With so little access to North Korea, it must be very difficult to present a true picture or accounting of life in that desolate country. Fischer, using interviews of this books main characters, gives us a glimpse into the strange priorities of Kim-Jong-Il during his tenure. Fiction readers will relate this book to The Orphan Master's Son and prefer the fictional weave of that book. Nonfiction readers will enjoy this book but might find its pace and resolution lacking. At the end even the author still had questions and loose strings. Good read but strangely unfulfilling.

I really wanted to like this book as much as Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet which I selected for two different book clubs. However, this book just did not click with me. Don't get me wrong, the story line is great and it is evident that Jamie Ford loves Seattle. I guess my reservation is so much history was crammed into the story that it seemed like a history lesson at times. Somehow the facts and the fiction just didn't blend into a readable story for me. If you liked Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and the backdrop of Seattle history with the Chinese population then you will enjoy this book. The movie making history of Seattle will be interesting too. There's romance, the wicked stepfather and stepmother, adventure, eternal hope and dreams-all ingredients for a good story.

What could have been a great plot with intriguing characters couldn't make up for a rather disjointed story with too many sidetracks. I just never got the "thriller" part of the story.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon takes us back to Barcelona and the familiar Cemetery of Forgotten Books. This journey while spellbinding at times becomes a little tedious. The thematic process of developing Good and Evil is a little overbearing at times. There is no question that Zafon can write a good story, he would do better to compact his development of the theme and let the story loose.

His books are easy sells for librarians and booksellers. I guess I would recommend The Shadow of the Wind over The Angel's Game.

High school students considering a military academy education and career will quickly find that they will be expected to tackle challenging literature - a good reading list for any academy-bound student. Military historians will find this book's concepts of actual combat and service emotions captured eloquently in centuries of literature - no matter which historical period or army they are interested in reading. For me, the personal level, where Ms. Samet gives us a peek at her experiences and those of her cadets, kept me spellbound. I wanted more! Maybe another book?