As Bill Sees It

Garrison, Paul: Sea Hunter, HarperTorch December 1, 2003 ISBN: 0060081686
,,This maritime escapade takes the same tack as Garrison's Buried at Sea, a wave-tossed thriller, but drifts into becalmed waters. Grief-stricken after scattering his former lover's ashes at sea, journalist-turned-sailor David Hope is rushing back to Tortola in the Leewards (where he ekes out a living chartering his catamaran, Oona, to scuba-diving tourists) when he sees a dolphin as large as a killer whale. Arriving back in Tortola, Hope finds his much-needed end-of-the-season charter-which was to provide the money for long-overdue boat repairs-has canceled. Serendipitously, he is approached by Sally Moffitt, an underwater filmmaker intent on making a film on the breeding habits of short-snouted spinner dolphins. She charters his boat, and they scarcely make it out to sea when they encounter the giant dolphin. After the sighting, they are invited aboard a huge, anachronistic sailing vessel owned by a wealthy naturalist, Bill Tree, who is doing suspicious research on dolphins. While they're aboard, Tree bugs the Oona so he can eavesdrop on Hope and Moffitt, and all are led north by the dolphin, which is soon revealed to be a "killphin," programmed for a mission of doom. Garrison has a knack for snappy dialogue, and his characters are lively creations, even when they're stereotypes (the massively fat Tree is a classic over-the-top James Bond villain). But as Hope and Moffitt predictably become lovers and the repetitive plot blurs into a mind-numbing sea chase, waterlogged readers will long for dry land.

Condition;Very Good ,Paperback ,This maritime escapade takes the same tack as Garrison's Buried at Sea, a wave-tossed thriller, but drifts into becalmed waters. Grief-stricken after scattering his former lover's ashes at sea, journalist-turned-sailor David Hope is rushing back to Tortola in the Leewards (where he ekes out a living chartering his catamaran, Oona, to scuba-diving tourists) when he sees a dolphin as large as a killer whale. Arriving back in Tortola, Hope finds his much-needed end-of-the-season charter-which was to provide the money for long-overdue boat repairs-has canceled. Serendipitously, he is approached by Sally Moffitt, an underwater filmmaker intent on making a film on the breeding habits of short-snouted spinner dolphins. She charters his boat, and they scarcely make it out to sea when they encounter the giant dolphin. After the sighting, they are invited aboard a huge, anachronistic sailing vessel owned by a wealthy naturalist, Bill Tree, who is doing suspicious research on dolphins. While they're aboard, Tree bugs the Oona so he can eavesdrop on Hope and Moffitt, and all are led north by the dolphin, which is soon revealed to be a "killphin," programmed for a mission of doom. Garrison has a knack for snappy dialogue, and his characters are lively creations, even when they're stereotypes (the massively fat Tree is a classic over-the-top James Bond villain). But as Hope and Moffitt predictably become lovers and the repetitive plot blurs into a mind-numbing sea chase, waterlogged readers will long for dry land.

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Lescroart, John: THE HEARING, New York Penguin Group (USA) 2001
ISBN: 0-525-94575-X New

ABOUT THE BOOK The Hearing FROM OUR EDITORS In John T. Lescroart's Nothing but the Truth, Dismas Hardy -- embattled hero of an exemplary series of legal thrillers -- found himself embroiled in a complex murder investigation that gradually illuminated some undiscovered fault lines in his own marriage. In his follow-up appearance, The Hearing, Hardy has regained a tentative sense of marital harmony but must still contend with the chaos and corruption of the outside world. This time out, chaos takes the form of a brutal murder that comes uncomfortably close to Hardy and his inner circle of friends. The murder victim is Elaine Wager, a brilliant African-American woman and a leading figure in the San Francisco legal community. Elaine was found shot to death in an alley, with a homeless heroin addict crouching above her, smoking gun in hand. This apparently open-and-shut case comes to Hardy's attention for two reasons. First, he discovers that Elaine is the daughter of his closest friend, Homicide Lieutenant Abe Glitsky. Second, the alleged killer turns out to be Cole Burgess, ne'er-do-well brother of yet another longtime friend. Hardy, caught in an irresolvable conflict, wants no part of Burgess's defense. But external circumstances force his hand, and he reluctantly changes his mind. To begin with, Burgess's taped confession reveals significant inconsistencies and raises a number of inconvenient questions. In addition, District Attorney Sharron Pratt plans to make blatant political use of the killing by pushing, uncharacteristically, for the death penalty. Early on, Hardy makes a crucial strategic decision and throws all his efforts into avoiding a jury trial by winning decisively in the preliminary hearing. He knows his only serious chance lies in offering the presiding magistrate a plausible -- and provable -- alternative culprit. With that in mind, he launches his own independent investigation into Elaine Wager's death. What follows is a hugely entertaining, occasionally improbable courtroom thriller in which Hardy -- together with Abe Glitsky and a host of associates old and new -- follows a trail of venality and violence from the bars and bedrooms of San Francisco's bottom feeders to the inner circles of the city's political elite. It's all great fun, and the furious melodrama acquires added depth through Lescroart's carefully shaded characterizations and his ongoing concern with the various ways people handle -- and sometimes fail to handle -- the large and small problems of everyday life. If you haven't encountered Lescroart before, by all means do so now. The Hearing is a first-rate, high-adrenaline narrative that offers a number of complex pleasures and marks Lescroart as the best courtroom novelist this side of Scott Turow. (Bill Sheehan) Bill Sheehan reviews horror, suspense, and science fiction for Cemetery Dance, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and other publications. His book-length critical study of the fiction of Peter Straub, At the Foot of the Story Tree, has been published by Subterranean Press (www.subterraneanpress.com). FROM THE PUBLISHER "The call comes at midnight. It looks like a tragic and petty murder - a rising star in San Francisco's legal firmament found shot in a dark alley. But for homicide lieutenant Abe Glitsky, the crime cuts horribly close to home - unknown to anyone, the victim was his daughter. Seething, Glitsky leans hard on his only suspect - a homeless heroin addict found lingering over his daughter's body, with her jewelry in his pocket and a smoking gun in his hand." "The city's embattled, ambitious D.A., Sharron Pratt, sees an opportunity to revive her troubled administration by publicly declaring war on the killer and vowing to deliver the death penalty, putting the case on the fast track to certain conviction. Unable to watch a man die for Pratt's political gain, Dismas Hardy warily takes on the defense. But as Hardy's crusade to secure his client a fair hearing ensues, a lethal web of political corruption, legal conspiracy, an New Hardcover 6 x 9"

[SW: Hardy, Dismas (Fictitious character) -- Fiction, San Francisco (Calif.) -- Fiction, Mystery fiction, Legal stories]

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Keen, Sam: HYMNS TO AN UNKNOWN GOD: AWAKENING THE SPIRIT IN EVERYDAY LIFE, New York Bantam Books 1994
ISBN: 0-553-08903-X Very Good Condition

ABOUT THE BOOK Hymns to an Unknown God: Awakening the Spirit in Everyday Life ANNOTATION The bestselling author of Fire in the Belly--the classic guide to men's psychology and spirituality--turns his attention to men's and women's search for meaning in a new book that charts a course for living a spiritual life in troubled times. Keen cuts through the conceits, self-deceptions, and crises of faith to lay bare the core of what makes an authentic spirituality. <P> FROM THE PUBLISHER: There is no doubt that America is in the midst of a spiritual crisis. Millions of people are trying to find meaning in their lives by returning to old-time religions, or by seeking out new cults, fads, channelers, 12-step programs, and self-help books. Bill Moyers has called this search for spirituality "the biggest story - not only of the decade but of the century." Now, Sam Keen, the New York Times bestselling author of Fire in the Belly, addresses this crisis and provides a blueprint for bringing spirituality into everyday life in Hymns to an Unknown God: Awakening the Spirit in Everyday Life. Using practical examples from his and other people's lives, Keen tells readers how to cut through what he calls the "spiritual bullshit," and recover the sacred in their love affairs, families, jobs, and politics - in short, how to recover the "Unknown God." Down-to-earth and articulate, Sam Keen is a popular social commentator, philosopher, and teacher. He describes himself as "overeducated at the Ivies," with degrees from Harvard and Princeton. His work has been featured in a special Bill Moyers PBS interview, and for over twenty years he was a consulting editor at Psychology Today. How to Use Your Spiritual Bullshit Detector: In a world of one-minute solutions, false spiritual leaders, and instant spirituality, how can you tell which beliefs are valid and separate the bogus from the genuine. Sex and the Spirit: Why is it that sex and spirituality are so interconnected and confusing? Keen explains the conflict between "I want" and "I should," and tells readers how to integrate sensuality, sexuality and spiritualityto experience truly deep and loving relationships. Consecrating Our Days: Rituals for Living: Keen gives more than a dozen suggestions for personal rituals to remind readers of the sacredness in their everyday lives, including creating a private place as a personal sanctuary, learning to make time to think deeply, setting aside personal days as times of celebration, and more. <P> FROM THE CRITICS Publishers Weekly : Defining the quest to unlock spirituality as ""the reverse of the religious pilgrimage,'' bestselling author Sam Keen ( Fire in the Belly ) nonetheless sets out immediately to blend Eastern and Western religious traditions with philosophy, psychology and autobiography. The result is a New Age-ish ""now-and-then spiritual journey'' whose indirect path may result in confusion for questers seeking less amorphous guidance. Ambiguity is implicit even in Keen's naming of the unknown god--""some missing value, some absent purpose, some new meaning, some presence of the sacred''; and Keen sees a constant questioning of religious authority as essential to spiritual transcendence. ""A soulful life,'' Keen posits, ""is more about getting rhythm and tuning into the music of the spheres than it is about getting the words correct.'' To further aid this quest in an era emerging from the 20th century's frayed ""technological-economic myth of progress,'' the author offers a ""spiritual bull-shit detector'' as well as rituals for consecrating sex and work, family and other relationships, local communities and the global environment. (July) Library Journal Keen (Fire in the Belly, LJ 2/15/91) provides a wonderfully celebratory guide to spiritual growth. He charts the spiritual path as beginning with psychological cleansing, "peeling away the myths and illusions that have misinformed us," a phase wherein "men and women follow opposite and complementary paths to recover what was denied in their adolescent sundering into gender." Published at Twenty Three dollars. Noticed this copy, although VERY GOOD has water stains first few pages at bottom and top of book; therefore, we sell it "As Is". Back of book jacket at bottom is discolored due to water stain. Very Good Book Jacket Hardcover 6 x 9"

[SW: SPIRITUAL LIFE RELIGION SPIRITUALITY]

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Connelly, Michael: DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT, Boston Little, Brown & Company 2001
ISBN: 0-316-15407-5 As New Condition

Independent elements from several earlier books come seamlessly together in Michael Connelly's ingenious, compelling novel, A Darkness More than Night. This one features both Terry McCaleb, last seen in the Edgar-nominated Blood Work, and Hieronymous (Harry) Bosch, the haunted hero of several of Connelly's finest novels. The lives of these two damaged, all-too-human figures intersect in a typically extravagant story that is at once a murder mystery, a legal thriller, and a psychological drama of considerable subtlety and power. The novel begins when McCaleb, an FBI profiler forced into retirement following a successful heart transplant, agrees to lend his expertise to a particularly baffling murder investigation. The victim is Edward Gunn, an alcoholic lowlife with a violent past. He was once arrested -- by Harry Bosch -- for the murder of a Los Angeles prostitute but managed, despite Harry's best efforts, to avoid prosecution. McCaleb's analysis of the crime scene reveals a number of anomalies: an unexplained head wound, a phrase ("Beware, beware, God sees") written in medieval Latin, the replica of an owl placed in the vicinity of the corpse. Following his instincts, McCaleb locates mirror images of these arcane clues in a number of paintings by Harry's namesake, the 15th-century Dutch master, Hieronymous Bosch. Harry, meanwhile, is serving as chief investigator and star witness in the sensational murder trial of a world-famous Hollywood director and has no idea that he's just become the primary suspect in an unrelated investigation. As the trial progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that Harry's testimony is critically important and that any attempt to destroy his credibility will undermine the case against a vicious, well-connected killer. Eventually, Harry learns about McCaleb's suspicions and forces a confrontation. McCaleb takes a second look at the accumulated evidence and begins to discern the outlines of a very different scenario. As new revelations come gradually into view, the disparate elements of the novel coalesce, and the narrative moves with increasing urgency toward a violent, thoroughly satisfying conclusion. Connelly is only a moderately gifted stylist, but he is a devious, resourceful plotter and a world-class storyteller. His new book generates the kind of irresistible momentum that very few novelists ever manage to achieve. At the same time, it offers empathetic portraits of two memorably complex protagonists with more than their share of ghosts, griefs, and personal demons to contend with. A Darkness More than Night is an intelligent, compassionate, unfailingly entertaining thriller. It deserves the success it is doubtless about to achieve. --Bill Sheehan Bill Sheehan reviews horror, suspense, and science fiction for Cemetery Dance, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and other publications. His book-length critical study of the fiction of Peter Straub, At the Foot of the Story Tree, has been published by Subterranean Press. <P> From the Publisher A spectacular new crime novel — the most astounding in his already remarkable career—from the New York Times bestselling star of thriller writing, Michael Connelly. New Yorker ...Connelly allows Bosch and McCaleb to regard each other critically in ways that sharpen the reader's perception of them... USA Today An intricate plot, rich characterization and deft dialogue play out our medieval moralities in modern dress in one of Connelly's most adept constructions... Pilot No one...knows more about police and criminals than Michael Connelly...filled with details...with the most completely r<%END%>ered vision of Los Angeles...frontrunner for best crime novel of the year... Denver Post Michael Connelly's mysteries exude the grit of their settings, but their real standout element is the haunted nature of the heroes. Published at twenty six dollars. Hardcover 6 x 9"

[SW: Private investigators--California--Los Angeles--Fiction, Serial murders--Fiction, Los Angeles (Calif.)--Fiction]

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