Product Description
A warden without mercy. A prisoner with nothing left to lose. A lawyer in the ultimate gamble of his career. Exploding with the human drama of In the Name of the Father and the spellbinding courtroom action of A Few Good Men, Murder in the First is one of the most electrifying novels of the year. Now a major motion picture starring Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Oldman. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Absolutly stunning!!!
Murder in the First was one of the best books that I have ever read.Iread it in two days, because there was no way possible that I was able toput it down.It was a realistic showing of what really happened inside ofAlcatraz and how the prisoners were treated! ... Read more

Product Description
New! Includes "When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, If I Had My Life to Live Over I Would Pick More Daisies" and "Grow Old Along with Me the Best Is Yet to Be". 6 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sensitive and yet fun (that is if you like purple)
This is a beautifully crafted book of verses

I purchased this book for my elderly mother as it typified her approach to life.She would be forever quoting sections from the book as her behaviour reflected a phrase or section from it.(and yes - she did wear purple!)

It is a gentle reflection on ageing and how too often in our younger years we are driven by fad and fashion.I would thouroughly recommend it to anyone who has elderly parents - and to the parents themselves. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent job!
This is an exceptional audio recording of a beautiful and exciting play. The sound is pristine and the performances outstanding. The play has humor, supernatural elements, a nearly heartbreaking romance, suspense andanuplifting moral. What more can you ask?

Masterful production of Yiddish classic
This is a beautifully acted production with music and sound effects put toexcellent purpose. Romantic, chilling, funny in turns. Ashley Gardner,Theodore Bikel and Ed Asner are the best.

Adaptation?
I was going to give this a five star recommendation until i read Yuri Rasovsky's review of his own "adaptation", neglecting to mention the only WRITER {that i recognize} whom he should consider himself blessedwould deem it worthy to participate in, HARLAN ELLISON. Mr. Rasovsky youwill remain an adaptor. ... Read more

Product Description
Conversations with God, Book II, moves from personal to global concerns. Through Walsch's questions and answers, God offers a proposal for those willing to re-create themselves and society in His image. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

rosemarie-registrar at hospital and more importantly mom and wife
I have read all of Neale's books and now want them on Cd so I can listen to the god/goddess voices that are perfect and sound just as I imagine god/goddess to sound.I purchased book 1 on cd and now plan on getting the collection for my car trips to remind me of my truth and that I am never alone.These books have changed my life as well as my husbands.

Excellent, Awesome, Inspiring! Highly Recommendable To ALL!
This book is GREAT. In fact, the entire collection of CWG books are among the BEST ever written. The deep wisdom shared in these books coincide completely with the unspoken truth that has resided within my heart for as long as I can remember. As I read these words, my heart recognized the profound truth spoken in these books. Reading these books have caused my entire perspective of all of life to shift in an amazing way. I recommend the CWG books to all. Especially for those who are ready to remember the highest truths, see the light beyond the deceptions & false teachings of many organized religions & of our misinformed society & find the true MEANING in life -- The true meaning of "God".

A new theology and a very new, and better, ethical system
Although I am not inclined to believe in any supernatural realm, I read the three books in this series, in order. There is no doubt in my mind that the author is a very original thinker. If I were ever to believe in something supernatural, this would be it. However, the ethical sytem the author (or God, it doesn't matter) put forward is, to my knowledge, very new and very different from everything I knew. It is not easy reading; you need a very open mind to accept concepts such as "there is no right or wrong" or "God is not a vengeful god that punishes with eternal torments" I had to read several chapters more than once, and I can say this. Whether you go along with everything in the theology or not, I for one fully embraced the ethical system. It is to my thinking much more advanced, more "human", and likely to lead to much more happiness than anything I knew previously. Our world would be an immensely better place if this were the prevalent ethics. I read that the book has been translated to 26 languages and has touched the lives of millions all over the world. It sure touched mine! I strongly recommend that you challenge yourself to read the three books, and not reject anything off hand. Read the paragraphs you feel to be more "shocking" more than once and give the subject a lot of thought. After the third book, you will have found many concepts revisited more than once, and the whole picture will impress you as very consistent and well rounded. You might feel that not only you acquired new and important concepts, but also that your whole world outlook was changed. In short, your life may have been touched too. ... Read more

Product Description
Conversations with God, Book II, moves from personal to global concerns. Through Walsch's questions and answers, God offers a proposal for those willing to re-create themselves and society in His image. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

rosemarie-registrar at hospital and more importantly mom and wife
I have read all of Neale's books and now want them on Cd so I can listen to the god/goddess voices that are perfect and sound just as I imagine god/goddess to sound.I purchased book 1 on cd and now plan on getting the collection for my car trips to remind me of my truth and that I am never alone.These books have changed my life as well as my husbands.

Excellent, Awesome, Inspiring! Highly Recommendable To ALL!
This book is GREAT. In fact, the entire collection of CWG books are among the BEST ever written. The deep wisdom shared in these books coincide completely with the unspoken truth that has resided within my heart for as long as I can remember. As I read these words, my heart recognized the profound truth spoken in these books. Reading these books have caused my entire perspective of all of life to shift in an amazing way. I recommend the CWG books to all. Especially for those who are ready to remember the highest truths, see the light beyond the deceptions & false teachings of many organized religions & of our misinformed society & find the true MEANING in life -- The true meaning of "God".

A new theology and a very new, and better, ethical system
Although I am not inclined to believe in any supernatural realm, I read the three books in this series, in order. There is no doubt in my mind that the author is a very original thinker. If I were ever to believe in something supernatural, this would be it. However, the ethical sytem the author (or God, it doesn't matter) put forward is, to my knowledge, very new and very different from everything I knew. It is not easy reading; you need a very open mind to accept concepts such as "there is no right or wrong" or "God is not a vengeful god that punishes with eternal torments" I had to read several chapters more than once, and I can say this. Whether you go along with everything in the theology or not, I for one fully embraced the ethical system. It is to my thinking much more advanced, more "human", and likely to lead to much more happiness than anything I knew previously. Our world would be an immensely better place if this were the prevalent ethics. I read that the book has been translated to 26 languages and has touched the lives of millions all over the world. It sure touched mine! I strongly recommend that you challenge yourself to read the three books, and not reject anything off hand. Read the paragraphs you feel to be more "shocking" more than once and give the subject a lot of thought. After the third book, you will have found many concepts revisited more than once, and the whole picture will impress you as very consistent and well rounded. You might feel that not only you acquired new and important concepts, but also that your whole world outlook was changed. In short, your life may have been touched too. ... Read more

Product Description
The fascinating story of The Washington Post'spublication of the Pentagon Papers, a top secret study ofU.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. ... Read more

Product Description
Murder. Courtroom suspense. Unforgettable characters. A California town drenched in fog and secrecy. Barry Siegel delivers one of the most original and exciting legal thrillers in years.

They used to be partners: Greg Monarch and Ira Sullivan, a couple of do-good lawyers in the central California town of La Graciosa. Ira, the charmer who glided through life. Greg, ever the searching idealist.

But it all went bad for Ira. Bad enough that he wakes up in jail one day staring at a death sentence for murder. And he can't remember if hes the killer. Only Greg Monarch has a prayer of getting him off--if he's willing to cross certain ethical lines.

Just how far should he go to save his former partner? As Greg Monarch wrestles with that question, he finds himself inexorably drawn into an ever-widening web of deceit and intrigue. The stakes are much higher then he first imagined; the forces gathering against Ira reach well beyond their coastal hamlet.

Layer by layer, Greg peels back a tissue of lies--and at the rotten core he comes to Sandy Polson. A self-possessed beauty with a shady past, Sandy is the kind of woman who can look you deep in the eyes and make you believe anything. Sandy says she was with Ira the night of the murder, says she saw the whole thing. The prosecution believes shes the perfect witness. But what if Monarch could persuade Sandy to tell the truth? Wouldnt Sandy then become the perfect witness for the defense?

A spellbinding story of crime and punishment, betrayal and revenge, Barry Siegel's new novel is a compelling journey into the heart of the courtroom and the human soul.Amazon.com Review
A beautifully crafted sense of place surrounds prizewinningjournalist and nonfiction writer Barry Siegel's debut thriller in a cocoonof credibility, adding weight to a strong story. "If he closed his eyes,Jimmy almost could imagine himself back in the La Graciosa of old," Siegelwrites about the fictional town on the central California coast. "Gone nowwas the cigar factory, the big wholesale meat market, the dairy, theGreyhound bus station... Henry's Hardware, where you could buy everythingfrom kerosene lamps to washboards, was now an empty lot. The meat marketwas a dress store, the creamery a complex of sushi, cappuccino and moccasinshops. La Graciosa hadn't turned precious yet, but it was fighting thebattle." In an area where the most important industry is no longeragriculture but nuclear energy, the town's own power structure has shifted.At its center is a dangerously ambitious district attorney, Dennis Taylor,who will do anything to win. Lawyer Greg Monarch, carving out a quietliving doing estates and wills, has worked for and against Taylor in thepast, and has been badly burned on both sides. Now Taylor is about to nailMonarch's best friend and former law partner for murder, and Monarch has onlya few faded defensive skills to fight what appears to be another losingbattle. But as sharp and surprising as the book's resolution is, it's theimage of the fading, changing town of La Graciosa that will stay in yourmemory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

The Worst Book I ever Read!
This was absolutely the worst book i ever read.The characters were not developed at all, and the plot was not only predictable but stupid, and seemed to be thought up by a first grade student.If you are physically capable of reading any other book, read it instead of this piece of trash.

liar,liar
perjurious testimony and witness coaching ashinge wings to decision-making within the adversarial trial system.melancholic tone, broken souls.

a miss
unlike the reader from Florida, i could not finish reading this book.It was too boring and I found the main characters uninteresting and obnoxious.I also disliked the way Siegel had to take three paragraphs to describeevery little detail of every little thing.It made the story move at anexcruciatingly slow pace.I don't think I will be reading any of his otherstuff

A Good Book
A good book that starts out slow, but becomes much better as the book develops. I almost quit but I decided to finish it and I'm glad I did. If you like a good legal read then I would recommend The Perfect Witness.

An Up-All-Night Escape
A great read for anyone who wants to get away, at least for an evening or two. Vivid in its narrative and true in its dialogue, the book lets the reader become a fly on the wall as the story unfolds. Characters are peopleyou'd want to be friends with (or in some cases not). Keeps you going downto the end, then you wish it wasn't over. ... Read more

Product Description
A Full Cast Recording. Starring, Edward Asner, David Downing, Tommy Hicks, Carl Lumbly, Sterling Macer, Charlie Robinson, and Rugg Williams. On a spring day in 1947, Mr. Rickey, the powerful General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, summons heavy weight champion, Joe Louis, tap star Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson and actor Paul robeson to his hotel room in Manhattan. Rickey wants their support when he taps Jackie Robinson to be the Major League's firt black ball player. But a powerfull struggle ensues when the eloquent Robeson raises questions about Rickey's motivations to intergrate white baseball. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (26)

Conversations with a Hindu god
THIS BOOK IS NOT CHRISTIAN...Please note, this is NOT written from any Christian viewpoint vaguely whatsoever.

Don't jump on the bandwagon and let the title make a fool of you. Please note that the "God" here is used ridiculously loosely. Neale Donald Walsch's panentheistic new-agey god is not anything like the God of the Bible. But he is very reminiscent of a warm-fuzzy-like Hinduistic Shiva that talks like Mr. Rogers, and is more permissive than grandparents-from-hell. If you want to hear about just another despondent guy lost in America's spiritually desolate landscape of post-modern society--this IS exactly what you've been looking for! (Thank...god...whatever.) The title is very misleading. "Conversations with God" is not so much as "conversations" as perhaps one plagiarist's pedantic "excuses".

If you're looking for spiritually inspiring media, definitely keep on looking.

Good for a commuter
This is a great audio book for someone who spends a lot of time in the car. It's a very interesting story and well-presented as an audio book.

This Is Not The Real God
This might tickle the ear of most people, which is why a lot of people eat this up and hail this as divine.But let me ask you, you want to believe in a god that places a mass murderer like Hitler in heaven.A god that supports you and wants you to be whatever you want to be.Ok, I want to be a rapist, murderer, arsonist and this god will support me in my decision because what I want, this god wants. This god mixes Biblical truth with lies, this sounds like the devil to me.He's the god of this world, but not God, the Creator.If you want to know the real God, read the Holy Bible, not listen to this drivel.I picked this up because I thought this guy really talked to God, but after listening to this, I believe this guy either spoke to a demonic being, has quite an imagination, or dropping acid.This god, even states that most of us listening, or reading, will call a lot of this blasphemy, that's is probably the most truthful thing about this material.Beware of false prophets, and this guy is one of them. He also says that there is no devil or hell, let me tell you, the biggest weapon the devil has is to make us believe he is not real.Making us believe the devil isn't real is emphasized a lot in this material.This should only be taken as entertainment only, not to be taken as the truth.You want to know God, pray to Jesus Christ, and read His holy word. One more thing, the male/female voice of god will get on your nerves after a while.Can't this god make up his/her mind of what gender to be.Plus the quality of the sound isn't very good.It's muffled at times.Also the volume sounds loud at first, but after a while, the volume goes down low.This isn't digitally mastered as stated on the front box cover.

Gets You Thinking
This book helped me rediscover my love for God and life itself. I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to restructure his or her beliefs in a postive, healthy, and loving way.

Very Cool
I first read the book a few years ago - so being able to listen to the cd is one aha moment after another.

I rarely read the same book twice, so this gives me an opportunity to review everything without having to re-read anything! Plus when they talk to each other it feels like they're sitting right here - next to my bed!

(Maybe they are) :) ... Read more

Product Description
"An exciting romp."
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
During a gala benefit for a Democratic Party hopeful, a young woman dies, the victim of quick and brutal violence. The murder weapon belongs to the candidate, Kenneth Ewald, and his son is the chief suspect. Out of the classroom comes professor Mac Smith to tackle a case that is bad for the senator, but may prove disastrous for the nation....


From the Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Mediocre but readable
I had found Margaret Truman's other books plodding in both narrative and dialogue; but this one, starring the "Mac and Annie" romantic detecting team, was pretty readable, and I will seek out others featuring these characters.

This book was published in 1989; and I have to say that it was initially disconcerting, reading a book in which cell-phones & the Internet had yet to be invented -- and Sammy Davis, Jr and the Soviet Union are both still alive.

Murder with an Opera Twist
This is a story about not only murder, but also a lesson in the finer art of opera and music. A young aspiring talent in the opera world is found slain during a rehersal and the reader is off on a journey not only of trying to solve the crime, but of learning how the opera world and even terrorism works. There's a lot of different sub plots in this work, but they all return back to the main problem of finding a murderer. The reader is lead through an adventure concerning some rare music pages that are stolen which caused a previous murder, as well as an adventure link with terrorism and a plot to kill high level politicians that results in a senator being killed and an attempt on the life of the U.S. President and the first lady. The end of the book explains how and why the original murder was undertaken, but the real shock was what happened to the valuable music pages. For this reason I found the book to have too many plots and sub plots. And the ending, although a real suprise, again was not related to the real start point of the book, a murder at the Kennedy Center. A good book to read, but the reader needs to pay attention to the various scenes laid out.

It's fun to compare with current politicians as well!
...

Margaret Truman has woven together her knowledge of Washington
politics and a great mystery in "Murder at the Kennedy Center."
And she sure knows how to interweave a complicated plot. As soon
as Mac agrees to take a ace, he runs into countless problems:
Senator Ewald, it seems, has not be as...
his political supporters might believe; ...Soon a South American dictator and a
conservative evangelist muddy the waters even more.

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery, he learns more about his
friend than perhaps he had wanted to know. In a short period of
time, he has a long list of suspects!

Truman has done an excellent job of creating vivid characters and
developing a plot that will keep you alert. She has also managed
to mirror a number of contemporary politicians and headlines in
this novel; I think you'll have fun deciding who is being
modeled.

I actually kinda liked this one.
Yeah, I still have the same old gripes about Truman's overall writingstyle (or lack thereof), but they've lessened in intensity now that she'sfound in Mac Smith a decent sleuth.Too bad I know it won't last.(See myreview for Murder in the Pentagon.)

Combines murder and political intrique
The description of a Democratic party gala is described with the intimacy of one who has actually attended such an affair.It is for this reason that the reader trusts the author in the other relevant portions of theplotting and structure of this well-told tale of mayhem in our nation'scapital.This is a fine addition to the author's stunning series ofmystery novels using the backdrop of the great institutions of Washington,D. C. ... Read more

Product Description
Abraham Lincoln's remarkable emergence from the rural Midwest and his rise to the presidency have been the stuff of romance and legend. But as Douglas L. Wilson shows us in Honor's Voice, Lincoln's transformation was not one long triumphal march, but a process that was more than once seriously derailed. There were times, in his journey from storekeeper and mill operator to lawyer and member of the Illinois state legislature, when Lincoln lost his nerve and self-confidence - on at least two occasions he became so despondent as to appear suicidal - and when his acute emotional vulnerabilities were exposed.

Focusing on the crucial years between 1831 and 1842, Wilson's skillful analysis of the testimonies and writings of Lincoln's contemporaries reveals the individual behind the legends. We see Lincoln as a boy: not the dutiful son studying by firelight, but the stubborn rebel determined to make something of himself. We see him as a young man: not the ascendant statesman, but the canny local politician who was renowned for his talents in wrestling and storytelling (as well as for his extensive store of off-color jokes). Wilson also reconstructs Lincoln's frequently anguished personal life: his religious skepticism, recurrent bouts of depression, and difficult relationships with women - from Ann Rutledge to Mary Owens to Mary Todd.

Meticulously researched and well written, this is a fascinating book that makes us reexamine our ideas about one of the icons of American history.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Good Detective Example, Poor Lincoln Study
Douglas Wilson argues that the years 1831-1842 of Abraham Lincoln characterize his life and character as President of The United States. He attempts to describe the "transformation" that Lincoln went through in his personal, political, and public life in this period, all of which had an impact on his presidency. Through the use of personal writings of Lincoln and many of his contemporaries, friends, and family, Wilson presents the difficulty of accurately describing the early years of Lincoln's life. Many of the people who knew him, and wrote about him-of which Wilson uses William H. Herndon's Biography heavily-do so inconsistently. One example is the entire first chapter of Wilson's book, which focuses on the legendary story of Lincoln's encounter with the Clary Grove's Boys. The chapter titled "Wrestling with the Evidence" is appropriate when considering the various telling of the story, and its effects on Lincoln's political life, that have different results and characters involved.

Overall, Wilson's Honor's Voice is a better work demonstrating how historians interpret evidence, than an interpretation of Lincoln's early life. I would suggest this work to be used in a Historical Thinking or Historical Writing college course. Wilson's focuses on the "he said, he said" stories tend to drift the reader away from the initial thesis. Instead, it remarkably shows how evidence analysis should be practiced to get to a true story. In the end, many of his analysis of writings do not include his own position on what he has found, but rather seem to leave readers in confusion as to what really happened, or what is really true about Lincoln and his early years.

More importantly, this should not be a book read by any individual who has no background on Lincoln's life. Wilson's work requires that the reader be knowledgeable on the subject in order to understand the evidence presented. Otherwise, the reader will find the subject confusing, annoying, and difficult to pin down. This is a book that should be read after several biographies of Lincoln have been digested by its audience.

Lincoln the amazing human being comes through
Not a book for the casual Lincoln reader, but if you'll devote the time to it, you'll get a much more complex and well-rounded view of Lincoln's strengths and weaknesses than what comes from standard biographies.

An Excellent Examination of Lincoln's Early Adulthood
This book is an exemplary view of Abraham Lincoln's young adulthood in New Salem and Springfield between 1831 and 1842. The book begins with an introduction, than an explanation about the evidence that the historian of Lincoln's early life must sift through, and then it examines such important and interesting elements of Lincoln's early adulthood life as his numerous failed experiences with women, the tension between his honorable and ambitious external life and his tendency to mock religion and insult political enemies in his private life, as well as his professional successes and failures as he began his political life. This book is an excellent resource to any fan of Lincoln and any history student curious about the early life and formative years of Lincoln's political education. The book is easy to read and provides many fascinating quotations of personal letters that provide an aid to the authenticity of the author's occasionally startling claims.

One of the best books on rhetoric and on Lincoln
Honor's Voice is terrific in two respects:both for its insights into Lincoln and for its insights into effective communication.I recommend it to anyone who uses words for a living, and for anyone who wants a fascinating, insightful look into how Lincoln crafted some of the most important speeches in our nation's history.

A brilliant examination of Lincoln's pre-presidential years.
This book staggered me.Its careful research is combined with acute observations by author Wilson, on topics ranging from a fateful wrestling match that made Lincoln's reputation in a frontier village to Lincoln's bewilderment when courting Mary Todd.Wilson here produced one of the finest volumes ever to appear in the crowded field of Lincoln books.For anyone interested in how Lincoln's pre-presidential years shaped his conduct in the White House, Honor's Voice will be rewarding.It is one of the most significant Lincoln biographies I have ever read. ... Read more

Product Description
It s 1929 as The Jazz Singer hits the silver screen and the talkies promise to change movies forever. Enter three down-and-out vaudevillians who hatch a hare-brained scheme to make it big in Tinsel Town. Their plan? To open a voice academy for the witless stars of silent movies. The only things standing in their way are ditzy starlets and power-hungry movie moguls. Directed by Moss Hart s son, this is top-of-the-bill screwball comedy and Kaufman and Hart genius at its very best. ... Read more

Product Description
2 cassettes/ 3 hours
Read by Edward Asner

Congressman David Dilbeck has a bad problem. "I should never," he says, "be around naked women."  And late one night, at a gaudy Fort Lauderdale strip joint, Dilbeck loses control. He leaps onto the stage with the performers and proceeds to demonstrate his affections in a most unconventional way. The congressman barely escapes the scene, but not before being recognized by an odd little customer known as Mr. Peepers - an unlikely blackmailer, but (it turns out) a cunning one.  From the staid corridors of Congress to the sweltering cane fields of Lake Okeechobee, from a topless wrestling pit to a sunken Guatemalan banana boat, STRIP TEASE is a maniacally inventive and suspenseful tale that resonates with the furious intelligence, merciless characterization and savage good humor that we've come to expect from Carl Hiaasen.Amazon.com Review
A smart topless dancer and a cool but clueless cop join forces to trap a dirty congressman, aided by one of the funniest cast of characters ever collected in a suspense novel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (60)

Never, ever gets old!
This will be brief: this was my introduction to Carl Hiaasen, and then I grabbed every book he wrote after this. I agree with most- the movie couldn't do this justice, although Burt Reynolds was EVERY BIT as sleazy and kinky as the character in the book.

Strip Tease
The book came amazingly fast.And for a used book was in good condition.A REAL bargain.

Kinky off-the-wall hilarity!
If you've ever read a travelogue by Bill Bryson then you'll know what I mean when I say it's possible to be hilarious and entirely serious at the same time. You'll also understand what I mean when I suggest that Carl Hiaasen is to fiction and mystery novels as Bill Bryson is to travel literature.

"Strip Tease" is a somewhat kinky, entirely off-the-wall, but thoroughly entertaining tale of murder, blackmail and political intrigue that revolves around Erin Grant, a stripper who toils nightly to raise the money for the legal tab she's running up in a custody battle for her daughter, and David Dilbeck, a thoroughly corrupt and entirely imbecilic US congressman whose thought processes rarely stray beyond hormones and never get above the level of what's between his legs (or whose legs he's between).

When Dilbeck makes the ill-advised election year decision to become involved in a drunken brawl in the Eager Beaver strip joint where Erin Grant works, the opportunities for blackmail become obvious and the workload for sleazy political fixers such as Malcolm Moldowsky becomes more than even his expertise can handle.

Hiaasen runs up a string of outlandish coincidences and creates a series of brilliant portrayed, absolutely bizarre and often likeable characters. The entire novel somehow manages to hang on the knife edge of a sharp ridge threatening to tip over into the realm of slapstick vaudevillian silliness. But somehow, he holds back and manages to generate real laughter over a real story that, believe it or not, at times can also be quite heartwarming! His political commentary and obvious criticism is also entirely intentional and, in this reader's opinion, entirely justified.

Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

The Strip
SETUP
(The following setup is more detailed than normally necessary, because most readers will be hopelessly confused by the numerous characters.):Erin Grant is working as a stripper to try to raise money to get custody of her daughter from her sleazy husband, Daryl (who makes a living as a police informant and stealing wheelchairs).One night a customer, Jerry Killian (who has a crush on Erin), recognizes Congressman David Dilbeck when he assaults another customer, Paul Gruber.Through Dilbeck's assistant, Herb Crandall Jerry attempts to blackmail Dilbeck to put pressure on the local judge to rule in Erin's favor in the custody battle.Dilbeck is the chief supporter of huge subsidies to the sugar industry, and therefore essential, so, sugar-industry fixer Malcolm Muldowski murders Jerry.Dade County homicide Sergeant Al Garcia, on vacation in Montana, finds Jerry's body.

In the meantime, Gruber has lied to his fiancee saying that he was mugged in a synagogue parking lot, and so she essentially forces him to file a suit with her cousin lawyerMordecai.Mordecai also represents the stip-club bouncer Shad in a bogus law suit against a yogurt company.

COMMENTS--Carl Hiaasen General
Ya gotta appreciate Hiaasen's cynical, quirky, surreal,, almost comic-book style to fully appreciate this novel. To some extent, Hiaasen is an acquired taste, but once acquired, becomes a habit.Hiaasen's humor is dark, witty, sarcastic, and filled with brilliant political satire and irony.But just under the cover of the humor is genuine poignant human emotions and drama.

Hiaasen's unrelenting dark cynicism is sometimes uncomfortable for anyone, and moreso for South Floridians.It is not an exaggeration to say that he "rips the cover off of hell" and shows us all the dark slimy things we would rather not think about.The portrayal of South Florida as hell/paradise is dead-on accurate.I suggest alternating Hiaasen's serious adult novels, with his wonderful kid's novels (such as Flush or Scat)--or be sure to take your prozac before starting an adult Hiaasen novel.

COMMENTS--Strip Tease Specific
Like most Hiaasen novels, "Strip Tease" is front-loaded.When it seems as though the story has run its course and the resolution is pending--you are only 1/3rd into the novel.Hiaasen takes a breather, and then keeps going.

The plot thread about the car being chained to a derelict ship which is then sunk as an artificial reef is implausible.But the whole "theatre of the absurd" novel is implausible. Even so, this is a bit much.Just consider the difficulty of getting a crane and crane operator to load the car onto the ship in the dead of night, and then the likelihood that it would be blown up an sunk without being inspected.And then too, anyone would be have to be insane to try to feed moray eels in murky water.Besides, moray eels don't just swim around in open water looking for sunken ships to inhabit.Instead, they arrive as "plankton", and take a decade or so to grow up.Moreover that the woman's boyfriend is "playing with a baby sea turtle" is completely bogus.Seaturtles hatch, and then disappear, somewhere--they are NEVER encountered by divers.Apparently the purpose of this thread was an excuse for Hiaasen to carp about damage to the reefs.Heaven knows there are plenty of real environmental issues to carp about in South Florida.But, in truth, the reefs were never specular at or north of Miami, and secondly the reefs, such as they are, are mostly healthy (except in the immediate vicinity of former sewage outfalls).The major enemies of coral reefs are silt and freshwater--both of which have probably been reduced by the development along the coast.

What can't audiobook readers pronounce common local terms correctly, particularly terms which are pronounced as spelled?.Burdines (a famous department store), now tragically ruined by Mace's, was pronounced "Burr dines" not "Burr-deans".Similarly, the large cooking bananas, plantains, are pronounced as spelled---"plan-tains" (rhymes with "trains"), not "pla-taans"."Tamiami" is "Tami-ami" not "Tam-miami"


THE VERDICT
A masterpiece of dark humor, even better on the second or third read.

An Oldie buta goodie.
Erin Grant, a formet FBI employee is dancing at a strip club to raise money for an appeal to gain custody of her daughter. Her former husband, Darrell Grant, made up stories about her and had his friends at the sheriff's department agree the stories were correct so the judge gave him custody. In actuality, he's a petty crook and uses his little daughter, Angela to help steal wheelchairs.

Congressman Dave Dilbeck visits the club one night. Another patron was out with his buddies in a bachelor party event. This customer climed up on the stage and began fondling one of the dancers. Incensed and drunk, Dilbeck jumped on the stage and began hitting the patron on the head with a champagne bottle.

Another customer, Jerry Killian, recognizes the congressman and realizes that it is election year and he might have an opportunity takes a photo of Dilbeck. Jerry then sends a note to Erin that he may have a way to get her daughter back, thinking he could use the photo to persuade Dilbeck to use his influence on the judge to change his custody ruling.

Malcolm Moldowsky is Dilbeck's "fix-it" man. He gets word of what Killian is doing and makes a call. Soon after, Killian is dead.

Also going on at this time is club bouncer Shad working with attorney named Mordecai. Mordecai now has the photo of Dilbeck and tells Shad that maybe they could blackmail Dilbeck with it.Seeing an opportunity, Mordecai also tells the fiance of the patron who was at the bachelor party. He tells her that she could sue Dilbeck and his political party for damages.

Sgt. Al Garcia finds the body of Killian. He's a moral man and promises to find Killian's killer.

This is an uproariously funny novel. Erin's dry sense of humor goes over well and had me smiling as one humorous segment of the story led into the next. Dilbert is an excellent character and I don't know why but I wonder if former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich might have been the subject if the author had written the novel years ago. Maybe Hiaasen just had a future vision.
Good novel, read it and enjoy. ... Read more