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THE NATIONAL AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

As an actress, she lives in the world of illusion made to seem real. As a survivor of abuse, she's learned how to live in her own skin -- and face the reality of a broken past on her own terms.

Filled with unsparing candor and honesty, Call Me Crazy captures with poignancy and surprising humor Anne Heche's struggle to quiet her demons, both real and imagined. This galvanizing memoir reveals the woman behind the headlines, one who has conquered overwhelming odds and come to terms with her painful upbringing. Empowering and thought-provoking, warmhearted and wise, Call Me Crazy offers a crystalline snapshot of the heart and soul of a woman who has traveled a terrifying inner landscape in search of personal fulfillment -- and who has emerged happy, whole, and strong. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (76)

A book I highly recommend...
This book was a real page turner for me.To read the openness that Anne Heche used in the telling of this book.She put herself out there to be judged (as you can see by these reviews), but yet she still chose to tell her story.She uses the writing as a way to excorcise her demons and to let people know how she got to where she is.Coming from religious upbringing and abuse is like pulling you in two different directions.I believe she adapted the second personality to deal with the abuse and denial that she was facing at home.It's a well documented fact that people are all the time creating different people in their minds to help them make it out alive.I give her kudos for making it out in one piece.She has had to make peace with her past and I believe this book helped her.I very highly recommend it.It is very insightful into how Christianity can be taken and manipulated to suit the individual whims of many.

The words leap off the page in a dance of brilliance
They say there is a thin line between insanity and genius. That line, I say, is brilliance. The words leap off the page in a dance of brilliance as Heche courageously seeks, finds, and shares the truth of her existence. It's an interesting read, a well written albeit agonizing journey that had me turning the pages fast, to see what happens next, and then slowly, to savor the crafting of each sentence. The book is controversial in that it throws light into the darkest corners of our lives, and our culture. It is painful in that it is so true. It is exhilirating in the way one human being finds her way through the darkness, facing her demons, to conquer any residual shame and humiliation. The shame is not hers. It belongs to people who can hear a child cry in the night, laugh, and look the other way. Heche's mother is concerned with what everybody else thinks, and how she, as a mother, appears in the face of Anne's herstory. It's no wonder Anne has had to work so hard to take care of herself.

Took Guts to Write this Odd Memoir
Strangely unsatisfying tell-all.I distinctly felt that the book was more the writer's attempt to heal than a piece of literary work.

Heche shares much of her oddball therapy work, self-spun theories of her case, and dredged-up memories of abuse in her utterly messed-up childhood, but strangely enough reveals little of her SELF.I felt I was pushed into the psychiatrist's own chair, not allowed to be merely a reader or (in the best case of autobiography) a kind of temporary confidante and friend.

I gotta hand it to her, it took some guts to own up to some of this (psychotic episode under influence of Ecstasy, for one), and I am sorry for her suffering as a child.But perhaps SHE should have paid ME to read her unsavory chunk of insanity.

Finally!
An in-depth look into Ms. Heche's life. I've been begging for this book for years. Ask my mum. Anne's honesty is refreshing and her choices are brave and simulataneously courageous. I hope that everyone who has spoken to God like Anne and I have, gets a chance to read this book before Ms. Heche's star dims in Hollywood. Not likely! Thank you Anne for not being afraid to be courageous and simultaneously brave. Not all of us have that talent, but you didn't let that stop you, did you?

Buy this Book NOW!
If you're looking for well formed writing, no this book is not for you. If you're looking for Anne Heche to present herself as some amazing woman without problems, then stay away BUT if you want a very entertaining read about one of Hollywood's least celebrated, interesting people then BUY it!

I absolutely adore this book. Some say it is far fetched and couldn't be true but I love that Anne Heche really opened herself up to this project of writing a memoir. There is nothing worse than reading a "guarded" autobiography and this is as far from that as you can get.

From incest, to LSD therapy to being one of the first openly gay ladies of Hollywood...and then changing her mind this book never has a dull moment. ... Read more

Product Description

"I believe that many people may think I went insane. I do not believe I am insane. I believe I went through a period of my life that was insane and it lasted thirty-one years," writes Anne Heche in Call Me Crazy.

Yet what is truly surprising is that the most publicized event of her personal life -- her romance with Ellen DeGeneres -- is only one development in a fascinating and difficult life that has included more than its share of heartache and tragedy.

Anee, the youngest of four children, moved nine times before the age of 12. During that year, Anne discovered that during her father's frequent absences, he'd been leading a double life. He died of AIDS when Anne was 13, leaving the family in poverty. Throughout her childhood, she acted in school plays and local dinner theater. After graduating high shcool, Anne began a four-year stint on Another World. During this period she began to face the horror of a childhood filled with unspeakable abuse. In the ensuing twelve years she struggled with her past, all the while experiencing success as an actress, screenwriter and director.

Filled with unsparing candor and honesty, Call Me Crazy captures Anne's struggle to face her demons, including a period in which she was, quite literally, insane. Heche's memoir reveals the woman behind the headlines, one who has conquered overwhelming odds. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Highly recommend
If everyone read this book, the world would be a better place.This book taught me more about the origins of promiscuity than I ever could have learned first hand.
Now I understand.And there's and old saying "To understand all is to forgive all."
Thank you Ms. Heche, for taking the time, sharing your incredibly painful truths with anyone willing to listen.I am more for it.

She is very far from crazy.
I could not stop listening to this CD!!!I could not believe how much Anne has been through and I applaud her honesty and bravery...she left no stone unturned and it takes alot of courage to tell a personal story like this.Especially about being molested.I hope that her speaking out about this will help others some forward who have been abused.

A great read...
This is quite literally one of the best books I have read in years.I believe that ALL of us have at least some level of "issues" we need to deal with from our past. While mine are not as severe as Anne's this was one eye opening experience reading her book.I usually pass most of my books on to charity for someone else to enjoy but this one will stay on my bookshelf for the rest of my life. I know that I will re-read it many times throughout the rest of my life.If you want to laugh and cry and in the process learn something about yourself GET THIS BOOK.

Courage under fire....
I have just finished my second listening to Anne Heche's powerful memoir of her short but troubled life. At times I winced, at times I gasped, at times I even laughed. This is a riveting story, all the more so hearing it in her own voice.- - - Some of the negative reviews preceding attack Heche for revealing the reality of her childhood. Is this the 'bell curve' of life, e.g. one persons pleasure is another person's poison. Or does her honesty strike a chord in the lives of those who listened long enough to eventually recoil in pain. Their own pain which they do not want to be reminded of?

She is not crazy.
It takes courage to open up like she has about her experiences.Having grown up in a very stable, normal household, I found it moving that this young lady has not allowed bitterness to overwhelm her life and bring her down.She has evidently provoked some extreme negative reactions in some of the other reviewers. I don't agree with them. If you have any interest in this talented actress, or in the experiences of "dysfunctional" families, Anne Heche's book is worth looking into.Also, In my opinion, she performs it very well in the book on tape. ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Jodie Foster, Mabel Normand, Lee Grant, Lois Weber, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anne Heche, Kathlyn Williams, Cara Buono, Ida Lupino, Lois Wilson, Sally Field, Barbra Streisand, Lucille Ball, Ruth Stonehouse, Sofia Coppola, Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates, Connie Rasinski, Sally Kirkland, Stella Stevens, Anne Bancroft, Joan Chen, Joanne Woodward, Linda Gray, Nina Foch, Kellie Martin, Lee Garlington, Gene Gauntier, Stormy Daniels, Joanna Kerns, Jobeth Williams, Lynn Reynolds, Kate Jackson, Roseanne Barr, Mary Kay Place, Leslie H. Martinson, Tonie Marshall, Talia Shire, Bonnie Hunt, Katherine Helmond, Maureen Stapleton, Jane Wyman, Ally Walker, Illeana Douglas, Dyan Cannon, Faith Hubley, Misty Mundae, Jackée Harry, Susan Blu, Dorothy Arzner, Jennifer Lynch, Debbie Allen, Cindy Williams, Nia Peeples, Alice Terry, Soleil Moon Frye, Christine Lahti, Mary Tyler Moore, Elisabeth Löchen, Jehane Noujaim, Jill Kelly, Danica Mckellar, Mimi Leder, Mary Stuart Masterson, Melanie Mayron, Deborah Raffin, Camryn Manheim, Lorraine Bracco, Maya Deren, Nancy Walker, Nora Ephron, Karen Arthur, Martha Coolidge, Penelope Spheeris, Betty Thomas, Janine Turner, Beth Broderick, Kimberly Williams, Mira Nair, Rosie Perez, Catherine Hardwicke, Margaret Cho, Suze Randall, Lili Zanuck, Joey Lauren Adams, Angela Bettis, Alicia Witt, Diana Barrymore, Mimi Kennedy, Barbara Hammer, Sara Gilbert, Tisha Campbell, Alita Holly, Dorothy Lyman, Arlene Sanford, Lillian Benson, Rachel Talalay, Lori Petty, Kari Skogland, Katherine Brooks, Lisa Bonet, Miranda July, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Kim Fields, Shonda Rhimes, Donna Pescow, Laura Kightlinger, Amy Heckerling, Susan Seidelman, Ellen Brown, Gates Mcfadden, Patricia Richardson, Nancy Meyers, Barbara Kopple, Anne Fletcher, I...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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“Being raised in an unstable household makes you understand that the world doesn’t exist to accommodate you, which, in Hannah’s observation, is something a lot of people struggle to understand well into adulthood.”–from The Man of My Dreams

In her acclaimed debut novel, Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld created a touchstone with her pitch-perfect portrayal of adolescence. Her prose is as intensely realistic and compelling as ever in The Man of My Dreams, a disarmingly candid and sympathetic novel about the collision of a young woman’s fantasies of family and love with the challenges and realities of adult life.

Hannah Gavener is fourteen in the summer of 1991. In the magazines she reads, celebrities plan elaborate weddings; in Hannah’s own life, her parents’ marriage is crumbling. And somewhere in between these two extremes–just maybe–lie the answers to love’s most bewildering questions. But over the next decade and a half, as she moves from Philadelphia to Boston to Albuquerque, Hannah finds that the questions become more rather than less complicated: At what point can you no longer blame your adult failures on your messed-up childhood? Is settling for someone who’s not your soul mate an act of maturity or an admission of defeat? And if you move to another state for a guy who might not love you back, are you being plucky–or just pathetic?

None of the relationships in Hannah’s life are without complications. There’s her father, whose stubbornness Hannah realizes she’s unfortunately inherited; her gorgeous cousin, Fig, whose misbehavior alternately intrigues and irritates Hannah; Henry, whom Hannah first falls for in college, while he’s dating Fig; and the boyfriends who love her more or less than she deserves, who adore her or break her heart. By the time she’s in her late twenties, Hannah has finally figured out what she wants most–but she doesn’t yet know whether she’ll find the courage to go after it.

Full of honesty and humor, The Man of My Dreams is an unnervingly insightful and beautifully written examination of the outside forces and personal choices that make us who we are.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Heartbreaking but realistic

When I asked my cousin why she got me this book, she said it was because it looked and sounded very cute. That was I believed too on looking at the cover and skimming through the synopsis. However, The Man Of My Dreams was not what it seemed. Contrast to its light-hearted appearance, it was deep, heartbreaking and realistic (since it was so realistic, I have to warn you about somewhat explicit scenes).

The story was split into three parts: when Hannah was 14, during her college life and her late 20s years. There were cut between them so you didn't get to learn Hannah's life step by step. Instead, you had to collect the pieces and put them together to have a better view. Also, the effect of the cut was that it kept the readers curious, as for me things were so dreamily that I had to go on reading till I figured out everything. Like one second Hannah was so nervous about her first kiss at college, then a second later she had already been in a relationship with her boss.

I also loved the character development in this book. Hannah was a very complicated one. She went from being naive and lonely to doubtful about life, desperate about love and finally, started to learn to be happy. Hannah could have been like any other teenager, but too bad her father's treatment made a big impact on her, especially after her parents' divorce. She didn't think herself as pretty anymore, she felt kind of distant, and had a habit to imagining the future - which always turned out to be dull and calm. She didn't like to be protected, she accepted risky relationship even if it hurt her, partly because she was too afraid to claim happiness. What was the worst that she always saw life in the most miserable way. On reading the book I sometimes found Hannah annoying for she always brought out the bad in stuff, and she was such a coward not to take the chance to get close to Henry - the man of her dreams and make him hers. Then again, I felt bad for her. Hannah was never confident enough to make a move, like she didn't think she deserved happiness at all. Sometimes she did try, but it was too late.

The book's ending was so sad. Hannah had yet to find her dream guy and was not even sure when she would fall in love again. But she found happiness and meaning of life. That was what mattered.

The book is only 304 page long but you'll feel like it lasts a life time, a life time with so much ups and downs, joys and hurts : )

Couldn't get past the first 36 pages
I'd hate for the first review of this book to be a negative one, but since I am the first one there's no changing that now.
I checked this book out of my local library, thinking that it might be a good read. It's suppose to be about a 14 yr old girl who idealizes movie stars (like Julia Roberts) and wishes that her life was more like that of a celebrity. She lives in house with her mother, sister, and abusive father; but she's shipped off to live with her Aunt Elizabeth, indefinitely, when her father kicks the family out in a fit of rage. She deals with issues such as her family, her weight and trying to understand male/female relationships. The book is suppose to follow Hannah (the main character) throughout her life until age 28. It might be an o.k. story, but I'll never know.
I couldn't get past the first 36 pages. The language and sexual references were enough to make me close the book and take it back to the library without even being curious about the story-line. I won't be reading anything else by this author. ... Read more

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Features - Anne Heche Shoots Straight: The actress speaks her mind on the aftermath of coming out, reprising "Psycho," and the importance of living - and loving - honestly. The Other Woman: Four years into Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation of the President, his wife, Alice, in an exclusive interview, breaks her silence on maintaining a "normal" home while living in a fishbowl and defending her man. Plus much more! ... Read more

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OK! Weekly Magazine, September 18, 2006 Issue.The cover is Britney Spears (4 pages).Also inside:Maggie Gyllenhaal, Justin Timberlake, Lindsay Lohan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Katie Holmes, Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo, Paul Dimeo, Joely Fisher, Hilary Duff, Anne Heche, Rosie ODonnell, Monica, Nanny 911, Greg Behrendt, etc... ... Read more

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The essential works of world renowned Nobel Laureate George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), a master playwright of social satires, collected in two volumes.L.A. Theatre Works: George Bernard Shaw Collection Volume 1 includes the following star-studded full-cast recordings:Arms and the ManStarring: Anne Heche, Jeremy Sisto, et al.The beautiful, headstrong Raina awaits her fiancé's return from battle - but instead meets a soldier who seeks asylum in her bedroom.CandidaStarring: JoBeth Williams, et al.Shaw s warm and witty play challenged conventional wisdom about relationships between the sexes.The Devil s DiscipleStarring: Richard Dreyfuss, Bruce Davison, et al.A young hero who disdains heroism makes the ultimate sacrifice for honor and country during the American Revolution.Mrs. Warren s ProfessionStarring: Shirley Knight, Kaitlin Hopkins, et al.Shaw pits a clever heroine against a memorable gallery of rogues in this superbly intelligent and still shocking comedy. ... Read more

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President of the United States Donald Vanderdamp is having a hell of a time getting his nominees appointed to the Supreme Court. After one nominee is rejected for insufficiently appreciating To Kill A Mockingbird, the president chooses someone so beloved by voters that the Senate won't have the guts to reject her -- Judge Pepper Cartwright, the star of the nation's most popular reality show, Courtroom Six.

Will Pepper, a straight-talking Texan, survive a confirmation battle in the Senate? Will becoming one of the most powerful women in the world ruin her love life? And even if she can make it to the Supreme Court, how will she get along with her eight highly skeptical colleagues, including a floundering Chief Justice who, after legalizing gay marriage, learns that his wife has left him for another woman?

Soon, Pepper finds herself in the middle of a constitutional crisis, a presidential reelection campaign that the president is determined to lose, and oral arguments of a romantic nature. Supreme Courtship is another classic Christopher Buckley comedy about the Washington institutions most deserving of ridicule. (2008)Amazon.com Review
In bestselling author Christopher Buckley's hilarious novel, the President of the United States, ticked off at the Senate for rejecting his nominees, decides to get even by nominating America's most popular TV judge to the Supreme Court.

President Donald Vanderdamp is having a hell of a time getting his nominees onto the Supreme Court. After one nominee is rejected for insufficiently appreciating To Kill a Mockingbird, the president chooses someone so beloved by voters that the Senate won't have the nerve to reject her--Judge Pepper Cartwright, star of the nation's most popular reality show. Will Pepper, a vivacious Texan, survive a Senate confirmation battle? Will becoming one of the most powerful women in the world ruin her love life? Soon, Pepper finds herself in the middle of a constitutional crisis, a presidential reelection campaign that the president is determined to lose, and oral arguments of a romantic nature. Supreme Courtship is another classic Christopher Buckley comedy about the Washington institutions most deserving of ridicule.

Customer Reviews (68)

A Good, Quick Read
Think a younger Judge Judy being appointed to the Supreme Court.Buckley has taken snippets of information in the public domain and fashioned them into a witty, readable story.Yes, credibility is suspended, but who cares.If you want a good, quick read, this is your book.

King-sized words, bite-sized chapters, big-time laughs
Continuing a literary tradition stretching back to Aristophanes, Henry Fielding, Moliere, and Oscar Wilde, Christopher Buckley once again pulls off a merry slice and dice of the American political arena. This time, he plays in the chaotic and treacherous intersection, where politics meets the judiciary. And, as everything is really show-biz these days, he also traipses into the medium that shapes all images: television.

Remember when Garry Shandling was rumored to be the obvious choice to replace Johnny Carson? That was, of course, because Shandling played a nighttime talk-show host on his brilliant sitcom. Newly elected President Obama seriously contemplated nominating CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General. Of course, even though (for whatever reasons) those two job opportunities failed to materialize, both Shandling and Gupta were certainly more than qualified for consideration. But, imagine a president, frustrated with the roadblocks being thrown up by his political opponents, deciding to nominate Judge Judy to the Supreme Court--only Judge Judy was actually a drop-dead gorgeous, long-legged, blonde Texan, named Pepper Cartwright, star of TV's most popular reality show. That's the proposition at the heart of this oft-times hilarious tome.

Buckley populates his tale with vivid caricatures, prone to fatally flawed judgment, and baldly motivated by self-interest. Certainly, there are real humans here, feeling heartfelt emotion, and even imparting the occasional gem of wisdom. The pace of the story is brisk--almost too brisk to be believable. But, then again, this is satire, folks. Utilizing bite-sized chapters, peppered liberally with language I've either never encountered before, or have simply ignored in the past, the author glibly scoots through trauma after trauma, from an under-the-robe perspective. I imagined Buckley's impish, aristocratic daddy (the brilliant and incorrigible William F.) tittering from the grave as I found myself stumped by such words as: desuetude, antipodal, asseveration, dolorous, excogitation, hustings, marmoreal, plangent, and ululate. Yet, in spite of all this high-falutin' vernacular, I found every single page of this book enjoyable and compelling.

Will President Vanderdamp accept another term as Commander in Chief? Will impossibly handsome and equally vain Senator Mitchell actually get to make the command, "Send in the Nimitz?" Will Justice Cartwright recuse herself from the most controversial Supreme Court decision in decades? All these answers--and more--are revealed between these covers. Christopher Buckley's Supreme Courtship is a very timely and well-crafted tale from one of America's brightest and most-acerbic humorists.

Rand Bishop, author of Makin' Stuff Up, The Absolute Essentials of Songwriting Success, and the novel/mock-memoir, Grand Pop.

DC SATIRE
If the last six months of political shenanigans have got you down and you could use a little levity - then Supreme Courtship is just what the doctor ordered. Fictional President Vanderdamp, frustrated after watching two of his nominees to the Supreme Court shot down in flames, nominates apopular TV judge to the High Court and thus the games begin. There's political buffoonery, illicit affairs, huge egos, reality TV, some Latin and even a little history all captured through the prism of the author's wit. This may not be Buckley's "best" book but as political satire goes it's pretty good and I laughed out loud more than a couple of times while reading it.



Perfect beach and airport reading.

Disappointing!
I was hoping to laugh out loud while reading this book.I did not.The author spends his time creating a pitiful atheist and taking pot shots at the Catholic church and Christianity (a rather overdone subject).The main character loses all credibility once she is sworn in and votes against her own character in almost every instance (except the last one).I actually liked her at the beginning of the book, but her character slowly lost everything that made her great.Too bad.I guess Washington/politics will do that to a person.

Fun and Somewhat Enlightening Read
Not great literature, but fast moving and fun with several laugh out loud moments.Buckley concocts an interesting and funny plot.I mean, picture Judge Judy on the Supreme Court and sneaking around with Chief Judge Roberts ( OK, maybe that's too much.Who'd ever get involved with Roberts ?????? ).

Buckley displays an insight andappreciation for Washington carrying ons.One of his observations is that the primary job of US Senators is to arrange for people in other states to pay for things in their state like voters in Massachusetts paying for a community center in Tulsa.

Also, fun "footnotes".The Iowa Caucus "A device to attract reporters to a state that they would never otherwise visit; its secondary purpose is to give media something to report when the candidates whose victory they have been forecasting for months come in second and third, or not at all"

I enjoyed the book a lot.It would be especially god for beach reading ... Read more

Product Description
James Patterson's #1 New York Times bestseller combines two unforgettable love stories in a novel that's impossible to put down. Jennifer returns to the resort village where she grew up to help her ailing, beloved grandmother-and ends up experiencing not one but two of the most amazing love stories she's ever known. The first is completely unexpected. In a series of letters that Jennifer finds, her grandmother reveals that she has concealed a huge secret for decades: Her great love is not the man she was married to for all those years. And then comes the biggest surprise of all: Just when she thought she could never love again, Jennifer finds herself caught up in the greatest flight of exhilaration she's ever known. But just as unexpectedly, she learns that this new love comes with an unbearable cost. Jennifer doesn't think she can survive the pain-but the letters she's been reading make her think that love may help her find a way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (201)

great read Sam's Letters to Jennifer two thumbs up
This was a great book, I read it in one day. It was a little short and I would have liked to know more of the story. It was a definite page turner. Kept reading for hours.

Why is this tripe an NY Times Bestseller?
Another book that is supposed to make you cry. But the only tears I shed were ones of boredom. The characters were bland, the plot schmaltzy and contrived and the writing just okay. I couldn't finish it.

I cried through this entire book
If you buy this book, make sure you are well-stocked on tissues.I cried from the Prologue until the end of the book.The message "love never dies" comes across very clearly.For anybody who has lost a loved one, this is real inspiration.

The main character, Jennifer, goes through heart-wrenching moments from beginning to end.It's a happy ending (somewhat) and the reader is left with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Gosh, I love happy endings.

Excellent story
I prefer James Patterson's mystery novels, but he has written a very touching story in "Sam's Letters to Jennifer." Well worth the read.

Pathetic Dialogue
I don't understand why people adore Patterson.His lame dialogue is beyond tedious.This one could have been written by a teenager. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (860)

Got a free afternoon?
Then take the time to read this short (for King anyway) book about a young girl named Trisha who ends up lost in the woods.It's not incredibly gruesome but I felt Trisha's fear and was always rooting for her till the end.Anyone who's ever gone hiking on the more rural areas of the Appalachian Trail (or in the deep woods for that matter) can sympathize with Trisha with just how much everything looks the same.Trees, plants etc.It can all look very similar.And when night comes so does the wild imagination of a scared child.Definitely not the best of King but a page turner that you'll just want to plow through to the end.

Decent read for King fans, though nothing special
I've read an awful lot of Stephen King, and liked most of it. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is not his best, but it's far from his worst. It's got all the usual King themes, but he goes relatively light on the horror and mayhem in this one, since it's essentially just a story about a little girl lost in the woods. It's a quick read with a fairly unremarkable ending.

I Don't Know if I Should Recommend This or Not
"The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted. Trisha McFarland discovered this when she was nine years old. At ten o' clock on a morning in early June she was sitting in the back seat of her mother's Dodge Caravan, wearing her blue Red Sox batting practice jersey (the one with 36 GORDON on the back) and playing with Mona, her doll. At ten thirty she was lost in the woods. By eleven she was trying not to be terrified, trying not to let herself think, This is serious, this is very serious.Trying not to think that sometimes when people got lost in the woods they got seriously hurt."

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a near perfect book for the first two thirds of its narration. In the first pages, Trisha walks away from the path while on a family hike in the Adirondacks. The story follows over Trisha's shoulder as she struggles to survive and find her way back. Every word in these scenes bleeds tension, and the book is impossible to put down.

After a time, we reach the middle section. Trisha's story to survive is no longer quite as urgent - it's become clear that she's not going to be rescued in the next five pages, but she's not going to be fed to a bear in them, either - but this isn't necessarily such a bad thing. Building a narrative based on monotony's always a dangerous move, for rather obvious reasons, but King successfully walks a fine line and manages to convey the crushing, deadly tedium of a world where you're the only thing who's had a thought more complex than "grrr" today, without the text becoming an exercise in willpower.

It's in these sections where we see the first hints of the supernatural, but, whatever the monster that's pursuing Trisha is, it stays well out of the limelight here. If the cover didn't say Stephen King in such big letters, you might even think the beasty was just a reflection of Tris-ha's terror and loneliness, the need for there to be some other agency at work in such a lawless place, even a malicious force being better than simple bogs and trees and flies.

During these pages the focus of the story is still very much Girl in the Woods, not Demons Killing Stuff. Now that the sheer terror of the earlier sections have subsided, King takes the opportunity to show segments of beauty as well as plight, further drawing the reader into Trisha's journey through the wilderness. King cuts back on the flashbacks as the story progresses, while simultaneously deepening Trisha's character considerably.

And then we get to the ending, and - who's surprised? - it all goes to hell. At the end of a chapter two-thirds of the way through the book, I put the book down after reading for the past hour, absolutely enthralled. I have no idea where he can possibly go from here, I thought to myself. Well, it turns out that Stephen King didn't know where he should go either. In a few dozen pages literally all tension bleeds out of the narrative. Maybe it's yet another horrible obstacle, yet more hundreds of miles of forests, that breaks it, piling on one too many catastrophes for the result to still hold together. Or maybe it's just that something like this couldn't be kept up forever. I don't know, but while I read the first two-thirds of the book in two sittings, this part took me four or five to muscle through.

In inverse proportion with the amount of tension there is in the narrative, you have the supernatural presence. When the Lost in the Woods episode begins to lose its luster, King brings the bogeyman to the fore - and everything falls totally flat. Not for the first time, a monster is what takes the sails out of King's horror, beginning with the nothing-short-of-painful scene where Trisha talks to the representatives of the three gods, the intangible sub-audible, the loving God of Tom Gordon, and the evil-horror-terror God of the Lost.

In addition to the growing demonic presence, as The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon progresses, the endless procession of sayings - ranging from those obnoxious faux-adages, to TV jingles - only intensifies. King's love of euphemisms is pretty well established by now, stretching back to his earliest works (remember the capitalized DIVORCE, in The Shining, for instance?). It's not a bad thing in and of itself and is even quite endearing, at times. The problems come to the fore when clichés replace description, and truisms replace thought. As far as I can tell, Pepsi is the suburban equivalent of a fortune cookie generator, an utterly blank slate, save for an endless parade of prepackaged sayings. Acknowledging that something is hollow and cliché doesn't make it meaningful again, and ironic winks grow tiresome when repeated ad nauseam.

I haven't even mentioned the actual climax yet. [The rest of this paragraph has SPOILERS; if you want to be totally chaste entering the book, skip to the line break.] You know when you're reading a book, you stop at the one quarter-or-so mark and laugh to yourself about how poorly the author could end it? The problem with reading a newer Stephen King book is that you'll have a prediction...and then it'll actually come true. For instance, what's the worst way that a book about a girl being lost in the woods could end? Her being randomly found through no effort of her own, of course. To make matters worse, it comes right after what could've been a great ending. It was horribly cheesy, of course, but it worked. It was the kind of ending that tugs your heart strings so hard you just can't complain. But no, cheesy-but-excellent wouldn't be climactic enough, so let's bring in the gun toting hunter. Why the hell not? Ugh.

The first two thirds of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon are among the best pages that Stephen King has ever written. As I was reading them, I was mentally listing The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon alongside great works like The Shining and It. And then, I read the ending and was forced to watch as everything I loved about the book was ravished and discarded. I don't know whether I should recommend this book or not. It's not the worst thing that King's written, Everything's Eventual takes that dubious honor with ease, but it disappointed me more than anything else he's done. In the end, I think my recommendation goes like this...

Wait a minute. Haven't I said all this before? Right here (Duma Key: A Novel), in fact?? You know, I don't know if I can even blame Stephen King anymore. The formula for his later books is pretty damn blatant by now: excellent characterization and pacing, followed by lackluster horror and a god awful ending. I should know what I'm getting into by now, right? By this point, writing that a late era King novel disappointed me makes me feel like I'm going to a restaurant I've always hated, every single night, and complaining that the same dish I've always despised hasn't changed. Well, duh. I think it's time to stop coming back. Next time I'm in the mood for King, I think I'll reread Salem's Lot.

The guy who loved Patricia McFarland.
This book was not what I expected from Stephen King, one look and hold of the book made me decide that. Its roughly 220 pages, pretty sparse for one if his novels. But I was itching for a new King book after Under the Dome.

I was intrigued by the setting and the beginning of the story, and soon that wavered, and at times I was downright bored. But King has a special way of delivering his stories, he gives his characters a lot of dimensions, he breathes life into them, and none more so than Tricia. She is 9 years old, and it always felt that way. As I was reading this novel, and especially now afterward, I believe she's a real person.

She is quirky, and downright weird sometimes, the way we all are in private. She recalls memories and distorts some, just like we all do. This was my absolute favorite aspect of the book, and it never failed to cheer my up to peer into the mind of this lost 9 year old.

The book is not frightening, nor do I think it tries to be. Although reading the book won't take long, the journey inside it sometimes did. As much as I liked the main character, you got the sense that there really wasn't much to write about or to really progress the story at times.

I must admit I am a huge fan of the very ending, it was truly satisfying for me and made the whole experience worthwhile, however short it was.

Stephen King Light
This is a great book that differs a bit from King's usual horror-fiction.Events
are told from a single character perspective and we are left at the end wondering whether they actually occurred or were a figment of a young girl's imagination.The book is fast-paced and short making for a quick read.It should appeal to younger readers and those who like a suspenseful story with horror elements without a lot of 'blood and guts' killing. ... Read more

Product Description
A blessed event becomes a nightmare for pregnant homicide detective Jane Rizzoli when she finds herself on the wrong side of a hostage crisis in this timely and relentless new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Body Double.

A nameless, beautiful woman appears to be just another corpse in the morgue. An apparent suicide, she lies on a gurney, awaiting the dissecting scalpel of medical examiner Maura Isles. But when Maura unzips the body bag and looks down at the body, she gets the fright of her life. The corpse opens its eyes.

Very much alive, the woman is rushed to the hospital, where with shockingly cool precision, she murders a security guard and seizes hostages . . . one of them a pregnant patient, Jane Rizzoli.

Who is this violent, desperate soul, and what does she want? As the tense hours tick by, Maura joins forces with Jane’s husband, FBI agent Gabriel Dean, to track down the mysterious killer’s identity. When federal agents suddenly appear on the scene, Maura and Gabriel realize that they are dealing with a case that goes far deeper than just an ordinary hostage crisis.

Only Jane, trapped with the armed madwoman, holds the key to the mystery. And only she can solve it–if she survives the night.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (112)

CHILLING SUSPENSE, FINE AS A STAND ALONE TOO
VANISH is part 5 in the Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles series. However I read it as a stand alone and did just fine, so I can recommend it that way too. I'd also never heard of author Tess Gerritsen before this but will definitely be searching out more from her and this series. I loved her style of writing, the realistic characters, the suspenseful medical based plot and the fast moving thrill of this story as a whole. There were elements that you could tell if you were invested in the series (and reading it in order) would have been even better or funnier or sadder however I never felt lost or left out of some big plot due to the excellent story telling. This is crime writing suspense at its very best.

Vanish pulls you in from the very first page starting with Mila's heartbreaking story of human trafficking. She and a group of Russian girls are crossing into America from Mexico having been lured there by the promise of a better life however by the end of the chapter one of the girls is dead and Mila has been sold into a prostitution ring. Mila's story (which we keep flashing back to) is gritty and often hard to read probably because it is very real.

We then switch to coroner Maura Isles who is going about her daily routine (in vivid medical detail) when she discovers that one of the bodies in the morgue is still alive. "Jane Doe" is rushed to the emergency room where we meet up with our other protagonist Detective Jane Rizzoli who has just gone into labour following a take down at the courthouse (she rocks)

Through a fantastic series of events that kept me on the edge of my seat and never able to guess what was coming next, the formerly "dead" woman grabs a security guards gun and takes 6 people hostage in the hospital, one of which is Detective Rizzoli. "Jane Doe" won't talk to the police negotiator and we only learn her motives after a man disguised as member of the SWAT team joins her. His story is equally enthralling.

This tense drama plays out for a large part of the book bringing in a host of other characters (and their POV'S) along with clever plot twists and exciting action. All of which Gerritsen manages to tie together. We meet Jane's husband FBI agent Gabriel Dean (I'm assuming we met him in earlier books) we also have Jane's partner (hints of a love triangle), reporters, spies and bad guys in Washington. We get crime scene investigations and the makings of a political thriller which thankfully doesn't take over and a very realistic story involving a new mother trying to get to know her baby while maintaining her identity. Throughout it all we keep coming back to Mila and her story is the one that haunts me.

What a fantastic unputdownable read. Not my usual fare but a series I will definitely be coming back to. Cheers.

Vanish
When I received it I realized that I had already read it. I then passed it on to someone else as I did enjoy the book. The delivery and quality of the book was great.

Vanish b;y Tess Gerritsen
Excellent mystery with many medical details for those who enjoy such depth of writing.Recommend this novel for its characters, plot, and dialogue. Anna Seidler

Great Thriller and Mystery
This is the second book I read from this author, and I absolutely love her writing style.
The first book "Leichenraub",I read was written in German and kept me in suspense. I had a hard time putting the book down.
This book "Vanish" is also very captivating and you want to know what happens next. The way Tess wrote the book is by introducing every character in each chapter and bringing the characters together towards the end of the mystery.
The reader keeps guessing how the characters are related in this story plot.
This thriller will keep you in suspense. I ordered more of this great author's books.
Highly recommended to any mystery fan. 5 Kudo Stars

Not as compelling as the other Rizzoli and Isles books but still okay
I tend to read Tess Gerritsen books when I feel a reading slump coming on. They're just the perfect books to curb them since they're quick books that have you turning pages at an alarming speed. Anyway, that's why I picked up Vanish. I've been in final project hell and needed something that I would get into right away. While Vanish wasn't my favorite in the Rizzoli and Isles series, it definitely didn't disappoint.

Vanish doesn't so much start off with a bang, but rather a creepy and effective beginning. Mila's story was heartbreaking and enthralling that I found myself wanting the Rizzoli and Isles parts to be over faster just so I can get back to her story. However, the middle was where I started having some issues. I felt that it lagged just a bit with the whole "Jane is a hostage" situation. It wasn't as heart-pounding as I thought it would be. Also, I felt that it was veering towards political thriller territory and that just isn't my cup of tea.

Soon afterwards, my fears were quenched and Vanish went right back to the heart-pounding thriller that I expected it to be with a satisfying ending for some and heartbreaking endings/beginings for others. While there were a few bumps in the road, I enjoyed Vanish immensely.

I also found that I'm not getting sick of the leads. Usually after I've read more than a few in a series, I find that there are certain things that are starting to bother me about the main characters. Just little quirks that are starting to become more apparent after so much time together. This hasn't happened with the Rizzoli and Isles series yet. It's quite the opposite actually. An example of this is when I read the plot for the upcoming book (I believe it's the 8th in the series) and my heart hurt just a little at the thought of what's coming up for Maura. Hopefully, it won't end the way I think it will and there will be another worthy plot twist that won't have me in tears.

Anyway, not only did Vanish curb said reading slump, but it got me that much more excited for the upcoming Rizzoli & Isles series on TNT. So much that I'm now counting down the days until July 12th. So even if Book 8 ends up the way I hope it won't, I'll still have the series there. Unless of course, the people at TNT (I'm not calling the idiots...yet) cancel the show before it's time and then I'll go back to the books and realized they sucked and the show was better...I doubt this will happen. It's not like Tess Gerritsen is James Patterson and the Rizzoli & Isles series is the Women's Murder Club... ... Read more

Product Description
Boston medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles literally meets her match–and must face a savage serial killer and shattering personal revelations–in the brilliant new novel of suspense by the New York Times bestselling author of The Surgeon and The Sinner.
Dr. Maura Isles makes her living dealing with death. As a pathologist in a major metropolitan city, she has seen more than her share of corpses every day–many of them victims of violent murder. But never before has her blood run cold, and never has the grim expression “dead ringer” rung so terrifyingly true. Because never before has the lifeless body on the medical examiner’s table been her own.
Yet there can be no denying the mind-reeling evidence before her shocked eyes and those of her colleagues, including Detective Jane Rizzoli: the woman found shot to death outside Maura’s home is the mirror image of Maura, down to the most intimate physical nuances. Even more chilling is the discovery that they share the same birth date and blood type. For the stunned Maura, an only child, there can be just one explanation. And when a DNA test confirms that Maura’s mysterious doppelgänger is in fact her twin sister, an already bizarre murder investigation becomes a disturbing and dangerous excursion into a past full of dark secrets.
Searching for answers, Maura is drawn to a seaside town in Maine where other horrifying surprises await. But perhaps more frightening, an unknown murderer is at large on a cross-country killing spree. To stop the massacre and uncover the twisted truth about her own roots, Maura must probe her first living subject: the mother that she never knew . . . an icy and cunning woman who could be responsible for giving Maura life–and who just may have a plan to take it away.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (105)

Terrific Read!
This is a terrific book in the Rizzoli & Isles series. If you like the new TV show, then you'll love the books!

Grabs you by the heart and refuses to let go.
This is a powerful story that pulls you in from the first few words and then proceeds to take you on a wild ride without brakes through twists and turns you almost never anticipate...and most of it in the dark, no less. Women especially will feel the pull of this one. In the process of the story Dr. Maura Isles' character finds new depth and learns things about herself and her past she might not have chosen to know, had she been given a choice. One of the best. A page turned. Another all nighter.

I could not put this book down
It just keeps on getting better ,now on to #5 love them all so far!!!

Monster Bloodlines
In this chilling installment of the Jane Rizzoli - Maura Isles series, Medical Examiner Isles discovers she was given up for adoption along with a heretofore unknown identical twin sister. Their birth mother is insane and in jail for a double homicide. In her quest for all available facts, she must face the possibility of being a monster's spawn.

A Haunting Mirror Image
I have read the first three books of Ms. Gerritsen I enjoy the way she weaves a tale...this one was no exception.This book takes a more indepth look into the life Medical Examiner, Dr. Isles, who because of sudden and unexpected turn of events becomes intensly involved in finding out who her real parents were.
Afemale body is found in a parked car in front of Dr. Isle's house and she appears to look like a carbon copy of Dr. Isles..the police actually believe it really IS her...until she comes walking down the street, suitcase in hand, just arriving from a trip to Paris. While they are relieved that the body isn't her..The very pregnant Rizzoli has another investigation on her hands....who is this woman?...and why is she parked in front of the Doc'shouse.. The investigation begins with all the usual twists, subplots and suspense of her other books...another one I couldn't put down. ... Read more

Product Description
Psychiatrist Andrew Marlow, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlow finds that order destroyed. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love. THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (136)

intertwined
just finished reading this novel.it was very compelling and i had a hard time putting it down!as many reviewers have said, it was heavily detailed, but considering the points of view, it felt appropriage and rarely weighed down the story.i really enjoyed the slow unfolding of beatrice de clervol's letters and how her story unwinded as we discovered more about robert.i really enjoyed the story most in the later third of the book when andrew continues to narrate his story and we learn much more rapidly what happened in france in the late 1800s.each plot line was well intertwined and meaningful.i truly enjoyed this book! maybe it is not the same sort of mystery of the historian, and perhaps had i notread that, i would enjoy the swan thieves even more.but i truly enjoyed this book, would sugget reading it, and i will be reading it again!

Not as good as it should have been
In The Swan Thieves, Kostova, author of The Historian, has written another saga of epic proportions. While just as long, however, The Swan Thieves does not have the sweep or drama of her freshman novel.

The Swan Thieves follows the attempts of psychiatrist Andrew Marlow to unravel the secret of why artist Robert Oliver attacked a famous painting with a knife, and why the artist is obsessed with, and paints endlessly, a mystery woman. Oliver stopped speaking shortly after being admitted to the hospital where Marlow practices, making the discover process circuitous indeed.

At first Marlow investigates merely to fulfill his professional obligation to Oliver, but very shortly finds himself just as obsessed with the mystery as Oliver is obsessed with the woman. He interviews Oliver's ex-wife, his ex-girlfriend, co-workers. He steals ("borrows") a pack of aged letters that Oliver rereads ever day to have them translated so he can read them. Ultimately, he travels across America and then across the ocean to find the truth. Oliver's attack on the canvas has its roots in history, in a crime that was committed over a hundred years before.

The book was interesting- I wanted very badly to know the secrets hidden in the past- but it just moved too slowly. I have no problem with long books, but this one just did not have enough important things to fill the space, and is instead filled with detail that did not move the story forward at all. The characters did not engage me much- artist Oliver is self-absorbed and his women enable that, Marlow is a man who seems unable to realize that he himself is caught in an obsession that causes him to ignore confidentiality, and the women, artists all, are willing to give up their work for love. And we never do learn what caused Oliver's obsession in the first place. The mystery woman was real; the pack of letters was hers. Is there a supernatural element to this novel, as there was to The Historian? Or did a chain of every day events lead Oliver to her? And how is it that less than 24 hours after starting to speak again, Oliver is released from the hospital with no visible support system, no where for him to go, no plan of action?

I'm not sorry I took the time to finish this book, but I do feel robbed of some time, as I think this book could have been a much better one. Beautifully written, but lacking a soul.

A long, lovely read
As many other reviewers who also gave this book 5 stars have spoken more eloquently than I could, I'm writing this brief note only in response to those who gave the book a low rating because they didn't seem to understand it. Without offering any spoilers, I can say that Kostova answered every question a reader could ask. If you are left wanting or confused, you did not pay close enough attention to this beautiful work, as much a piece of art as the subjects Kostova lovingly details. As with all outstanding writers, she has followed one of the most basic rules of literature: every word must be important. If readers thought the book too long, then they were reading for plot, not story. Of the two, plot can be most important, but story is most necessary.

Loved it!
A nice fat novel that both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed.Well written and fun to read.I certainly walked away from it looking at art very differently.Even though The Swan Thieves is very different from The Historian, I wasn't disappointed.

Great for discussion groups
Our book club discussed The Swan Thieves in September.One of the down sides was the length of the book. Although the extra pages highlighted the author's ability to "paint" a portrait with words, there was too much of it. Some of the characters were not developed and some were inserted with no real need to be included: The departure to Mexico looking for paintings. There probably would have been a more effecient way to get to Henri's character.
We felt the author was quite clever with the dead-ends and references to real paintings. Of particular note was reference to Lord Jim as a "portrait", when it was really a written portrait narrated by a character with the same name as the narrator in The Swan Thieves. Another reference at the beginning of the story was to a painting being done of a woman walking in a stark snow scene and carrying a bundle, and at the end of the story we find out what the bundle was. The painter referenced really does have a painting that is in the style of the woman in the stark snow scene.
Our group all found themselves looking up the impressionist period, particularly the women impressionists.
We got the author's intent to have groups of characters mirror earlier characters---especially with Oliver and Olivier.
The novel was quite complex, but with enough time to read and absorb, was quite enjoyable. ... Read more