Book Reviews

Cooking Recipes! A recipe and cooking site offering free cooking recipes , articles on entertaining and menu planning, helpful cooking tips and charts, a cooking dictionary. Cooking Recipes are used in Cooking to learn to craft consumables | In order to convert psd to html , you need to be conversant with support commands, web designing and web developing dimensions. The PSD to HTML transition calls for a specialist approach, best left to the professionals...

January 2003

 

Hope you had a great holiday!

Here's a couple of reviews for the book column.

by Chuck Dixon

 

 

 

WHEN THE EAGLE HUNTS by Simon Scarrow   The third in Scarrow's series of military adventure stories set in the First Century AD as Rome invades Britain during the reign of Claudius. Battle-hardened centurian Macro leads his eager young optio Cato go on a harrowing mission to rescue the wife and children of a General from the Durotiges and their evil Druid leaders. There's no pretense to literature here just a solid ripping yarn. Lot of suspense as the action gets seriously bloody at the climax. Scarrow's done his research but, as with many British-penned historical pageturners, I find the use of current English colloquilisms offputting. I recall cringing during the BBC's adaptation of I, CLAUDIUS when a Praetorian hauls Claudius from hiding (following the assassination of Caligula) and presents him to some German conscripts with the immortal, "'old on, 'erbert. 'ere's yer new emperor!"   (Available Amazon.co.uk)   BET YOUR LIFE by Richard Dooling Fast becoming one of my favorite current novelists. After dealing with the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone IN WHITE MAN'S GRAVE and Intensive care doctors in CRITICAL CARE and the ethics of hate crime legislation in the awsome BRAINSTORM, Dooling turns to the insurance industry with the best suspense novel concerning insurance fraud since James M. Cain. It concerns investment firms that buy the life insurance policies of terminally ill patients. Sounds dull? It ain't. This is Dooling's most mainstream novel but is just as thought-provoking as his previous efforts. Some absolutely thrilling writing here. Think John Grisham is silly? Find Scott Turow tiersome? Step up to the big leagues and give this guy a try.     NO WAY TO TREAT A FIRST LADY by Christopher Buckley The president of the United States is found dead in his bed in the White House and the First Lady is the prime suspect. A compelling mystery, exciting courtroom thriller and laugh-out-loud satire all rolled into one. There's even a love story. Buckley is one of our premiere humorists and this one is a gem. Smart and cynical and funny. This would make a great movie if anyone had the stones to make it as sharp as the novel.

 

Chuck