"Love Comes Softly" by Janette Oke

Review written for ClubReading.com by Sally My personal favorite time to have lived would be during the settling of western America. I know the early settlers faced harsh weather, hostile natives. They were totally cut off from family and friends, from any type of medical assistance. They were virtually on their own. But think of the excitement of seeing new country, starting over, having a fresh start. They chose their own free land from the vast open spaces and build their new life and their family’s future with their own hands. ...

September 3, 2001 · 2 min · William Estep

"House Atreides" by Brian Herbert

Review written for ClubReading.com by Bill In Dune: House Atreides, the events leading up to Frank Herbert’s Dune are played out. All the characters from Dune and the preceding histories are outlined in an entertaining and well written prequal. The Emperor Elrood is plotted against and eventually killed by his son Shaddam. The boy Leto Atreides spends time on the machine planet Ix, and becomes Duke after his father’s tragic accident. ...

September 3, 2001 · 1 min · William Estep

"Lost Boys" by Orson Scott Card

Review written for ClubReading.com by Mary Orson Scott Card is an author I have heard about for a long time. Comes highly recommended by Bill–and yes, he is right! This book tells the tale of a nice family who move to North Carolina to start over after some financial and business hardships. A lot of the book is just about everyday life, and for a period of time seems to be going nowhere fast. ...

September 3, 2001 · 1 min · William Estep

"The Note" by Angela Hunt

Review written for ClubReading.com by Sally Peyton MacGruder is a newspaper columnist for the Tampa Times. She is a good writer, and she knows it–and her boss knows it. She researches thoroughly, writes clearly and concisely and always meets her deadlines. That is why she is totally taken back when she is called on the carpet and given three weeks to increase her readership or go back to the newsroom reporter pool. Peyton is told that she is a good writer, but she lacks “passion.” ...

September 1, 2001 · 2 min · William Estep

"Burn" by Jonathan Lyons

Review written for ClubReading.com by Bill ‘Burn’ is a cyber-tech genre look into a high tech, high stakes murder. noir (nwär) adj. Of or relating to the film noir genre. A genre of crime literature featuring tough, cynical characters and bleak settings. Suggestive of danger or violence. To create the bleak environment, the author through charactors or direct narration, describes a world where ‘big evil corporations’ and ‘consumer greed’ have wasted the environment, blotted out the sun with dark clouds of pollution, black acidic rain constantly falling, eroding away mans creation. ...

August 31, 2001 · 2 min · William Estep

"By Reason of Insanity" by Shane Stevens

Review written for ClubReading.com by Gary Not for the weak at heart, “By Reason of Insanity” is a very violent book. After having heard people at work rant and rave about how great the movie “Hannibal” is, I decided to watch it for myself. During the course of the movie, (and in fact while I was reading the book), I came to realize that I had encountered some of the same story lines somewhere before. So I dug around in my old books and found this one by Stevens. ...

July 10, 2001 · 1 min · William Estep

"Rules of Prey" by John Sanford

Review written for ClubReading.com by Linda “Never carry a weapon after it has been used.” The killer was leaving the rules on each murder victim, just to let the cops know he was following the rules. The city, of course, has a team of investigators working on the case, but one cop works differently. He is Lucas Davenport. He’s not only a cop, but he designs role playing games in his spare time. He’s wealthy enough to drive a Porsche, and smart enough that the cops want to keep him. ...

July 10, 2001 · 2 min · William Estep

"The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" by Stephen King

Review written for ClubReading.com by Gary For those of us that enjoy a good psychological thriller, this book is a winner. The story is about a ten year old girl who gets lost in the woods. The terror she experiences when she realizes she is lost helps to create part of the nightmare as she struggles to survive. She must cope with everyday problems such as lack of food and water, and she must control her fear of the unknown. ...

July 8, 2001 · 2 min · William Estep

"Praying for Sleep" by Jeffery Deaver

Review written for ClubReading.com by Linda Michael Hrubek is over six feet tall, and weighs over 300 pounds. He was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, and Lis Atcheson’s testimony was the prosecution’s key stone. Now that Hrubek has escaped, Lis worries he is coming after her. But circumstances prevent her from leaving her home, even though she believes, from a letter she received, that Hrubek knows where she lives. Her husband goes out to hunt Hrubek, along with state troopers, a tracker with a bloodhound, and Hrubek’s doctor. ...

July 8, 2001 · 1 min · William Estep

"A Degree of Mastery" by Annie Tremmel Wilcox

Review written for ClubReading.com by Linda Book lovers sometimes love the content of books and don’t care about the binding. I usually fall into that category, but sometimes a book is so beautifully bound that the binding, the book itself, is a work of art. This book explains some about the author’s apprenticeship to a master conservator. She repaired books from the University of Iowa’s Special Collection. The job was to make the books serviceable, but to change them as little as possible from the original. ...

July 8, 2001 · 1 min · William Estep