Dark Room: A Novel

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A Good Story, Well Written

Great characters but somewhat predictable

Dark Room

Dark Room - Best book I've read this year!

An action-packed book where one tantalizing clue is revealed after another

Dark Room: A Novel
Andrea Kane
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060741341
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Book Description

Seventeen years ago, Morgan Winter was traumatized by the discovery of her parents' brutally murdered bodies in a Brooklyn basement on Christmas Eve. Now shocking new evidence overturns the killer's conviction and Morgan is confronted with the horrifying realization that the real killer is still out there.

Trapped in an emotional hell, she hires Pete "Monty" Montgomery, the former NYPD detective who first investigated her parents' homicides. Now a PI, Monty has a personal score to settle—a promise he made to Morgan, the helpless child long ago, that he'd find her parents' killer. With nothing more than an old case file and the original crime scene photos, Monty enlists the specialized skills of his son, Lane, a photojournalist whose job is a perfect cover for the clandestine image analysis he conducts for the CIA. Constantly thrill-seeking, Lane is used to gambling and putting his own life on the line—for country, for journalistic integrity, for the adrenaline rush. But this time, the stakes are different . . . and this time, he can't afford to lose.

The murderer is still at large and has never stopped watching Morgan from the shadows, making sure a dark secret remains buried. Now, Morgan's fierce determination to uncover the truth consumes her, plunging her into the dark and terrifying past and an increasingly dangerous present.

Lane is closing in on the truth. But in a cruel twist of fate, what he exposes may be far more shocking and devastating to Morgan than anyone could imagine.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Story, Well Written.......2007-08-23

As with all of Kane's stories, this one is well written and a pleasure to read. Am looking forward to her next novel.

Great characters but somewhat predictable.......2007-08-13

Nightmares have plagued Morgan Winter since discovering her parent's corpses when she was ten. During that intense time, she bonded with the detective assigned the case. With the culprit in jail, she felt a small sense of relief until it is uncovered that he confessed to the crimes in order to avoid a cop killing conviction, and the crime is once again unsolved. The now retired detective, Pete Montgomery, always felt that the wrong person was convicted, and now Morgan has hired him to find the real killer. With the aid of his son Lane, a photographer who freelances for several clandestine organizations (thus having great resources and equipment), new details in the crime scene photos pop up to provide more questions. Lane and Morgan form an instant attraction. But as the investigation gets closer to the truth, Morgan becomes a target.

In a follow up to "Wrong Place, Wrong Time" featuring Pete's daughter Devon, Kane's latest is packed with action, but it's a bit predictable (I guessed the culprit within the first couple chapters). In Morgan, she's created a heroine that's both strong and fragile at the same time, and it's nice to see a hero in a job other than police detective. Despite the flaws, readers will be enthralled with how the story plays out as, Kane is a master at creating compelling characters.

Dark Room .......2007-07-24

When Morgan Winter learns that the man convicted of her parent's murder seventeen years ago did not commit the crime, she is determined to find the real killer. Morgan hires former police detective turned PI, Pete 'Monty' Montgomery. Working with Monty is his handsome, daredevil son and top photographer, Lane.

With the killer desperate to keep his identity secret, the danger to Morgan escalates. Monty and Lane are determined to keep Morgan safe until they find the killer, and they will find the killer because failure is not an option.

Wow! Dark Room is a very intense book! Andrea Kane is an amazing author. From the first paragraph Ms. Kane drew me into the suspenseful world of Morgan Winter. I felt all of Morgan's emotions, from her sadness over losing her parents to her desire for the gorgeous Lane. Who can blame Morgan, Lane is utterly delectable. Smart, dangerous and Alpha, Lane is the full package.

I loved Dark Room! The suspense kept me on my toes and on the edge of my seat. The romance was just as thrilling. Overall I couldn't have asked for a better romantic suspense novel!

Annmarie reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Dark Room - Best book I've read this year!.......2007-05-31

This is Andrea Kane at her best. It had me hooked right from the start with great characters and a plot loaded with twists and turns. It is also a very touching story. I couldn't put it down it was such an edge of your seat page-turner. I've read all of Kane's contemporary romance books and this one is definitely her best yet. If you like reading romantic suspense from Nora Roberts, Karen Robards, Jayne Ann Krentz, Linda Howard, etc.; you will love Andrea Kane's latest novel-Dark Room.

An action-packed book where one tantalizing clue is revealed after another.......2007-05-30

When Morgan Winter was just a child, she discovered the bloody bodies of her murdered parents on Christmas Eve. Luckily, Arthur and Elyse Shore, close friends of her mother and father, were there to pick up the pieces of her life, take her in and raise her as their own along with their biological daughter, Jill, Morgan's close friend.

Now Morgan and Jill run Winshore, a top-quality matchmaking service that strives to match men and women with their true loves --- not just on a superficial level but on a deeper and more meaningful plane. Morgan has rebuilt her life and moved on, even though the murder of her parents has always loomed over her. With Christmas just ahead, however, the past surfaces to haunt her again.

Morgan is dreaming of her parents, reading her mother's old journals and studying photos of herself and them in happier days. With the killer convicted and locked away, the past should be behind her, but Morgan can't shake the experience that is always with her just below the surface.

When old friend and retired police detective Pete Montgomery shows up on the doorstep of Winshore, Morgan knows it doesn't bode well for her peace of mind. Detective Montgomery, or Monty as he's known to friends and family, tells her that the wrong man was convicted all those years ago, and the person who killed her parents and destroyed her life has been free all along.

While Morgan is shaken to her core, rather than falling apart she immediately hires Monty, now a private investigator, and determines to see for herself that the right man is caught and punished for this horrible crime. Luckily for Morgan, she is surrounded by loving family and friends. The Shores, Jill and Monty do their best to see that Morgan is supported and upheld in this turbulent time that is shaking them all to their very foundation.

Morgan also meets and is immediately attracted to Monty's son, Lane, a photojournalist who conducts undercover image analysis for the CIA. Lane is used to living life on the edge. One thrill after another suits him just fine. His previous exploits, however, are nothing compared to the adrenaline that flows through his body when he meets Morgan.

Lane is drawn into the mystery surrounding Morgan's parents when Monty asks him to enhance and scrutinize the crime scene photos of Morgan's parents. He quickly becomes confidante and protector to Morgan as well.

It's obvious that Morgan, Monty and Lane's investigation is coming too close for comfort when Morgan and Jill's home is broken into and trashed, a frightening warning is left for Morgan as a cease-and-desist order, and one of Morgan's clients is the victim of a hit and run. Is anyone close to Morgan safe now, or has she placed everyone she loves in greater danger?

Regardless of what happens, Morgan knows the only key to lasting peace and happiness is unmasking the person who killed her parents and stole her youth. The question is, will that truth set her free or will it annihilate her when she finally learns it?

DARK ROOM is an action-packed book where one tantalizing clue is revealed after another. The chemistry between the characters is warm and humorous, and they come across as real people who love and care deeply for one another. I found myself wanting to remain in their company and know what happened next even after the book ended.

--- Reviewed by Amie Taylor

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The Baroness Has No Clothes!
Too Long: Edit and Cut Out 150 to 200 Pages and It Would Be Much Better
The Mystery of the Author's Decline
No More Murders This Week
Good stuff if you value character development over action

The Murder Room: A Novel
P.D. James
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400076099
Release Date: 2004-11-09

Book Description

Murders present meet murders past in P.D. James’s latest harrowing, thought-provoking thriller.

Commander Adam Dalgliesh is already acquainted with the Dupayne--a museum dedicated to the interwar years, with a room celebrating the most notorious murders of that time--when he is called to investigate the killing of one of the family trustees. He soon discovers that the victim was seeking to close the museum against the wishes of the fellow trustees and the Dupayne's devoted staff. Everyone, it seems, has something to gain from the crime. When it becomes clear that the murderer has been inspired by the real-life crimes from the murder room--and is preparing to kill again--Dalgliesh knows that to solve this case he has to get into the mind of a ruthless killer.

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Commander Adam Dalgliesh, P. D. James's formidable and fascinating detective, returns to find himself enmeshed in a terrifying story of passion and mystery -- and in love.

The Dupayne, a small private museum in London devoted to the interwar years 1919 -- 1939, is in turmoil. As its trustees argue over whether it should be closed, one of them is brutally and mysteriously murdered. Yet even as Commander Dalgliesh and his team proceed with their investigation, a second corpse is discovered. Someone in the Dupayne is prepared to kill and kill again. Still more sinister, the murders appear to echo the notorious crimes of the past featured in one of the museum's galleries: the Murder Room.

The case is fraught with danger and complications from the outset, but for Dalgliesh the complications are unexpectedly profound. His new relationship with Emma Lavenham -- introduced in the last Dalgliesh novel, Death in Holy Orders -- is at a critical stage. Now, as he moves closer and closer to a solution to the puzzle, he finds himself driven further and further from commitment to the woman he loves.

The Murder Room is a powerful work of mystery and psychological intricacy from a master of the modern novel.

Customer Reviews:

The Baroness Has No Clothes!.......2007-05-02

The Murder Room is a bit better than her previous effort, but it's still not very good. The usual detail on room decoration, depressed characters and dysfunctional families, without an inspired or original plot to support them. The crimes themselves, despite some attractive trappings, turn out to be flat and dull, while also implausible--a problem in a "realistic" crime novel. The characters mostly are the same stuffy, wealthy, well-spoken elitists we've seen before, too many times now, with the usual wrangle taking place over the attempted closing of some august and architecturally distinguished building. Dalgleish fans I guess are happy to see him romancing Emma, the only problem here is we don't see much in the way of romance. Their romance lacks any of the charm and appeal of the classic romances in James' much admired Crime Queen trio of Sayers, Allingham and Marsh. It's a shame, because one can tell from her personal appearances and interviews that James is a charming, amusing woman. Too bad she snuffs out these qualities in her books.

Too Long: Edit and Cut Out 150 to 200 Pages and It Would Be Much Better.......2007-03-12

This is my first book by the famous author P.D. James. I am certain that she has much better novels.

The opening 95 page introduction is a bit disturbing, and many readers will be tempted to stop reading and throw the novel away before page 100. She uses a Jane Austen approach to introduce the characters before any action. The difference with Austen is that Austen can do it in 50 pages, stop, and then begin an interesting story. James tends to write on and on. But, it is similar to Austen. Prepare yourself for a slow read until you are in the rythm of her prose. Some of her technical descriptions seems slightly out of date or wrong, but that is okay.

From there, the book improves and we have a murder somewhere about page 120 to 150 and then the police enter the picture. The next 100 pages or so the tempo increases and we have an excellent novel. Commander Dalgliesh and his team enter and conference around page 220, after a very brief appearance near the beginning of the book, and it is quite interesting to see the famous detective at work.

But then we have a second murder and 7 or 8 new characters after page 300. Each new character comes with a lengthy introduction until we have perhaps 20 primary characters, and then the whole novel seems to spin out of control. This gets worse beyond page 400, and by page 500 the reader is left shaking their head, even laughing at the book. The original crime is solved by a highly improbable event. Is this possible? Can such a famous author write this mess?

Adding insult to injurt, James writes on with her complex prose for another 40 pages after the murder is solved and the book is over.

This is a basically an excellent 300 page book captured in 550 pages of dense prose. It needs an extensive edit to remove dozens of filler pages and to take marginal characters that just clutter up the story. Then it will be a good novel. Most characters are interesting and the story is good, but there are too many characters. The structure and the number of characters is wrong. Also as a reader, I found the brief comment at the beginning of each section very annoying, since it reveals the plot direction of the section to come.

Overall, this is a literary train wreck, hence just 3 or 4 stars for this book.

The Mystery of the Author's Decline.......2006-12-19

After finishing The Murder Room by P.D. James, I have one question: Who's been putting Xanax in the Baroness's coffee?

Much of The Murder Room reads as though James is just too tired to flesh out the plot, the interviews, and the characters. Too much is told in summary, rather than scene. Even the obligatory horror story embedded in the middle is given short shrift, and I still haven't figured out the relevance or the details of the betrayal in the anti-Nazi underground group.

But it's more than just the weary, phoned-in quality that bothers me. It's the drawing back from the painful consequences of murder. PD James has never been afraid of hurting (or killing off) sympathetic characters. Indeed, much of her appeal for me has always lain in her ability to show the humanity in all her characters, even the killers, while she nevertheless treats them with the ruthlessness the book demands.

The Murder Room is different. The murder does not cause not nearly so much collateral damage as one might expect. Nor does Dalgliesh suffer personal loss during the book.

The Baroness's characters may be happier now, but this reader is not.

No More Murders This Week.......2006-09-17

This is the latest in Ms. James' detective mysteries featuring Adam Dagliesh. I have read all the others and this one ranks near the middle of the pack. As is her formula, place is more important than time, people, or motive. Also per formula, the place is a forgotten, down on its luck institution with no obvious reason for existence. Ms. James then quickly dumps a murder on us, and then spends the rest of the book revealing a set of half dozen or so potential culprits.

Murders take place in a museum devoted to the inter-war era of 1918-1939. Only a British eccentric would devote his energy and resources to such a pursuit. The museum contains some paintings, books, and other collectables from that era, as well as a room devoted to the great crimes.

A convoluted family trust devised by the late founder requires all his children to agree to keep the museum in operation. When it becomes clear that one of the sons is inclined to shut down the place, he becomes the first, but not the last victim.

Of course, everyone who lives off the museum has a motive to keep it from shutting down. But there are other motives; some of our characters have crossed paths previously in other failing institutions. It evens turns out that the worst excesses of the Roman Empire are being recreated in the room adjacent to the Murder Room.

Ms. James has penned a good beach read here, another tribute to her idol, Dame Agatha Christie.

Good stuff if you value character development over action.......2006-05-03

This was my first reading of P.D. James. It was a bit of a slog, because I expected to get right into the investigation of a crime. But Ms James spends a lot of pages developing the settings and characters. This she does very well. Then the crime occurs. Well, I appreciate a writer who is willing to provide some solid material to be read and who assumes that a reader who picks up a book has the time to read for awhile. I can see how readers accustomed to the frantic pace and shallow characterizations in most modern police novels would grow impatient. I usually enjoy books by English authors with English settings and characters, so this novel suited me well.

I must say, though, that Adam Dalgleish is a bit of a cold fish. My prior acquaintance with him has been via the TV series featuring Roy Marsden and currently Martin Shaw. I thought they must be overlooking something that would make him interesting. Not their fault at all. His activity seems limited to hovering about calmly and then in the last reel (chapter) revealing the killer's identity. He has no apparent idiosyncrasies to lend him some color. He's said to be a poet. No evidence is given. Maybe in James' earlier books some of his work is transcribed for our assessment.

Merrivale Holds the Key: Two Classic Locked-Room Mysteries : The Plague Court Murders/the Red Widow Murders (Library of Crime Classics)

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Introducing H.M.

Merrivale Holds the Key: Two Classic Locked-Room Mysteries : The Plague Court Murders/the Red Widow Murders (Library of Crime Classics)
Carter Dickson
Manufacturer: International Polygonics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1558820272

Customer Reviews:

Introducing H.M........2006-12-11

The Plague Court Murders (1934) and The Red Widow Murders (1935) are two of the first, and best, mysteries featuring John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson's detective Sir Henry Merrivale. In the first, a cynical promoter of séances is brutally murdered while in a locked room, and a legendary local ghost is seemingly the only suspect. In the second, a young man agrees to spend the night in a haunted room, and when the room is unlocked after two hours he is dead of no apparent cause, and had been for more than an hour--though he had seemingly answered calls from his friends waiting outside the room during that time. The mysteries baffle everyone, including especially the readers--no detective fiction writer ever produced mysteries that, while being fair in the presentation of clues, were harder to figure out--but H.M. is always equal to the challenge.

While in some of his later (postwar) appearances H.M. became a more comic figure, given to tantrums and buffoonery, this tendency was as yet under control in these works, which established the character's well-deserved reputation as one of the greatest literary detectives of the so-called Golden Age of mysteries. His introduction in Plague Court Murders is classic. The "Maestro" welcomes old friends and colleagues who he worked alongside as espionage agents during the "Great War" into his shabby Whitehall office, unapologetically drinking brandy and smoking cigars while at work, and in his inimitable cranky, intimidating style, begins to get to the bottom of gruesome, baffling, seemingly supernatural crimes.

But there is a real sense of sadness as well as fun about H.M., whose loud antics thinly veil his regret over the deaths and disappointment his cases invariably bring to light, and his keen, watchful intelligence--he is like a poker player (and H.M. is mentioned off-handedly as being a fine one) whose bluster and jokes are intended to distract his opponents and observers from figuring out what he is really thinking and planning. One can readily see how H.M. could have been a formidable intelligence officer (where deception is so critical) as well as a masterful detective. But what really sets him apart from the Holmeses and Queens and Wolfes is perhaps that he seems immensely more sheer fun to spend time with. At one point in The Red Widow Murders (Chapter 11) H.M. insists that his "Watson" spend a late night with him at home, drinking whiskey and coffee, conversing interestingly and intelligently but rarely to the point, and playing board games ("what looked like children's pursuits") until the sun comes up. There likely has never been another fictional detective as amusing, interesting, and impressive, and he was never more so then in these two classic novels.

The Body in the Billiard Room (Inspector Ghote Mystery)

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The Body in the Billiard Room (Inspector Ghote Mystery)

Manufacturer: A Recorded Book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: B000FNDPH2

Product Description

: Inspector Ghote is trying to find out why there is a dead man on the billiard table at the respectable Ooty Club. Summoned from Bombay to the tiny hill station of Ootacamund, the great detective is expected to discover who murdered a club servant on the very billiard table where snooker was invented.

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Promising, slowing, and then disappointing
An engaging and original story of bitter truths
A Great Read
In a special class
Intensive and Caring Family

Sea Room: A Novel
Norman G. Gautreau
Manufacturer: MacAdam/Cage Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1931561079

Book Description

Set during and immediately following World War II, Sea Room tells the story of three generations of lobstermen and the rich lives they have built on the rugged coast of Maine. The Dupuy family, French Canadians who have made the Acadian Coast their home, live lives of quiet honor and warm simplicity.

Until the war ravages their peaceful existence.

This is the story of how one generation reaches across to the next and offers enough love and hope to make living worthwhile again. It is about holding on to a dream—in this case building a fine sailboat—in order to hold on to love. By pursuing their dream, the Dupuys learn that those they have lost really do live on.

This is also the coming of age story of young Jordi Dupuy, who, by following the code of honor passed down by his grandfather and father, chooses to live a life of integrity—even if it means facing a charge of murder.

And, finally, this is about finding sea room—the freedom that only comes when one is pushed to the limits of adversity and chooses hope when despair seems the only option.

Customer Reviews:

Promising, slowing, and then disappointing.......2003-08-13

Started off beautifully written, but characters a bit too one dimensional--more characters and less boatmaking description would've been better in my opinion. Ends with a cop-out court drama that just became too unbearable to finish. I really wanted to like this book but felt the ending was disappointing. Court cases: ho-hum. I could watch Matlock or read John Grisham if I needed another dose of courtroom climax. But the writing is superb and unique, thus he gets 3 stars...a writer to watch and who I believe will increase in talent and skill.

An engaging and original story of bitter truths.......2002-10-09

Norman G. Gautreau's debut novel Sea Room takes place during and after the devastation of World War II. The Dupuys are simple family living on the Maine seacoast must bid farewell Gil Dupuy, a passionate young man who enlists to serve his country, while his wife, son, and parents pull together on the home front. Sea Room is very highly recommended as an engaging and original story of bitter truths, hanging on despite increasingly harsh conditions, and holding on to hope and dreams in the wake of despair.

A Great Read.......2002-07-09

I agree with the earlier reviews. Beautifully written, a very well woven plot line, and the exquisite simplicity of true "Downeaster" philosophy and ethics.

My only minor complaint is that while his descriptive passages are beautiful, I sometimes got the feeling that he was "trying too hard" and heading a little toward "verbal gymnastics".
As I said, this is only a "minor" point.

Well worth reading, and a phenomenal first novel by a gifted writer. I will be awaiting his next effort.

In a special class.......2002-06-10

The cover is so beautiful, it gives you an idea that this book is above the ordinary, and it is!

It's a story about 3 generations (the Dupuy's) of a fishing family who live and work on the coast of Maine. When Pearl Harbor is bombed, everything changes for the family. Gil leaves for the war and the family is left to wait and pray for his return.

The writing is beautiful as it describes the landscape, the sea, and each member of the family. They all are vividly portrayed and come to life.

If made into a movie, it would be comparable to "Snow Falling on Cedars". It would be a great movie and is a book well worth anyone's time.

Intensive and Caring Family.......2002-05-30

This was one of the most interesting books I have read, and
I read a lot. We are taken into a Maine seafaring family and
share their secrets, loves,prayers and sit at the table for meals. The descriptions of the townspeople, friends, family and
others is so complete that you feel that you know them well.
Of special interest to boating enthusiasts (which I am not) but
exceptionally well written by Mr. Gauthreau in his debut novel.
See for yourself!

Book Description

Daniel Merriam is a highly regarded contemporary surrealist. His detailed watercolor paintings explore a rich inner life and do so with a spirit of adventure and a sense of humor, all executed with a master's hand. His work is included in the collections of museums, major corporations, galleries, and private collectors throughout the world.

Amazon.com

Like Stephen King, Joe R. Lansdale is a powerful and versatile author. He writes frequently funny, often disturbing suspense, horror, dark fantasy, science fiction, and Western fiction. And like King, he has a strong sense of place: he successfully invokes the spirit of the West and demonstrates a wonderful and distinctly Texan gift for a phrase. But don't be fooled--the resemblances are superficial. Joe R. Lansdale writes like nobody but his own self. And, unjustly, he's not yet a bestselling author.

The genre-jumping collection High Cotton is subtitled Selected Stories of Joe R. Lansdale, but could more rightly be called The Best of Joe R. Lansdale. If you haven't read Lansdale, this is the place to start. If you like Lansdale, you already know you want this collection, even if you already own By Bizarre Hands, which contains 7 of these 21 stories. If, however, you are of a delicate constitution or a sensitive nature, you might want to steer clear. Lansdale can be blunt, or gross, or grim, sometimes all at once.

Most of the stories in High Cotton are excellent, and some are already classics. "Night They Missed the Horror Show," a tale of bored young hell-raisers who discover dreadful new depths of trouble, is one of the great horror stories of the 20th century. The alternate-history Western "Letter from the South, Two Moons West of Nacogdoches" packs a lot of big (and shocking) changes into four pages. In the crime story "The Steel Valentine," a fading athlete finds himself the captive of his lover's merciless, criminal husband. In "The Phone Woman," a man discovers his horrifying true nature in a violent act. And in the screwball "Mister Weed-Eater," a man's life is turned upside-down and inside-out by his innocent attempt to help a blind groundskeeper.

Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over 20 books, including the Hap Collins and Leonard Pine mystery series. He has won the American Mystery Award, the Booklist Editor's Award, five Bram Stoker Awards, the British Fantasy Award, and the International Crime Writers Award. --Cynthia Ward

Book Description

This collection of Joe R. Lansdale stories represents the best of the "Lansdale" genre-a strange mixture of dark crime, even darker humor, and adventure tales. The stories are varied in setting and theme, but they are all pure Lansdale-eerie, amusing, and occasionally horrific. In "The Pit," modern gladiators square off against one another using Roman methods. An alternate-history tale called "Trains Not Taken" shows Buffalo Bill as an ambassador and Wild Bill Hickok as a clerk. Lansdale's love of large lizards and humor are evident in the stories "Godzilla's Twelve Step Program" and "Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland."

Customer Reviews:

Lansdale's Best-Of Collection.......2006-04-09

So, "High Cotton" reprints several of Lansdale's personally selected best stories. These stories, all of them except for one are also featured in his original collections "By Bizarre Hands", "Bestsellers Guaranteed", and "Writer of the Purple Rage", and are arguably the best of the stories featured in the original (and out of print) books.

Lansdale's follow-up, "Bumper Crop" collects many of the rest, but not very many stories from "Writer of the Purple Rage." If you can get a copy of "Purple Rage" get it. It has the original "Bubba Ho-Tep" novella, which is one of Lansdale's best stories and was made into the wonderful movie starring Bruce Campbell, which may be one of the most faithful adaptations of a writer's work ever put on film.

Anyway, "Booty and the Beast" is the newest (to me) story in this collection, which centers around a specific item associated with the Virgin Mary that brings doom to those who possess it. It is an entertaining story. The best stories here, however, are the ones his true fans have read before: "The Night They Missed the Horror Show" (his signature story), "The Phone Woman", and "Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back", "Not From Detroit", and many others. The stories also have introductions by Lansdale telling how they were conceived. There is also an introduction at the front of the book explaining how he came to write short stories and why he deosn't write as many anymore.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading the stories again and I hope this one stays in print for a long time, so that readers don't have to track down out of print collections to see what a fabulous writer this man is. These are the stories that made him famous, using his unique blend of humor, horror, and gritty realism to form a truly effective story. Highly Recommended!

The best short story collection EVER!.......2005-08-17

High Cotton by Joe R. Lansdale is the best short story collection I have ever read so far! The stories are funny and will make you laugh aloud -- so don't read this book in public places! Funny story: I was reading this book whilst waiting to board the plane in the airport, and I could not stop laughing! Security guards started to crowd around me -- just because I was acting in a 'peculiar manner' due to the loud laughing... so Joe R. Lansdale, it's your fault people are laughing out loud in public places whilst reading your book! Read this book and you will know what all the fuss is about.

Country Fried Horror.......2005-02-22

"High Cotton" is representative of the period when Joe Lansdale was still writing hardcore horror - and no one did it better. The stories in this collection are truly disturbing and graphic, reaching splattery heights without ever straying too far from Joe's East Texas sensibilities. Plenty of sick twists and thinly veiled stabs at racial injustice to keep our more "sophisticated" readers interested. For those of us who like down and dirty country-fried horror, you can't do any better than this collection.

The creative cotton is very high indeed.......2005-01-23

As more than one review has pointed out, a better title for this anthology might be The Best of Joe R. Lansdale - which the term High Cotton symbolizes (its farming parlance for an exceptionally good crop). Gathered between the covers are 21 terrific stories that show off Lansdale's considerable talent for spinning yarns that can be gruesome (Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back), funny (Steppin' Out, Summer 68), frightening (Incident On and Off a Mountain Road), and poignant (Not From Detroit), sometimes all at the same time (Drive-In Date). If you are easily offended by vulgar humor and salty language, not to mention microscopic examinations of the darker aspects of humanity, Lansdale will make for a very tough read. But stick with him, his stories are worth it. Highest recommendation.

Truly the best of Lansdale.......2004-06-04

"Champion Mojo storyteller" Joe Lansdale has slowly, over the span of twenty years, made quite a name for himself without ever really becoming a bestselling author. He has recently reached the current peak of his steadily increasing level of fame due to two events: winning the Edgar Allan Poe award for his novel, The Bottoms, and the recent release of the film Bubba Ho-Tep, based on a short story he wrote about an ancient mummy confronted by a seventy-year-old Elvis and J.F.K. He's certainly an acquired taste, but one that was an easy acquisition for me when I read his omnibus novel The Drive-In, about one summer evening when an alien comet buzzes a Texas drive-in theater and causes all sorts of havoc too disgusting to relate here. It was horror mixed with humor, and I loved it. So, I immediately set out to find more about this genre-mixing writer (my favorite kind). I read the first novel of his Hap and Leonard series, Savage Season, and it was good, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

Short stories are always a good way to experiment with a new writer. Luckily, that's how Lansdale started out making his living. There are several short story collections available of his early work but, the way he puts it in the introduction to High Cotton--and in reference to the southern-fried title--"this is the best cotton I've grown in the short form." When an author thinks the book you're holding contains his best stuff, that's the one you ought to try.

Each story has a short introduction written by Lansdale, explaining its inspiration, history, or lack thereof. I always find it fascinating for an author to write about their works; another favorite of mine, F. Paul Wilson, follows the same tack in his collection, The Barrens and Others.

High Cotton is certainly not bound to be a mainstream success, but for people who like the sort of gruesomely funny tales with a southern mentality that Joe Lansdale comes up with, it will be just your cup of sweet tea. It contains many stories that are as disturbing as they are funny: the basic premise is horrifying, but Lansdale manages to find the humor underneath it which, in turn, often enhances the horror of the situation. The one I think epitomizes this best is "The Drive-In Date" (also published in play format in The Best of Cemetery Dance, Volume Two), which concerns a couple of "good ole boys" and their rather unconventional date at the drive-in. The usual amount of laughter, food, and sex is contained within, with one important difference. This one still gives me the creeps -- while making me laugh. Stories like this require that you reexamine your own comfort threshold.

"The Pit" starts off the collection. This combination of dogfighting, boxing, and crazy backwoods snake handlers is one that he feels deserves more attention, and it certainly packs a punch. You'll think twice about making that wrong turn onto a back road when you finish with this one. Following "The Pit" is a simple little story that shows Lansdale's sentimental side. In "Not from Detroit," a man fights Death so that neither he nor his wife has to be alone. This story is so surprisingly sweet, that it is the first I've read of his that almost made me cry. But things return to normal, Lansdalewise, in "Booty and the Beast," which includes fire ants, a plastic syrup bear, and a "[pubic] hair from the Virgin Mary."

Sometimes, the humor is the main aspect of the story, as in "Godzilla's Twelve-Step Program," which follows our hero, Godzilla, as he goes through the daily grind of fighting his addiction to burning down buildings with his fiery breath. Even his job as an ingot melter doesn't seem to do the trick. What could have been a one-joke premise leading to a punchline is fleshed out by the author's imagination into a character study.

As you can see, Lansdale has many talents, but he is at his absolute best when he follows the exploits of a bunch of useless good-for-nothings who get themselves into a heap of trouble just by being stupid. This occurs first (and funniest) in High Cotton in the form of "Steppin' Out, Summer, '68" as Buddy, Wilson, and Jake go out in pursuit of a little horizontal recreation and--through a seeming innocuous, if increasingly ignorant, series of events--one of them ends up in the mouth of an alligator. It is one of the author's personal favorites, and any story that can make me laugh out loud in public instantly becomes one of mine.

Ending the collection is the story that Lansdale calls his "signature story" and the first one to really get him noticed (winning the Bram Stoker award in the process), "The Night They Missed the Horror Show." After skipping the night's showing of Night of the Living Dead (after discovering that a black man is the hero), Leonard and Farto do a couple of stupid--if generally harmless--things in the name of fighting boredom. But when they run into the wrong people, these events spiral into a night of pure terror. Lansdale is in particularly good form here, making the characters sympathetic by having their "punishment" be far above and beyond anything that would have suited their "crimes" of ignorance. It is really an ideal closer for High Cotton.

But all the stories in here are worth reading and Golden Gryphon Press has done a wonderful job packaging the collection. The cover illustration by J.K. Potter is very effective at getting across the contents--even though it appears that Potter himself didn't get past the first page of the first story. High Cotton is bound to become the definitive collection of Joe R. Lansdale's short fiction by itself, and it makes an excellent companion piece to the more recent Bumper Crop, which includes some of his and his fans' personal favorites, if not his most memorable work. Together, Lansdale ("hisownself") calls these two "the definitive volumes of my short work." As a fellow reviewer once said about Lansdale's work, "Read it and vomit. It's brilliant."

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HIGH COTTON - SELECTED STORIES OF JOE R. LANSDALE
Joe R. Lansdale
Manufacturer: Golden Gryphon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P0TZ24

Average customer rating:

An excellent book, with a few minor flaws

Required for a cook's library

Covers the oink to the tail. Very Highly recommended.

Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork: A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat
Bruce Aidells
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Meats | Meat, Poultry & Seafood | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Bruce Aidells's Complete Sausage Book : Recipes from America's Premium Sausage Maker

The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating

ASIN: 0060508957
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Amazon.com

With such past triumphs as Hot Links and Country Flavor, Real Beer and Good Eats and The Complete Meat Cookbook Bruce Aidells has established himself as a god-like carnivore among mere mortals. His taste buds know no bounds, his thirst for the next best recipe absolutely unquenchable. "I am a restless cook and adventurous eater," he says in the beginning of Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork, perhaps his greatest cookbook yet.

Maybe the dog has been hooked up with humankind longer than the pig, and has wandered into regions pigs knowingly eschew, like the Arctic. But pigs and people share a long, delicious history the dog can only sniff at, and longingly at that; an intimacy, if you will, unmatched in any other cross-species relationship. Aidells celebrates this connection. He gives the reader a brief history of the pig, then delivers definitive instructions on how to select great pork, and, in a general overview, how the flavor it and cook it to best advantage. He honors his subject and elevates his reader.

The recipes that follow have only one thing in common: Bruce Aidells loves them. They come from all corners of the world, from friends and from professionals, and from deep personal experience. They cover breakfasts treats, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers, and salads (Chopped Grilled Vegetable Salad with Grilled Pork Medallions); chops and steaks, scallops and cutlets (Smoked Pork Chops with Sour Cherry Sauce); kebabs and ribs (North African Marinated Pork kebabs on Couscous with Apricot Sauce); roasts, ham, pot roasts, stews, baked pastas, and casseroles (Grill-Roasted Pork Shoulder Cuban Style).

In each shift among the pork primals Aidells discusses the fitting master recipe, the umbrella technique beneath which truth and beauty unfold. He's a champion of flavor brining and his instructions eliminate any possible confusion. But he saves his soul for the last section, which is given over to some of the best material in print on preserving pork, the making of sausages, pâtés and terrines, bacon and salamis. It's at this point in the book that poignancy kicks in. This final word has the feeling of last word as well. --Schuyler Ingle

Book Description

Long the world's favorite meat, pork has surged in popularity in American kitchens thanks in part to high-protein diets, but mostly because of its adaptability to just about every taste. Whether you like spicy Asian flavors, flavorful pan braises, or light and healthy grills, pork fills the bill. Now Bruce Aidells, America's leading meat expert, presents a guide to pork's endless versatility, with 160 international recipes and cooking and shopping tips.

This comprehensive collection contains everything cooks need to know about pork, including how to choose from the many cuts available, how to serve a crowd with ease, and how to ensure moist pork chops and succulent roasts every time. Aidells offers temperature charts for perfect grilling, roasting, and braising, as well as a landmark chapter with step-by-step instructions for home curing. With Bruce Aidells as your guide, you will be making your own bacon, salami, and breakfast sausages with ease. If you are looking to enhance everyday dining, there are recipes here for quick after-work meals, as well as dramatic centerpiece main courses that are sure to impress guests. Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork is a matchless all-in-one guide that will become a kitchen classic.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent book, with a few minor flaws.......2007-08-18

This is an excellent book, with a few minor shortcomings.

STRENGTHS:

* This is a solid book, written by an expert on the topic - a butcher and an acclaimed expert sausage maker. He knows his stuff, and he does a passable job of passing along some very useful information ... such as the real story about trichinoa and how to protect yourself without ruining the meat by overcooking, how to spot substandard pork that wasn't slaughtered properly and/or which is getting a bit old/off, how to grind meat without ruining it, etc. That's important stuff which most authors neglect to cover in reasonable depth, if at all.

* Good explanations, and well written head notes for all recipes.

* Tasty, well honed recipes, from around the world, and using good techniques and varied seasoings. I also like the fact that the author borrowed Julia Child's "Master Recipes" system, for covering with one swell foop many recipes at once that differ only in their seasoning/ingredient profile ... the technique is the same, so describe the technique, so that all the related recipes are just variations on a theme. It's the culinary equivalent of give a man a fish vs teach a man to fish.

COMPLAINTS:

* Once again, here is a book that's broken down by chapter, but within those individual chapters all recipes appear to be in random order ... and there's no recipe index to help you shop for, much less find in a hurry, a given recipe, even if you know what you're looking for. I mean come on ... how hard can it be to rename recipes like (this is a fictional example) "Billy-Bob's Foot Stompin Tamarind Tenderloin" into say "Tenderloin, Tamarind Marinated", and then sort the whole chapter alphabetically so that everything appear by order of cut and key ingredient/flavor ? If you wanna include a "Billy-Bob Foot Stompin ..." credit somewhere, the place for such things is in the head notes of the applicable recipe, NOT the title. In general I'm not really concerned with who "Billy-Bob" (or whoever) is ... if I want a recipe for, say, tenderloin, I want to be able to do it easily, without having to flip page by page through entire randomly ordered chapters to find it. It's a recurring peeve of mine with a lot of culinary books.

* The author includes a credit for a graphic artist / food stylist. HOWEVER, aside from a diagram of a pig (and it's basic primal cuts) in the in-leaf, there are NO PHOTOS and NO GRAPHICS anywhere in this book. I mean come on ... for a hardcover that includes a overview of meat butchery, and provides recipies for things like ribs, pates, terrines, roulades, and the like (all of which CRY OUT for full color photos) ... for a book like that not to have a single picture is ... well, words fail me. Why even bother mentioning a food stylist / graphic artist if there are no graphics in the book?

* I also wish the author had devoted much more space to basic butchery in his opening chapter, in which he covers only the basic primal cuts of pork. He could have, and should have, given information on how to do things like the following (this is just one example):

> How to buy a whole bone-in loin roast primal, ask the butcher to shave off the chine bone, and then do any number of things to it when you get it home ... such as transform it into a standing rib roast or crown roast (photos please !), break it down into nice thick chops (hence the removal of the chine bone earlier), or how to debone it entirely into a boneless loin (and butterfly and stuff it ... photos please) and make other uses of the bones. I know how to do all those things, but most readers dont - and a book claiming to be "The Complete Book of Pork" should cover such things. I also dont see any recipes for offal yet ... but {as of this writing} I'm still reading.

BOTTOM LINE: This is a great book, with solid techniques and flavors. I'm looking forward to cooking my way though it. Recommended.

Required for a cook's library.......2005-02-08

Bruce Aidell is one of my favorite cookbook writers. Every book he has written has been solid gold in its use and depth of knowledge. For people who are fans of his _complete meat cookbook_ this is the volume to have. the first book is a masterwork for those who need to not only cook meat but to understand its background and want to have substantive knowledge on every aspect of it.

Taking off and enhancing the information found in the pork section he goes truly in depth on the subject of pork. The section on brining today's industrial pork is well worth the price of the book. I am pleased to say that he does not repeat anything from his earlier book so you are definitely getting new material.

Aidell is renowned as one of the early members of the northern California cooking scene and is known to some as the chicken sausage king - yes, it is THAT Aidell who sparked the gourmet sausage movement so, trust the man on his meat.

Everyone can cook from this book since it does not use complicated cooking methods and the spices and ingredients are readily available through the supermarket or from a trusted butcher (uncommon cuts like shin or cheek) it is accessable to anyone.

Highest recommendations for the cooking library and for cooks who prepare a great meal.

Covers the oink to the tail. Very Highly recommended........2004-12-10

The author's name is not only above the title, but part of the title of `Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork'. And, the book fully lives up to its title and subtitle, `A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat'. The book includes absolutely every subject on pork I can think of, including several I did not even expect because I thought they may be too obscure for even a 320 page book on this single subject. Not only do the authors cover their territory; they do it very, very well.

As Aidells states early in the book, this work is for people who like to create their own recipes with pork. While pork may be the world's favorite meat, it may also be one of the most difficult, especially today in the United States, where so much fat has been bread out of our porkers that older James Beard and Joy of Cooking recipes for pork may simply not even work any more, in that there is not enough fat moisture in some cuts to support exposure to high heat for the time needed to get the inside of the meat up to the old standard temperature to insure that chance of trichinosis or botulism is removed. One of the greater ironies of meat cooking is that if you cook pork loin or pork tenderloin with wet heat over 160 degrees Fahrenheit for very long, you will end up with dry, stringy meat in spite of the cooking in water.

So, one of the first and most important parts of the book is how to select cuts of pork and match them to the appropriate cooking method. Regarding selecting meat, I must have been incredibly lucky or terribly inattentive, as I have never seen many of the pathologies against which Aidells warns us. Still, it is very rewarding to know of these things and feel much better prepared to select meat at unfamiliar location such as the new farmer's market or warehouse store.

One surprise in the matching of meat to method is Aidells's counting leg and shin meat among the more tender cuts. The usual rule is that the further from the hoof or the horn, the more tender the meat. Well, I guess this doesn't work for pigs, as they have no horns. But, the principle of cooking tender meat by dry methods (grilling, roasting, sautéing, frying and broiling) and tough meat by wet methods (braising, stewing, poaching and steaming) is as true for pork as it is for beef. One thing that is true of pork and other `white meat' and not true of beef is the efficacy of brining in making the final cooked product moister. Brining pork is a very popular subject which has been explored by all the usual authorities such as Shirley Corriher and Harold McGee. The virtue of Aidells's book is that the technique is discussed in great detail, in connection with all the appropriate recipes.

Aidells's range of recipes for pork is not only broad, it is also of a very high quality. One of the first recipes I examined was for a strata made from sausage meat. As I just finished making a strata recipe from Wolfgang Puck's new book, I was really unhappy that I had not seen Aidells's recipe first, as it appears to be a much more interesting preparation. I was also very pleasantly surprised to see a recipe for a Philippine pork adobo recipe that was better than the one in my Philippine cookbook. The book does not cover every conceivable recipe. There are several famous dishes such as Chinese pork Dim Sum style steamed dumplings that are not in the book, but then, this recipe is more about the technique involved in the dumpling than it is with the pork.

The very best thing I found with this book is that all recipes use relatively simple techniques and equipment. One can spend tens of thousands of dollars on expert smoking equipment, but Aidells shows us how to do it with nothing more than a $100 Weber dome grill. I definitely approve of this. Also, he gives us instructions on how to make fresh sausage using a manual meat grinder, a KitchenAid meat grinding attachment, or a food processor. While I would not want to go through the difficulties of this technique, he even describes how to stuff sausage using a piping bag. I draw the line here and I have no difficulty in investing in the proper KitchenAid apparatus.

In addition to fresh sausage, the authors cover virtually every other pork processing and preserving technique such as making bacon, hams, and cured sausage such as salami. I was especially pleased to see the authors open the chapter on terrines by associating this technique with meatloaf. This association should immediately make pate and Terrine techniques friendlier to a reader who may associate them with old school French cuisine, done by no one who is not wearing a toque. My favorite recipe in this chapter is for a Polpettone Napoletano. I have seen Mario Batali make a polpettone (Italian for large meatball), but it has never quite inspired me as well as Aidells' dish. As written, it serves 12 to 16, so it is a super entertaining dish for delivering protein economically to a buffet crowd of unknown size.

As pork curing products are not standard items even at good local butcher shops, the author provides an excellent list of suppliers including both familiar (Nieman ranch, Dean and Delucca, Penzey's) and unfamiliar sources for speciality meats and materials.

The best thing I can say about this book is that it is every bit as good as expected. And, as this is one of the most useful kinds of books for the creative chef or wannabe creative chef, I say buy it now. You will find what you need and a lot of pleasant surprises as well.

Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork : A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat

Average customer rating:

Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork : A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat
Bruce Aidells
Manufacturer: Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OA99YO

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