These comments relate to the series more than to the specific book. If you are looking for a new series for entertaining reading, this is it.

This book (#2) is written much better than the first one of the series and I look forward to subsequent books as Lee Goldberg gains experience transitioning from scripts to books.

The Diagnosis Murder series is a cozy-type mystery, so there is no tremendous depth to the stories, but they are entertaining.

If you love the Diagnosis TV series, you will love this new book series. If you are not a fan of the TV series, you can still enjoy these books.

Goldberg's humor is very well placed. I especially enjoy the dialog among the well-known characters.

If I could offer one word of suggestion to Lee Goldberg and his editors it would be this: Suggest trimming down, or eliminating, direct reference to trendy items or celebrities. To me, they detract from the stories rather than enhance them. But this is my only complaint.

If you want to learn about the plot or story line, please read the other reviews. My comments are directed solely to whether or not I think a book is worth buying. In the context of "Diagnosis Murder," this one is. I liked it a lot better than book #1 as the art of storytelling was vastly improved.

For The Cat Who fans: there was no mystery to speak of in this new addition to the series. If you enjoy dropping in on Mr. Q and his cats, then the story will meet your needs, but if you're in need of a great mystery, sadly, you will have to look elsewhere. This was as cozy as a cozy could be. I've never read a cozier cozy--meaning the good guys win, but there was no struggle to do so. The entire mystery was stated point blank. Mr. Q did not even get concerned when a body was found on his own property. There was good potential here, but it was not developed. I have no idea what role the turkeys played. I gave the book 3 stars soley because it entertained me. Ms. Braun has a great sense of humor. If you are new to The Cat Who series, start with a different book and come back to this one once you fall in love with the characters and town.

This book is a must-have for Lewis and Clark fans.

The pictures are excellent and beautifully done.

The book is of similar quality to the following books which are at the top of my favorite Lewis and Clark Expedition picture books: Schmidt and Schmidt's "The Saga of Lewis & Clark" and Dayton Duncan's companion book to the Ken Burns' flim "Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery," and Stephen E. Ambrose and Sam Able's book.

Thorp's book will be a welcome addition to your personal library or a beautiful book to add to your coffee table. It also makes a wonderful gift. There can never be too many Lewis and Clark Expedition books.

.... This book is Part 1 of at least 2 parts (who knows?).

The story of Daedalus does not resolve by the end of the book. You have to read Book 2 to find out what happens to the people who are all in dire straights. I hope Book 2 ends the story, because I don't want to be caught in a hardcover "soap opera."

That said, I am looking forward to Daedalus Children (Part 2). I only regret that the publishers spaced the books so far apart. I will have forgotten what this book was about by the time Part 2 is ready for sale and I've already sold my copy of this one.

By the time this Daedalus story comes to an end, I also hope that it deviates from what has become "standard" Star Trek plots (time-space continuum anomalies, etc). I am ready to move on to good science fiction with some new Trek ideas.

As far as Stern's ability to TELL a story, he did a good job. I enjoyed his style.

Regardless of my concerns, Daedalus is entertaining enough to be worth the cost of the book.

I've read four of Laura Childs' books in the Tea Shop series: Death by Darjeeling, Gunpowder Green, Shades of Earl Grey, and The English Breakfast Murder. I purchased the first one in her scrapbook series, but haven't read it yet. So far, Ms. Childs skills as an author are growing decidedly better with each book.

If you are new to the Tea Shop mysteries, Ms. Childs books are refreshing, entertaining mysteries in light of how horrific real-life has become over the past decade.

I prefer mysteries with more substance and greater character development, but I gladly read Ms. Childs' books because I can expect them to be clean, wholesome, and entertaining. To date, Ms. Childs' books are not gruesome or down-right wicked. Again, this is a welcome relief from the majority of mysteries being sold today.

The main character is a young woman who balances her business success and yet makes time for a real life besides. I am not a tea-drinker, but I love to read about the tea shop and wish it were a real place. I'd travel all the way to Charleston just to visit her shop if it were real.

I heartily recommend you try Laura Childs' books.

The purpose of these remarks is not to reiterate the plot which has been ably done by both the Amazon.com/Publisher synopsis and by other reviewers. My purpose is to say whether or not I think a book is worth its asking price in exchange for the entertainment it provides. Silent Partner is worth the exchange for its entertainment value.

Dick Van Dyke is my Number One favorite actor. Because I had not seen a Diagnosis Murder (DM) episode on TV since 1999 because I moved outside of the PAX TV signal, when I saw Lee Goldberg's book, Silent Partner, I snatched it up with pleasure.

The book reads like a TV episode. I hoped for a more serious book, but the book is truly in keeping with the depth of its television counterpart, which, as fans know, is not exceedingly deep. Entertainment seems to be the main focus of the show and, consequently, the book.

B+: for the numerous references to celebrities and products that were popular when the book was being written. This practice locks a book into a particular era and is hard to read once the familiar people and objects are no longer familiar or popular.

Lee Goldberg made a "clever" reference to Dr. Jack Stewart (played by Scott Biao) looking like "Chachi" on "Happy Days." "Happy Days" was on TV when I was in high school, but I rarely watched it. Years later, during a dinner party, one of the other guests stared at a poster hanging on the wall behind me. "Ooooohhh," She said to our hostess, "I love your poster of Scott Biao!"

I glanced over my shoulder to see what the excitement was about. "Oh," I said, "I thought that was "Chachi." They all laughed and educated me by explaining that Scott Biao was Chachi. Ooookay-so much for face and name recognition. By the way, Scott Biao was my Number Two favorite actor on DM (just behind the Pro, Dick Van Dyke).

I found the characterizations in Silent Partner rather shallow and the solution very predictable, but whatever its literary shortcomings may, or may not, be, this book adds to the enjoyment of "Diagnosis Murder" in any format.

A+: Mr. Goldberg did a good job pacing the action and the humor. I enjoyed the conversations and witty remarks the characters made among themselves. Since the author wrote episodes of DM, the conversations in the book were remarkably like an episode.

With a little more practice, Mr. Goldberg's books may be as enjoyable as his TV scripts. Regardless, I was glad I bought Silent Partner and I plan to buy DM Book #2 in Feb 04.

Go ahead and put this book in your shopping basket.

This story is about how a young man's life is changed by his reluctant close-encounter with the class oddball who happens to be Southern Baptist girl.

I'd sure like to know where Nicholas Sparks got his information on how a Southern Baptist thinks and lives. The story would have been better if it weren't for some glaring inconsistencies with the Baptist theology and mindset.

First of all, the narrator tells us the Baptist minister in the story baptized babies. Baptists don't baptize babies. That is one of their PRIMARY theological distinctions.

Second of all, if the young lady in the story read her Bible as much as, and as often as, the story says she did, she would not have, under any circumstances, agreed to the narrator's plan at the end of the book. I cannot say further without giving away an essential part of the plot. Neither would her father have agreed to it.

Do you want to buy this book? It is sad. I heard that it was sad before I read it and determined not to cry, but I cried anyway.

I object to the foul language--again, this did not make sense in light of the Baptist connection to the narrator.

I enjoyed Mr. Sparks's ability to spin a story, but I did not like references to modern events, television shows, or currently popular celebrities. To me, these detract from the story rather than drawing readers in.

If the main character had just been a "nice" girl, rather than a Baptist girl, the story would have been much less offensive and the inherent mistakes could have been avoided.

My purpose is not to reiterate the plot which is already provided by the publisher and several reveiwers. My purpose is to express whether or not, in my opinion, the book is worth trading my hard-earned money for the price on its cover. I thought that "Deny Thy Father" was one of the better Star Trek books published lately.

I agree, to some degree, with each previous reviewer. But I gave the book its full five stars because I haven't particularly enjoyed Star Trek books lately, and I enjoyed this one for its entertainment value--not necessarily for its value to the Star Trek storyline. There is a separation of values here. I read the book as a reader looking for something to read solely for its science fiction entertainment merit, and this story entertained me.

The Star Trek books aren't exactly literary epic novels and I thought this book was very well done for its subject matter. No, we don't really get into the Ryker heads, but we see some action. While I admit growing extremely board with Ryker Sr's life on the run, overall, the story was entertaining.

Would I read a second Star Trek book by Jeff Mariotte? Yes. Did I think the cover price of the book was a fair exchange for its entertainment value? Yes.

I thoroughly enjoyed Thomas M. Disch's book, "The Prisoner." Like some of the other reviewers, I watched many "The Prisoner" episodes on television several decades ago. As a youngster, I never understood the television series and I won't claim to understand this book, but I liked the show because it was a change from the "norm."

In a nutshell (pun intended), I enjoyed this book soley for its entertainment merit. I wasn't looking for something "new" that was not revealed in the television episodes. I was looking for a "story" and found one.

Do you want to buy this book? I would say "yes" if you are looking for a change of entertainment pace--regardless of the story itself and Note: you don't need to be familiar with the TV series to understand the story.

This book is not a novel. This book is an excerpt of the version of the Lewis and Clark journals edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites in 1903-04. Thwaites's version was based on material from the paraphrased Biddle version of 1814. There is an excellent modern non-paraphrased 13-volume version of the journals edited by Dr. Gary Moulton based on original Lewis and Clark materials--also available through Amazon.com. I recommend this book and Dr. Moulton's books.

Bakeless chose entries that reflected the broad scope of Captain Meriwether Lewis's mission. Captain Lewis was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and Congress in 1803 to conduct an official army expedition across the North American continent to search for a practical trade route. He was to sail up the Missouri River, cross the Rocky Mountains, and sail down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. This feat had never been done before, and Lewis and his army detachment were the first citizens of the United States to cross all the way across from the land east of the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.

Bakeless's selection of journal entries gives the reader a very balanced sense of the expedition. We can appreciate the mundane day-to-day activities such as guard duties, court-martials, hunting expeditions, weather reports, as well as exciting entries such as when the men were chased by grizzly bears, nearly fell over cliffs, were nearly drowned, or when confronted by unfriendly westerners (only twice--most of the Native Americans were exceedingly helpful to the expedition and many times, the expeditionaries lives depended on the Native Americans help), and even when Meriwether Lewis was accidentally shot. We even find out which Captain liked to eat dog meat.

Considering the wealth of information that the Captains brought back from their journey, Bakeless did an excellent job of choosing what we should read to get a balanced picture of the enormous job those men undertook in one small volume.

This is an excellent "beginners" Lewis and Clark Journal. Once you read this book, you will feel compelled to read more. When you do, I recommend editor Dr. Gary Moulton's 12 volume set.

This book is not a "childrens" book. It is a nonfiction book for adults or young adults that can appreciate real life adventure.

The bottom line is, do you want to buy this book? Yes, you do.