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Review Date: 4/28/2007
Gripping page turner. The NYT calls this "jet-propelled...This twisting, stealthily plotted story ...weaves a tnagled and ingeniously enveloping web.. a killer twist for the end."
Review Date: 10/26/2007
Helpful Score: 5
This was an interesting blend of science information and government and politics. I found it to be an interesting reflection of the world today where scientific information is offered as justification for government policies or withheld for similar reasons. The characters came from different walks of life, scientists, scientists turned businessmen, American Indians. They were well drawn. A few were rather one-dimensional, but necessary. The main characters were more complex, and what was important to me, gained insight about themselves over the course of the story. I can recommend this book to readers of science fiction looking for something more than fantasy.
Review Date: 8/29/2010
If you liked Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, you will love this book. Although it lacks the sci-fi aspect of time travel, there are many similarities in the characters, time period and location of the book. Descriptions of life on the frontier are wonderful, and I had a good understanding of life on the frontier when New York state was the frontier! Characters were interesting, especially a very strong female heroine. All in all, a very satisfying read!
Review Date: 7/27/2009
Helpful Score: 1
I found this to be a very absorbing story. The author did a good job of providing insights into each of the four sisters' personalities, all of whom are very different. The plot is the least of the story, but I did wonder what going to happen to each member of the family, given their different interests, their strengths and weaknesses. The story takes place in a suburb of Kyoto and also in Tokyo. Hearing about the Cherry Blossom Festival, their take on geishas and their views on life for the wealthy classes was something I would never have imagined. I found their reflections on the emperor and the world situation to be quite different from what we in the west would have thought. I would recommend this book to people looking for insight into the ways of Japan, especially prior to WWII.
Review Date: 12/30/2006
Helpful Score: 1
Michael Crichton at his best writes an absorbing story. This book, while not his best ever, was a good story. While I did not agree with the premise, I did enjoy reading about the sleazy characters who do stupid things, either in the name of science or greed. The topic of the book was a series of intertwined threads dealing with combining human genes with animals: monkey, parrots, etc. Also, the taking of cells from an individual for profit.
Review Date: 1/23/2012
Amy Tan is one of the most interesting writers around. This book Saving Fish From Drowning, caught my interest right away. The setting in Burma is exotic, and the characters are interesting. Plot twists in the story kept my interest. I recommend this book highly.
Review Date: 7/23/2009
Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite writers. This book lives up to Hoffman's previous sucesses. What I liked about Second Nature was the character development and relationship among the characters. The book does not have anything to do with witchcraft but the characters do have the ability to sense things about others, get a feeling about what will happen. Their insights are way beyond my own. The story concerns a man who was the sole survivor of a plane crash when he was a small child, raised among the wolves. Returned to society as an adult, his insights and discomforts as well as human feelings he cannot avoid are the focus of the story. I recommend this book to all who are looking for a good read.
Review Date: 12/1/2006
Set in New York, story about a great pianist who has retired. She gets involved in the life of an old friend and his circle. An interesting story.
Review Date: 1/23/2012
Helpful Score: 2
This has been described as a compelling novel, and I believe this is true. A story about a person who happens to be a sportwriter, but more about getting through the mundane happenings of everyday life.
Review Date: 12/15/2007
For forty years Western intelligence agents have known a terrible secret: the Russians have a mole--code-named Talbot--inside the CIA. At first Talbot is suspected of killing European agents. Then a street-smart ex-cop uncovers a storm of espionage and murder on the streets of New York, while in a Long Island suburb a civic demonstration against the Russian mission masks a desperate duel of nerves and wits. Engineered by Talbot, a shadow world of suspicion and deceit is spilling onto the streets--leading to a new Soviet weapon and a first-strike war plan threatening the foundations of American government. For the U.S., time is running out. For Talbot, the time is now.
Review Date: 12/15/2007
From Publisher's Weekly:
A young American model is murdered in the corporate boardroom of Los Angeles's Nakomoto Tower on the new skyscraper's gala opening night. Murdered, that is, unless she was strangled while enjoying sadomasochistic sex that went too far. Nakomoto, a Japanese electronics giant, tries to hush up the embarrassing incident, setting in motion a murder investigation that serves Crichton ( Jurassic Park ) as the platform for a clever, tough-talking harangue on the dangers of Japanese economic competition and influence-peddling in the U.S. Divorced LAPD lieutenant Peter Smith, who has custody of his two-year-old daughter, and hard-boiled detective John Connor, who says things like "For a Japanese, consistent behavior is not possible," pursue the killer in a winding plot involving Japan's attempt to gain control of the U.S. computer industry. Although Crichton's didactic aims are often at cross-purposes with his storytelling, his entertaining, well-researched thriller cannot be easily dismissed as Japan-bashing because it raises important questions about that country's adversarial trade strategy and our inadequate response to it. He also provides a fascinating perspective on how he thinks the Japanese view Americans--as illiterate, childish, lazy people obsessed with TV, violence and aggressive litigation. 225,000 first printing; BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A young American model is murdered in the corporate boardroom of Los Angeles's Nakomoto Tower on the new skyscraper's gala opening night. Murdered, that is, unless she was strangled while enjoying sadomasochistic sex that went too far. Nakomoto, a Japanese electronics giant, tries to hush up the embarrassing incident, setting in motion a murder investigation that serves Crichton ( Jurassic Park ) as the platform for a clever, tough-talking harangue on the dangers of Japanese economic competition and influence-peddling in the U.S. Divorced LAPD lieutenant Peter Smith, who has custody of his two-year-old daughter, and hard-boiled detective John Connor, who says things like "For a Japanese, consistent behavior is not possible," pursue the killer in a winding plot involving Japan's attempt to gain control of the U.S. computer industry. Although Crichton's didactic aims are often at cross-purposes with his storytelling, his entertaining, well-researched thriller cannot be easily dismissed as Japan-bashing because it raises important questions about that country's adversarial trade strategy and our inadequate response to it. He also provides a fascinating perspective on how he thinks the Japanese view Americans--as illiterate, childish, lazy people obsessed with TV, violence and aggressive litigation. 225,000 first printing; BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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