- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Scribner (Aug 7 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0743200950
- ISBN-13: 978-0743200950
- Product Dimensions: 22.2 x 14.8 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 494 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,721,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Cat Marsala, the hard-working Chicago reporter, returns in this ninth entry in D'Amato's series. This time she's got plenty of company--what seems like the entire cast of characters from the magical world of Oz created by L. Frank Baum. In a pleasant diversion that reads more like an homage to Baum than a mystery novel, Cat tracks down the unknown assailant who disrupted the annual Grant Park Oz Festival by killing its security chief and attempting to murder the reporter herself. Or is it Cat's young nephew, whose father (Cat's brother Barry) is the director of the event, who is the target of the killer? Torn between family loyalty and her duty to tell the police exactly what she witnessed between the dead man and her brother, Cat unwittingly lands Barry right in the prime suspect seat. So it's up to her to get him out of it by finding the real killer and, not so incidentally, treating the reader to a guided tour of the marvelous mind of one of the most beloved children's authors of all time. Oz fans will have a field day; others may be drawn to the world of the Emerald City for the first time and discover that as long as Baum's books endure, it will never be too late to have a happy childhood. --Jane Adams
From Publishers Weekly
You're off to see the wizard in this delightful Oz-themed mystery, the ninth in the Cat Marsala series (Hard Evidence, etc.) from Anthony and Agatha award-winner D'Amato. As freelance journalist Cat is squiring her young nephew, Jeremy, around a mythical Oz festival in Chicago's Grant Park (would that such a festival actually existed!), two people die before her eyes, one a stabbing victim. When bullets start to fly, Cat and Jeremy flee through a system of dark and dank tunnels. The pair's creeping along underground, in enforced silence, shows off the author's knack for building suspense. To make matters uglier, Cat's brother and Jeremy's father, Barry, is accused of the first murder by the police and initially by Cat herself. Thanks to Cat's dogged detective work, the real killer ultimately receives due justice through highly unusual means; let's just say the process involves a vacuum cleaner. The Oz festival's activities pay tribute to the imagination of L. Frank Baum, whose books D'Amato learned to love at an early age, while the detailed Chicagoland setting, as usual, rings true. Some "pure" mystery fans may want to skip the lengthy epilogue, an appreciation of the world of Oz by D'Amato's son, Brian, but they'll be missing a fascinating account. Follow the yellow brick road to your favorite bookseller for this one. It's worth the trek. (Aug. 21)Forecast: With proper hand-selling, sales will get a boost from the large and devoted following of the Oz books, while the Emerald City cover art will certainly draw fans of the MGM movie.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
The Yellow Brick Road ran straight for about two hundred yards to the Emerald City Castle. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The Yellow Brick Road ran straight for about two hundred yards to the Emerald City Castle. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
If I Only had a Cat,
By
This review is from: Hard Road: A Cat Marsala Mystery (Hardcover)
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Barbara D'Amato's HardLuck several years ago, & was pleased to find that she had published another installment to her Cat Marsala series, Hard Road. Set in Chicago, the mystery revolves around a Wizard of Oz festival. The story is full of suspense, color & drama. As usual, the author has gone to great lengths to research & provide a plethora of factually accurate details. This book also features a substantial epilogue, The Wooden Gargoyles: Evil in Oz by Brian D'Amato, & Twenty Questions in Oz: An Oz Quiz. Oz fans will not go wrong with the purchase of this stunning book.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Oz in Chicago--but watch out for the Tin Woodsman,
By booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hard Road: A Cat Marsala Mystery (Hardcover)
Cat Marsala thinks she's just entertaining her young nephew with a visit to the Chicago Oz festival but before the night is through, she witnesses two murders, gets herself and her nephew shot at, and escapes through the tunnels that run underneath Chicago.When her evidence gets the police convinced that her brother is the killer, Cat decides to investigate herself. Yet if it isn't her brother, who could it be. She saw the victim run toward her brother with no evidence of blood anywhere. The strength of Hard Road is in its descriptions of Chicago and its little peeks into the Oz legend (I also enjoyed the Oz essay at the end although it had nothing to do with the mystery). Its weaknesses are in the lack of character development and fairly linear plot. HARD ROAD is well written--I certainly kept turning the pages and enjoyed the book.
2.0 out of 5 stars
ozzification,
By "donatdeux" (maine) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hard Road: A Cat Marsala Mystery (Hardcover)
despite a colorful premise- a festival celebrating the centennial of the wizard of oz- a surprisingly lackluster whodunit. author's usual vivid sense of place and some interesting tidbits of ozinalia; but thin on the whole,an anemic effort.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
