I believe most of the seniors in Books/Literature have read the majority of these stories and would find it nostalgic to discuss these stories one by one.( I hope.). Please use the link I provided in the above post to learn more.

Have you read any of Clive Barkers tales? Now he really takes you in to a world of fantasy.

The discussion schedule for the NINE TAILORS has been posted. To read the schedule please click on this link.

I think the Clive Barkers "The Great and Secret Show" is a reading trip into pure fantasy. I have never read a book this fantastic. If you thought the novel about the New York Museum was horror, this book out does it. You would have to read the novel to understand what I mean. He wrote a sequel to it but if you do decide to read the story I suggest you start with "The Great and Secret Show." Here's a link

Here's a link to some of his books.

Clancy

Barker also wrote a sequel to the above the title of which is Everville However I strongly recommend reading the former first. because you will be so lost if you read the sequel first. I liked The Great and Secret Show much better than Everville.

Here's a link

Yes, I read Stephen King's Needful Things and found it an entertaining read. However of all the King books I've read I like his Dark Tower Series best of all. If you decide to read the series please star with the first I believe it is called the "Gunslinger." Here's a link to that series.

But King's "The Green Mile" is a classic. The movie was very good but the book is great!

But do look in on Classical Mysteries I'm sure you will find that a warm and interesting discussion. The folks there are all so nice.

I didn't know any of Barker's stories were made into movies. Thank you for telling us.

I'm reading "By the Light of the Moon," by Dean Koontz. The action picked up after the monotonous arguing between Dylan and Jilly as they were running away in the SUV. I thought it was never going to end. If Koontz was looking for book filler in this diatribe between our hero and heroin I believe he over did it. However, the action did pick up and I am sure I will enjoy the novel as I did all of the Koontz books.

The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption are classics. I thought The Green Mile was tops.

In that discussion you can voice your opinion about what is taking place today.

O'Sharney, I never read the book you spoke of but I'll try to post here something about it.

Bad Dad, thank you for sharing the book title with us. I liked those Fu Man Chu mysteries, but like yourself, I haven't read any since I was a teenager,and I read the Street Lawyer about a year or so ago. In fact, I have it sitting here in my bookcase.

Francy Lou, what is that book about.

folks up until a couple of years ago this Forum used to be quite active. I don't know what happened that interest died off. This Forum is more than just horror stories. We had a lot of fun tackling about the Wilbur Smith sea novels, a lot of action in those. The Louis L'Amour stories were all quite popular here, as well as the Zane Grey westerns. We hardly ever mention the Lawrence Sanders' "Deadly Sin" mysteries. I forget the retired detective's name in those stories. I belive Frank Sinatra played the detective's part in the "1st Deadly Sin," However, the movie was not near as good as the novel.<p.But I really liked the Wilbur Smith sea adventures and the western stories I suppose I still have a bit of the little boy in me.

Do you, folks, have any Wilbur Smith favorites?

From the Publisher"

The year is 1667; Sir Francis Courteney and his son Hal are on patrol in their fighting caravel off the Agulhas Cape of South Africa. They are lying in wait for one of the treasure-laden galleons of the Dutch East India Company returning from the Orient. So begins a quest for adventure and the spoils of war that sweeps them from the settlement of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa to the Great Horn of Ethiopia far to the north - at a time when international maritime law permitted acts of piracy, rape, and murder otherwise punishable by death. Wilbur Smith introduces a generation of the indomitable Courteneys and thrillingly re-creates their part in the struggle for supremacy and riches on the high seas."

To read more about the Smith novel, follow this link

After reading ajfromms post, I went looking for some of the Dirk Pitt stories. I found some and the sound pretty good. You can read about more of this author's stories by clicking here.

Here is a little about it.

From The Critics Publisher's Weekly

"While last year's Clancy novel, Red Rabbit, hit #1 first week out, sales reportedly were down from previous books, as were the thumbs of critics, who found the book slow, talky and lacking in action. In an effort to repair the damage as well as to revitalize his long-running Jack Ryan series, Clancy has scrapped his usual one-novel-every-two-years cycle to deliver a shorter, swifter tale featuring not Ryan but Ryan's son, also known as Jack, as well as two of young Jack's cousins, fraternal twins Dominic and Brian Caruso, the former an FBI agent, the latter a Marine. All three are recruited to a privately funded vigilante organization, Hendley Associates, that aims to strike at America's enemies-particularly, terrorists-when the Feds can't or won't. The narrative divides into two parts. The first concerns the training of the three, with young Ryan basically pushing his way into the organization while Dominic is signed on after taking the law into his own hands by shooting a child killer, and Brian after demonstrating smarts during combat in Afghanistan. Their grapplings with the moral and logistical demands of their new jobs alternate with a villains' plot, as Islamic terrorists cut a deal with Colombian drug smugglers, sneak into the U.S. and move toward their killing-field objectives, four shopping malls in mid-America. The plot strands tie up in a terrifically exciting sequence, the novel's highlight, as Dom and Brian, by chance shopping at one mall, take down four of the terrorists. But the terrorists kill scores of innocents, so the rest of the novel details American vengeance-the teeth of the tiger-as the twins fly to Europe, followed by Jack, to take out several of the terrorists' handlers. This isn't Clancy's strongest novel, but it's a big improvement over Red Rabbit. Geopolitical analysis and operational details overwhelm the few action sequences, perhaps to the chagrin of many Clancy fans, but the author knows this stuff like no one else and delivers it all in his inimitable clipped manner. Clancy's smart flag-waving and targeting of terrorists will please many, of course, and leaves plenty of room for sequels. Expect generally satisfied fans and huge sales. (On sale Aug. 11) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information."

I wonder if Jack Clark and his son-in-law Ding Chavez. are in the story.

Bill H

From the Publisher

It is July 2003. In the middle of its maiden voyage, the luxury cruise ship Emerald Dolphin suddenly catches fire and sinks. What caused it? Why didn't the alarms go off? What was its connection to the revolutionary new engines powering the ship? NUMA special projects director Dirk Pitt races to rescue the passengers and investigate the disaster, but he has no idea of the bizarre events that are about to engulf him. Before the next few weeks are over, Pitt will find himself confronted by an extraordinary series of monsters, both human and mechanical, modern and ancient. He will tread upon territory previously known only to legend. And, at the end of it all, though many lives will be lost, and many saved, it is Pitt's own life that will be changed forever.

Francy Lou, Our Barnes and Noble has that Tom Clancy book

O'Sharney, like most of the other discussion leaders on Senior Net, I couldn't lead a discussion without having first read the book. I like to know where I'm going and then I set up a reading schedule and outline each scheduled chapter. That way gives the participants in the discussion a chance to express their views and, of course, introduce their own ideas of the novel. Seems like your book is more for chatting. )

Alf, King and Straub got together and wrote the Talisman and I thought it was a pretty good book. Did you like the way they wrote the Talisman?

Black House

I went back to reading Black House by King and Straub to see if I could find something good about it. Well, it does get a bit better towards the second half of the book but it still leaves a lot to be desired. I find it a difficult read. This probably is what happens when two good authors get together to write one book. It is a little to fragmented for my linking. Each author wants to contribute a little of his own style and that has the reader jumping all over the place. When I find a thread that I like and want to follow, it breaks off and I can see the other author's style cutting in and breaking the thread. These two guys did a good job on The Talisman but from here on in I believe they would be well advised to stick to their own.

I'm now reading CODEX--Douglas Preston. Nearly finished with the story and I find it to be very good entertainment.

What Action/Adventure novels havae you, folk, been reading

Jim, we are having a discussion about Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca" it starts on the 15th of this month. Maybe you can get a book and join us in that great classical mystery discussion.

Jim, we also have a "Classical Mysteries " forum that I think you may enjoy. In that forum we discuss all the old time mysteries and their authors. Here's a link to that forum

This one grabs hold of you on the very first page and whirls you right along.

I know I will read his "Angels & Demons." However, I'm not sure I will read "THE DA VINCI CODE."

However, I liked Clancy's "Without Remorse" best of all his works. If you haven't read "Without Remorse," please don't short change yourself by not reading this novel.

Dan Brown has a knowledge and imagination beyond belief, Not only is it a good story but it is also an education.

This book was a gift and what a great gift it was! I just started reading his Angels and Demons. This promises to be a good one also.

Did you ever read Tom Clancy's "Without Remorse?"

I am almost finished with Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I love it, although it is very detailed, it is quite suspenseful. A good read. WOW! Brown tells me more about the Vatican than what I ever knew.

So, since I liked his Deception Point and Angels and Demons, I visited our local Barnes and Noble and got Digital Fortress. The lady at the check out counter told me that Digital Fortress is a a very popular book. amnd that The Da Vinci Code would be available in paperback by December.

Angels and Demons is quite a novel and the neding is out of this world. If you haven't read either of these books I strongly suggest you do so.

From the publisher

" Digital Fortress transports the reader deep within the most powerful intelligence organization on earth - the National Security Agency (NSA), an ultra-secret, multibillion-dollar agency, which (until now) less than 3 percent of Americans knew existed. When the NSA's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls in its head cryptographer Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage...not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that if released it would cripple U.S. intelligence. Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Susan Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves. From the underground hallways of power to the skyscrapers of Tokyo to the towering cathedrals of Spain, a desperate race unfolds. It is a battle for survival - a crucial bid to destroy a creation of inconceivable genius...an impregnable code-writing formula that threatens to obliterate the post-cold war balance of power. Forever."

Winsum, Yes, Brown's women are not just beautiful but they are brilliant to boot. Gee! That is a hard combination to beat. Why can't they just be brilliant )

A very good read and so informative as most of his books are. . I learned so much about the Vatican.

Treat yourself and read this book.

I have started reading "Digital Fortress." I find it so inteesting that it deals with computers on a very high level

Claire, I can well understand the waiting list for Angels and Demons. I just finished it and all I can say is WOW! Don't miss it.

Winsum, I can well understand the waiting list for Angels and Demons. I just finished it and all I can say is WOW! Don't miss it.

Alice, was "Raise the Titanic" a real thriller? Stories about the Titanic have always intrigued me.There still seems to be some sort of a living entity about that ship, even after all these years.

When I see the name Stephen Coontz, I think of Dean Koontz. Are the Stephen Coontz novels as the Dean's?

Alice, I'm going to have to read "Raise the Titanic." Ever since I was a youngster there was something about that ship that really intrigued me.

Winsum, the last book I read by Grisham was "The Painted House." I wasn't all that happy with it, so I didn't finish it.

Ginny, wait till you reach the end of Codex you will even less want to visit Honduras. The novel does have a thrilling ending.

I'm about half way through Dan Brown's "Digital Fortress" but so far I don't like it as well as I did "Deception Point" and "Angels and Demons." (they were really thrillers sand talk about imagination.) Oh, well, maybe Digital will pickup in the last half.

Alice, when I find that I really don't like a book. I stop reading it because there are too many good books waiting to be read. So why waste time reading something I don't like. Painted House was one of them.

Could some of you Clive Cussler fans tell me what are some of his really good ones. .At the local Barnes and Nobles I see a complete shelf full of his stories.

Alf, I'm sure I read False Memories, but I have read so many of Dean Koontz's books I forget the whole plot of the novel.

Alice I read a book for entertainment, too. If I like the story, I accept what the author gives me. Some of the authors do get a little far fetched in their story telling e.g. Angels and Demons, Deception Point, and a lot of Clancy's novels. I believe it would be impossible for any lead character physically accomplish what the author writes.

There are few good movies based on novels, and one of them is the Stephen King movie "The Green Mile." I felt the producers and director of that movie followed the story very well.

One question, what do you think about the Tom Clancy and Stephen King books?

Alice, Shawshank is another good Stephen King book that was made into a good movie.

I recall we would talk about the Zane Grey westerns in this forum. Some seem to forget that these westerns are Action/Adventure….

I have to say that I recommend the book for good reading entertainment. It all depends what each of us want from a story. I just want entertainment, otherwise, I would never have read some of Stephen King's books

If you readers want something way out, read Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series.

Did Wilbur Smith continue the saga of the Courteney family? I stopped reading Smith when he got to be a little political in some of his stories about Africa.

I have read several of Dean Koontz's books, and I have to admit he does get carried away

Clair, I'm going to find out something about A HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE. Sounds very strange.

 
The Bad Place--Koontz 
Teeth of the Tiger--Clancy 
Garden of the Beast--Devers. 

Also, was Raise the Titanic the first Dirk Pitt story by Cussler?

FrancyLou, I'll see if I can find out something about The Bad Place.

After I finished reading Valhalla Rising I went out and bought Raisie the Titanic.

On the inside of the back cover of Raise the Titanic, I found this about Cussler.

"Clive Cussler's life nearly parallels that of his hero, Dirk Pitt. Whether searching for lost aircraft or leading expeditions to find famous shipwrecks, he has garnered and amazing record of success. With his NUMA crew of volunteers., Cussler has discovered more than seventy lost ships of historical significance, including the long lost Confederate submarine Hunley. Like Pitt, Cussler collects classic automobile. His collection features ninety examples of custom coach work, and is one of the finest in the world. Cussler divdes his time betwe4n the deserts of Arizona and the mountains of Colorado"

Sounds like Cussler leads an exciting life.

From the publisher

"Frank Pollard is afraid to fall asleep. Every morning when he awakes, he discovers something strange—like blood on his hands—a bizarre mystery that tortures his soul. Two investigators have been hired to follow the haunted man. But only one person—a young man with Down's Syndrome—can imagine where their journeys might end. That terrible place from which no one ever returns."

Does that sound familiar to you?

I'm reading Cussler's Raise the Titanic. He lays the background for the story in the first 100 pages, give or take, but it does set the scene for what is to take place.

Claire, you are going to like Angels and Demons. If you think the Dirk Pitt character is creative, wait till you read Angels and Demons. The creative adventures of Robert Langdon--the hero of the story-- is really a stretch of the imagination.

Did anybody here read it?

Rose Madder is about an abused housewife who tries to escape from her abusive husband. He follows and, oh, what all takes place.

One more thing about Cussler's "Raise the Titanic." I read that Clive Cussler was so upset with the way the movie deviated from his book that he forbid movie makers from making anymore movies from his books.

"Annotation

Stephen King's national bestseller Rose Madder is the haunting story of a housewife who flees her abusive husband. She runs, thinking she is free. She's wrong--dead wrong.

From the Publisher

Roused by a single drop of blood on the bedsheet, Rosie Daniels wakes from fourteen years of a nightmare marriage and suddenly takes flight. She uses her husband's ATM card to buy a bus ticket, determined to lose herself in a place where Norman won't find her. She'll worry about all the rest later. Alone in a strange city, she begins to make a new life, and good things start to happen. Meeting Bill Steiner is one; and finding a junk-shop painting is another. It may be bad art but it's perfect for her new apartment -- and somehow, it seems to want her as much as she wants it. Still, it's hard for Rosie not to keep looking over her shoulder, and with good reason. Her husband is a cop, with the instincts of a predator. He's very good at finding people. The fact that he's losing his mind might even be an advantage. Rose-maddened and on the rampage, Norman Daniels becomes a force of relentless terror and savageness, a man almost mythic in his monstrosity. For Rosie to survive, for her to have a chance in her brave new world, she must enter her own myth -- a world that lies beyond the surface of a work of art -- and become a woman she never knew she could be: Rose Madde"

Annotation

"Old Ralph Roberts hasn't been sleeping well lately. Every night he wakes just a little bit earlier, and pretty soon, he thinks, he won't get any sleep at all. It wouldn't be so bad, except for the strange hallucinations he's been having. Or, at least, he hopes they are hallucinations--because here in Derry, one never can tell. Part of the "Books That Take You Anywhere You Want To Go" Summer Reading Promotion."

From the Publisher Ralph

Roberts has a problem: he isn't sleeping so well these days. In fact, he's hardly sleeping at all. Each morning, the news conveyed by the bedside clock is a little worse: 3:15...3:02...2:45...2:15. The books call it "premature waking"; Ralph, who is still learning to be a widower, calls it a season in hell. He's begun to notice a strangeness in his familiar surroundings, to experience visual phenomena that he can't quite believe are hallucinations. Soon, Ralph thinks, he won't be sleeping at all, and what then? A problem, yes - though perhaps not so uncommon, you might say. But Ralph has lived his entire life in Derry, Maine, and Derry isn't like other places, as millions of Stephen King readers will gladly testify. They remember It, also set in Derry, and know there's a mean streak running through this small New England city; underneath its ordinary surface awesome and terrifying forces are at work. The dying, natural and otherwise, has been going on in Derry for a long, long time. Now Ralph is part of it. So are his friends. And so are the strangers they encounter."

I believe the above two novels were written by King when he was at his best.I read both these books several years ago and I enjoyed them immensely.

However, I did enjoy the non fiction biography of "Truman" and Eisenhower's Crusade in Europe--WW2. I was in service then and that is why I enjoyed reading it.

Coconuts, welcome to the discussion it is always good to hear from a new reader, and thank you for telling me about a the Matt O'Grady stories. You know, there are so many good novels out there I don't know which to pick when I go to the library or bookstore )

Francy Lou, I'm reading "Face" by D. Koontz and it is terrific.

I would've responded sooner, but I've been off-line the past few days.

Folks, I reading "The Face" by Koontz, and, for me, I'm finding it the best of all his novels that I have read. It seems to read like a Stephen King story.

Clean up and reasoration of my game room and basement begins tomorrow. I'll try to post as often as I can.

FramcyLou, Ye, it is a mess.

New/Old.

An old favorite, "Books Into Movies" is coming back November 1st. This is the general discussion forum that Lorrie moderated for several years, and is being brought back by popular request.

The forum will include ALL books made into movies, both fiction and nonfiction, old-timers, and recent novels. You are invited to express your opinion of what you think of these movies that were adapted from the books, and what their authors should have demanded from the producers of the screen plays. I hope to see all of you there on November 1st

I sincerely hope that I can do as good a job as Lorrie. With your cooperation, I believe it will be a great general discussion. And just in time for the holidays.

Thank you for your interest.

Tomreader,Thanks you for your interest. Yes, Books into Movies should be a good discussion. Several years ago this was a popular forum moderated by Lorrie. It has been brought back by request and I hope it does as well now as it it did under her leadership. See you soon in that forum.

Hope to see you all there on November First.

 

Midnight by Dean Koontz 

Phantom by Dean Koontz 

The King of Torts by John Grisham  

The Comstock Load by Louis L'Amour 

What do you think about these novels?

His novels can be a hard read. He gets a little too wordy at times. But I started "Midnight" and it seems to be pretty good.

"Midnight" opens fast and keeps moving along with young Chrissie galloping away from the villains. I hope the fast pace keeps on going.

I am reminded of the Body Snatchers, as I read the beginning of the novel

I really like the "King of Torts"

This is all covered in the King of Torts and the class action and all it entails is explained in a beautiful manner. The lawyers get millions and the plaintiffs get a few thousands dollars. The litigation never goes to trial 95% of the time because these big pharmaceuticals don't want their name smeared anymore than necessary.

You are missing out on a real treat if you haven't read King of Torts.

Can't put down Louis L'Amour's "The Comstock Load." What a master this author was at writing western stories. His description of the western territories and of the characters in the book places the reader in front row center, as though watching a play.

.

Claire, I have read only one other of L'Amour's novels that being "North to the Rails." It wasn't as informative as Comstock Load. What are your thoughts on "How the West Was Won?"

Here is the home page of Robin McKinley. Right off you will see the author is a woman.

And the one you are reading now-- "a locked door mystery and a cloven hoof in the floor and the body cooked from the inside."Any time a body is cooked from the inside out sounds like a real horror.

Claire, you can read a bit about it by using this link

The King of Torts which I have coming up as a book discussion. This novel by John Grisham is as educational as it is entertaining. A real show piece for the class action tort system. Grisham gives us action a plenty in this novel. I hope we can get more insight as to the tort system when the discussion opens.

The Last Juror starts of very well with a lot of action but bogs down quite a bit in the middle of the book. Here, Grisham goes into detail about Mississippi in the seventies. Some of this detail is relevant to the novel but a lot of it is not. However, it is educational. A learning to be quickly forgotten much like Sherlock Holmes would say. I'm sure the author used this as fill. I'm coming to the story's end and I have a hunch a lot of action will take place.

You come to feel the two main characters are part of your family and the other characters in the story also worm their way into your affections.

Did any of you read the Da Vinci Code, if so how did you like it?

Maybe we can all hang out our Attorney at Law shingles after we discuss the King of Torts.

The Barnes & Noble Review

" Dean Koontz's Frankenstein -- the author's first literary series -- is a nightmare-inspiring, modern-day retelling of Mary Shelley's 1818 horror classic. Coauthored with Kevin J. Anderson, the first installment in this four-volume saga pits a reanimated giant and two tenacious police detectives against the demented scientist who created him. It's no surprise that Deucalion, at almost seven feet tall and with half his face a mangled ruin, spent time as a European carnie sideshow attraction nicknamed the Monster. After enjoying several peaceful years at a monastery in Tibet, the introspective and enigmatic giant receives dire news: The man who created him centuries earlier, Victor Frankenstein, is inexplicably alive and living in New Orleans under the name of Victor Helios, a wealthy business owner and philanthropist. When Deucalion vows to leave his Tibetan sanctuary and destroy the man who created him, he soon realizes the critical magnitude of his mission -- Helios is in the process is secretly creating a new race of posthumans to take over the world! As is par for the course in many fiction sagas, readers should be prepared for a cliff-hanger of monumental proportions at the conclusion of Prodigal Son. Koontz and Anderson, however, masterfully set the table for a virtual feast of hideous twists and turns, nightmarish monstrosities, and nonstop action in upcoming installments. Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, in which a man transforms himself into a monster and a monster learns what it's like to be human, is an absolutely brilliant rendition of the Shelley classic -- a horror tour de force. Paul Goat Allen"

Kevin J. Andrson co authored other books as well. This link will take you to the books he co authored.

One of the shopping malls in the area has a large food court with various open food counters. One of these counters (I use this term for want of a better one) displays a marquee bearing the name "Frank and Stein." Now every time I pick up Koontz's book, I think of that food court.

I have started to read Cussler's Sahara. This novel has held my attention from the very first page and it seems that the action continues on and on.

Tomreader pointed out that a movie of this book will be released in April. I plan on seeing it but I don't think the screen play will do the novel justice. It is a lengthy story with much detail. I wonder how much the movie will shy away from Cussler's book.

All Quite on the Western Front." I saw this Black and White movie when I was just a kid. It mad a lasting impression on me and I still recall some of the scenes even to this day. Lew Ayres starred as the German soldier in the picture. He starred in many a picture and I always enjoyed his acting. He had a quite way of getting his point across.

Jean, thank you for telling us about "Johnny Got His Gun. I read the reviews at B&N and that is definitely going to be a must read for me.

Some old time stars played in this mini series.

I didn't read "All Quiet on the Western Front" but if it has as much action as "Once an Eagle," I know I will love it.