Obsession (Alex Delaware Novels)

Book Description

With scores of millions of books in print, translation into two dozen languages, and one of the most popular heroes in contemporary fiction to his name, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman is the unequivocal “master of the psychological thriller” (People). In his newest novel Kellerman delivers a tour de force–poignant, dark, and chilling–that illuminates a shadowy world where impulse rules.

Tanya Bigelow was a solemn little girl when Dr. Alex Delaware successfully treated her obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Now, at nineteen, she still seems older than her years–but her problems go beyond hyper-maturity. Patty Bigelow, Tanya’s aunt and adoptive mother, has made a deathbed confession of murder and urged the young woman to seek Delaware’s help. The doctor recalls Patty as a selfless E.R. nurse struggling to raise a child on her own–a woman seemingly incapable of the “terrible thing” she has admitted. But for Tanya’s peace of mind, Delaware agrees to investigate, and he enlists LAPD detective Milo Sturgis in the search for the phantom victim of a crime that may never have occurred.

Armed with only the vaguest details, psychologist and cop follow a trail twisting from L.A.’s sleaziest low-rent districts to its overblown mansions, retracing Patty and Tanya’s nomadic and increasingly puzzling life to the doorsteps of a sullen heroin addict; a randy real-estate broker; and a brilliant, enigmatic physics student. Suddenly a very real murder tears open a terrifying tunnel into the past, where secrets–and bodies–are buried. As the tension mounts, Delaware and Sturgis uncover a tangled history of desperation, vengeance, and death–a legacy of evil that refuses to die.

Dramatic, action-packed, and filled with the psychological detail that only Jonathan Kellerman can provide, Obsession is a whodunit, a whydunit–and something unique: a did-it-even-happen? This is Kellerman at his heart-racing best.

Customer Reviews:

A real ho-hummer, unfortunately.......2007-09-12

About half-way through this book, I realized I didn't really care who did it. Or why. Or about any of the characters in the plot-line other than our regulars -- Alex, Milo, and Robin. I think the initial plot device, a vague deathbed confession from an unlikely murderer, was a good idea. The rest of the plot was a hot mess, involving characters discussed, but never really "present" in the book. I have loved many of Jonathan Kellerman's books, but this one didn't deliver.

Absolute rubbish.......2007-08-30

That's it. Jonathanan Kellerman I gave you one last try, and you failed. This has to be the worst book I have read by anyone in years. A convoluted nonsensical plot with so much padding the author should be in the upholstery business. At least half the book is taken up by poorly developed characters arguing about whether this or that happened, or perhaps it was that or this, or perhaps none of the above. And at the end I simply did not care who had done what to whom and why. In fact I wonder if the author felt the same way.

Thomas H Cook and Dennis Lehane, you have nothing to fear from this author. You guys rule.

Is It Me?.......2007-08-29

I always love the Alex Delaware novels, and I would never tell anybody not to read this latest entry in the series. And that is despite my ongoing complaint about Kellerman's ridiculous attention to every street in Los Angeles by name (what does this mean to a reader in Poughkeepsie?).

My problem with Obsession is that I simply could not keep the characters straight. I don't know whether this is a fault of my own as a reader, or whether, as it seemed to me, they are endless stock characters of such variety and of such little interest that I kept confusing them in my mind. It got so I had to keep turning back to make sure the gentle giant erstwhile bodyguard was who I thought he was; the sicko serial killer/would-be music impresario, who had TWO names, was indeed himself; the FBI informant, what was his name? who weaves in and out of the book in a confusing manner, and all sorts of other peripheral and confusing characters.

The main plot is easy enough, but as other reviewers have said, Why would the LAPD care? A dying nurse of stellar reputation confesses, or seems to confess, on her deathbed that she killed somebody. Her daughter, Tanya, an uptight, hard-to-like highly implausible character, wants her name cleared. Alex once treated Tanya; he wants to help. Milo, although on a much-needed and rare vacation, agrees to give up all his personal time to follow a trillion fruitless leads. Petra is always a wonderful addition to the series; she is very real. Robin doesn't bother me as much as she bothers other reviewers. I just find her annoying. And the puppy? Well I'm a dog lover, so I enjoyed her antics, figuring that in real life, the Kellermans have gotten themselves a bulldog puppy!

As stated above, I wouldn't tell anybody not to read this book, but I found it extremely confusing and the ending very lame. I like the series so much, and even with all the confusion, Kellerman is fun to read, so hence the lukewarm recommendation.

A pedestrian effort.......2007-08-29

I felt Kellerman delivered a boilerplate thriller with Obsession. The murder mystery centered around a "possible" crime uttered by a dying woman, which seems pretty flimsy but in true Alex/Milo form they kept digging and made something of it. The psychological aspect was also rather weak, as Kellerman focused this time on OCD, which didn't seem relevant to the murder mystery aspect. If it did, then I missed it, but it certainly wasn't obvious. Kellerman has always been so good at intertwining the psychological aspects with the murder mystery, but he just falls short here.

I also found most of the new characters uninteresting, and the existing ones stale.

Petra seemed tired and bored at times.

The entire Bedard family was annoying. I didn't find myself rooting for Kyle despite his good intentions and goofy parents.

Tanya generated very little sympathy, and how many college kids refer to their mother as "Mommy"?

Robin was window dressing - a few short riffs on her working at the shop, going out to eat, etc. Nothing on their evolving relationship.

Issac Gomez, who has potential, was dismissed early.

The Mario Fortuno storyline was clumsy, and could have been more interesting if fleshed out further.

The interrogation of Fisk seemed too ordered and convenient (dumb con tells all).

And finally names. Where does he come up with Mary Whitbread?

In summary, it was a boilerplate, pedestrian effort by an author I love. The whole effort seemed rushed and lacked his normal attention to detail.

Not one of his best, but still decent........2007-08-24

Jonathan Kellerman has set the bar for psychological thrillers, and he's set it high. Unfortunately, Obsession, the latest in the Alex Delaware series, falls short of his previous achievements.

While the usual elements are there -- a previous client needs help, and Delaware and his detective pal Milo Sturgis jump to the rescue -- things feel a bit stale. Everything is just a bit tepid. Their reason for becoming involved in the mystery (a dying request from Sturgis' lover's co-worker) is tenuous at best. Because there is no immediate crime to investigate, just the suspicion of one, things start off slow. And the character development seems to stagnate. Robin, Delaware's live-in love, is a mere two-dimensional place holder with no personality of her own, and nothing new about Delaware's or Sturgis' personalities is revealed.

The young girl they're interceding on behalf of is annoying and simple (does this college-aged girl REALLY call her mother "Mommy" ALL the time???). I wanted her to be guilty of something, just because she bugged me so much. Bad news when the reader is cheering for culpability on the part of the who's supposed to be protected.

All in all, a decently plotted and written mystery, but that spark of excitement and frisson of fear that accompanies most of Kellerman's books is missing.

Average customer rating:

Suspenseful
Harry does it again
An enjoyable diversion from the normal Bosch stories
Not as Good as Others
A Suspense Filled Mystery, but a bit short

The Overlook (Harry Bosch)
Michael Connelly
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316018953
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Book Description

In his first case since he left the LAPDs Open Unsolved Unit for the prestigious Homicide Special squad, Harry Bosch is called out to investigate a murder that may have chilling consequences for national security. A doctor with access to a dangerous radioactive substance is found murdered in the trunk of his car. Retracing his steps, Harry learns that a large quantity of radioactive cesium was stolen shortly before the doctors death. With the cesium in unknown hands, Harry fears the murder could be part of a terrorist plot to poison a major American city. Soon, Bosch is in a race against time, not only against the culprits, but also against the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI (in the form of Harrys one-time lover Rachel Walling), who are convinced that this case is too important for the likes of the LAPD. It is Boschs job to prove all of them wrong.

Customer Reviews:

Suspenseful.......2007-10-03

This is a short and punchy read, focusing on the execution style murder of a physicist and the theft of radio active material which had been meant for the treatment of cancer patients. The prospect of terrorists being responsible for the theft, with the horror of the material being used to create havoc, sends the police into shock so, when Harry Bosch is sent to investigate and runs into Federal Agents, headed by persons from his past, both sides try to seize control. It's very cleverly written and I must admit to being caught in total surprise at the ending. If you enjoy a suspense thriller which can be read in a night's sitting, this is just for you!

Harry does it again.......2007-10-01

Starts out a little slow, but picks up speed and excitement. An obvious read after reading Echo park. Harry Bosch is his usual self, why follow the rules?

An enjoyable diversion from the normal Bosch stories.......2007-09-30

Having read all of Connelly's work, I have to say that this story here was a welcome addition to his seminal Bosch series. 'The Overlook' does not fit the formula of the earlier Bosch stories. Instead it felt like a light version of the TV series 24. Instead of Jack Bauer we have Harry Bosch. Much of what makes 24 riveting is used here to good effect.

The story itself starts off with Bosch being called to a murder scene at on overlook along Mulholland Drive. It quickly becomes apparent that terrorists are involved and that the motives behind the murder are based on radioactive materials that could be used in the creation of a dirty bomb. The rest of this story involves Bosch battling the FBI and others for clues in order to solve the murder.

The ending of this book is unexpected and in my opinion is rather clever. I did not see it coming. I would say that Connelly does not always manage to write the perfect story, but this one comes fairly close. If you enjoy this series, you will enjoy this book.

Not as Good as Others.......2007-09-28

I love the Harry Bosch series. He is a great character, but this book was a little disappointing. It starts out great, with an LA murder quickly spinning into a potential terror attack. Harry is on the scene and in control. I won't give away the plot, but Harry solves this mystery within just a few hours, leaving the rest of the LAPD, FBI and Homeland Security behind.

The book is relatively short, I guess because it was originally published as a short story and was fleshed out to book length. It could've stood a little more fleshing out, imo. Also, in all the Bosch books, Harry is always the smartest character in any situation. It is a little too much sometimes, how everyone is stupid and it is up to Harry to solve the crime and save everyone from themselves. This book is no exception but it is a little much, how Harry is such a bull in the china shop but is always the only one with any brains. And the way he goes running to the Chief of Police when the feds won't play his way is beyond ridiculous.

There was also one page stuck in the middle of the book that was a flashback to Harry's days in Viet Nam. It is so sudden, jarring, and just plain confusing. There is no purpose for this scene and it really throws off the rhythm of the narrative.

One other concern is that the book ends with Harry on the verge of some extremely serious health problems. His injuries are such that it seems that this must be the end of the road for Harry. Obviously it's not, since the author is talking about future Harry books, but I will be curious to see how Harry recovers from what would realistically be fatal injuries.

A Suspense Filled Mystery, but a bit short.......2007-09-25

I enjoyed this novel. Michael Connelly has a unique writing style that is both interesting and satisfying. I thought the number of pages (225) was about 90 pages short which would have improved the development of the characters and plot. The plot is fairly simple and I didn't have a hard time following the clues in each chapter. With more pages the story and the characters would have been flushed out more. Still Mr. Connelly was able to pack everything into this mini novel and it kept me reading page after page.

Looking for a refreshing mystery then check out The Monopoly Factor by Robert L. Saunders. In this legal thriller you will start rooting for the main characters as you follow Barry and Susan down the path of corporate deceit, murder and along the way there is a bit of romance. Excellent novel and worthy of your time. Enjoy.

The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel (Joe Pike Novels)

Average customer rating:

Righteous Thriller
DIVING INTO ADVENTURE IN THE PIKE POSITION
The Watchman is a remarkable book
Seriously disappointing
Ugh

The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel (Joe Pike Novels)
Robert Crais
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743281632

Book Description

The city was hers for a single hour, just the one magic hour, only hers.

Larkin Conner Barkley lives like the City of Angels is hers for the taking. Young and staggeringly rich, she speeds through the city during its loneliest hours, blowing through red after red in her Aston Martin as if running for her life. Until out of nowhere a car appears, and with it the metal-on-metal explosion of a terrible accident. Dazed, Larkin attempts to help the other victims. And finds herself the sole witness in a secret federal investigation.

For maybe the first time in her life, Larkin wants to do the right thing. But by agreeing to cooperate with the authorities, she becomes the target for a relentless team of killers. And when the U.S. Marshals and the finest security money can buy can't protect her, Larkin's wealthy family turns to the one man money can't buy -- Joe Pike.

Pike lives a world away from the palaces of Beverly Hills. He's an ex-cop, ex-Marine, ex-mercenary who owes a bad man a favor, and that favor is to keep Larkin alive. The one upside of the job is reuniting with Bud Flynn, Pike's LAPD training officer, and a man Pike reveres as a father. The downside is Larkin Barkley, who is the uncontrollable cover girl for self-destruction -- and as deeply alone as Pike.

Pike commits himself to protecting the girl, but when they immediately come under fire, he realizes someone is selling them out. In defiance of Bud and the authorities, Pike drops off the grid with the girl and follows his own rules of survival: strike fast, hit hard, hunt down the hunters. With the help of private investigator Elvis Cole, Pike uncovers a web of lies and betrayals, and the stunning revelation that even the cops are not who they seem. As the body count rises, Pike's biggest threat might come from the girl herself, a lost soul in the City of Angels, determined to destroy herself unless Joe Pike can teach her the value of life...and love.

Customer Reviews:

Righteous Thriller.......2007-10-01

The Watchman is a superior thriller that kicks off as if you're in the middle of a tension-filled scene, and doesn't let up on the thrills and suspense until the very last pages. Crais knows how to keep the dialogue light, the action lean, and still sprinkle the whole book with healthy doses of humor.

Read the other reviewers' plot summaries if you want. I'm keeping this review lean, mean, and to the point. Like Joe Pike.

Recommended.

Highly.

DIVING INTO ADVENTURE IN THE PIKE POSITION.......2007-09-22

Joe Pike, silent partner in the Elvis Cole Detective Agency, takes center stage in this well orchestrated offering from Robert Crais, with Elvis Cole stepping into an important albeit "supporting role". For those who have followed the "strong, silent, mysterious Pike" through various Elvis Cole books.....we are finally offered a glimpse at Joe's military experiences, his time as an L.A.P.D. cop, and his relationship with his father. Joe may not be a guy brimming with emotion, but his quiet nature is perfectly fitted for this compelling character.

Recommended by his old police force partner Bud Flynn, Joe is hired to protect Larkin Barkley, the beautiful, spoiled and largely ignored daughter of a real estate tycoon. Joe must utilize all of his accumulated training and experience (as well as his Colt Python and Kimber) to keep both he and Larkin out of the reaches of assassins as well as government agents.

During the first few chapters of the book, I was so aggravated with the shallowness of the Larkin character, that I could have killed her myself.....or at least slapped the daylights out of her. (Crais must have used the antics of Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan and Brittany Spears for inspiration when developing this character). As the book progresses, Larkins behaviour is modified and the reader, like Pike and Cole, begins to relate to her. Larkin aside, I loved the pace, plot structure and language of this novel. It's an edgy thriller filled with enough action, plot twists, and body count to satisfy all lovers of suspense and daring exploits. Pike's appeal is his uncanny ability to anticipate the actions of his foes, and then out-plan and out-maneuver them.

Fact of the matter is that Crais talent with the written word creates vivid pictures in your mind that would translate beautifully onto the silver screen. I can see any number of actors as Joe Pike. Bruce, Harrison and Arnold are getting a little "long in the tooth" for this sort of action, but how about Daniel Craig, Gerard Butler, or Clive Owen? Check out The Watchman and see if you don't agree? If not, do your own casting......it's a free country and your entitled to your opinion too.

The Watchman is a remarkable book.......2007-09-21

Robert Crais' The Watchman is a very inventive change from his novel focus on Elvis Cole to a stunningly intense focus on Joe Pike, Elvis Cole's side-kick and chief muscle. By developing a book in which Pike has to protect a young woman who is wanted by a relentless team of criminal killers, the book moves you straight into a world of non-stop violence, steady commitment to survival by doing whatever it takes and the virtues of a highly trained, very skilled person doing what he does best against bad people trying to do the worst they can. If you want an evening of forgetting everything else and going along for the ride, The Watchman is a remarkable book.

Seriously disappointing.......2007-08-27

After reading all of the Elvis Cole novels I thought a Joe Pike novel would be great fun. It isn't. Rather its about Joe babysitting a stupid society brat who is full of herself. She has to hide, has almost been killed a couple of times and she is still whining that she wants to go home. Joe makes her cut and dye her hair but lets her keep wearing her $500 jeans. Please give me a break. She runs off to dance half naked on a table in a bar showing the dolphin tattoo on her butt. Surely somebody has to recognize the halfwit. Joe however forgives her. This isn't the Joe Pike we have seen in earlier pages. Lastly Joe actually falls in love with this piece of trash. Perhaps Crais thought we wanted to see a kinder gentler dumber Joe. He was wrong. Oh finally the plot is garbage equal to the rest of this disappointing effort.

Ugh.......2007-08-17

I've read all of Mr. Crais's books, and for the most part have been quite happy with the characters and plots. This thing seems to be either the manifestation of writers block or a contractual obligation left too late. So all you Elvis and Joe fans, you have no problem with the fact the the female lead is a fictionalized Paris Hilton? Or what happens with her and the other characters (trying not to be a spoiler here). The whole point of these type of books is to get a couple of inetersting and familiar characters and have them have an adventure. in this one, you can't really believe their actions, and the plot seems to be thrown together around the bad premise. Whatever, the guy has written some really good ones like "Demolition Angel;" this seems completely throwaway.

Average customer rating:

The Worst Connelly Book
One Of The Best Of Its Type I've Ever Read
Return to Form
Michael Connelly
Good book

Echo Park (Harry Bosch)
Michael Connelly
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316734950
Release Date: 2006-10-09

Book Description

In 1993 Marie Gesto disappeared after walking out of a supermarket. Harry Bosch worked the case but couldn't crack it, and the twenty-two-year-old was never found. Now, more than a decade later, with the Gesto file still on his desk, Bosch gets a call from the District Attorney. A man accused of two heinous murders is willing to come clean about several others, including the killing of Marie Gesto. Taking the confession of the man he has sought-and hated-for thirteen years is bad enough. Discovering that he missed a clue back in 1993 that could have stopped nine other murders may just be the straw that breaks Harry Bosch.

Customer Reviews:

The Worst Connelly Book.......2007-10-03

This is the 11th Michael Connelly book I have read and it is by far the worst. There was no character development and the plot was predictable & contrived. The Connelly formula is growing thin: Bosch is driven to solve a murder, some flimsy romantic sub-plot is thrown in, it appears that one character committed the crime but then, at the last second, some tangential character really did it. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Connelly fan, but I am now concerned that he may have "jumped the shark." He needs to reinvent his formula. Bosch is beginning to come off as a two-dimensional annoying character.

One Of The Best Of Its Type I've Ever Read.......2007-09-26

To say I liked this this book is an understatement. It is one of the best of its type I've ever read.

Other reviewers in this space tell you what it's about, so I won't repea; but in general Harry Bosch, a middle aged single, lonely, virtuous yet scarred LAPD detective battles Dpartment politics to save a girl and solve a crime ten years old wherein another girl disappeared. The crime always haunted him; and here he gets his "justice" of sorts. It's just a great read for your vacation or the airlane or a rainy afternoon by the fire. Highly recommended. Almost guaranteed.

A word of warning. Unless you know downtown Los Angeles better read this with a map or else follow the action on Mapquest. Harry speeds down lots of streets which meant nothing to me till I got a map.

Return to Form.......2007-09-23

Actually, the last Bosch novel I read was "Lost Light," which I thought signaled a character and series running out of steam. "Lost Light" was pretty much by-the-numbers, with some extra "family" stuff tossed in to show Harry's getting older. Whatever. Well, I was wrong about Harry's sunset years. For one thing, despite occasional novelistic misfires, one has to keep in mind that Connelly is such a pro at writing, that he just keeps chugging along. "Echo Park" is a fine example.

At 400 plus pages, you wonder if it's appropriate to call "Echo Park" a lean, stripped down Harry Bosch novel - but that's what it is. A genuine page turner. A young woman's years ago disappearance, a serial killer, corruption, familiar stuff that Connelly rearranges, yet again, in a fresh and exciting way. And with Harry as an X factor, those are usually interesting twists, like the unseen twist in the metaphorical tunnel of the Bosch series (which gets very concrete in "Echo Park").

This time around, the plot has at its center the unsolved case of a missing woman that Harry had investigated thirteen years. Now, as part of the Open-Unsolved Unit, Harry returns again and again to the case, looking for that missing piece that will put away the man he has long suspected of being the killer. But then a call comes in, another man has confessed, and things quickly veer off in directions that the reader - or Harry, can not anticipate. One dark treat in all of this is the serial killer, Raynard Waits, the "Echo Park Bagman." Connelly can develop a character with the best of them. And Waits is a particularly repulsive entry, but one that Connelly is also able to humanize. Yes, he's monster, but a pitiable one that his own history - one that intersects with Harry's own personal life story. On the downside of all of this is Connelly's uneven development of characters. For if Waits is extremely well developed, characters such as FBI agent (and love-interest) Rachel Walling, are paper-thin. Walling in particular, since she is so prominent, is little more than a tool to keep the story revving. You know: "Get this report, Do this for me, Use your influence" with a little love making, wine, and Jazz on the side. This is particularly frustrating, since it's clear that Connelly is so good at character development, but it's a trait I've seen in all of the Bosch novels - the good and the so-so (Connelly doesn't write "bad" novels). Still, this time around the good far outweighs the by-the-numbers stuff. Check it out.

Michael Connelly.......2007-09-22

I enjoy all the books in the Harry Bosch series. The plots are easy to follow and the dialogue is good. What more can one say?

Good book.......2007-09-17

This was only my second Michael Connely book. the first one was The overlook, wich was really overrated, and almost turned me off of him. But this book was good, and shows me why other people like him so much. The only thing, is the ending was kind of boring, and the climax came before. You almost end up liking Reynard Waits, and thats an awesome name when you find out the meaning and what he does. It was a good book but I expected the ending to be more shocking and exciting, and I always like to really hate the killer, and you really didn't know much of him in the book.

Out With the Stars: Hollywood Nightlife in the Golden Era

Average customer rating:

A Real Treasure!

Out With the Stars: Hollywood Nightlife in the Golden Era
Jim Heimann
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0896595722

Customer Reviews:

A Real Treasure!.......2004-06-27

This is one of those books I can't recommend highly enough if you love old Hollywood or the flamboyant architecture and graphic design of Hollywood in the 20's - 50's. I picked it up on a cut-out table in New York about 10 years ago and have come to appreciate it as one of the best books in my library - in fact it's one of those books that is always getting borrowed from friends who are graphic designers or work at ad agencies looking for inspiration.

Jim Heimann deserves much praise for assembling what is obviously a huge labor of love with lots of great photos and illustrations that you will never see anywhere else - everything from cocktail napkins and matchbooks to beautiful interior photography and paparazzi pics of the stars at play.

Also I'd like to disagree with the review - I actually found the writing in the book to be pretty engaging. It's fairly straightforward and to the point., luckily since there is a lot of history to cover.

Anyway it's an amazing book that I would highly recommend.

Average customer rating:

thoroughly enjoyed it

Smiley fan is not smiling

Waste of time and money

Trying Too Hard to be Hip

Ten days with fascinating people

Ten Days in the Hills
Jane Smiley
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1400040612
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Book Description

A glorious new novel from the Pulitzer Prize winner: a big, smart, bawdy tale of love and war, sex and politics, friendship and betrayal—and the allure of the movies. With Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron as her model, Jane Smiley takes us through ten transformative, unforgettable days in the Hollywood hills.

It is the morning after the 2003 Academy Awards. Max—an Oscar-winning writer/director whose fame has waned—and his lover, Elena, luxuriate in bed, still groggy from last night’s red-carpet festivities. They are talking about movies, talking about love, and talking about the war in Iraq, recently begun. But soon their house will be full of guests, and guests like these demand attention. There is Max’s ex-wife, “the legendary Zoe Cunningham,” a dazzling half-Jamaican movie star, with her new lover, the enigmatic healer, Paul (fraudulent? enlightened?). Max’s agent, Stoney, a perhaps too easygoing version of his legendary agent father, can’t stay away, and neither can Zoe and Max’s daughter, Isabel, though she would prefer to maintain her hard-won independence. And of course there is the next-door neighbor, Cassie, who seems to know everyone’s secrets.

As they share their stories of Hollywood past and present, watch films in Max’s opulent screening room, gossip by the swimming pool, and tussle in the many bedrooms, the tension mounts, sparks fly, and Smiley delivers an exquisitely woven, virtuosic work—a Hollywood novel as only she could fashion it, told with bravura, rich with delightful characters, spiced with her signature wit. It is a joyful, sexy, and wondrously insightful pleasure.

Customer Reviews:

thoroughly enjoyed it.......2007-09-04

I picked this book up on impulse, then couldn't put it down for three days.

I loved Smiley's characters. They seem very real to me as they struggle with their problems (yes, they do have problems even though they are well-off Hollywood actors, directors, writers and agents) and try to come to terms with a world that seems to have gone insane (America as it invades Iraq). I found it interesting and refreshing to read about people who are aware, informed and deeply concerned and affected (esp. Elena and Isabel) about what is going on in the world around them.

Finally, there are just so many great stories in this book. It's almost a guilty pleasure because it's full of what almost seems like Hollywood gossip but in a much more interesting format and more well-told than usual. And it manages to be a lot of fun, in spite of the themes of the Iraq war, centuries-old violent conflicts, mother-child relationships and so on.

I don't think this is Jane Smiley's masterpiece, but like all of her books, it's well worth reading!

P.S.Reader comments about the characters being self-centered seem odd. First, since when are characters supposed to be saints in order to be interesting? Second, these characters have more social conscience than most people. Also, am surprised at the readers who didn't finish the book, but felt compelled to review it anyway. Can reviews of something the reviewer didn't really read be taken seriously?

Smiley fan is not smiling.......2007-08-23

I have loved Jane Smiley's fictional writing and was first "hooked" by Duplicate Keys. I read A Thousand Acres: A Novel about a thousand times to enjoy every angle of the relationships. Moostill makes me laugh. Maybe I was not in the right place for this book, but I thought both the sex and the war elements were contrived. The relationships were so buried in the sex and war that I kept taking breaks from the tedium of sorting through it all. I clearly recall my own helplessness in those early days of the war, but I could not relate to these characters whose responses ranged from literal impotence to clandestine news snatching. Anyway, it all leaves me feeling a little sad - these poor characters need lots of help.

Waste of time and money.......2007-07-25

Endless, aimless, pretentious and monotonous. The same badly written sex scene is repeated over and over.

Trying Too Hard to be Hip.......2007-07-11

I have loved Jane Smiley's books, but in this one I feel that she is trying to prove she can write about sex with authority and thereby join the In crowd. How many people did she have to interview to come up with so many graphic descriptions of cocks? I just finished page 200 and I'm checking out.

Ten days with fascinating people.......2007-06-20

thought Ten Days in the Hills is a marvel. The characters are convincing and fascinating. I liked the resonances with The Decameron (I should probably go back and see if the characters actually tell a hundred stories). Placing the novel in the Hollywood Hills and having most of the characters involved with the movie industry is brilliant--and I was struck by the richness of this novel compared with the thinness of virtually all movies. But that, of course, is probably a function of each medium's capabilities.

Average customer rating:

Friends is better
Disappointing
Hard To Believe
Not Without Its Charms
Desperate? Get Used.

You Don't Love Me Yet: A Novel
Jonathan Lethem
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 038551218X
Release Date: 2007-03-13

Amazon.com

With his sixth novel, You Don't Love Me Yet, Jonathan Lethem continues to show off his dexterity with the form, following up the coming-of-age epic The Fortress of Solitude with a dreamlike, comic portrait of the Los Angeles art scene. Lethem craftily sets up his ruse with a letter of complaint from Falmouth Strand (a seemingly minor character) who warns us that the book we are about to read completely misrepresents the truth. Falmouth is a former installation artist who has turned from sculpting objects to "manipulating people's despair, pensiveness, ennui." For his latest project, he has posted signs around Los Angeles: "Complaints? Call 213 291 7778." The novel centers around Lucinda (the perfect, unwitting instrument for Falmouth's manipulation), a bass player in a would-be indie rock quartet with nearly enough good songs for a 35-minute set (if you don't count the two they don't like anymore). Lucinda has vowed to stop sleeping with the band's lead singer Matthew (for real, this time), launching a search for true love as drunken and misguided as the band's search for a decent name. She abandons her upscale barista gig to answer complaint calls for Falmouth's conceptual art piece. Before long, she finds herself drawn to a regular whose curious words are "like a pulse detected in a vast dead carcass" of daily complaints. By way of Lucinda, the "genius" complainer's words spark the band's next song, setting them on a shaky upward trajectory all too familiar in the art world. Various characters want (or don't want) to take credit for the song's apparent success, but who deserves it? The complainer who nonchalantly rattled off the words, Lucinda who wrote them down, the remaining band members who collaboratively put them to music, or Falmouth himself, who passively engineered the whole thing?

Fans of Fortress and Motherless Brooklyn may find this novel's levity too drastic a shift, but even though Lethem is having a great time here with wordplay, a motley cast, and Lucinda's sexual meanderings, You Don't Love Me Yet is anything but a simple entertainment. He plays with our notions of art and authorship, enjoying a bit of advanced cribbery himself as he experiments with Shakespearean antics and inexplicable love match-ups. At every turn, Lethem seems to be asking sticky questions: Can anyone create the consummate intersection of dream, desire, and reality that art (and great sex) embodies? Will it last, and should it? Can any one writer capture that moment with a few meager words? If they did, how long would it take for it to be reduced to meaningless slogan? --Heidi Broadhead

Book Description

From the incomparable Jonathan Lethem, a raucous romantic farce that explores the paradoxes of love and art

Lucinda Hoekke spends eight hours a day at the Complaint Line, listening to anonymous callers air their random grievances. Most of the time, the work is excruciatingly tedious. But one frequent caller, who insists on speaking only to Lucinda, captivates her with his off-color ruminations and opaque self-reflections. In blatant defiance of the rules, Lucinda and the Complainer arrange a face-to-face meeting—and fall desperately in love.
Consumed by passion, Lucinda manages only to tear herself away from the Complainer to practice with the alternative band in which she plays bass. The lead singer of the band is Matthew, a confused young man who works at the zoo and has kidnapped a kangaroo to save it from ennui. Denise, the drummer, works at No Shame, a masturbation boutique. The band’s talented lyricist, Bedwin, conflicted about the group’s as-yet-nonexistent fame, is suffering from writer’s block. Hoping to recharge the band’s creative energy, Lucinda “suggests” some of the Complainer’s philosophical musings to Bedwin. When Bedwin transforms them into brilliant songs, the band gets its big break, including an invitation to appear on L.A.’s premiere alternative radio show. The only problem is the Complainer. He insists on joining the band, with disastrous consequences for all.
Brimming with satire and sex, You Don’t Love Me Yet is a funny and affectionate send-up of the alternative band scene, the city of Los Angeles, and the entire genre of romantic comedy, but remains unmistakably the work of the inimitable Jonathan Lethem.

Customer Reviews:

Friends is better.......2007-09-01

Having suggested this book for our book club as "something different" based on a review in Entertainment Weekly, I have become the scourge of our group and have been banned from making any further suggestions for one year.
Seriously, reviewers are making this book out to be WAY more than it could have been, favorably comparing it to the genius of the television show "Friends"... NO.
Lethem has a definite style and a keen grasp of plot and pacing, however, the characters are not worthy of a story, uninteresting, uncompelling repulsive? shallow. Possibly, that is Lethem's point.
One book club member theorized that, riding the success of his last novel, he spent six heady months in the LA underbelly masquerading as a band groupie looking for material for another book and this is the result.
I don't necessarily agree, but I am not as insightful as my compatriots.
I am not about to write off Lethem and will definitely read his other, highly praised novels. I don't love this author yet.

Disappointing.......2007-08-28

I found it hard to like the characters, which I realize might have been the intention of the author, but I also found that I did not really care what happened to them. So, what would be the point of finishing the book? The plot was simply put, lacking.

Hard To Believe.......2007-08-06

I seem to more or less agree with all the comments on here. I found a lot of things hard to believe in this book. Lucinda and Carl's relationship for one. What was their attraction to each other? Why would Lucinda be interested in Carl?

Being a musician, I always hate reading fiction books about bands, because they're generally way off and sadly this one did the same thing a lot of other books have done. Get a band together, average musicians likely, and have them play their first show. And somehow they're a huge success, getting people to ask for an encore (and somehow know the name of the song - most PAs at even good clubs aren't good enough for people to really distinguish the words of a song from a rock band), and then get swarmed with offers for radio, management, and a record deal. It's not to say there aren't overnight successes, but nothing like this.

I've been in bands that had really good shows and went over well, but it was never anything like this and from years of following other bands (including ones who are quite successful) I know it's not true for them either.

Not Without Its Charms.......2007-08-02

It's mildly astounding that a writer possessing the formidable gifts of Jonathan Lethem could follow the brilliant one-two punch of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude with such a decidedly minor work. Before I go any further, let me say that I am not the most objective reviewer for this book. I am interested in popular and unpopular music (and music is this novel's raison d'être), but more importantly, I think that Lethem is one of the most interesting authors around. So I suffered some of the pangs of feeling "let down" by a gifted writer that Lethem himself explored in his excellent collection of essays, The Disappointment Artist.

The premise of YOU DON'T LOVE ME YET is that Los Angeles is populated with groggy twenty-somethings who are rotating through various poses in search of musical and personal identity. Fair enough. But the slender scaffolding of characterization that Lethem erects here just can't sustain much in the way of meaning, momentum, or entertainment. The "humorous" subplot involving the kidnapping of a kangaroo is particularly ill-conceived, and as for satire, forget about it.

So why the high rating? Well, this is Lethem, after all. Even a page of unremarkable plot development usually yielded an insight, a play on words, or an errant thought revealing the talent of the scribe. Plus, since this is a quick read, I now have time to enjoy The Fortress of Solitude again.

Desperate? Get Used. .......2007-07-11

I have read and very much admired most of Jonathan Lethem's work. This book made me feel that the whole notion of a rock band is sunsetting, a relic of the late 20th Century, now slipping over the horizon into the gone world of history. Perhaps that was the intent. A brief summary is really all it takes to do the plot justice. An artist starts a public complaint line as a performance event. One Complainer rises above the pack and seduces a young & quirky rocker chick. For a day job, he fabricates slogans, viral word memes that sound like an unholy cross between Barbara Kruger and Erma Bombeck. The rocker chick & her cute friends in their 20's start a band in L.A., have sex with each other, get drunk, have sex with some other people, write quirky songs, play a loft party, and are somewhat willingly exploited, sexually & perhaps financially, by gray ponytailed, hippie capitalist types. Pace CRASS: so wot?

It's a very slightly diverting romp, with some witty dialogue, but the whole notion of a rock band's glamorous, decadent aura of "cool" is made to seem quite...posthumous, somehow. Like, there's not an original gesture they could make within the trope of "rock & roll," it's all been done before. Accordingly, the band quickly implodes after inspiring a brief frisson of exploitative lust, largely among the aforementioned graying ponytails. Really, on its face, this is an insultingly bad book. But to me it's obvious from his other books that Lethem is a kind of genius. So there has to be more to it than that, a lot more. Maybe this whole thing is a refugee from Lethem's id, a suckerpunch smackdown of the whole big stupid rock & roll thing? Or even a deliberate subversion of the tottering mausoleum of late 20th Century rock'n roll culture? A memorial service for cool?

Fashion for Profit (Revised Edition with Retail Chapter)

Average customer rating:

Incredible Book don't be fooled by others
Fashion for Profit is the Fashion Bible!

Fashion for Profit (Revised Edition with Retail Chapter)
Frances Harder
Manufacturer: Frances Harder
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0972776311

Product Description

Creativity is essential but it isn't enough. The passage from initial concept to the ultimate consumer involves many steps. Fashion For Profit is a roadmap that clearly marks each step. This book is currently being used by some of the best fashion schools to familiarize students with many of the complicated facets of the fashion business beyond designing a line. But whether you are a student or an experienced manufacturer you will find information in Fashion For Profit that will help you avoid costly mistakes. Also available is a two hour DVD or video: Fashion For Profit; featuring attorney Greg Wiseman, PR & Marketing expert Pam Roberts, Designer & store owner Hanna Hartnell, and Presenter & author Frances Harder

Customer Reviews:

Incredible Book don't be fooled by others.......2006-11-08

I went to fashion school, worked for large high end lines, did the whole deal. I was lucky that in one of my classes they made us read this book. This book is basically the bible to the apparel industry. I would say only 10% of this industry is design the other 90% is business which is covered completely in this book. I've looked into other similar books and they are great for the design aspects, but nothing covers the business end like this book, don't waste you time with other titles this is the one to read if you really want to know how to start your own line.

Fashion for Profit is the Fashion Bible!.......2006-06-27

I advise anyone who is trying to come out with a line to read this book and purchase the DVD! This book is a great reference guide - something good to always keep on stand by. Very useful if you want to do things right!

Water and Power: The Conflict over Los Angeles' Water Supply in the Owens Valley

Average customer rating:

One of the best book about politics

Water and Power: The Conflict over Los Angeles' Water Supply in the Owens Valley
William L. Kahrl
Manufacturer: Univ of California Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0520044312

Customer Reviews:

One of the best book about politics.......2005-06-20

I stumbled on this book at a gas station in Death Valley, while looking for something to put me to sleep at the no TV motel I was staying at. It turned out that it was not only the most informative book about California water politics I had ever read but also one of the most insightful books about politics and the human nature.

We are all familiar with the premise of the movie "Chinatown." Scheming developers like giant puppeteers, plot to bring water to South California to sell real estate. "Water and Power" goes into so much more fascinating detail. Reality is never that simple. Intricate alliances and wars within and between various federal, state and local agencies, farmers, businessmen, newspapers, labor activists. And the end result of many battles is often the result of chance. In the process of reading all this one learns the history of 20th century California.Unlike Mike Davis' "City of Quartz" which is boring and predictable because all the facts are shoehorned to fit his point of view, "Water and Power" is fascinating because William Kahrl lets the facts tell their own story and reality becomes stranger than fiction.

The only other similar book that comes to mind is David Fromkin's "A Peace to end all Peace". Although it deals with the Middle East it's also a history of unintended consequences. But in a way "Water and Power" it's even more fascinating because it exposes the same machinations of politics through the seemingly innocuous subject of local water politics.

This book is a must for anyone interested in politics.

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Reviewed for Midwest Book Review
Wambaugh's return to his roots is not so memorable
Back to the street
Light on plot, but still an entertaining cop story
I wish I could give it more stars

Hollywood Station: A Novel
Joseph Wambaugh
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316066141

Book Description

They call their sergeant the Oracle. He's a seasoned LAPD veteran who keeps a close watch over his squad from his understaffed office at Hollywood Station. They are: Budgie Polk, a 27-year-old firecracker who's begrudgingly teamed with Fausto Gamboa, the oldest, tetchiest patrol officer. Andi McCrea, a single mom who spends her days studying at the local community college. Wesley Drubb, a USC drop-out who joined the force to see some action. Flotsam and Jetsam, two aptly named surfer boys who pine after the petite, but intrepid, Meg Takara. And Hank Driscoll, the one who never shuts up. Together they spend their days and nights in the city's underbelly, where a string of seemingly unrelated events lures the cops of Hollywood Station to their most startling case yet: Russians, diamonds, counterfeiting, grenadesa reminder that nothing's too horrific or twisted for Los Angeles. Here, it's business as usual. For the first time in 20 years, Wambaugh revisits the kind of story he tells best: life in the LAPD. Not only have his fans been waiting for this comeback, but readers of the new generation of crime writing will have great interest in this book.

Customer Reviews:

Reviewed for Midwest Book Review.......2007-09-04

LAPD's Hollywood Division is not as glamorous as it sounds. Here the prostitutes and transvestites troll for johns while "tweakers" fish envelopes out of mailboxes in search of anything they can use toward the purchase of their next hit of crystal meth and celebrity clones stroll along the Hollywood walk of fame seeking gullible tourists. Since Rodney King, law enforcement officials, from the beat cops to the detectives, must bide by rigid rules and continual scrutiny, from their internal affairs division to Washington DC. But they have the protective eye of their Sergeant on their side, a man they refer to as the Oracle, who has been on the Job for 46 years.

The story centers around a tweaker named Farley Ramsdale and his girlfriend, whom he calls Olive because she resembles Popeye's Olive Oyl. Farley is a small-time crook who thinks he is being smart by making Olive do all the dirty work: fishing envelopes out of mailboxes, trying to pass counterfeit bills in stores, and stealing magnetic cards from hotels which Farley sells to other criminals specializing in identity theft. When Cosmo, an Armenian immigrant and Ilya, his Russian girlfriend, steal diamonds from a jeweler, Farley quickly puts two and two together; Farley is the one who passed on to Cosmo a letter from the jewelry store inventorying the diamonds. When Farley demands a cut of the action, Cosmo decides he and Olive must be eliminated, but from that point on, everything begins to spin out of control.

Wambaugh is a master at characterization and witticisms. His humorous style and observations make this a fun read, with quirky, offbeat characters and plenty of action. What seems at first to be a loose, albeit amusing, telling of the goings on within the Los Angeles Police Department Hollywood Station and the criminals that surround it, comes together at the end to form one heck of a good story. The situations the officers find themselves in are at times laugh-out-loud funny, as are the interactions between the characters. Hollywood Station provides a poignant look into the inner workings and ever-present political wrangling behind the scenes of the LAPD. Highly entertaining; recommended.

Wambaugh's return to his roots is not so memorable.......2007-08-23

Joseph Wambaugh has written some of the best "ensemble MacGuffin" police tales of our times. "Ensemble" in that he has created so many casts of cops who are as amusing as they are dark and sad; "MacGuffin," the term popularized by Alfred Hitchock, where the event that sets the cops into action is secondary to the "real" story about what it is like to be a police officer, both on and off duty. "The Choirboys," "Delta Star," the list of these great stories goes on. After a dozen years away from this type of novel, Wambaugh finally returns to his "roots," so to speak, with "Hollywood Station." Alas, this one doesn't quite capture the magic that captured the hearts and minds of so many back in the 70's and 80's.

We are immediately introduced to all the cops of the Hollywood precinct, including some "surfer dude" types, women cops, who have to deal with a few cops thinking about jumping their bones in addition to their desire to be treated like "one of the boys," the "grizzled" veterans, and a few others that make me think Wambaugh threw a bit too much into the kitchen sink. After the somewhat long intros, the "MacGuffin" part of the plot, a jewelry heist that is initiated by a crystal meth addict and a couple of Russian thieves that seem based on the old Boris and Natasha duo from "Rocky and Bullwinkle", kicks into gear. It all ends with the cast of characters coming together for a serio-comic ending.

I can't quite put a finger on it but I did not enjoy this one as much as I hoped I would. Maybe there were too many cops, some that were not so exciting to learn about, a too thin(and overly long) story thread, and/or the villains were not overly silly or overly horrible either. Granted, the locations and the fact Wambaugh weaves into his story the names of fallen real-life officers along with examples of true-life political machinations within Los Angeles, add a sense of reality(and Wambaugh makes his political inklings quite clear). Yet, I felt this book dragged and never got any solid momentum to make it the page-turner he is so capable of giving us.

All in all, I imagine Joseph Wambaugh fans should read this but if you haven't read anything by him, I suggest you not start here and go back to his early ones.

Back to the street.......2007-08-15

An average entry for an author who has been at the top before. It's good to get some real stories again. But nothing surprises or grabs the reader.

Light on plot, but still an entertaining cop story.......2007-08-06

I enjoyed this novel, even if it does wander aimlessly most of the time. Much of the novel meanders without an apparent plot, introducing us to the cops of Hollywood Station through a series of amusing cop war stories which are probably all based on real incidents (there's a fight involving Elmo from Sesame Street, a homeless guy who defecates in a cop car, and so on.)

I liked the central plot, which involves a pair of meth heads who get involved with some Russian / Armenians linked to a couple of armed robberies. This storyline is a little thin to carry a full novel, but it builds momentum near the end and provides some structure to an otherwise aimless novel.

I think Wambaugh has been away from the job for too many years now and no longer has his finger on the pulse of the LAPD (at least not the younger cops). His older cop characters feel authentic but his younger cop characters (particularly the annoying Flotsam and Jetsam) miss the mark.

Hollywood Station would have you believe that every problem with today's LAPD is the fault of political correctness and a liberal media. Wambaugh's characters are street cops, and therefore would likely share this perspective, but the constant railing against the Federal Degree wears thin after a while. It would have been nice if Wambaugh had offered at least one character with a different point of view.

Sure, some of the characters feel like they came straight from 'central casting', but I found quite a few of them (mostly the older cops) worth spending time with. Most of vignettes, which make up the bulk of the novel and fill the pages while the reader waits for a plot to develop, are quirky and entertaining.

Hollywood Station deserves 3.5 stars and is an entertaining (but entirely forgetable) read.

I wish I could give it more stars.......2007-07-24

This novel was so good I read it in two days. It's hilarious and very well written.

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