Book Description
In August 2003, the world gained access to a remarkable new voice: a blog written by a 25-year-old Iraqi woman living in Baghdad, whose identity remained concealed for her own protection. Calling herself Riverbend, she offered searing eyewitness accounts of the everyday realities on the ground, punctuated by astute analysis on the politics behind these events.
In a voice in turn eloquent, angry, reflective and darkly comic, Riverbend recounts stories of life in an occupied city-of neighbors whose homes are raided by US troops, whose relatives disappear into prisons and whose children are kidnapped by money-hungry militias. At times, the tragic blends into the absurd, as she tells of her family jumping out of bed to wash clothes and send e-mails in the middle of the night when the electricity is briefly restored, or of their quest to bury an elderly aunt when the mosques are all overbooked for wakes and the cemeteries are all full. The only Iraqi blogger writing from a woman's perspective, she also describes a once-secular city where women are now afraid to leave their homes without head covering and a male escort.
Interspersed with these vivid snapshots from daily life are Riverbend's analyses of everything from the elusive workings of the Iraqi Governing Council to the torture in Abu Ghraib, from the coverage provided by American media and by Al-Jazeera to Bush's State of the Union speech. Here again, she focuses especially on the fate of women, whose rights and freedoms have fallen victim to rising fundamentalisms in a chaotic postwar society.
With thousands of loyal readers worldwide, the Riverbend blog is widely recognized around the world as a crucial source of information not available through the mainstream media. The book version of this blog will have "value-added" features: an introduction and timeline of events by veteran journalist James Ridgeway, excerpts from Riverbend's links and an epilogue by Riverbend herself.
Customer Reviews:
Too bad prowar Americans will be too proud to read this.......2007-06-03
I have staunchly opposed the invasion of Iraq even before it became a reality, but not even I, with my distate for the neocons and the mockery of America that is George W. Bush, expected this to turn out this poorly. But we only see, for the most part, the bad things when the victims are US - Americans.
I'm so glad this book is out. It shows the reality Iraqis face, and it shows that by and large this immoral war made their lives worse.
To end my review, I'm not surprised some Americans wrote in her blog that she wasn't Iraqi (I guess speaking English makes one NOT non-American?) and one even said that had it been up to him, he would have vaporized Iraq 10 minutes after the WTC fell... this after Bush went on national TV and admitted Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11.
Utterly gripping.......2007-05-12
A fascinating, moving, angry and sometimes funny look at daily life in Iraq, written from the inside. Whether writing about the "puppet government" of returned exiles ruling her country or describing the repression of women in the new "liberated" Iraq, Riverbend is always worth reading.
Excellent first-hand insight!.......2007-05-08
I actually bought these books (part 1 & 2) for a couple of friends, but I have read the original blogs online since the beginning of the Iraq war. The author, a young woman with a good job in the computer field loses her job after the war starts and begins a blog about the daily life and politics of Iraq. Written nder the ghost name of "Riverbend", it is a fascinating insight into what it's REALLY like to live in Baghdad during this period of war and unrest. She is extremely articulate, witty and has a great sarcastic sense of humor. She evokes laughter at times, but mostly sadness, anger and frustration as the situation continues to deteriorate. As I read her blogs, I found myself always anxious to read the next one. The first-hand account insight you will get is invaluable in understanding the greater impact on the REAL people who are living through this nightmare that was forced upon them. Her writings have won several awards, and having read many blogs from Iraq, I believe hers is the best. Those who I bought the book for said they were engaged from the start and couldn't put it down. It is a fast read, but you will have to visit her website to see how the story continues. I urge everyone to read her books, especially if you want to know what it's REALLY like living in a war zone from an intelligent Iraqi perspective.
The Human Face of The Iraqui People.......2007-04-03
What has it really been like for the middle-class Iraqi people?
This is a first hand account by a bright young woman with a sense of humor and an honest heart. Had the bush administration really wanted to improve the lot of the Iraqi people, they would have been well served to read her blog. She made predictions a year ago that people in the west are just finding out.
Best of all, she shows the human side of their life as they try to live a normal life in oppressive dangerous conditions. A must-read.
I'm here - and I can believe every word.......2007-02-15
I've been in Baghdad for 17 months, and comparing the author's experiences with what my Iraqi friends tell me, I can completely believe everything the author says. Its depressing to watch the trend of her blog go from hope to dispair, but that's life here.
Book Description
"Riverbend," the Iraqi woman whose "articulate, even poetic prose packs an emotional punch"
(The New York Times), continues her dispatches from her native Baghdad.
Interweaving commentary on major events since October 2004, with compelling stories about her own life as well as her family's daily struggles, this is journalism from ground zero recording both occupation and insurgency.
Customer Reviews:
Americans need to wake up.......2007-08-10
That anyone could read this woman's sensitive, heartfelt assessment of what is happening to her country and not be touched by it, is just another example of how this country is continuing to digress instead of make positive progress. How many people have to die in this mindless, spindless war before we all wake up and demand that our government pull our soldiers out and make some attempt to salvage the damage we have done to our reputation and the state of this country.
We have not improved the conditions in Iraq, Riverbend's blog is evidence of that. We have not found the "supposed" Weapons of Mass Destruction. And we have not made Iraq a safer Iraq by killing Saddam. For all of the atrocities Saddam did in his lifetime, we have sadly, put our men and women of the Arms Services in a no-win position so that they too are being forced by their government to cause more chaos than peace.
They should never have been sent over there in the first place, and the fact that we as citizens have buried our heads in the sand and allowed ourselves to easily become sidetracked by stupid, ignorant "news" stories (who cares if Brittany, Nicole or Paris self-distruct?!?)instead of asking, "Why won't our government allow us to see the Baghdad that Riverbend discusses in her blog?" Or "Why is the war being sanitized to the point that our dead are reduced to numbers instead of names?" Or bigger why, "Why is Bush and his cronies being allowed full reign to do whatever they want and no one is investigating them or demanding some type of hearings?"
I mean, we were forced to sit through hours after hours of hearings about Clinton's sexual behavior in the White House. One would think that thousands dead on Bush's watch would be worth some type of investigation. I am so tired of people acting as if what is going on in Iraq is for anything other than the personal gain of Bush and those who are in his inner circle. Let's call a spade a spade. When all of the lines and dots are connected, it will become abundantly clear who came out on top in this war, and it wasn't the Iraqi citizens, or the American Armed Forces or the American people. Could it be U.S. Defense contractors? Could it be Oil Contractors?
America has a long-time habit of glossing over or simply rewriting history so that we can sleep easy at night. I say, bring on the nightmares. We need to experience restless sleep or no sleep until this horrendous mission of Bush's is done. We shouldn't find peace in our dreams until the killing has ceased. Maybe if we toss and turn a few nights like Riverbend has had to,we will begin to make some thoughtful and unselfish demands of our government and the self-appointed leader of the world, Bush. We will demand that Bush (I refuse to call him president) bring our soldiers home, help in whatever way the Iraqis need us to rebuild their country, and fully acknowledge his wrongdoing in all of this craziness. For good measure, he would admit he is incapable of running this country even one more day and will step down...followed by his band of idiots (Condi, Chaney and the gang).
My one hope for Riverbend and her family, now that they have hopefully left Baghdad,is that they are all finding a peaceful place to lay their heads and are finally getting some much deserved rest.
Poor little rich loser.......2007-05-15
Riverbend is a young Sunni female that writes from the perspective of hating the loss of Sunni power and privilege. She indicates this with her contempt for the Iraqi elections and the new Shia dominated government. She frequently complains of losing the good old days when her family benefited from Saddam Hussein's brutal dictatorship.
Riverbend now talks of having to leave Iraq (she is a supporter of the terrorists in Iraq) and going to either Jordan or Syria. She hints that this is just a "stopover" on her way to another place. No doubt she is considering moving to the United States that she hates so much. Riverbend is an enemy of the United States and should be prevented from visiting the U.S. or any coalition country.
Excellent First-hand insight!.......2007-05-08
I actually bought these books for a couple of friends, but I have read the original blogs online since the beginning of the Iraq war. The author, a young woman with a good job in the computer field loses her job after the war starts and begins a blog about the daily life and politics of Iraq. Written nder the ghost name of "Riverbend", it is a fascinating insight into what it's REALLY like to live in Baghdad during this period of war and unrest. She is extremely articulate, witty and has a great sarcastic sense of humor. She evokes laughter at times, but mostly sadness, anger and frustration as the situation continues to deteriorate. As I read her blogs, I found myself always anxious to read the next one. The first-hand account insight you will get is invaluable in understanding the greater impact on the REAL people who are living through this nightmare that was forced upon them. Her writings have won several awards, and having read many blogs from Iraq, I believe hers is the best. Those who I bought the book for said they were engaged from the start and couldn't put it down. It is a fast read, but you will have to visit her website to see how the story continues. I urge everyone to read her books, especially if you want to know what it's REALLY like living in a war zone from an intelligent Iraqi perspective.
A Powerful Voice About The Truth In Iraq.......2007-04-10
The collections of blogs written by the Iraqi woman only known as "Riverbend" in what has become the "Baghdad Burning" series, is the best source of information to read to know about how the actual Iraqis are living and dying in the occupied country. More than "The Assassin's Gate" or "Fiasco," "Baghdad Burning" and "Baghdad Burning II" tell the truth about the Bush junta's imperialist war in Iraq and how it has affected the lives of its inhabitants. With grace and fine detail we learn about the loss of basic resources like water and electricity, the fear Iraqis live under with the threat of militia violence and U.S. commando raids on their homes. We get here a portrait of a nation descending into civil war as an occupying foreign force only makes things worse. Conservative pundits and pro-war screamers should read the sections where Riverbend begs the American people not to re-elect George Bush and where she describes the carnage and outright war crimes that took place with the destruction of Fallujah. What will be striking to many is how easily one can put his or herself in Riverbend's shoes as she describes her battles with the internet and her TV-viewing habits. It is poignant to read an Iraqi attacking Fox News for it's obvious distortion of the facts, of course Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity will claim they know more about what's best for Iraq than the actual IRAQIS. "Baghdad Burning II" is even more heartbreaking than the first volume because here the nation has descended into the deep abyss in which we are still mired, the terror has arrived in full spectrum and now the streets are truly not safe, the invaders and guerrillas roam the streets and sons and daughters are being slaughtered. What people should find disturbing about reading this collection of blogs is that indeed, our government has decided to raid a nation it does not understand at all, just read Riverbend's comments on the Iraqi elections and on how as the months pass, the people begin to see their government more as a puppet regime, read here about the basic misunderstanding of Iraqi culture and language, customes and tradition. These are not backwards people we can just push around, nobody is. "Baghdad Burning II" is a powerful, important document for the world, for everyone to read and understand what the consequences and effects are of colonialism, of imperialist war. It is written with a depth and insight priceless for those of us living on the other side which is usually the side that doesn't understand. In the years to come "Baghdad Burning" will be seen as one of the definitive accounts of life inside Iraq during the war, no doubt future generations will be just as moved, and find it just as important as our generation should.
Baghdad Burning II.......2007-02-18
This is a journal by a twenty something educated Baghdad woman writen almost daily from the time of the invasion and a picture of what has happened to her city and her family and how they cope - the lack of electricity, water and safety, the constant explosions and the troops breaking into homes and the loss of women's freedoms. She started out (See Baghdad Burning I) being encouraged but the horror of the last years has changed her outlook. She tells of women now having to be scarfed, wear long dresses and not drive and being terrorized by the fanatics and the military and police.
Emotionally, It is hard to read in great gulps but for a full understanding of what is happening to the daily lives of people of Baghdad I highly recommend it.
Average customer rating:
- Story about an 'old flame' isn't Mark's hottest novel
- Spectacularly Terrifying...
- Very disappointed
- A waste of time and paper.
- A nice contrast of humor and horror
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The Burning Girl
Mark Billingham
Manufacturer: Avon
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Scaredy Cat
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Sleepyhead
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Lifeless
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ASIN: 0060745274
Release Date: 2006-05-30 |
Amazon.com
A contract killer is carving his way through North London's criminal underworld, leaving a bloody X on his victims' backs and taking Billy Ryan's gang down one thug at a time. Detective Inspector Tom Thorne and his team know there's a turf war going on, but who's attempting to take over Ryan's racket isn't quite clear. When DCI Carol Chamberlin comes out of retirement to work on the cold case squad and asks Thorne for help solving an old murder, the past and present catch up in what looks like a continuation of a twenty-year-old gang war. And when someone carves an X in Thorne's door, a fuse is lit that stretches from the eponymous burning girl of the title--Chamberlin's old case--to the gang war that's lighting up the London sky. It's a clunky plot that relies on telling more than showing, slowing down the pace and makeing it difficult for the reader to care about any of the principals involved--either the victims or those who seek justic for them. Billingham has written better thrillers (Lazybones, Scaredy Cat), but this one doesn't live up to their promises. --Jane Adams
Book Description
Once burned . . .
By rights, the horrific schoolyard crime should have been laid to rest twenty years ago. An alleged perpetrator confessed and now is growing old behind bars. But the case still haunts ex-Detective Chief Inspector Carol Chamberlain -- and she has asked DI Tom Thorne to uncover a disturbing truth that lies buried in the ashes.
A series of brutal gangland slayings -- each victim found with an X gouged into his back -- has Thorne plunging into the fires of a deadly turf war, as he attempts to tie together the threads of perplexing crimes separated by decades. But time is rapidly running out in his search for a copycat who revels in blood and pain -- because the body count keeps rising . . . and someone has carved an X into Tom Thorne's front door.
Customer Reviews:
Story about an 'old flame' isn't Mark's hottest novel.......2007-06-01
Mark Billingham is one of those authors on my 'Buy Everything he Writes' list - he made a strong impact on me with his earlier works (Sleepy Head, Scaredy Cat and, in particular, Lazy Bones) and I will definitely order his new novel Lifeless; to be honest though I didn't think The Burning Girl is Mark's best effort, not up to the high standard of his previous contributions to the DI Thorne series. He's one of few writers I know to actually be able to instil a sense of fear using no more than the written page, and capable of creating some pretty sinister, dark characters too. The Burning Girl, however, in spite of some trademark nasty scenes, didn't have that same fear-factor that I kind of expected - although I thought that the examinations of Thorne's character were rather better executed than in (for example) Scaredy Cat.
For anyone who has bought The Burning Girl as their first foray into the writing skills of Mark Billingham, I would urge them to buy all three of this previous novels because in my humble opinion they are each considerably better. I hope that those high standards return in Lifeless - I'm sure they will.
(Review written in 2005)
Spectacularly Terrifying..........2007-01-11
Although I read this some time ago now, just thinking back to it, and the preceeding two novels give me the absolute shivers; and not just because of the unimaginable degree of human depravity that billingham so awe-inspiringly describes. No, this one is all the more sinister for me because a large chunk of it is set on my backdoorstep! Worser still, I remember reading some of the menancing Zarif passages as I sat on my bus to work right OUTSIDE Manor House tube, and looking up in shock and unease at a small Turkish cafe / takeaway on the corner of the opposite side of the road (you'll have to read them to truly understand why that is SO skin-crawlingly creepy!).
Also the Camden scenes are set practically next door / round the corner to my old offices, so it REALLY didn't take to much imagination to visualise the bullying brothers notifying EVERYONE of their presence as they stepped out onto the street.
I think the storyline is brilliant, and the plot twists are thick and fast as ever, leaving you with the tiniest bit of motion-sickness!
I'm a bit behind in the Thorne series so can't wait to catch up with the latest two! AMAZING writing here once again; WELL DONE MARK!
Very disappointed.......2005-12-19
After reading two of Billingham's previous three novels ( Lazy Bones & Scaredy Cat) the Tom Thorne novels were right at the top of my 'cop series' list. I had high expectations of this one because of how good those two were. To say that I was disappointed is an understatement. Billingham really did not seem to know where he wanted to go with this one. Is it a gangster book or a serial killer mystery? And where does the 'burning girl' of the title fit in? The banter and investigative wit that was evident in the previous novels were totally absent here. Thorne and co. barely seemed interested in the case (or cases) they were supposedly working on. Definitely a blow to the Tom Thorne novels.
A waste of time and paper........2005-11-01
I have read all of Billingham's books so far, and with the exception of Scaredy Cat, they have all been decent thrillers. But The Burning Girl takes a deviation from the usual serial killer plot to deliver what amounts to a very slow, very dry police procedural. The plot involves a war between London gangs that could be linked to the vicious burning of a young girl twenty years earlier. As it turns out, that girl was the wrong one - the intended target was the daughter of a gang lord.
The set-up for The Burning Girl is surprisingly decent. For a while there, I was thinking I had struck gold. But the plot never moves anywhere. By the end of the novel, we know little more than what we started with. And that's what makes this book so offensive. Not only is this police procedural very dull, but the cops never really uncover a single thing! The plot never progresses beyond the fact there is a gang turf war going on, and the police don't seem too interested in finding the person offing gang members. And neither does Billingham. The killer's identity is revealed off-hand in a single sentence and has nothing to do with the rest of the book.
Ultimately, The Burning Girl ends up resembling one of those tacky, low-budget gangster flicks that Billingham at one point makes fun of in this book. Steer clear, this one's not worth your time.
A nice contrast of humor and horror.......2005-08-03
Quietly I have become addicted to Mark Billingham's novels. There haven't been a slew of them --- THE BURNING GIRL, his latest, is only number four --- but that makes it easy to reread the whole lot during the intervening twelve months between books. Billingham has won well-deserved accolades in the field of comedy, so the dark nature of his brilliantly scribed accounts of London Police Detective Tom Thorne comes as a bit of a surprise to those familiar with his other career. Yet his humor shines through, contrasting nicely with the horrors within.
Billingham is at his best in THE BURNING GIRL. The Serious Crime Group, of which Thorne is a member, has been paired with SO7 (The Serious and Organized Crime Group --- I think Billingham is having a bit of fun with these names) to investigate a series of murders in which an "X" is carved into the back of each victim. The victims, one and all, have ties to a gangster named Billy Ryan, and it appears that a major turf war had broken out within London's underworld between Ryan and a gang of Turkish smugglers.
Thorne already is helping his friend Carol Chamberlain investigate a decades-old case involving the immolation of a schoolgirl. That case was apparently solved, with Gordon Rooker, a well-known hitman, incarcerated for the deed. Rooker, however, is recanting his confession and will supposedly reveal the real perpetrator --- with all of it being tied to Ryan. The cases are slowly intersecting when Thorne performs an act of misguided compassion, which serves as a catalyst for a chain of events that begins with a murder and a funeral (Billingham is at his understated, irreverent best at the graveside) and continues to a quietly shocking climax.
Billingham makes some minor demands. The narrative of THE BURNING GIRL, like its predecessors, is peppered with colloquialisms and slang terms that American readers may have some minor difficulty decoding, though things ultimately come clear within the context. And while his plots initially seem a bit tangled in spots, Billingham is an excellent guide, gently leading his readers through the more complex tangles and always providing a reason for it all.
It is Billingham's Thorne, however, who really makes these books in general, and THE BURNING GIRL in particular, worth reading and rereading. Thorne is one of the more intriguing protagonists in contemporary crime fiction; one gets the feeling that he is teetering on the brink of a meltdown, only to save himself, time and again, with his droll but hilarious humor and his first-rate taste in music (anyone who loves Johnny Cash and hates Sting is on the right track). It's a small wonder then that for those familiar with the series, a Billingham novel is an annual event to be anticipated and repeatedly savored. Highly recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Book Description
Tim Hunter, the young magician who could become the worlds most powerful mystic, has left his London home behind. First stop: the southwest, where Tim runs into a Native American snake-spirit who teaches him about power. And in the realm of Faerie, the death of Molly OReilly, Tims ex-girlfriend, has been decreed by Queen Titania, resulting in chaos and terror across the land. Suggested for mature readers.
Customer Reviews:
I could stay in Faerie forever..........2000-09-08
...if it's like these books. I first discovered Neil Gaiman and the world of the Endless about eight years ago, and I've been lost in it since. Apparently the brilliant minds at DC Vertigo are as captivated by the story possibilities as I am, for they've turned out another outstanding book.
Molly, the girlfriend of the young sorcerer and "opener" Tim Hunter, has come to the forefront as a major character. Cursed by a jealous Queen Titania, Molly has declared war on Faerie. This is not a story about Timothy Hunter; it's a story about Faerie and its all-too-human inhabitants. Tim does show up, but he's not the most important thing going on here. Along the way we meet: Huon the Small, the faceless "leveller"; Yarrow, the fairy with more strength than she suspects; and the mysterious Selwyn, Titania's closest companion. Some old friends show up too: Zatanna, the backwards-speaking magician whom Tim hopes will be his mentor; and Tala, the cat-eyed queen of evil from the first "Book of Magic".
As always, beautifully written and drawn. Once you've visited Faerie, you won't ever want to leave.
AWESOME!.......2000-06-17
this latest paperback features the second half of the Rites of Passage storyline and, believe me, it doesn't get any better than this! So many things happen here and all them exciting: the near-destruction of Faerie by Molly, the secret of Faerie, the visit from Hell, and so on. Talk about edge of your seat excitement!. This book has it all! It is truly worth it.
Book Description
Recently discovered and never before published, these two short novels were written in the early 1970s, at the beginning of Kathy Acker's writing career. Rip-off Red reads as a kind of Raymond Chandler for bad girls, as Acker's typical literary playfulness transforms the genre conventions of detective fiction into a book that is simultaneously a mystery and a personal, raunchy, and politically astute account of life in New York City. The Burning Bombing of America is a dystopian vision of the destruction of America, combining crypto-Socialist class critique with the visceral surreality of the Book of Revelation. Published together here, they reveal a young writer on a literary romp, imposing an original, sexy, and subversive worldview that is unmistakably Acker. They are a perfect introduction to Acker's oeuvre and essential for all Acker readers. "Kathy Acker's trancelike writing style peels away the layers of reality." -- San Francisco Chronicle "America's most beloved transgressive novelist." -- Spin "Acker is a postmodern Colette with echoes of Cleland's Fanny Hill." -- William S. Burroughs
Average customer rating:
- burning girl has no flames
- good like a trashy romance novel
- Up and Down
- SIMPLISTIC? NOT HARDLY
- Ben Neihart has his finger on the pulse
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Burning Girl
Ben Neihart
Manufacturer: Perennial (HarperCollins)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0688176895
Release Date: 2000-05-02 |
Book Description
Drew Burke is twenty--a working-class college student in Baltimore. Seduced by the wealth that surrounds him, Drew finds himself drawn into a complex and sensually charged freindship with Bahar RTichards and her brother, Jake. Then, over an intimate long weekend at the Richards family home, certain shocking details about Jake's past come to light, and the more Drew learns, the more he suspects he hasn't heard the whole story. Torn between brother and sister, whose versions of the past don't quite match, Drew becomes caught in a maze of half-lies and manipulations as he tries to figure out who to trust, and, ultimately, who to love.A young scholarship student, the rich girl who befriends him, her handsome brother who wedges himself dangerously between the two; a rape, a murder, horrifying photographs found at the crime scene; and the undeniably sensual draw our hero feels to both sister and brother, who may or may not have blood on their hands. Fresh from the success of his critically acclaimed debut, Hey, Joe, Ben Neihart delivers a searingly intelligent, emotionally gripping thriller with a triangle of betrayal at its heart.
Drew Burke is twenty -- a working class college student in Baltimore. Seduced by the wealth that surrounds him, Drew finds himself drawn into a complex and sensually charged friendship with fellow student Bahar Richards and her brother, Jake. With Bahar, its a soulmates bond, with Jake, it's a romance born of a fierce sexual attraction. But a strange wall of mystery surrounds Jake, which Drew can't seem to penetrate. Then over an intimate long weekend at the Richards' family home, Jake confides to Drew that in high school he was wrongly accused of a grisly crime. The more details Drew learns, the more he suspects he hasn't heard the entire truth -- from Jake or Bahar. Torn between brother and sister, whose versions of the story don't quite match, Drew becomes caught in a maze of half lies and manipulations as he tries to figure out who to trust and, ultimately, who to love. Fierce, haunting and fuelled by an undeniably powerful voice, Burning Girl established Ben Neihart as a major new talent of his generation.
Customer Reviews:
burning girl has no flames.......2003-04-01
Thrillers are difficult to write. Mostly because their purpose is to incite extreme emotions in the reader such as fear and the desire to know what is going to happen next. Thrillers about murders are even harder to write. Mainly because the readers probably would not seriosly consider murdering someone in their life, and the killers motives would have to be interesting, plausible and bring meaning to the novel.
Ben Neihart's second novel struggled with all of those things which is why I am disappointed with it. The protagonist is Drew, who hangs out with a wealthy pair of siblings. He dates the brother, Jake, and the relationship to Jake's sister, Bahar, isn't an innocent one. He hangs out with them over a weekend where secrets come up, new things are discovered and his weekend of relaxation goes down the drain and turns into a survival game. Jake is forced to decide what is right versuses helping out Jake and Bahar.
I read the critically acclaimed "Hey Joe" about four days before I picked up "Burning Girl." Niehart's first novel focuses on Joe's nightly odyssey, and I fell in love with the lyrical language and relaxed nature of the piece. I didn't find any of that in "Burning Girl". The characters are too obssessed with fast cars, bed hopping and their own high social status in order to care about anything else. And the secret that comes up- well, let me just say that I didn't find it plausible that something as serious as that could simply be swept under the rug for such a long time. I don't think the revelation of the secret brought any meaning to the novel or to the character's lives. I just think it was a plot point to keep readers interested. The character development was weak, and made almost all of the characters look shallow with small ambitions. The thriller elements didn't do it for me either. I just wanted to novel to end. It seemed like a nightmare. Indeed, it was creepy, but not the right kind of creepy. Most thrillers are good when it's so creepy that you just want to lock your door and feel safe when you end it. This book was creepy in the way the characters manipulate each other and the situation, something which is not my cup of tea.
Don't get me wrong. I do like Niehart a lot, and I hope his next novel is better. I should have known that he was going to attempt to writer a thriller after looking at the counterplot in "Hey Joe" and I wonder, why? Niehart's gift is the ability to use language and words to create a dream-like, yet realistic existence for his characters and to use their five senses to describe the current state of their minds. It's like a movie, or a languid dream. His stories are so full of imagination and connection with characters that he does not need to throw a thriller affect in as a wild card to keep his readers interested. I think he should focus on character development, the reactions of the characters in realistic situations. That's when an audience is the most sympathetic. I know that's where my attention was, and where he won my admiration. But "Burning Girl" is not it.
good like a trashy romance novel.......2001-12-27
i have to say, burning girl was a page-turner, but it reminded me a bit too much of those fear street and sweet valley high books i read as a kid. and someone should tell ben neihart that he cannot necessarily acheive authentic twentysomething dialogue by inserting the word "like" haphazardly into his prose. yes, we all say it, but who wants to read it?
Up and Down.......2001-09-07
In a word: intriguing. This novel captures the reader from the beginning and slowly lets you down. I feel as though he gave up on writing at the end. And the ending--WHAT?? All together though, it was sexy, fun, and a little eery.
SIMPLISTIC? NOT HARDLY.......2001-03-25
In BURNING GIRL, the Joe Keith character from Neihart's debut, HEY JOE, has evolved into Drew Burke, a 20-year-old New Orleans native on scholarship to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Because he's smart, charming and utterly guileless (despite a healthy dose of sweetly angsty self-doubt), Drew has an irresistible appeal to the spoiled-verging-on-decadent rich kids who set the tone of campus life.
While it's easy to understand how a stout-hearted but wide-eyed "white trash" boy from the boonies would be seduced by the chic material pleasures of Northeast preppie trappings, Neihart's niftiest trick here is to show how seduction runs in two directions: As Drew becomes entangled in the sordid sexual and criminal affairs of his cosmopolitan classmates, Neihart makes a subtle argument that salvation may tempt sinners even more strongly than sin tempts the innocent.
Ben Neihart has his finger on the pulse.......2000-12-03
Burning Girl is for today's twentysomethings what Less Than Zero was for the 80s twentysomethings. Ben Neihart captures the language and sensibility of the late-90s hip, cool, rich, young crowd with such sensitivity that there can be no question who he is dealing with--his characters aren't just a generic group of college kids, and his story not one that could have taken place in any other age. His characters are individuals, but individuals who reflect their times--they are a specific group of today's youth, and Neihart has his finger on the pulse. Like any good writer who chronicles his times, he is not interested in what makes his characters universal, but in what makes them different than anyone who has come before them. They talk differently, they live differently, and they take things for granted that others wouldn't even have considered. The story invites you into a particular time and place with a group of attractive, sexy, amoral kids who will fascinate and seduce you, or leave you completely puzzled as to their charm if you can't accept and move past their nonchalance and shallow exterior.
The first part of the novel introduces the main characters in a familiar scenario: Drew, working-class student, is befriended and introduced to the world of wealth and privilege. We are as attracted as he is to Bahar and her brother Jake. By the time Drew starts to uncover a bizarre and brutal secret from Bahar and Jake's past we too experience the conflicting feelings of loyalty and repudiation Drew undergoes. The story is a surprisingly moral one which recognizes and reconciles with subtlety the true complexity of fascination and love.
A somewhat bizarre cross between House of Yes, Secret History and Less Than Zero, Burning Girl is a quick, enjoyable read which will leave you thrilled by Neihart's incredibly real prose--his turns of phrase and language is just off enough to be foreign and attractive and hip, yet familiar enough to remind you that everything matters, the shallow and the moral.
Product Description
6 paperback Titles By Byars - Tornado - The Tv Kid - The 18th Emergency - Glory Girl - Burning Questions of Bingo Brown - Two-thousand-pound Goldfish
Customer Reviews:
Awesome heroine!!.......2003-03-29
Julie Leto has pulled off another winner in Brazen and Burning. The edgy heroine is a character that grabbed my attention and never let go. The sex is sizzling hot and the hero absolutely yummy.
Searing! Very highly recommended.......2003-03-27
When Sydney "Slow Burn" Colburn reaches her lifetime goal of debuting at the number one slot of the New York Times best sellers, she is left wondering, "now what?" Now what indeed. After all, she loves her career, she has money, and her love life is varied and remarkable. Yet something seems to be missing. So she sets out to find Adam Brody, the sexy man to whom she refused to risk her heart. She is ready to explore possibilities. She is not ready to discover that Adam has amnesia, and does not remember her.
Previously, Sydney has studiously followed her self-imposed rules that protect her heart. Sex is fun and frivolous, never emotional. She never spends the night or talks of allowing a relationship to evolve to the next level. And under no circumstances does she give her heart. Adam was the only man she ever came close to breaking her rules with, and she reacted by departing quickly. When she returned from a book tour, he had disappeared, his condo sold, his business gone. Once she finds him, Sydney is determined to either remind him of what is forgotten, or to create new memories.
Author Julie Elizabeth Leto sears the pages in this second offering of the series The Bad Girls Club. With a searing heat and dazzling characterization, BRAZEN & BURNING easily lives up to its title. Sydney revels in her sexuality, never apologizing for her varied and remarkable past nor regretting it. Adam's amnesia affords her the opportunity to discover if she can capture his heart even as she maintains her bad girl ways. Indeed, their memorable encounter of making love under the sprinklers will live in the reader's imagination! Once again Leto demonstrates her remarkable style as she combines the thrill of exhibitionism and the tantalizing possibilities of a sizzling plot. Daring, sexy, and fabulous, BRAZEN & BURNING comes very highly recommended.
WOW! The Bad Girls Club continues in a great second book!.......2003-03-25
I loved this second Bad Girls Club book. I really was curious about Sydney Coleburn after reading Julie Leto's Temptation last year where Sydney was a secondary character. I couldn't imagine how she could turn this wicked romance novelist into a heroine. I just finished Brazen And Burning and can honestly say, she really did it! Sydney's a multi-layered, interesting character who just needs the love of a fabulous hero like Adam to bring that bad girl down.
Can't wait for the Tori Carrington book in the series.
Couldn't even finish it........2003-03-19
I was very disappointed with this book, especially since I enjoyed Leto's books beforehand. Did not like the heroine in the story, nor any of the characters. Teach me to buy books on author's name alone... First book in a LONG TIME that I chucked across the room in disgust.
Julie is at it again!!.......2003-03-10
Julie Elizabeth Leto has to the one of the hottest writer in series romance. One of Harlequin Temptation's lead writers, she is strong on creating vivid characters, has a wicked sense of humour, but she is so steamy when she comes to interaction between her characters. She is super at creating steamy tension, but there is little need for tension on her newest book. It's all steam!!
The leads were lovers before, but both were career-minded so they had little needs of solid relationship. However, he soon wanted more, to move beyond an affair toward marriage, but she panicked and ran.
But life has come a calling on Sydney "Slow Burn" Colburn. All her girlfriends have gotten married, so she is now the only bachelorette. She had her newest book finally reach number one on the New York Bestsellers list, life was as she wanted it - and oh so very hallow. After a few days of soul searching and a little prodding from Cassie (from What's Your Pleasure), she figures out needs more substance in her life and when she thought of more she thought of Adam Brody, the man who wanted a life with her.
After she panicked and ran from him before, she came back six weeks later to tell him she agreed they had something special and she was willing to take the chance, only to find Adam gone. His business was sold, his condo was sold and no one knew where to find him. But Sydney was not about to let a little thing like that to slow her down. She gets her fiend who is a private eye to track Adam down.
What she finds when she confronts him is confusing. Adam is not longer the brilliant architect, he is a construction worker, building custom doll houses for his sister's business.
Worse, he claims he does not remember Sydney. Outside of a bruised ego, Sydney knows she is unforgettable being the baddest of the bad girls, so she knows something is very wrong. She quickly learns Adam was nearly killed. The night she ran from him, he was out jogging trying to work off his anger because Sydney left, when he was hit from behind by a hit and run driver. It has taken him a year to reclaim his life, learn to walk and live again. And he knows, while this woman intrigues him, he has nothing to offer her now.
But Sydney never liked the word no, so she is not going to let a blank memory slow her down. Also, Sydney holds key information about Adam's accident. She was there when the messenger came to pick up Adam's blueprints - blueprints the courier service claims were never picked up. So she agrees to help Adam to find out what really happened the night someone tried to murder him to cover the theft of his blue prints.
Julie once again, gives you a super read with characters that leap off the pages. She is absolutely one of the best and creating such intensely captivating characters, that makes you care about them.
Book Description
A young woman trapped between worlds is forced to take sides in a war, take control of herself . . . and her power.
Customer Reviews:
Original, Surprising & Beautiful.......2007-01-16
The publishers' reviews above give you an idea of the plot, but not of the beauty of the writing or the way that it blends together the fantastic, impossible, and purely human to create a book that (I found, at least) lingers with you long after you've finished it. We begin with Rye, suffering from amnesia but more importantly synesthesia, a disorder in which sight, sound, touch and taste all merge and change places in her 'fevers,' leaving her inhabiting a world where the everyday is bizarre-- and then the bizarre starts happening. As Rye and her manipulative, guilt-ridden guardian/lover/betrayer Bardo shift from one world to another, she searches through her own madness and the happenings around her to try to untangle the truth before it's too late for her. In the end, tho', it's Rye and Bardo's humanity that makes this book worth reading, and the simplicity of the emotions with which the story ends. I read a *lot* of scifi/fantasy; I thought this was outstanding when I read it, and a month later I still find myself thinking about it. Definitely an original, and well worth reading.
Books:
- Black Powder War (Temeraire, Book 3)
- Black Widow Vol. 1: Homecoming (Mighty Avengers)
- Break the One-Armed Bandits!
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Issue 2
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Issue 2
- Cartoon Guide to Statistics
- Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith
- Come on Over: A delightful collection of simple recipes and clever ideas for casual gatherings with family & friends. (Gooseberry Patch)
- D.Gray-man, Volume 2
- Daredevil: The Man Without Fear
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