent in the
British government's fight against terrorism. But when he is
rescued from an ambush by a member of "January 30," the newest
and most dangerous terrorist organization, he has to wonder who
his friends and enemies really are.
This is the nucleus of Jack Higgins' Angel of Death. And this
novel is as well done as all of Higgins' other works. It has
interesting characters, plenty of action, and well-written
dialog.
Part of the fascination in this particular book is the inside
view we get of "January 30." Instead of the typical politically
motivated fanatics, this group is composed of four persons - a
Russian spy, a member of the British government, a college
professor, and a young actress - united by the excitement of the
hunt. For the spy, the purpose of their activities is a chaos
that will ultimately yield the collapse of the British system,
but the others are much more interested in the action than in the
results.
When the group saves Dillon, therefore, it was not out of any
hidden loyalty to the government. When he becomes involved in the
government's attempt to achieve a stable peace in Northern
Ireland, they know he will have to die. The struggle between the
two is a major part of this novel, and Higgins is quite skilled
in showing us both points of view and yet maintaining suspense.
But there are a number of other plots intertwined. At one point,
for example, Dillon goes to the Middle East to deal with the arms
dealer who had set up the ambush that opens the novel. He is
there for only a few hours when he is recognized and captured by
one of the many factions that are at war there. You know he is
going to escape - it's much too early to kill of your main
character - but I think the way it's done will surprise you.
Higgins also involves the United States in the story. In order to
maintain the cease fire that is in existence in Ireland, the
British Prime Minister requests President Clinton to send Senator
Patrick Keogh (a modern JFK) to mediate between the two factions.
But extremists on both sides are determined to prevent any real
peace, so Dillon is selected to act as his body guard. And now
"January 30" comes back into the picture.
This is a true page turner; I began it one Saturday morning and
finished it before I went to bed that night. I had to know how it
turned out before I could go to sleep!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
A Fantastic Story
By Vincent Giovannini
This was a fantastic story! The plot was able to change with little hints. This book like many of Jack Higgins' are great at charcter build up. It will make you want to keep reading till the very end. I would like to quote Tom Clancy, "JACK HIGGINS IS THE MASTER."

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Bland
By John G. Hilliard
I did not believe the story of the characters at all, neither was well developed. The author also tried to go down the path of the "dark, brooding" lead that will alone save the world and he did not pull it off. I also did not like some of the writing; I found it a bit forced or dry. Not much between the covers. Sure the story sounds interesting, but somehow that does not translate to what is actually written. Overall, this is not that great of a book. There are many others out there that are better.

See all 63 customer reviews...

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Sabtu, 14 November 2015

! Download PDF Mr. Murder, by Dean Koontz

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Mr. Murder, by Dean Koontz

Mystery writer Marty Stillwater finds his life and family threatened by a psychotic killer professing to be the real Marty Stillwater, who embarks on a campaign to eliminate Marty and claim his family. Lit Guild & Doubleday Main. Mystery Guild Alt.

  • Sales Rank: #378527 in Books
  • Brand: Putnam Adult
  • Published on: 1993-10-27
  • Released on: 1993-10-27
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: 6.42" h x 1.47" w x 9.56" l,
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 415 pages
Features
  • Great product!

Amazon.com Review
Martin Stillwater is a novelist with a wife and children he adores -- and an imagination he can't control. One rainy afternoon, a stranger breaks into Martin's house and accuses him of stealing his family, his name, and his life. Martin has no choice but to take his family and flee, even as he questions his own sanity. But wherever they go, the stranger is right behind them.

From Publishers Weekly
The formula Koontz ( The Bad Place ) uses here is a familiar one: an overpowering evil stalks an innocent family that remains unaware of the menace until isolated from all help and forced to run for their lives. But enhanced by Koontz's lean prose and rich characterization, this fearsome tale summons up new frissons of horror. Marty Stillwater's second horror novel is bestseller-bound; he's the subject of a People magazine feature article; and his wife, Paige, and their two young daughters complete the perfect family. Then he begins having blackouts and paralyzing panic attacks that lead him to hide guns around the house. The weapons prove handy when an armed stranger--Marty's Doppelganger --breaks into the house to kill him and reclaim the life, family and destiny that he swears Marty stole. A fierce battle leaves the stranger dead but when Paige and the police arrive, the body is gone. Unable to trust the cops, the family runs for the hills to try to evade the seemingly indestructible "Other." Meanwhile, sinister agents are desperately tracking The Other for their own less-than-ethical ends. Playing on every emotion and keeping the story racing along, Koontz masterfully escalates the tension. He closes the narrative with the most ingenious twist ending of his career. Literary Guild & Doubleday Book Club main selection; Mystery Guild alternate selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Koontz's earliest thrillers (Night Chills, etc.) were stripped-down vehicles designed for speed and suspense, nothing more. In its terrific visceral energy, this latest, with the author's simplest plot in years--one long chase involving a Frankenstein-like monster, his guardians, and his victims--harkens back to those early affairs; but Koontz is a literary phenomenon now and feels free to load his writing with all sorts of sermons about modern-day woes. The title itself is polemical: ``Mr. Murder'' is the hated sobriquet that People magazine gives to Marty Stillwater, a rising mystery writer who might as well be called Dean Koontz for his California address, stable family life, and strong opinions about the nobility of storytelling and the corruption of American society. At first, Koontz seems to be aping Stephen King here, not just for his put-upon writer-hero but also for the malevolent, perhaps not quite human, twin of Marty's who blows into town, shades of The Dark Half. Koontz is his own writer, however, and it's soon clear that Alfie is no figment made flesh but a wonderfully creepy organic killing machine with a surprising origin and astounding recuperative powers (fueled by Slim Jims and Big Macs) who wants only to take over Marty's life--his wife, daughters, and writing career--and will squash him to do it. Also, Alfie's moral code comes from films he's seen--including porno films in which severe discipline alone brings females into line. Meanwhile, the top-secret federal agents in charge of Alfie--as well as of the experiment that produced him--are desperately hunting their charge, who's gone AWOL and beserk.... Blood pours; children shriek; Alfie makes like a werewolf on steroids while Marty acts like a lion--and Koontz nails the reader to the page once again, despite the soapboxing. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for December) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Most helpful customer reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful.
good novel, but too many similarities to the books Koontz wrote just before and after this one
By York Marahrens
A mystery writer and his family are relentlessly pursued by a renegade profesional killer who may have some sort of psychic link to his quarry. The person(s) for whom the killer had worked - and bolted from - also get involved. I won't give away more as I don't want to spoil things for the reader.

"MR. MURDER" (1993) is the eleventh Koontz book that I have read. This novel employs the same style and has some similarities to both HIDEAWAY (1992) and DRAGON TEARS (1993) but transitions from supernatural ("nutcase antagonist with supernatural abilities") to science fiction (nutcase anatgonist for science-based reasons). "MR MURDER" introduces the "up against a high-tech organization that can track you anywhere" idea that Koontz delves into more deeply with his next novel "DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART" (1994) which also has some similarities to this one. So Koontz was in a slight rut during these years with his books not changing from one to the next as much as during his more inspired times. The core ideas are actually original enough in each of the aforementioned books, but similarities arise in the way the ideas are subsequently fleshed out. However, MR. MURDER is well-written and a little better written than his average book and a fun read. (I have never read a poorly written Koontz novel - he seems to be too much of a hard-working perfectionist to allow that to happen.)

I would rank MR. MURDER against his other books that I have read as follows. Note that I have a slight bias in favor of science fiction over horror and the supernatural. In chronological order:

#1 WATCHERS (1987) - Top tier Koontz! More frequently cited as his best novel than any other of his books and I totally agree. Suspense/love story/horror/ action/science fiction. Outstanding character development, even by Koontz standards. An absolutely wonderful dog.

#3 LIGHTENING (1988) - Inspired book with some of the same strengths as WATCHERS but a very different novel and almost as good.

#5 HIDEAWAY (1992) - Antagonist has supernatural abilities. Some similararities to Dragon Tears.

#9 DRAGON TEARS (1993) - Antagonist has supernatural abilities. The similarities to Hideaway make me rank it lower primarily because Hideaway was written first.

#8 MR. MURDER (1993) - Fairly strong middle tier Koontz. You can see the transition from Dragon Tears to Dark Rivers and it overlaps with both too much.

#6 DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART (1994) Science fiction-tinged conspiracy story with similarities to the movie "Enemy of the State".

#2 INTENSITY (1996) - Top tier Koontz! He breaks out his pseudo-rut with a vengeance. 2nd most frequently cited as his best book after WATCHERS. A straight horror story which is not my favorite genre, but the quality of this work is very high. I though the title was pretentious until I read the book: wow INTENSE!

#4 ODD THOMAS (2003) - Koontz's adoption of a rather different writing style is by many considered to work the best in this novel. Supernatural.

#11 THE FACE (2003) - Very slow moving but excellent character development. I had some trouble staying engaged in this one because it was so slow. Still a pretty good book. Supernatural.

#10 LIFE EXPECTANCY (2004) - Koontz's experimentation with a new writing style in the Odd Thomas direction. Has quirkiness and humor: he is competant at this, but humor is not Koontz's strength. Strong character development. Still a good book. No science fiction or supernatural stuff.

#7 THE HUSBAND (2006) - Koontz had changed his style again. Fast paced page-turner at the expense of character development. No science fiction or supernatural stuff. Ends too abruptly.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Classic Koontz is hard to put down!
By Theresa W
After having read most of Koontz's catalogue 5-10 years ago, I've saved a few of his older works for later consumption & enjoyment. Mr. Murder was one of those books, and pulling it out last week & reading it reminded me why I was such an avid fan of his! There's nothing like "classic Koontz".

Mr. Murder is about Martin Stillwater and his family. The book opens as Martin begins to have a weird sense that something is going to happen to him. And sure enough, it does! Within a few days a dead-ringer for Martin walks into his home, claiming Martin stole his identity & then tries to kill Martin. The majority of the book is Martin & his family which consists of a wife & two young girls, on the run from this being that claims to be Marty. We also watch as "The Other" is getting closer & closer; and not too far behind him is people who are after him as well!

The book was full of action & adventure. And of course nail-biting suspense & curiosity of what will happen next. The only thing that could be improved on would be the pace- I think the book could have moved a bit quicker- especially the ending. As usual Koontz's characters take the cake, they make the book. He has a special talent for creating likeable characters & getting the readers to really care about them. Recommended!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Would have been great with some editing.
By NoWireHangers
The story of Mr. Murder is a great horror story involving superhuman clones and secret conspiracies. And for a Koontz book, it's refreshingly free from super intelligent golden retrievers. It has spectacular action sequences, especially towards the end.

So why is it not more than a three star book? The problem is in the pacing. While it does have many spectacular, nail biting sequences, it also has too many parts that slows down the pace where not much happens. It is unnecessarily descriptive, sometimes repetitive. The fact that we get to see the story from both Stillwater's point of view and also from the point of view of the murderer, and get to know his thoughts ad feelings, adds an extra layer to the story, but it also slows down the pace, especially when, in the middle of some of the most climactic sequences, the action pauses to once more tell us how he feels about his "family".

Overall, "Mr. Murder" is a good book, but it should have been edited down a bit. It's not as slow as some of Koontz's worst works, but it's also nowhere near as fast paced as his best works.

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The Last Dark: The climax of the entire Thomas Covenant Chronicles (Last Chronicles of Thomas Cove), by Stephen R. Donaldson

“It will take a long time for fans or critics to digest and appreciate Donaldson's almost 40-year achievement. But in time “T he Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” will be seen as one of the self-defining works of the third millennium, our equivalent in scope and ambition of earlier epics and fantasies, from Virgil's “Aeneid” to Tennyson's “Arthurian Idylls” and Tolkien's “Lord of the Rings,” the last now a lifetime (Donaldson's own) in the past.” -The Wall Street Journal

Compelled step by step to actions whose consequences they could neither see nor prevent, Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery have fought for what they love in the magical reality known only as "the Land." Now they face their final crisis.  Reunited after their separate struggles, they discover in each other their true power--and yet they cannot imagine how to stop the Worm of the World’s End from unmaking Time.  Nevertheless they must resist the ruin of all things, giving their last strength in the service of the world's continuance.
 

  • Sales Rank: #272241 in Books
  • Brand: Brand: G. P. Putnam's Sons
  • Published on: 2013-10-15
  • Released on: 2013-10-15
  • Ingredients: Example Ingredients
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: 9.50" h x 1.90" w x 6.70" l, 1.89 pounds
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 592 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The long-awaited 10th and concluding episode in Donaldson's sprawling epic of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (after Against All Things Ending) opens with Thomas gravely injured but cured of the malady of mind that had impeded his ability to save the Land. In the meantime, the Worm of the World's End and She Who Must Not Be Named have both been roused, and €œthe last crisis of Earth€ is at hand. By the novel's end, Thomas, his wife, and her son will all have made extraordinary sacrifices to rebuild and redeem the Earth, following the collapse of the Arch of Time and the liberation of Lord Foul the Despiser. Although richly allegorical, the novel's great strength is the warm humanity of its characters, who distinguish themselves by repeatedly confronting and overcoming their personal frailties. Donaldson's fans will find this a fitting finale 36 years in the making. Agent: Howard Morhaim, Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. (Oct.)

From Booklist
After 35 years and nine previous installments, Donaldson wraps up the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Epic in scope, this fantasy series ends with an electrifying bang as sometime partners Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery, two tortured souls on a desperate mission to save the alternate world known as the Land, are reunited. Discovering that the power they wield together may be strong enough to defeat the Worm of the World’s End, they continue on their quest as the action ratchets up to an appropriately explosive climax. Readers who have faithfully followed the exploits of Covenant and company may be sad, but they will not be disappointed as this masterful, mystical fantasy series concludes. --Margaret Flanagan

Review
"Although richly allegorical, the novel's great strength is the warm humanity of its characters, who distinguish themselves by repeatedly confronting and overcoming their personal frailties. Donaldson's fans will find this fitting finale 36 years in the making." --Publishers Weekly

Praise for FATAL REVENANT:
"Difficult but worthwhile, this complicated and emotional continuation of the Thomas Covenant saga is exactly what Donaldson's fans have been hoping for." --Publishers Weekly

Praise for THE RUNES OF THE EARTH:
“[A] landmark fantasy saga.” --Entertainment Weekly

“A reawakening of a classic fantasy saga.” --Library Journal

“A trilogy of remarkable scope and sophistication.” --Los Angeles Times

“Startlingly original antiheroic fantasy resonating with echoes of both Tolkien and Philip K. Dick.” --Publishers Weekly

“An epic with page-turning intrigue.” --Detroit Free Press

“Impressive…filled with splendid inventions.” --Booklist

“The most important and original work of epic fantasy after Tolkien…Rich in paradox, metaphor and symbolism…Donaldson’s writing remains one of the most original and intellectually challenging works to have graced contemporary epic fantasy.” --SF Site

"Donaldson has met [readers'] high expectations...you might utter at the book's end: 'I want the next book right now.'" --Detroit Free Press

"Fans can celebrate." --The Kansas City Sta

Praise for THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT:
"A feast for epic fantasy addicts."  --Publishers Weekly

"The most original fantasy since THE LORD OF THE RINGS." --Time Out

"I don't think a books like this come along more than a few times in a lifetime." --Marion Zimmer Bradley

Most helpful customer reviews

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful.
A Fitting Conclusion - with a few Caveats
By Mark Kreighbaum
If you are reading this review, then there is no point in recapping the series (incidentally, the "story so far" summary at the beginning of THE LAST DARK is one of the most lucid and well-written for a series this monumentally long that I have ever read).

I have been looking forward to this summation of Covenant's and Linden Avery's stories for many years and parts of this book were entirely satisfying in that regard. I will begin by talking about the things that I thought were very well done, followed by a few problems that I regret mar this book for me and cost it two stars. Spoilers ahead, although I will try to be circumspect!

Pros:
1) Lots of Giants (but, see also, the cons below). The Giants are one of the most affecting recurring characters in the Covenant canon. Donaldson took some pains to clarify what it means that "joy is in the ears that hear, not the mouth that speaks." There is a surprising level of angst with the Giants in this book that is partially settled by a kind of caamora which readers will recognize from an earlier book. That said, Giants are the characters whose nobility and capacity for courage and sacrifice are made archetypal rather than caricatured. I will always be haunted by Baf Scatterwit and how beloved she is by her crewmates.

2) The Haruchai. These are arguably the most carefully considered characters in the series. They are flawed, though immensely admirable, and Donaldson obviously venerates them and their lives of passion and service. There is a scene after one legendary Haruchai chastises others that is painful to read, but the scene near the end of the book in which Covenant attempts to explain why the Masters' worldview is missing humanity and depth that is a very fine disquisition on the dangers of arrogance and suspicion. Of all the Haruchai, Stave, Linden's friend and protector, remains the most well-crafted member of his race of all the books and I would include even Brinn in that estimation.

3) Linden Avery makes two remarkable choices in this book, one of them having to do with her son, and the other with She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named which I regard as the two best choices she has ever made (including her belated decision to eschew possession). I wish more had been made of her skills as a healer, but they are only briefly touched on, albeit they form the crux of an essential analysis of another character.

4) The Elohim. Their fate, as foretold in the earlier books, is crafted by Jeremiah and that section of the book is perhaps too long, but at least this aspect of the story has a depth and conclusion that is satisfying and well-earned. The final confrontation with Infelice is a good coda to that particular subplot of the series, going all the way back to their introduction in THE ONE TREE.

5) The sheer scale of Covenant and Linden's weaving into the history of the Land. Coming from outside, it was always difficult to believe that either of them would ever attain the stature of someone like Mhoram or Bannor. But they are the incarnation of so much of consequence that has occurred over these books. Their journeys through Falls have put them into contact with ancient heroes of the Land and their actions resonate through time. They are not only saviors of the Land, but worthy of the veneration they are shown, despite their foibles and, especially, Linden's cataclysmic error in judgement that awakened the Worm of the World's End and withered the One Tree.

6) The language. From the first book, I have always enjoyed learning new archaic words and Donaldson doesn't disappoint. Reading this on a Kindle meant I could get the definition right away, except for one or two truly obscure words that I would need an OED to find, I think. Truly, though, I think Donaldson's capacity for elegant ways to depict agony and cosmic tragedy are underrated.

7) Mahrtiir's ultimate fate. An excellent conclusion for a character who is difficult to like, but who has proven critical at several important points in the story.

8) The fate of the Ravers was a particularly satisfying plot point. I hate those Ravers a lot. Plus, the battle with the Skurj and the Sandgorgons. Good stuff!

9) The Staff of Law. Always loved that thing. It has its own character arc, almost. I liked that Donaldson did not neglect it.

10) Elena. Can't say any more than that without a spoiler, but I am grateful that Donaldson did not forget her, that poor, tragic, mad woman who always deserved a better end.

I could go on and specify various well-done individual scenes and character development, but I don't want this review to go on forever. The above items are representative of what Donaldson has done well enough to earn the price of the book, in my opinion.

Cons:
1) The people of the Land are absent from this book, except as theoretical victims. Except for a couple manethralls, there are no ordinary inhabitants of the land in this book at all, a very weird oversight, since one might have expected at least a representative of the ordinary folk who, from the beginning of the first book, are the rightful emblems of this cherished world. Everyone who accompanies Covenant and Linden are special, from the strength and endurance of Giants, to the supernatural grace and telepathic powers of the Haruchai, to the Ranyhyn, etc.

2) The Worm. Despite being a vivid real-time vision of destruction in Jeremiah's mind, the Worm is poorly described and the destruction is so vaguely colossal that it's difficult to envision. I will say that the scene between the monster of the Sarangrave and the Worm is good, as is the confrontation with the Forestal.

3) The geography. You had better have Fonstad's "Atlas of the Land" nearby to follow much of this story. Many of the narrative descriptions are so direction and geologically intricate that it's very difficult to picture what is actually happening, ironically, unless you have a much better visual memory and imagination than I do. And upon those narrative descriptions, essential plot points depend.

4) The Giants. I am sorry to say that beyond Ironhand and Scatterwit, I found most of the Giants to be ciphers. Perhaps their defining characteristics are so similar that, without differentiation, they blend into a composite. That may be a consequence of reading the book too quickly, but they do start to blend together after awhile. I will say that Donaldson does come up with some nifty names for the Giants. In general, he has a gift for names. It's tremendously hard to come up with original creatures whose names are memorable and euphonious.

5) The Feroce. This was frustrating for me because they are such a fascinating creation. I expected that the "Pure One" prophecy would get paid off at the end and it did not. Like the ur-viles and Waynhim, they got short shrift in this book, even though the Feroce are important at several crucial moments.

Again, there are other problems. The Creator makes no appearance in this tale. Lord Foul is a curiously one dimensional adversary in this one, his plots are transparent and his designs obvious. "It boots little to avoid his snares," in earlier books. In this one, his tricks and traps are weak and easily avoidable without consequence. The Arch of Time seems to have been forgotten. And, just speaking for myself, I would have loved one last word from my favorite character of all of the books, Lord Mhoram. Maybe that's just me.

Buy it. It's not a disappointment, but it could've done more justice to the Land, I think.

72 of 79 people found the following review helpful.
Deus-ex-machina make for an incoherent plot
By Michael Barnathan
Donaldson's first two Covenant trilogies were masterworks. He could have stopped with White Gold Wielder and the volumes would rank up there with the great fantasy of the age. Unfortunately, there seems to be a Peter Principle effect in fantasy publishing, by which authors continue to expand their universes up until the point at which they ruin them.

---
*SPOILERS BEGIN HERE*
---

From Runes Of The Earth through Against All Things Ending, I kept reading a story that was well-narrated but had a fairly incoherent plot, reading on in hope that Donaldson would pull it all together in The Last Dark. In Runes of the Earth and Fatal Revenant, Donaldson builds up a dizzying array of characters, many of whom either have no particular impact on the plot (e.g. Liand, The Harrow) or serve among the multitude of blatant deus-ex-machina who zap in and magic up Ur-Viles/the Illearth Stone/caesures/a fake Thomas Covenant (e.g. Roger, Esmer, Kastennessen) whenever the plot demands it.

Donaldson seems to recognize his mistake in Against All Things Ending, and begins methodically killing the superfluous characters off (I had particular hope for the story when he killed off Esmer, whose power and sheer randomness made everything arbitrary). Unfortunately, he does this in the quickest possible way - which often involves the actions of more deux-ex-machina (Roger, cavewights, sandgorgons, skurj, or ur-viles zapping in and impaling people), adding to the general incoherence of the plot.

But that is all What Has Come Before. Now we're done culling out all of the superfluous elements of the first three books and ready to get down to some real storytelling, right? The Worm is coming to The Land, the sun has failed to dawn, and the world has mere days left before the arch of time crumbles.

And the plot does advance, but again, it's all through deux-ex-machina. Covenant can't catch up with a raver - poof, he discovers how to Travel using his ring. Linden can't find the means to learn forbidding - poof, she goes back in time and Mahrtiir ("martyr") sacrifices himself to become a new forestal. This is great for transforming a character who was somewhat superfluous into a plot-driver - unfortunately, even as a forestal, Mahrtiir is still superfluous, with only a very minor impact on the plot.

As the book approaches its ending, things start to get plain ridiculous. The company just decides at some point to forget about the Worm and let the Arch fall; they want to go after Lord Foul instead. In the process, the company starts running out of giants, so Donaldson just whips up a new boatload of them - but by that point, there isn't enough time left in the story to start to empathize with them, so the emotional response is pretty flat when the cavewights again zap in out of nowhere and start impaling them.

So they reach Foul. Covenant looks like he might lose despite wielding the transcendent white gold with which he already beat Foul once, until She Who Must Not Be Named (why not?) comes out of nowhere and literally smacks Foul down with a huge God hand from the sky. This was vaguely satisfying for some reason, but a quite literal deus-ex-machina to top them all. Foul's taken care of, but the Worm can't be stopped, and the Arch of Time crumbles.

At this point, I had a strong expectation of what would happen which I had been harboring for the duration of the series: Covenant and the creator do battle with Foul outside of the arch, Foul is suppressed by/absorbed into the Creator (who can now touch the world, the arch having already been shattered), and a new arch free of Despite is fashioned.

That is *sort of* what happens. I say sort of because there is *no account whatsoever* of how the arch is restored. One moment it crumbles, and then we skip straight to the epilogue, set in a restored Land, where it's revealed that this is no biggie - Linden, Covenant, Jeremiah, et al. just magic themselves a new arch, somehow. We're told that everyone who was alive is still alive. *THIS INVALIDATES THE ENTIRE BOOK*, and is the most disappointing deus-ex-machina of all - if the characters can just magic up a new arch without consequence or even explanation, the Worm was never a threat and the series could have ended with Covenant's resurrection at the end of Fatal Revenant.

The characters are all beckoned by a random new Insequent (was this supposed to be someone familiar?) and disappear behind a rainbow (recalling the story of the Wounded Rainbow from the First Chronicles), saying they need a rest. And then that's it - it just ends there.

---
*SPOILERS END HERE*
---

I read through the Last Chronicles because I so dearly loved the first two, and because I had secretly hoped Donaldson would be able to turn it all around and deliver a great conclusion in this last novel. However, I found the plot and characters too incoherent to make the story engaging. I'd advise readers who are less driven to "see what happens" by the way Donaldson's writing was at its peak to just stop at White Gold Wielder. Your memories of The Land will be fonder if you do so.

51 of 57 people found the following review helpful.
Good, but not Donaldson at his best
By Jack Abramoff
There are some spoilers in here, but I can't really imagine that's an issue -- if you read the first NINE books in the series, you're GOING to read the tenth, if you haven't already. And if you haven't read the other nine, you're not going to start here, are you? Nonetheless, here's my review of this book in particular and the series as a whole.

In 1980, my Senior year in High School, my brother returned home from his Freshman year in college and gave me a birthday present of a book that he'd heard would be good for a Science Fiction fan like myself. "Thanks!" I effused, thinking how stupid my brother was for not knowing the difference between Sci-Fi and Fantasy. But a voracious reader leaves no book unread, so soon I found myself slogging through fifty pages or so of a depressing story about a leper in modern society, outcast and unwelcome, hated by everyone around him, and feeling smug about just how much of an idiot my brother was.

Until......suddenly I was introduced to a Land where health and beauty are tangible things, where power and authority are palpable and used to serve noble purposes instead of as tools of mendacity and greed, where corruption and goodness are deified in the personage of good and evil Lords. This was a world that could be loved by a tech geek that was bored to tears by "The Hobbit", these were people and beings that deserved the utmost respect and affection. But in this world of health, beauty and respect, a normal man with normal human foibles and a profound illness has a hard time fitting in, especially when it's vividly pointed out to him just how much he's lost, how mundane and empty his normal human life has become. He finds himself so unable to equal the goodness and heroicism around him that he winds up denying the very 'reality' of this world, lest he be forced to admit that he's closer to the incarnate evil in this world than the incarnate good.

Covenant's journey to discover his power and deny his helplessness is epic, to say the least, and is written with such mastery and skill that it kept me rapt for three more days and two trips to the bookstore until I'd finished the entire series. It was a complete and self-consistent world, magical and mysterious, yet logical and whole. I bought a second complete set so I'd have extras to loan out to friends while I read and re-read them myself.

A few years later, a friend told me that Donaldson had started a second trilogy, and I couldn't get to the bookstore fast enough. The third book ("White Gold Wielder") wasn't out yet, and I had to wait an entire month before even the hardcover edition came out. It was the first hardcover book I'd ever purchased.

While the second trilogy was arguably even better written, and even more epic in scale, and tremendously engaging, for some reason it just didn't move me as much. Covenant had been given a love interest, a woman from his own world. She's beautiful, intelligent, nurturing, a member of Covenant's own species, by all accounts a wonderful person and perfect for Covenant to fall in love with. It just seemed like a bit of a ham-handed literary device to me...kind of "well, we played out that world, how can we make it more interesting now?". It may not have been a "shark jump" move, but it felt to me a bit like when a prime-time TV series introduces a new baby to "freshen things up".

Since the first series had been a complete story, new characters and new elements had to be introduced, and many of them were fantastic. We get to ride on a rock-hewn Giantship with an entire ship's crew worth of Giants, we get to go overseas to meet new people in strange lands, we get to discover beings of great power and mystery. Covenant explores his pacifistic side, and (spoiler alert!) actually manages to defeat Lord Foul without fighting him. But I missed the Land. Okay, I get it, the Land was destroyed on purpose, so we could miss it, and rejoice when it was restored. That, too, seemed a bit ham-handed. And instead of being beautiful and inspirational, the whole series just struck me as defiled and perverse -- intentionally, of course, but just not rewarding enough. For myself, even the payoff (as epic as it was), just didn't make up for a thousand pages of filth and ashes in my mouth.

Nonetheless, it was a great read, and when I discovered Donaldson's third installment (thank you, Wikipedia!), I quickly purchased and read the first one, then waited patiently for each subsequent one to come out.

Given even fewer story remnants to work with this time around, Donaldson has to introduce more new elements. Again, I get that. Some are characters we've run into but not really explored before, such as Roger Covenant and Berek Halfhand. The ur-viles and waynhim have new roles to play. The Worm is dealt with explicitly and in fact plays the major role in this story. But other new characters are introduced by the dozen, without any apparent rhyme or reason other than to heighten tension in the story. We meet an entire race of powerful people, largely unexplained and probably unneeded, called the Insequent. We meet a new being, Esmer, whose powers are immense but unclear, and whose purpose is largely unexplained. Linden has an adopted son now, who journeys to the Land with Linden and Covenant, and who has a tremendously potent and yet unaccounted-for power. We meet Sunder and Hollian's son, Anele, who plays an important yet rather opaque role in the story. We meet new beings of great power: skurj, powerful enough to devour Giants, and She Who Must Not Be Named, who turns out (spoiler alert!) to be powerful enough to defeat Lord Foul with one stroke.

In all, it made for (to me at least) a rather rambling and arbitrary story, again masterfully told and epic in scale, but somewhat purposeless, definitely not as inspired as the first two installments. Donaldson's a victim of what I refer to as "the Superman trap" -- if you create the most powerful being in the universe, how can there be any legitimate threats to him? Donaldson manages to sidestep that quandary several times -- "you can't use that much power without breaking the Arch" -- "The Staff and the Wild Magic are incompatible because the Staff is pure law and the ring is lawless" -- but there are just too many times when Covenant is unable to defeat rather mundane threats even using the ultimate power in the universe, and too many excuses for it. Too many times Donaldson has his characters labor or fight literally to the point of death, a few of them do die, then everybody that survives gets healed by the Staff. Logical impossibilities/improbabilities abound -- the Worm, the being that literally created the Earth, is TINY in comparison to the Earth, and skates around on the surface of the Earth for a day or more before having any real effect. I found a few things to be inadequately explained, and other things over-explained. (Hey, sue me, I LIKE my Lurkers mysterious!)

And to me, the ending (spoiler alert!) was really phoned in. A big fight between epic powers in Kiril Threndor is fought to a draw, again despite Covenant holding the ultimate power in the universe, then a giant fist squashes Lord Foul, Covenant hugs him and absorbs him into himself? That seems more Benny Hill than Stephen Donaldson! But I think, again, Donaldson wrote himself into a corner...in the first trilogy, we had the combative ending, then the pacifistic ending in the second, now what's left? Hmm....let's acknowledge that evil incarnate is just another aspect of ourselves and ABSORB it instead of trying to defeat it. I'm sorry, but well, ho-hum. And the "unexpected" finish of allowing the Arch of Time to collapse, but not allowing Foul to escape, then rebuilding it and the Earth inside it, just plain didn't work for me.

Donaldson is still one of the very best authors, and I've read every word of all ten books, most of them more than once. The writing is superb, if full of pontificating and introspection, and holds the reader as well as any modern author's. But the story doesn't measure up to Donaldson's best.

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Jumat, 06 November 2015

** PDF Ebook The Arraignment (Paul Madriani Novels), by Steve Martini

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The Arraignment (Paul Madriani Novels), by Steve Martini

"Lean, speedy and packing a wallop of a plot twist" was Publishers Weekly's verdict of Steve Martini's The Jury. Now Martini crafts yet another legal nail-biter featuring perennial favorite attorney Paul Madriani.

After a lawyer friend is killed along with his client in a hail of gunfire outside the federal courthouse in San Diego, Madriani takes on another client who he believes is involved at the edges of the double murder. He takes the case not to defend the man, but to find out who killed his friend and why. Madriani is tortured by questions of conflict, his duty to a client who may have killed his friend, and the need to know the truth, wondering whether he himself had been marked for death only to have a friend die in his place. Soon he is drawn into a vortex of crime that spans the Americas.

As he searches for the killer, Madriani rides the crest of a dangerous wave of international drug deals and people who murder for money. Suddenly he realizes it is not heroin or cocaine that resulted in the murder of his friend, but a priceless piece of pre-Columbian art-something so dazzling in the information it holds as to be one of the treasures of the ages.

In a quest that takes Madriani from California to Mexico and the Guatemalan border, he discovers that while the motive to kill may be driven by distant, exotic, and ancient artifacts, the killer, like a serpent, lies much closer at hand.

  • Sales Rank: #443320 in Books
  • Published on: 2003-01-06
  • Released on: 2003-01-06
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: 9.32" h x 1.46" w x 6.28" l, 1.80 pounds
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 416 pages

Amazon.com Review
When Paul Madriani's old friend, flamboyant criminal-defense lawyer Nick Rush, is gunned down on the streets of San Diego along with a client, Madriani sets out to find the killer. He follows the trail through shady real-estate dealings, cross-border smuggling, political corruption, and a nasty fight between Rush's ex and his young trophy wife over a hefty life-insurance policy. Eventually the case leads Madriani to the Yucatan Peninsula near Cancún, where the last third of the book takes place--a dandy locale for skullduggery, even if it does make you suspect that the author thought up the plot while vacationing there.

The Arraignment is marred by some sloppy, foggy-headed writing ("The neighborhood exudes the kind of aura picked up by a sixth sense that lingers and lifts the hair on the back of my neck"), and the plot, after its initial bang, sags for a while before it gets moving again. However, the sheer vigor of Martini's prose, his densely inventive plotting, and his sharply drawn characters carry you happily, tensely along. The book's action scenes--including a hand-to-hand fight in a shabby apartment and an unforgettable poolside shooting at a Cancún resort--are told in fresh, vivid prose that unfolds with hypnotic clarity. And the denouement is great fun, although the complex plot takes a lot of explaining at the end. Martini's not perfect, but he's still one of the best legal/adventure thriller writers going. --Nicholas H. Allison

From Publishers Weekly
Someday, someone may convince Martini or his publishers to come up with book titles that have a little more zip or at least relevance to the plot. Fortunately, the books themselves don't suffer from the same lack of inspiration. Martini's seventh series entry starring San Diego attorney Paul Madriani is one of his finest. It not only showcases Madriani as a man of maturing wisdom, but also as one who hasn't lost too much youthful vigor. Here, his client is the lithesome Dana Rush. She is the trophy wife of Madriani's good friend and fellow lawyer, Nick Rush, who is gunned down outside a downtown courthouse as the novel begins. In taking the case, Madriani feels an obligation to his friend; he wants to make sure Dana gets her just life insurance proceeds. But Madriani is equally as interested in investigating the events surrounding Nick's murder. What he finds-related deaths, drug smuggling, shady land deals and conniving law partners-takes Madriani on an unwholesome tour of Nick's final few months. The case leads Madriani and his law partner Harry Hinds to Mexico, where the action culminates in violence atop a Mayan ruin. Readers may have trouble tying it all together at the end, and they won't be too surprised at the identity of the villain. Yet along the way, Martini shows a deepening talent for character and description, which should put this popular series on continued solid footing for the future. Mystery Guild main selection, Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club featured alternate.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Paul Madriani is back, having agreed to defend a suspicious character because he may know something about the death of Madriani's lawyer friend. The case soon goes international, involving not drugs or guns but priceless pre-Columbian art.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Most helpful customer reviews

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
A good read. Steve Martini always delivers suspense.
By Music Queen
I enjoy this series very much. It keeps me interested and I look forward to the next book in the series!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Madriani in Mexico - Not His best
By John R. Linnell
The title implies another Paul Madriani courtroom novel. The title is grossly misleading. In fact after reading the book one wonders why it was named as it was because it has so little to do with the plot or action in the book. Madriani becomes some kind of private detective in this book after a friend of his dies in a hail of bullets while talking to a client outside the courthouse before the client is to be arraigned. That's as close as this book ever gets to a courtroom. The rest of it entails Madriani trying to find out what his friend was involved with and why he was killed, which nearly gets Madriani killed. The answer is not particularly interesting and how it is revealed is less so. There really is little to recommend this book....and I don't.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Disappointing!
By A Customer
The story started off with great promise. Then it just died. The last part is so disappointing that I can hardly finish reading it. The writer didn't seem to know what he wanted to say or how to end the story. He just made up some totally ridiculous plots to try to tie everything together. And it doesn't work!

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Kamis, 05 November 2015

~ Ebook Free What You Owe Me, by Bebe Moore Campbell

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What You Owe Me, by Bebe Moore Campbell

Los Angeles, l945: When Hosanna Clark, newly arrived from the farm fields of Texas, befriends Holocaust survivor Gilda Rosenstein, she opens the door to a new life for them both. Using Gilda's knowledge of cosmetics and Hosanna's energy and determination, they begin producing a line of lipsticks and lotions for black women. The two are more than partners: They are dear friends.

Then Gilda suddenly disappears, taking all the assets. Hosanna is doubly betrayed: financially ruined and emotionally bereft. When, years later, she passes away, her small cosmetics company dies with her. But Hosanna leaves behind a daughter steeped in her mother's pain: Matriece is as smart and driven as her mother and savvy enough to recognize that white firms are competing not only for black consumer dollars but for black professional talent as well. When Gilda's huge cosmetics conglomerate hires her to launch a line of black beauty products, Matriece takes on a mission to collect her mother's debt.

What You Owe Me is a stunning account of the changes we have seen in white attitudes toward blacks, but it is also a sensitive look at what betrayal-of friendship, of love-does to us all. Ultimately, it is a moving book about healing. As Emerge magazine acknowledged, "Campbell's writings are a beacon of light, helping assuage the anger by tending our deepest wounds."

  • Sales Rank: #923626 in Books
  • Published on: 2001-08-06
  • Released on: 2001-08-06
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: 9.24" h x 1.65" w x 6.38" l,
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The friendship between a black woman and a new immigrant in 1940s California sets in motion events that span two generations in Campbell's (Singing in the Comeback Choir) densely plotted new novel. Hosanna Clark, a maid at an elegant Los Angeles hotel, befriends her new white co-worker Gilda Rosenstein, a Holocaust survivor whose family had owned a cosmetics factory. When Hosanna tries a special lotion Gilda has made, she persuades Gilda to produce it for Hosanna to sell to local black women. They are very successful, and at Gilda's suggestion they open a joint bank account. Not long after, Gilda and her new husband disappear with all their profits. Daughter Matriece, a witness to Hosanna's struggle to survive on her own, resolves to achieve the success her mother never had; she eventually becomes a division president in Gilda's cosmetics empire. Ignorant of Matriece's identity, Gilda mentors the young woman, with whom she feels an unexplained bond. Gilda's reaction, when she finally learns the truth, is unexpected, and she startles everyone with a surprising proposal that brings the story to a neat conclusion. Numerous subplots crowd the novel, covering issues from reparations and education to romance and betrayal. Campbell's detailed treatment of each accounts for the book's length, but all are credibly tied to the central tale. Character portraits are sometimes shallow, and the story's length tests the reader's stamina, but those with the patience to follow its intricate, entwined relationships will find the novel rewarding. (Aug. 6)Forecast: This wide-ranging effort is most reminiscent of Campbell's 1994 Brothers and Sisters and is positioned to perform just as strongly. First serial went to Essence magazine, and the book has been chosen as a main selection of the Black Expression Book Club and as an alternate selection of BOMC, the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club and QPB. A major ad/promo campaign and a 27-city author tour will cover all conceivable bases.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Campbell (Brothers and Sisters) here tells the story of Hosanna Clark, a black maid in a Los Angeles hotel, and her surprising relationship with Gilda, a white Jewish migr e from Poland. Just after World War II, the women join forces to promote a hand lotion that Gilda makes, with Gilda managing the financial end of their newborn partnership and Hosanna hustling the product. But just as they quit their jobs to make cosmetics for black women full time, Gilda disappears, as does all the cash in their joint bank account. Gilda starts her own cosmetics company, which brings her both fame and fortune, and Hosanna passes her jealousy, anger, and thirst for revenge on to her daughter, Matriece. Matriece goes to work for Gilda after Hosannah dies, with unfocused plans for revenge, but the crisis is unexpectedly resolved, with a happy ending for everyone. Campbell freights her story with ethical and religious messages and abundant black/white and parent/child conflicts it cannot quite sustain. Though the characters are well drawn, they are stereotypical, and their dialog is thin and somewhat stilted. Not as convincing as her other works but still a good read; recommended for public libraries. Joanna Burkhardt, Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Univ. of Rhode Island, Providence
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
An unlikely pair of women--a black woman from Texas and a Jewish woman newly arrived from Poland--meet in L.A. in the 1940s and begin a friendship that will prompt 50 years of bitterness and betrayal. Hosanna fled Texas with her brother after their family was cheated out of their land. Gilda is a recent survivor of the German concentration camps, still wearing the internal and external scars. The only thing of value that Gilda has brought with her is her family's formula for moisture lotion. Hosanna gets the idea of selling the lotion to black women longing for a little beauty and luxury in their harsh lives. But Gilda and Hosanna's friendship--and partnership--can't withstand racism and the meddling of Gilda's family. Hosanna is abandoned, nearly penniless, to continue her enterprise alone. She forsakes a true love and neglects her husband and daughters for the sake of her business. Fifty years later, long after Hosanna's death, her daughter Matriece, literally haunted by her mother, carries on Hosanna's drive and sense of betrayal. When she goes to work for Gilda Cosmetics, Matriece keeps her identity secret until she can recover what her mother lost. But she learns what Hosanna never did: how to balance love and ambition, friendship and enterprise. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Most helpful customer reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Bland & Too Long
By Nancy Hochman
I have to preface this review by saying that Bebe Moore Campbell is one of my all-time favorite authors and I LOVED her other novels. But this is by far her worst. First of all there are too many subplots that are unnecessary to the the central story. Not to say that they aren't intriguing, however, she would have been better off leaving them out and using them as plots for another novel. While they do all somehow tie together, they don't tie together in a relevant way. The central plot is about the betrayal of a black woman named Hosanna who started a cosmetics company with a while, jewish woman named Gilda in the late 1940s. Gilda ends up disappearing and runs off with the money that they both earned and eventually builds a cosmetics empire of her own. Hosanna's anger and pain is passed down to her daughter Matriece who goes to work for Gilda and vows to eventually collect what was owed to her mother. If Campbell had focused solely on this theme, without delving off on tangents involving her relationships with her long lost father, or her relationship with her nephew and sister's family, I think the novel would have been better served. As I said, these subplots were interesting, but perhaps she could have saved them for another book, or perhaps a sequel to this one.
The characters were thin and stereotypical: the deadbeat dad; the famous, lonely and unhappy rock star; the son & daughter who feel overshadowed by their powerful father and mother, etc. This book could have be tighter by losing 200 pages. I hate to criticize any of Campbell's books because she is so talented. So on that note, I will HIGHLY recommend reading some her earlier works like "Your Blues Ain't Like Mine", "Brothers & Sisters", and "Singing in the Comeback Choir." Those are GREAT books. ...

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
A Great Novel With a Great Lesson
By Mocha Girl
This novel was a bit lengthy, but don�t let it dissuade you from reading it. It was a very enjoyable read spanning three generations and fifty years. In the early part of the novel, the two primary characters, Hosanna Clark and Gilda Rosenstein, one black, one Jewish form a friendship and business only to end in Gilda betraying Hosanna. The remainder of the story includes an interesting cast of characters who are largely members and friends of both families including one of Hosanna�s daughters (Matriece �Triesey� Carter) who learn of Gilda�s perfidy from their mother and feels obligated to right the wrongs done to her mother. The plot thickens as the history, hidden agendas, and background of the characters are revealed. Without revealing too much�there were lessons to be learned in the lives of these characters�the pain of vengeance, peace of atonement, and the power of forgiveness. Campbell crossed race and socio-economic lines to bring life to a great novel.
Although some parts were slow and in this reader�s opinion I think it could have been shortened, this was a true page-turner, especially in the last 1/3 of the book. You'll leave with a message that we all need to consider...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Worth the Read - Can't Believe It's Fiction
By Smootchez
I purchased this book when it was first released and put the book down by page 50 because it starts slow. The hardcover edition is 500+ pages.
During Thanksgiving break 2002, I started reading the book again and couldn't believe I put it down a year earlier. The story of Hosanna (black Texan farm girl) and Gilda (Jewish Holocaust survivor) friendship/partnership is remarkable. The legacy that Hosanna passes on to her daughter regarding the betrayed friendship/partnership is even better. "What You Owe Me" displays how people can miss out on many of life's blessings when they are plagued by guilt or too determine to get revenge. This book is an emotional rollercoaster (tears, anger, laughter, heartbreak, insecurity, extreme confidence, etc.) I would love to see this book made into a movie!

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