That is a song title - I know. But put to practice quite nicely in Lamb. Recommended by a friend, I picked up the book. I don't often read comedy but admit that on each occasion I do, it's a good time. (For instance, when I first read Bridget Jones' Diary, tears rolled down my face and I had to lie down. My boyfriend at the time could not understand what I found so funny when I'd read a page or two aloud. Needless to, he is no longer my boyfriend. Humorless git.) To take it one step further, nor do I read books about religion. I had a feeling though that Biff's gospel wasn't going to get too preachy.

A point is made throughout the book: the bible mentions Jesus (referred to by his birth name Josh) when he is 30 years old and older. Never the Josh we must surely be curious about as a child. Biff clears that up. He is brought back from the nether-regions of wherever-friends-of-Jesus go when they die to add his own gospel. Inquiring minds want to know!

Biff starts where he should: at 6 years old, when he and Josh are best buds. There's a girl in town that Biff has a crush on - her name is Mary Magdalene. But wouldn't you know, she kinda likes Josh.

Josh knows he's the Messiah. That means, he also knows he can't give in to any sin. Biff takes on the burden of helping Josh understand sin without directly dabbling in the stuff himself.

And did you know Josh said that God really doesn't care if Jews eat bacon? Because... it's just bacon. (Hey! Look at Chris Moore, not the Crobinator).

To make this less a book report and more a review, I tell you my experience in the reading: smirking. I didn't think it was a comedy in the slap-your-knee, hardy-har-har sort of way. It had an undertone that required silent head-nods at parties. Those quips and wits and nods that say "You get that? I got that. That was good."

Personally, that's all I need to enjoy it.

(I'd try to end this with something sarcastic, because Biff is proud of his invention of sarcasm - and upset when Josh uses it incorrectly, but I can't think of anything. Plus I'm working. In a cubicle. Which are brain-disinfectants, leaving them completely free of thought).

Zoe Elias has grand dreams of being a pianist. For her, there is nothing better to be. She imagines evening gowns, audiences awaiting in anticipation, beautiful recitals, much adoration. So you can understand how, when her father comes home with a Perfectone D60 Organ, instead of her lovely piano, why she's a little upset. In fact, she's fairly sure this might be unforgivable.

But the organ came with free lessons, which she reluctantly agrees to take. Miss Person (read: Persaaahn) is not the world's most enthusiastic teacher. In fact, during lessons, Zoe doesn't get into much of her instrument's capabilities. But when Miss Person isn't around, she likes to kick things up a little. Which is how, after a lesson one day, upon forgetting her purse, Miss Person comes to realize Zoe has talent, and decides she ought to enter the Perform-O-Rama.

And so Zoe spends the next few weeks practicing and practicing the same song: "Forever in Blue Jeans". Not knowing the words, she'll often make up her own. In the Kitchen, baking up a storm, her father, and schoolmate turned constant house-guest enjoy the show.

With the competition nearly upon them, Zoe's mother not only misses her birthday, but has an emergency at work, which means she won't be able to take her to the Perform-O-Rama after all. Disaster. Mr. Elias is not exactly known for his worldly skills. In fact nearly every time he goes out, he has to be guided home by a local mechanic. But he knows how important this is to Zoe. Armed with pre-programmed cell phone, ready for any disaster, they set off.

And he does get her there. But doesn't make it to her first performance, which she would tell you, was not all that bad, since she was not all that good.

This was a very cute and extremely quick-reading story. Through her music, and her enthusiasm, Zoe manages to bring her family together, help a schoolmate, and inspire her dad. So maybe the Perfectone wasn't such an unforgivable gift after all.

“Books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they’ll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back.” (p. 110)

Gunshot, Tennessee is home to the grave of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and a tampon string factory. For the summer, it is also home to washed-up child prodigy Colin and his Judge Judy-loving best friend Hassan, who cut short a road-trip to record the town’s oral histories for the factory owner. They board with her and her daughter, Lindsey, while Colin tries to get over being dumped by his nineteenth Katherine. Along the way, Colin works on his Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, attempting to graph each of his failed relationships and predict the course of any future relationship. Things, of course, are not simple, as Colin is distracted by a girl who is not named Katherine, a feral hog hunt, and a few town secrets. Will Colin have his Eureka moment? Prove his Theorem? Matter? Be betrayed by his memory? Learn to tell a story? Get the girl? Get out of Gunshot alive?

Green’s second novel is a witty, off-beat charmer with a snappy pace and dialogue. The plot is almost irrelevant at times, as the characters pull you along for the ride. It is, in a sense, the classic road-trip story of self-discovery and friendship, although the characters spend more page-time driving to Hardee’s for Monster Thickburgers than they do in road-tripping. Although Colin’s Theorem figures heavily into the story, the math never takes over, being carefully consigned to footnotes and an appendix. More smart-assed than intellectual, the story should have wide appeal with high school students and up. Some language, a physical fight, and a scene of two characters caught having sex serve the story and do not feel gratuitous. Themes of rejection, romance, motivation (or lack thereof), the nature of popularity, and finding your place in the world make this a classic story for young adults.

As told in "Anti Christ: A Satirical End of Days", the world is in chaos – proving reality infuses fiction. Russia is eliminating democracy, returning to an authoritarian government. The US is fighting government corruption charges as a possible war between Pakistan and India formulates. Now China wants to rule Taiwan…the global issues never end.

On a civilian scale, Matthew Ford is an average college guy, suffering the usual issues. After waiting three hours, his internet date is a no show, the bookstore refuses to refund a book he just bought, and then his car gets a flat tire as it begins to snow. Arriving home, Matt’s horrendous day ends peacefully once he throws out the ghost, haunting him for the last time. Okay, so this act is not usual however, it garners the attention of Heaven now commercialized and a power hungry Hell, both warring against the other to gain Earth peoples’ majority support. As for his awareness of the previously mentioned world issues, Matt was busy watching professional wrestling; his priorities are quite clear.

Mr. Moses composes an engaging, humorous parody, drawing from timeless world events and American life. The U.S. President Lucas is a ditz, believing that Kashmir – in India - is a sweater company, and cannot understand why Pakistan wants that particular cloth. It’s not material they want, it’s all about the land. Russia’s President Romanov wants to return his country into greatness. He dissolves the Duma, their legislative body, assuming sole leadership. After President Lucas’ lengthy warning that the U.S. will defend democracy, Romanov, a taciturn man, replies with a barbed curse, “F--- America”. Now that is honest communication.

The true witticism shines as Matt begins an enlightened journey first to Heaven, followed by Hell, then to the mystic Buddhist temples, and then back again to Heaven. Instigating this trek are two cherubs who abduct Matt, claiming the “Boss” wants to meet. Once in Zion (Heaven), the cherubs loose Matt, who wanders into a place called “Gabriel’s”. God’s Archangels now congregate in a local tavern since Heaven and Hell signed a peace treaty two thousand years ago, outlawing wars. They drown their sorrows in unending chalices of holy water or engage in wrestling smack downs in the tavern’s backroom; releasing pent up hostilities. The crowning moment is when Matt finally meets Jesus demanding that he take back the ghost he threw out; Heaven is overcrowded since Christ took over management.

The slapstick continues with attacks on big business, worker’s unions, fad diets, immigration, military assistance in foreign countries, reincarnation…not even the Pope is exempt from this fast paced, captivating farce. Still, when Satan entices Matt into becoming the world’s elite guru of wisdom, the amusing dialog turns gloomy. They attend congressional sessions discussing stem cell research and lecture overweight people simply to stop eating; naming only a few topics that some readers may not find amusing, in any form.

Yet, "Anti Christ" is a satire, “a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule”_ (definition from Dictionary.com)…hmmm, Mr. Moses has done his job well. His characters are well formed, genuine, aptly supporting this cabaret of imaginative intrigue. Even the typo, right at the beginning, “CwHyAPTER 1” only adds to this wacky novel. And yes, I roared with laughter throughout this distinctive book.

I recently read the above novel written by Matthew Moses. It was a great read filled with a brand of humor that audiences will either love or hate depending on the tolerant nature of their religious beliefs. I’ll do my best to give an overview of the story, the controversial aspects of it which may offend certain people, as well as the symoblism used throughout this work.

Story

The story revolves around Matthew Ford, a failed philosophy student who begins a feud with Jesus which escalates into the Apocalypse.

Matthew Ford feels cut off from the society around him. He stares at people from afar. He walks through a crowd rather than with them. People speak of him rather than to him. He is alone, bitter, yet unable to do anything to guide his own destiny and bring himself happiness. One night he is embarrassed by a failed internet date and returns home, one sad night in a series of many.

Once home, Matthew finds himself kept awake by a bothersome ghost intent on attracting his attention despite the fact that the big final is tomorrow. In an act of displaced rage, Matthew heaves the ghost out of the house evicting it from its place of eternal residence.

The following day, after a horrible morning and a near car wreck, Matthew takes his final and proceeds to the parking lot to return home when he is accosted by two Cherubim, Mel and Ezekiel, the eternal innocents of the Christ. They tell him of an important meeting he has with their boss. Unnerved by the pair, Matthew finds himself kidnapped when he attempts to get away and spirited into the atmosphere, through space, and into a black hole on his way to Heaven.

What Matthew finds in Heaven is far from golden fields and Eden. It is a grim, Orwellian world where all are bored, watching Prime Time television for their sole glimmer of entertainment, Jesus is a neo-con fascist dictator, and the angels are a fringe element of brutal thugs constantly dreaming of undermining Jesus' regime.

Once at the spire, the heart of Heaven, Matthew is ushered into the presence of the Almighty where he is made part of a photo-op for the struggling Messiah. With the current problems of the Church and in Jesus' faltering authority, it has been decided to make an example of Matthew for the whole of Existence. In evicting the ghost, Matthew has broken one of Creation's laws. Only an agent of the Church may evict, i.e. exorcise, any known entity from a property. Because Matthew is not an agent of the Almighty, he is told that his eviction of the prior night is non-binding and he must accept the ghost back. Stubborn, not simply because he has finally had enough of being pushed around, but also because he sees this as one more burden added to an already crushing life, Matthew refuses the order and even demands to speak with God. To his surprise, Matthew discovers the once great Creator is now a vegetable in a wheelchair.

In an act of disdain and the beginning of his maturation, Matthew tells Jesus no shaming “The Christ” in front of the whole of Heaven. Matthew is cautioned there will be repercussions but fails to heed the warning. Upon his return to Earth, Matthew discovers that Jesus' threat is not an idle one. It begins with a poor case of acne. Then Matthew's professor is given a vision to fail his student. In a fit of rage, Matthew strikes back against Jesus in the only way he can: he desecrates a nativity scene. The feud between the two escalates until Matthew frames a priest for a string of robberies only to reveal a deep criminal streak in the Church and threaten its earthly foundations.

It is into these uncertain times that Satan appears to offer Matthew the opportunity to truly hit Jesus while he is down. Fearing what the Messiah will do in response to his latest act, Matthew finds himself seduced into aiding the Devil and becomes a new age pop guru that guides the world away from religion to a new philosophy. An important piece of his new agenda is the obese who Matthew encourages to accept the ultimate diet: fasting. In so doing he creates not only a deep undermining separation between the fat and thin, but also stokes a growing, underlying rage through the stress of withdrawal.

Matthew's philosophy proves disruptive to America. The fat are fomenting food riots across the country and his speeches are increasingly calling for not merely a change of government but its outright overthrow. Beginning to feel doubts about what he is doing, Matthew hesitates in continuing on with the plan between him and Satan. It is then that Matthew finds himself the subject of an assassination attempt by the Vatican in order to stop the rise of the Antichrist. In a harrowing escape attempt, Matthew is murdered. Only then is it revealed that Satan was behind the murder plot before the Devil casts Matthew into Purgatory and seizes Matthew’s body for his own.

As Matthew tries to find a way out of Purgatory, Satan brings to fruition a rebellion that topples the American government and pushes the world closer and closer to World War III. The Vatican is invaded via the Patriot Act while Pakistan and India destroy one another in a nuclear war and China goes to war with Taiwan.

Through the help of two coyotes, men that smuggle Mexicans into Heaven, Matthew finds his way back to Paradise narrowly escaping an angelic border patrol that drives the group into the lands of Buddha. It is there that Matthew learns of the truth behind the two thousand year cease fire between Heaven and Hell. Heaven is collapsing, that collapse what effectively we call the expanding universe. In an effort to stop the collapse, Satan created universal law in order to bind the chaos for the eventual rebuilding of Heaven. Instead, Life appeared and God refused to allow their death for such an endeavor. Increasingly bitter and upset at God's refusal to allow him to save Existence and finish his work, Satan is cast out of Heaven along with Jesus, one of his followers. In order to regain favor with God, Jesus attempts to enlighten man making good on his probation. To the shock of all, Jesus is crucified leading to God having a stroke. With the Creator incapacitated, Jesus hurries back to Heaven and enacts a coup stealing the authority of Existence. With his power base still wobbly, Satan offers a truce between Heaven and Hell that has held for twin millennia. It is only now, with the threat to all of Existence, that Satan's deeper motives have become clear.

Events find themselves driven towards that final battle at Mount Megiddo between man, the undead, angels, and demons for the fate of all Existence.

Controversy

The controversy surrounding the novel comes from the humorous take on Christianity. Jesus is perceived as a megalomaniacal, totalitarian leader who has usurped power in Heaven and is brainwashing humanity to serve as his pawns against the angelic opposition, those who believe God should be restored to power. One joke has Islam being created by Gabriel, one of the angelic faction leaders, in order to wipe out Christianity and discredit Jesus in order to bring about a successful coup in Heaven.

Christianity is revealed to be this large corporate entity run from the Spire, the central point of Heaven. There, in the boardroom, Jesus, his apostles, and the Pope via teleconference develop new policies in order to drive up membership and challenge their competitors in the religious markets including Islam, Buddhism, and the Christian franchises (protestants/cults).

Paradise is a drab, banal, Orwellian world of steel and glass where everyone lounges around constantly being subconsciously indoctrinated. With nothing to do, the majority of Heaven has become addicted to Prime Time television for their regular fix of “life”.

God is a vegetable in a wheelchair. Paralyzed and left mute by a stroke after seeing Jesus’ crucifixion, the Almighty can only communicate via an electronic device similar to Stephen Hawking’s.

Other topics covered by the book are corruption in politics, the parasitic self-help movement, the rise of Russia, and Church abuses. The latter has proven inflammatory with the novel revealing that the Catholic Church runs a pornographic website as well as deals in organized crime

Symbolism

The story itself is very symbolic in points dealing with religion.

Christianity is criticized for being a cult of personality around Jesus, its very precepts being similar to those of authoritarian figures such as Hitler, Stalin, and others. It focuses on an all powerful, unquestionable, god-like figure who rules over all.

Likewise, the very tenets of Christianity call for no thought, only faith. Give, invest yourself totally. Forget your individual will. Become a part of the mass. Forget personality, originality, uniqueness. Be silent and let Jesus speak for you. Become part of the herd, the flock, and be led by your shepherd.

Thus the boring lifestyle of those that reside in Heaven. They can do nothing, are not allowed to live. All man’s needs are met, no reason for complaint allowed. It is a blissful retirement for those that furthered the Church in its work and growth on Earth. Yet these “retirees’” lives are bland perfection. Without needs or challenges the mortal is lost on the immortal plain. Their yearning for their former flawed lives is shown in their fascination with Prime Time television. It shows the counterproductive lifestyle of Heaven, how man is greatest in his attempt at perfection but is lost when he attains it. In becoming an ideal he loses what he is.

God himself is written as this helpless, mute figure at the whim of Existence. He serves as the perfect symbol of religion, a mystery that everyone projects their own views on to explain the unknowable. He is also shown to be quite human having created the Universe by accident.

The fall of Heaven into Existence is another symbolic facet of the novel. God, giving in to rage, loses control of his reason and shatters a part of Paradise. From that broken, flawed part of Paradise the Universe comes to be. It is the beginning of mortality over immortality.

Finally there is Satan, a figure that dares to challenge absolute evil. His intentions are not to destroy Existence but to save Paradise. He sees the threat of mortality to immortality and only assumes the mantle of destroyer in order to become a sort of savior. He is the ideal of corruption, that the ends may distort the means. In truth, Satan is a mockery of the Jesus character: he fell in order that Creation may continue.

Final Opinion

This was a fun novel. It went places I didn’t think anyone had the courage to. If one is able to read this book with the mindset that it is merely a fun diversion rather than a biblical tome then it is a great piece of entertainment. Don’t take it seriously. Have fun with it and its alterations on long established principles such as religion, God, Jesus, and Creation. The book isn’t bashing. It’s trying to tell a story.

This book is not meant to be a literary triumph. Far from. There may be some deep message buried in there but above all it is meant to make you laugh with its wild ride. This novel is a hilarious distraction from the very real and dangerous world we find ourselves in. You can’t help but to smile and chuckle as you read it. With the way things are today, who could ask for anything more?

Somewhere amid the picket fences and well manicured lawns is not exactly where you expect to find a butt kicking demon hunter. Which sets the stage for a unique adventure that will have Moms from coast to coast occasionally day dreaming about turning in the diaper bag for some holy water and a sharp object!

Kate Connor is certainly not the average stay-at-home Mother of two she appears to be. Keeping her past a secret from her husband and children became a lot harder on the eve of an all important dinner party. As a retired demon hunter, she should have paid more attention to her senses, when she noticed the strong stench of the undead while running through the local Wal-Mart. Much to her chagrin, the senior citizen demon would crash through the kitchen window as she prepared dinner for a group of eight that could easily make or break her husbands future political aspirations. While the perfect wine and proper table setting are essential to a successful dinner engagement - disposing of the body in the kitchen quickly became priority number one.

Julie Kenner does an excellent job bringing the reader into the world of Kate Connor. With a great deal of personality we come to understand Kate on a deeper level. Examining her hopes and dreams, as well as, the regrets and inner turmoil created by the death of her first husband, it is easy to see that even butt-kicking demon hunters feel fear. Surrounded by secrets and concerned for the safety of her family, Kate worries that her carefully constructed cocoon cannot withstand an onslaught of demon assaults.

I found a few minor glitches with the book. At times the plot line seems at odds with the characters. For example, the fact that Kate is a super-demon-slayer but was caught off guard by the demons that have infested San Diablo. The family’s all too easy acceptance of a stranger into their lives, introduced as Kate’s father-in-law from her first marriage, although she had previously stated that Eric had been an orphan And while not detracting from the story, the few typographical errors could easily be remedied.

Julie Kenner is a talented writer that has taken the mundane daily to-do list of Mom’s everywhere and spiced it up! After all is said and done the most important aspect of any book is the entertainment value - and Carpe Demon certainly has that! Filled with genuine laugh out loud moments, I enjoyed the book immensely and look forward to the second installment - “California Demon”. I am anxious to be reunited with this cast of characters.

On a personal note, I haven’t laughed out loud so many times while reading a book, in a very long time! This book is a lot of fun and I feel sure the adventures will only get better from here!

Happy Reading!RJ xx

This book is not, by even the remotest stretch of the imagination, meant to be insightful or enlightening. It's meant to be funny . . . an extended exercise in the snarky sort of humor that movie buffs use to amuse each other and (mostly without meaning to) annoy the general public. Done well, it can be extremely funny (if your taste in humor runs that way). Unfortunately, it's difficult to do well, as this collection of essays by all-purpose smartass Joe Queenan demonstrates.

The essays in this book fall into two basic categories. In the first, Queenan devises some reasonably clever stunt and then executes (usually multiple times with minor variations) and riffs on the results. Go stand the lobby of a multiplex where some horrible, third-rate movie is playing. Offer exiting patrons their money back. Repeat. Go stand in other lobbies and ask people to name the director of the movie they just saw. Riff on the fact that none of them know. Repeat. In the second, Queenan picks some overdone movie theme or motif and rattle off all the movies in which it's recently turned up. Movies where the stars have bad hair. Movies full of overdone romanticism about Ireland. Movies where people's ears are cut off or otherwise mutilated. Any of these ideas is good for a page or two, and some of them for more than that, but very few of them are worth an entire essay. Somewhere around the midpoint of nearly every essay, I found myself muttering "I *got* it already!" and flipping the pages.

Part of the problem is Queenan's tone. He feels like a harsher, angrier version of Dave Barry, and like Barry (but unlike more subtle bad-movie conisseurs like Roger Ebert, Stephen Hunter, or Kevin Murphy), he doesn't believe in modulation or rhythm. He takes a couple of paragraphs to get wound up to full shout . . . and then stays there for the rest of the piece. The "thematic" essays are particularly prone to this: He pounds away at the chosen theme, reeling off example after example without much concern for context, nuance, or subtlety. Reading him at any length leaves me feeling grim and exhausted, like I went to amateur night at my local rock-and-roll club and stayed *way* longer than I should have.

I write all this knowing that one person's idea of great humor is another person's idea of fingernails on a blackboard . . . and admitting that Queenan frequently (though intermittently) had me smiling. If you like his other stuff (or have reason to think that you might like his style), don't let me put you off. In humor, more than in most things, "your mileage may vary."

In the style of hilarious American essayists such as Sedaris, Vowell and Klosterman, Sloane Crosley shares her peculiar life for our reading delight. My favorite essay was certainly "The Pony Problem" which much to my chagrin resonated with my own foibles and quirks. This is what I found the most wonderful about her writing, you weren't laughing at her, but with her as she clearly sees the absurd in the situations she describes.

"Bring Your Machete to Work Day" as well as "Lay Like Broccoli" are also on the top of my list as smart, genuine and uproarious in their insights and unique view of experiences I have shared (playing Oregon Trail and being a lapsed vegetarian, respectively). Full of many original sentences one of my favorites was "Life starts out with everyone clapping when you take a poo and goes downhill from there".

To the credit of our uber-technology loving culture, the book has a website and on that website a video! And honestly, I have never seen a better "ad" for a book in my life. If the clip doesn't want to make you read the book, you are a stronger person that I am.

Have you ever wondered what happens to traffic at the border between two countries that drive on opposite sides? If you have (or even if you haven't, but now find your curiousity piqued) what better way to find out than to see it for yourself?

Not in the Guide Book is the book of the phenomenal website Google Sightseeing, and the satellite photograph of the Lotus Bridge linking China and Macau, which solves that particular traffic-control conundrum, is one of almost 100 fascinating, funny and frivolous entries you'll discover within. Film locations, religious monuments, military secrets, geological oddities all feature, plus the home of an Italian butcher and a 60 metre tall knitted pink bunny. Each is presented with a high quality satellite photograph and a short informative and often amusing description.

It took me under two hours to read the book for the first time. There's something compelling about the god-like point of view you get from satellite photograpy - as you'd expect most of the entries present landmarks and sights that just can't be appreciated from the ground - and the temptation to rattle through the book just to see what's in store next was too much for me.

As soon as I finished I started again from the beginning, this time with Wikipedia open. The real joy of Not in the Guide Book comes from getting online and exploring your favourite entries. I was disappointed to find no entry on Wikipedia for Stonefridge, the world's only Fridgehenge, but did find some good photos of it on Flickr.

This book is a whole lot of fun, and would make a great gift. It's full of interesting stuff that you want to explore and share with others. Highly recommended.

For Alex, the fun ended when his brilliant plan went awry and landed him on a neighbor's lawn, crushed lawn gnome under tire, puking his guts out on an officer's shoes. Though if you asked him, it's nothing to get in a tizzy over. Just a lawn gnome. So what if he intended to drive across down and didn't make it to the end of the road? No way does he need to pay for it by spending his time with someone as old, unpleasant, and abusive as Sol Lewis. No way. Too bad Judge Trent and his mother don't agree.

With no choice but to persist, Alex does eventually learn to handle Sol, eventually developing a rapport with him, if an uneasy one. Not until he arrives late one day, an occupies himself with guitar, thus accidentally discovering Sol's love for music, do they really begin to bond. And at this point, Alex has another brilliant idea. But this time it really is good. He's going to hold a concert at the home, with two of his insanely musically talented classmates, who he likes to call the Cha-KINGS.

Soon Alex is in it deep. After school practicing, trying to learn to keep up with two musical gods. Off-days, visiting Sol, trying to make the most of their time together, hard as that may sometimes be. In fact, he's begun thinking of staying on after his time is up. Even after Sol finds out he's not been there of his own accord and they have a falling out on New Year's Eve. Even after Sol shows him up at his own gig.

With the arrival of Valentine's Day, the situation gets more dire. Sol, who has emphysema, has been hospitalized with pneumonia. Alex gets the news as he's about to leave, and has no option but to go pick up his date, explain the situation, and head to the hospital. After enduring the visit, during which Sol does nothing but call her Laurie, Alex sets his date up with Laurie's date at the dance, after arriving, filling her in, and being directed to take her to the hospital right now.

By his return visit, Sol is looking better, but Alex is beginning to be forced to face the hard truth. He won't be around forever.

Back at the home, Sol and Alex continue their lessons, and Alex learns that Sol and the Cha-KING's have scheduled another show for April. Alex isn't entirely interested, but agrees on the condition that Sol will take part.

Though she didn't attend the first time, Alex takes the chance to invite Judge Trent to the concert, and this time she accepts. A fact that is even more surprising than Alex knows.

This was a really, really fun read, and exceptionally quick. You could add it to your pile and it would be gone again before you knew it.