Boneyards, [by]Robert Campbell. New York: Pocket Books, [1992.] 298p.

The Chicago political machine is in turmoil following Mayor Richard Daley's death. One candidate looking for a campaign issue focuses on police on the take, and identifies Sergeant Ray Sharkey as the most likely cop to take a fall. This is Sharkey's story. An Irish cop, son of an Irish cop, Sharkey is a strong, self-assured veteran of the force who has manipulated to get himself into an unsavory business with a mob faithful. As members of The Candidate's election team set the scene for Sharkey's fall, Sharkey plays his card close the his chest, and might have won the hand had it not been for unexpected family intervention. Campbell has told another gripping story of political intrigue and police procedures, overridden by binding family ties, friendships gone awry, and pasts that come back to haunt.

Kirkus, 9/1/1992, p. 1075. Publishers Weekly, 9/7/1992, p. 74.

The Cat's Meow; A Jimmy Flannery Mystery, [by] Robert Campbell. New York and Scarborough, Ontario: NAL Books; New American Library, [1988.] 199p.

The death of Father Mulrooney's cat and the sale of St. Patrick's churchyard to a business developer lead Jimmy Flannery, Precinct Captain of Chicago's 27th Ward, to look into some political double-dealing, black magic, a practical joke, and the death of a well-loved cleric.

Booklist, 9/1/1988, p. 41. Chicago Tribune Books, 10/30/1988, p. 6. Kirkus, 9/1/1988, p. 1277. Library Journal, 10/1/1988, p. 103. Publishers Weekly, 9/2/1988, p. 89.

The Gift Horse's Mouth; A Jimmy Flannery Mystery, [by] Robert Campbell. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo [and] Singapore: Pocket Books, 1990. 198p.

When Jimmy Flannery is asked to investigate quietly the death of a political stalwart in Chicago's Democrat Machine, he finds that the lady's missing dentalwork is his best clue.

Booklist, 9/15/1990, p. 142. Publishers Weekly, 10/12/1990, p. 48.

Hip-Deep in Alligators; A Jimmy Flannery Mystery, [by] Robert Campbell. New York and Scarborough, Ontario: NAL Books; New American Library, 1987. 206p.

Campbell's third Jimmy Flannery mystery, and the first to appear in hard cover, sees the indefatigable Precinct Captain of Chicago's 27th Ward back at his old job in Chicago sewers, paying a political debt. When Flannery discovers a dead body while making his rounds, he launches his own investigation independent of the Chicago police, and unearths a drug smuggling ring that makes his life and political future even more precarious than before.

Booklist, 10/15/1987, p. 363. Kirkus, 9/15/1987, p. 1350. Library Journal, 10/1/1987, p. 112. Publishers Weekly, 9/4/1987, p. 56.

In a Pig's Eye; A Jimmy Flannery Mystery [by] Robert Campbell. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo, [and] Singapore: Pocket Books, [1991.] 217p.

Jimmy Flannery has finally become Democratic Chairman of Chicago's 27th Ward and is taking his work very seriously as he sets out to find the identity of a man who dies while exercising at the Paradise Health Club.

Booklist, 8/1991, p. 2103. Kirkus, 8/1/1991, p. 970. Publishers Weekly, 8/2/1991, p. 66.

The Junkyard Dog, [by] Robert Campbell. [New York:] New American Library; A Signet Book, [1986.] 190p.

In the first of Campbell's James Flannery series, James, sewer inspector for the City of Chicago and Precinct Captain for the 27th Ward, turns amateur investigator when a demonstration in front of an abortion clinic results in violence toward a personal friend. Three murders, a political cover-up, attempted bribery, and a variety of other shady deals come to light before the case is resolved; and even then, it is resolved through personal manipulation, calling in markers, and eye-for-eye retribution. Campbell, a Hollywood screen writer, has produced a very enjoyable parody of Chicago life and politics which displays more than a little truth, despite obvious sterotypes.

Booklist, 7/1986, p. 1585. Chicago Tribune Books, 10/12/1986, p. 5. N. Y. Times Book Review, 9/14/1986, p. 38. Publishers Weekly, 5/23/1986, p. 99. Chicago Tribune Books, 10/19/1986, p. 3.

Nibbled to Death by Ducks, [by] Robert Campbell. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, [and] Tokyo. Pocket Books, [1989.] 220p.

When an old friend is put into a nursing home unnecessarily, Jimmy Flannery investigates. What he finds is fraud, elder abuse, and murder.

Booklist, 4/1/1988, p. 429. Kirkus, 9/15/1989, p. 1362. Publishers Weekly, 9/29/1989, p. 61.

The 600-Pound Gorilla, [by] Robert Campbell. [New York:] New American Library; A Signet Book, [1987.] 236p.

In this, the second novel of Campbell's Jimmy Flannery series, a cold winter and an old heating plant cause Chicago officials to seek temporary housing for Baby, star gorilla at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. The choice of a gay bathhouse in Flannery's 27th Ward seems a reasonable alternative to a cold ape house, and everyone is happy, including Baby, until two murders in the bathhouse and a cover-up downtown put Flannery on the spot. Chicago city politics plays an important role in this entertaining novel of favors and intrigue among the aging principles of Chicago's tottery Democratic Machine, as new blood threatens to infiltrate and erode the influence of the city's old guard.

Publishers Weekly, 1/8/1988, p. 45.

Thinning the Turkey Herd; a Jimmy Flannery Mystery, by Robert Campbell. New York and Scarborough, Ontario: New American Library; NAL Books, [1988.] 183p.

Jimmy Flannery, Democratic Precinct Captain for Chicago's 27th Ward, seems alway to have his finger on the pulse of the city. In this adventure in which Jimmy is asked by his old friend, Alderman Janet Canarias, to look into the disappearance of a young Chicago model, Jimmy has to do some mighty fancy foot work to protect himself and his job as he uncovers a murderer on the way to the governor's mansion.

Booklist, 4/1/1988, p. 1315. Kirkus, 2/15/1988, p. 244. N. Y. Times Book Review, 6/19/1988, p. 29. Publishers Weekly, 3/11/1988, p. 89. Washington Post Book World, 5/15/1988, p. 8.

A Woman of Destiny, [by] Orson Scott Card. New York: Berkley Books, [1984.] 713p.

Based on the diary of Dinah Kirkham, an early prophetess of the Mormon Church and spiritual wife of both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, this book chronicles life in Nauvoo from 1840 when the town is little more than a tent and lean-to community with grandiose plans, to 1846, when the Saints abandon it for the long trek to theUtah territory. The Kirkham family's conversion to Mormonism is here, along with their journey from England to Nauvoo, Dinah's introduction to polygamy, the death of Joseph Smith at the hands of a mob, the power struggle for leadership of the Church after Joseph Smith's death, and preparation for the western migration as the Mormons look for a place where they can practice their religion undisturbed. A Woman of Destiny is an historical romance liberally laced with religious dogma; and as such, may have difficulty finding an audience. However, for historical accuracy, the novel presents a fine picture of the Mormon Church in Illinois, and the building of one of the State's most scenic river towns.

L. A. Times Book Review, 7/22/1984, p. 8. Publishers Weekly, 11/25/1983, p. 59. West Coast Review of Books, 3/1984, p. 42.

The Star Country, [by] Michael Cassutt. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1986. 180p.

In the year 2038 civil war has reduced the United States to a collection of competing independent governments such as the People's Republic of Chicago, the Great State of Texas, and the Central States of America. When extraterrestrials visit the planet with a plan for rejuvenation, competition increases and war seems eminent after one of the aliens disappears with the plan.

Kirkus, 7/1/1986, p. 976. N. Y. Times Book Review, 9/21/1986, p. 31. Publishers Weekly, 6/20/1986, p. 94.

The Bonnyclabber, [by] George Chambers. Illustrations by Willaim B. Mulstay. [Western Springs, Illinois and Princeton, New Jersey:] Co-published by December and Panache, [1972.] 99p.

There is no recognizable plot; rather, The Bonnyclabber is a series of impressions achieved through a variety of print media--footnotes, newspaper clippings, fairy tales, letters, prints--which together form a collage representing the workings of a mind attempting to bring order out of chaos. Set loosely in Peoria, the novel is not bound by constraints of time and place, just as it is not bound by other traditions of literature. The Bonnyclabber is imaginative, unique, and intriguing for those who are willing to disregard rules and let their imaginations soar with the author.

N. Y. Times Book Review, 3/4/1973, 32-33.

Bucks, [by] Peter Chandler. [New York:] Avon, Publishers of Bard, Camelot and Discus Books, [1980.] 262p.

Gianfranco Bardolucci, a Sicilian-American with Mafia connections, attempts to succeed in the world of business, but is thwarted by jealous competitors, news media, and public opinion. Unsuccessful in the straight world, he plans the ultimate robbery--a multimillion dollar heist at Chicago's Regency Security Company. Bucks is an absorbing novel of crime and suspense, including a strong statement on ethnic prejudice and stereotypes regarding Sicilian-Americans which adds a dimension beyond the ordinary crime novel.

Publishers Weekly, 3/14/1980, p. 72.

Broken Vows; A Novel of Betrayal, by Robert J. Charles. New York: Dembner Books, [1981.] 224p.

Three days in the lives of two newly married couples reveal the sources of many conflicts within the Catholic Church. John Callahan and Tom O'Rourke are former priests who have broken their vows of celibacy and poverty to return to the secular life. As they plan for their future--one wanting an inheritance he had previously spurned; the other attempting to get a book published--they and their wives, one a former nun, get caught up in elaborate schemes to manipulate other people to their own advantage. As their schemes come to fruition, the marriage vows are threatened and bonds of family and friendship are severely strained. Many of the current issues of the Catholic Church come under scrutiny, and the conflicts accompanying the issues are examined. The novel is set in Chicago during Holy Week, 1969.

Booklist, 4/15/1981, p. 1138. Best Sellers, 7/1981, p. 126. Kirkus, 2/15/1981, p. 227. Library Journal, 2/15/1981, p. 901. Publishers Weekly, 3/13/1981, p. 74.

Chicago Works: A Collection of Chicago Authors' BEST Stories. Chicago: The Morton Press, 1990. 200p.

Twenty-two short stories--the personal favorites of twenty-two current Chicago writers--constitute this anthology that captures the flavor of Chicago past and present.

CONTENTS: The Beach Umbrella, by Cyrus Colter.--Pet Milk, by Stuart Dybek.--The Journal of a Wife Beater, by Harry Mark Petrakis.--The Rock Garden, by Mary Gray Hughes.--Re-Entry: Chicago, by Michael Anania.--Sartre is a Cold Fish, by June Rachuy Brindel.--Julie, by Andrew Greeley.--The Waning of the Middle Ages, by Eugene Wildman.--What We Learned in Vietnam, by James Park Sloan.--Coming Back a Star, by Laurie Levy.--Last Rights, by Hilding Johnson.--From Treemont Stone, by Angela Jackson.--Noble Rot, by Richard Stern.--James Jeans (Not James Dean) and the Jiffy Lube Man, by James McManus.--Papageno, by Asa Baber.--The Vanishing Point, by Reginald Gibbons.--He Read to Her, by Anne Brashler.--Risk, by Charles Dickinson.--Gallagher's Old Man, by Larry Heineman.--City Dogs, by Bill Brashler.--Coming Around the Horn, by Fran Podulka.--Twenty Questions, by Marcia Froelke Coburn.

American Heaven; A novel by Maxine Chernoff. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, [1996.] 218p.

Irena Bozinska, a modern day Polish immigrant to Chicago, takes a job as personal assistant to Harrison Waters, an elderly jazz musician, even though she has been a professor of mathematics in Poland. Her life with Waters leads to friendships with an elderly Chicago gangster and his assistant, whose stories become intermingled with Irena's in intricate and intimate ways. However, it is only after a return to Poland that Irena accepts her new life and looks to the future in her adopted city.

Booklist, 4/1/1996, p. 1345. Kirkus, 3/1/1996, p. 311. Library Journal, 2/15/1996, p. 173. Publishers Weekly, 3/4/1996, p. 53.

Signs of Devotion; Stories [by] Maxine Chernoff. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo, [and] Singapore: Simon & Schuster, [1993.] 222p.

A Chicago writer deals creatively with life's exasperations, disappointments, and longings.

CONTENTS: Jury Duty.--Baudelaire's Drainpipe.--The Untouchables.--Death Swap.--Heathcliff.--The Stockholm Syndrome.--Saving the Australian Elephant.--Keys.--Element.--Signs of Devotion.--The River Shannon.--Six-Oh.--Somewhere Near Tucson.--Where Events May Lead.--Kabuki Everything.--California.--Something to Admire.--November.--Two Men.--As Sure as Albert Schweitzer.

Booklist, 7/1993, p. 1943. Kirkus, 5/15/1993, p. 613. Library Journal, 6/15/1993, p. 99. Publishers Weekly, 5/24/1993, p. 66.

Ruined for Life; a novel by Elizabeth Christman. New York [and] Mahwah: Paulist Press, [1987.] 136p.

A recent graduate of Notre Dame volunteers a year of her life to an alcohol rehabilitation program in Chicago. Her decision to continue at the rehab center after the year is over meets family resistance but a tragedy points her toward her future vocation.

Book Report, 5/1988, p. 25.

Those Lake View Wives, by Charles Cohen. New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., [1989.]

Jack Klein suspects that he may be next after three of his Lake View, Illinois, friends suffer mysterious deaths.

Kirkus, 5/15/1989, p. 712. Publishers Weekly, 5/19/1989, p. 68.

Dying in the Post-War World; A Nathan Heller Casebook, [by] Max Allan Collins. Woodstock, Vermont: A Foul Play Press Book; The Countryman Press, [1991.] 251p.

Chicago detective Nate Heller applies his unconventional crime solving techniques in the five short stories and one novella based on actual cases from the 1920s and 1930s.

CONTENTS: Dying in the Post-War World.--Private Consultation.--House Call.--Marble Mildred.--The Strawberry Teardrop.--Scrap.

Kirkus, 9/1/1991, p.1118. Publishers Weekly, 9/13/1991, p. 66.

Kill Your Darlings, [by] Max Allan Collins. New York: Walker and Company, [1984.] 212p.

Mallory, an Iowa-based writer of mystery novels, is in Chicago for the annual Bouchercon Convention. When his idol and mentor Roscoe Kane drowns in a hotel bathtub after a night of hard drinking, the police consider it an accident and refuse to investigate further. But Malory is not convinced. Using circuitous methods he discovers a publishing fraud, domestic troubles in Kane's life, and the identity of Kane's murderer, which he reveals in a public expose that rivals Perry Mason in drama and suspense.

Booklist, 1/1/1985, p. 619. Best Sellers, 2/1985, p. 411. Kirkus, 9/1/1984, p. 827. Publishers Weekly, 8/31/1984, p. 424. Wilson Library Bulletin, 2/1985, p. 408.

The Million-Dollar Wound, [by] Max Allan Collins. New York: St. Martin's Press, [1986.] 335p.

Nate Heller of True Detective andTrue Crime surfaces again as the central figure in this portrait of Chicago during World War II. Nate and his buddy Barney Ross enlist in the Marines, even though they are past draft age, and end up in Guadalcanal where physical wounds and mental stress get both of them sent back to the States. Home again, Nate finds Chicago much as he had left it, but he views the crime and violence of the past from a new perspective. It is through his eyes that the reader sees the decline and fall of the Frank Nitti mob. Although he plays down his own part in the action, Nate is always in the thick of things, playing both ends against the middle. Eliot Ness, Robert Montgomery, Sally Rand, and other personages of the 1930s and 1940s lend credence to this tale of gangsters and girls and G-Men and cops based on a history of Chicago that everyone finds fascinating, but no one can verify for certain.

Booklist, 2/1/1986, p. 794. Kirkus, 2/15/1986, p. 254. Publishers Weekly, 2/7/1986, p. 62. Washington Post Book World, 3/16/1986, p. 6.

Neon Mirage, [by] Max Allan Collins. New York: St. Martin's Press; A Thomas Dunne Book, [1988.] 275p.

The fourth installment in the Nate Heller Memoirs, is set in Chicago in 1946. When gambling czar James Ragen is gunned down gangland style on the streets of Chicago, Nate feels obligated to find the killer, since he was being paid to protect Ragen and had obviously bungled it. Two suspects loom large: Jake Guzik and Bugsy Segal, each willing to kill for Ragen's territory. Collins is a master of the historical detective novel and has produced the perfect blend of fact and fiction, real and imagined characters, in this intriguing novel of Chicago's 1940s gang wars.

Booklist, 2/1/1988, p. 906. Kirkus, 1/1/1988, p. 17. Publishers Weekly, 12/18/1987, p. 58.

True Crime, [by] Max Allan Collins. New York: St. Martin's Press, [1984.] 357p.

Collins expands the theory that a fall guy was gunned down by G-Men in front of Chicago's Biograph Theater in July, 1934, rather than John Dillinger, America's public enemy number one. Focusing on Nate Heller, A Chicago private investigator who is used to set up Jimmy Lawrence to take the fall for Dillinger, the author presents his fictionalized version of the Dillinger episode, then adds credence to his theory through a later encounter with Dillinger and the Barkers. Fiction is inextricably interwoven with fact, and imaginary characters interact with real gangland figures in this intriguing historical novel of Chicago during the 1930s.

Booklist, 1/1/1985, p. 619. Kirkus, 12/1/1984, p. 1120. Publishers Weekly, 11/2/1984, p. 68.

True Detective, [by] Max Allan Collins. New York: St. Martin's Press, [1983.] 358p.

Nate Heller, a plain-clothes cop with the Chicago Police Department, becomes disillusioned after an incident in which he is pressured to perjure himself on the witness stand in order to support a colleague. Turning in his badge, he becomes a private investigator, only to discover that many of the problems are the same. Set in Chicago during the early 1930s, the novel focuses on Heller, but Heller's friendships with Eliot Ness and Barney Ross, encounters with Frank Nitti, Anton Cermak, Al Capone, and General Dawes, and cameo appearances of George Raft, Walter Winchell, Franklin Roosevelt, and other celebrities of the time provide impressions of the era that few other writers have been able to capture. A Chicago setting that ranges from the Hoovervilles of the Depression to the Century of Progress Exposition provides views of the city that will not be soon forgotten.

Booklist, 1/15/1984, p. 716. Kirkus, 11/15/1983, p. 1172. Library Journal, 1/1984, p. 113. Publishers Weekly, 11/18/1983, p. 61.

The Amoralists & Other Tales; Collected Stories by Cyrus Colter. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, [1988.] 283p.

Eighteen short stories represent Black life in Chicago during the 1960s.

CONTENTS: A Man in the House.--A Chance Meeting.--The Rescue.--The Lookout.--Girl Friend.--Rapport.--Mary's Convert.--Black Dinner.--Moot.--Overnight Trip.--An Untold Story.--After Ball.--A Gift.--The Beach Umbrella.--The Amoralists.--The March.--Macabre.--The Frog Hunters.

Kirkus, 9/15/1988, p. 1368. Publishers Weekly, 9/30/1988, p. 61.

Sex Life; A Novel by Bruce Cook. New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc., [1978.] 288p.

The murder of John Gawlor and a thirteen-year-old boy in an Evanston apartment sets police investigators probing into Gawlor's past. What they discover is a man preoccupied with sex, whose obsession has become his undoing. The author has attempted to portray the development of a sexual deviate; however, what he has accomplished is a catalog of sexual encounters documenting that development, but he has not captured the psychological implications of the experiences on the individual.

Booklist, 3/15/1979, p. 1131. Kirkus, 11/1/1978, p. 1205. Library Journal, 12/15/1978, p. 2535. Publishers Weekly, 11/27/1978, p. 52. Wall Street Journal, 2/2/1979, p. 12. West Coast Review of Books, 3/1979, p. 30.

Satin Dolls, [by] Elsa E. Cook. New York: Published by Pocket Books, [1987.] 442p.

The rise of the Afro-American in America is told through five generations of black women whose lives span the years from the Civil War to the present.

Publishers Weekly, 7/17/1987, p. 57.

Funny as a Dead Comic; a Kimmey Kruse Mystery, [by] Susan Rogers Cooper. New York: St. Martin's Press; A Thomas Dunne Book, [1993.] 214p.

Kimmey Kruse is a stand-up comic, playing Chicago's Kaiser Komedy Klub and sharing the bill with her old flame, Cab Neusberg. When Cab tries for a rerun with Kimmey, but cashes it in before the final curtain, Kimmey looks mighty like a suspect, especially after an autopsy reveals that he died from a massive dose of digitalis, so Kimmey solves the mystery herself to clear her name. Cooper tells a catchy tale of murder, liberally laced with massive doses of humor.

Kirkus, 10/1/1993, p. 1227. Publishers Weekly, 10/4/1993, p. 66. Washington Post Book World, 11/21/1993, p. 8.

John's Wife; A Novel, [by] Robert Coover. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo, [and] Singapore: Simon & Schuster, [1996.] 428p.

John is rich, powerful, ruthless, and loved as only a money-grubbing real estate developer and civic leader can be. John's wife is beautiful, coveted, elusive, and loved in a way totally different from John. They are the local aristocracy--John the town's civic and economic leader; John's wife the ethereal image of each person's fantasy. The reader is never introduced directly to John's wife--we are never even told her name--yet the plot, such as it is, develops around her and the memories, images, and fantasies of the townspeople--twenty or more--who have met her in some capacity. The nameless community, somewhere in the midwest, may likely be a composite of Illinois towns from Coover's youth.

Booklist, 4/15/1996, p. 1420. Library Journal, 3/1/1996, p. 104. Publishers Weekly 2/5/1996, p. 75. Washington Post Book World, 3/31/96, p. 6.

Whatever Happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears? [by] Robert Coover. New York: The Linden Press/Simon and Schuster, 1987. 154p.

The Great Depression and the 1930s are mirrored in Coover's rendition of Gloomy Gus's less-than-glorious football career. Gus's meteoric rise to fame based on determination rather than talent; his bizarre sexual exploits off the field; and the misguided political activities that lead to his untimely demise indicate characteristics that border on the absurd. In fact, the plot might be characterized as absurd, if it did not parody so perfectly the career of former President Richard Nixon.

Booklist, 10/1/1987, p. 217. Chicago Tribune Books, 8/16/1987, p. 3. Kirkus, 7/15/1987, p. 1011. Library Journal, 10/1/1987, p. 106. N. Y. Times Book Review, 9/27/2987, p. 9. Publishers Weekly, 7/19.1876, p. 56. USA Today, 9/11/1987, p. 4D.

Polaroid Man, by Michael Cormany. [New York:] An Irma Heldman/Birch Lane Press Book Published by Carol Publishing Company, [1991.] 228p.

Dan Kruger finds the suburbs as dangerous as the city when he is lured out of Chicago temporarily to solve a crime of passion compounded by blackmail.

Armchair Detective, Fall/1991, p. 487. Booklist, 6/15/1991, p. 1935. Publishers Weekly, 5/10/1991, p. 275.

Red Winter, by Michael Cormany. [New York:] An Irma Heldman/Lyle Stewart Book, Published by Carol Communications, [1989.] 202p.

Chicago P. I. Dan Kruger finds himself the target of an unknown gunman after snooping into blackmail, political graft, and other criminal activities.

Booklist, 3/15/1989, p. 1251. Bloomsbury Review, 5/1989, p. 6. Chicago Tribune Books, 6/11/1989, p. 6. Library Journal, 4/1/1989, p. 117. Publishers Weekly, 2/17/1989, p. 70.

Rich or Dead, by Michael Cormany. [New York:] An Irma Heldman/Birch Lane Press Book, Published by Carol Publishing Group, [1990.] 190p.

Dan Kruger, inept P. I., gets led into the Chicago drug underworld by a client who forgets to pay.

Library Journal, 3/1/1990, p. 119. Publishers Weekly, 2/23/1990, p. 207.

Skin Deep is Fatal, by Michael Cormany. [New York:] An Irma Heldman/Birch Lane Press Book; Published by Carol Publishing Group, [1992.] 194p.

An animal rights group moves from peaceful demonstrations to hostage taking, extortion, and murder when its leader becomes greedy. Chicago investigator Dan Kruger cooperates with the police on this one.

Booklist, 4/1/1992, p. 1430. Kirkus, 2/15/1992, p. 217. Publishers Weekly, 2/24/1992, p. 46.

Middle Murphy, [by] Mark Costello. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, [1991.] 137p.

Six short stories look at the life of Michael Murphy of Decatur, Illinois, and his attempts to come to terms with feelings of inadequacy. His depature from home as a youth, subsequent visits with his parents. and his mother's death constitute the collection.

CONTENTS: Young Republicans.--The Soybean Capital of the World.--The Roaring Margaret.--Forty-Hour Devotion.--Room 401.--Finding My Niche.

Kirkus, 7/15/1991, p. 873. N. Y. Times Book Review, 9/22/1991, p. 52. Publishers Weekly, 8/23/1991, p. 45.

The Chicagoans: Dust to Diamonds, [by] M. S. Craig. [New York:] A Jove Book, [1981.] 308p.

Fiction based on Chicago's growth and development from 1856 to 1906, Dust to Diamonds presents a fine panorama of historical fact interwoven with somewhat less palatable fiction. Focusing on Bay Fortune, the bastard son of a Chicago lumber dealer, the author skillfully tells of the Chicago fire and the rebuilding of the city afterward; the Pullman strike; the Haymarket riot; the World's Columbian Exposition; the depression that followed, and a multitude of lesser events in the city's past. Historical accuracy is maintained throughout the novel, and perspective is gained through frequent references to national events.

Publishers Weekly, 8/25/1981, p. 86.

Lake Shore Drive, [by] Patrick Creevy. New York: TOR; A Tom Doherty Associates Book, [1992.] 383p.

A young Chicago man seeks professional help to overcome the death of his father from cancer and the unexplained rift between him and his best friend.

Booklist, 12/15/1992, p. 714. Kirkus, 10/15/1992, p. 1271. Publishers Weekly, 11/2/1992, p. 52. Rapport, 4/1993, p. 29.

Lucky to be Alive?, [by] Alice Cromie. New York: Simon and Schuster, [1978.] 317p.

When a young woman accepts a summer position tutoring the son of a famous Chicago painter, she becomes unknowingly involved in theft and murder.

Kirkus, 11/15/1978, p. 1261.

United We Stand, A novel by Alvin Robert Cunningham. Cover by Tim Decker. First Edition. Huntington, West Virginia: University Editions, Inc.; 59 Oak Lane, Spring Valley, 1990. 126p.

Adjusting to a new school is always difficult, but to Terry Crompton it seems an insurmountable problem without the guidance of his father, who was killed in an automobile accident recently. Roosevelt Elementary, in a south Chicago suburb, is altogether different from the school Terry had attended, and he wishes he could run away to Wisconsin where he had been happy. Gradually he learns to cope with the bigger school, the class bully, and his own feelings, as he recalls lessons and values instilled in him by his father.