Exercise in Terror, a novel by Stuart M. Kaminsky. New York: St. Martin's Press, [1985.] 278p.

Maureen Dietz and her children, Miles and Nancy, watch in horror from the family automobile as her husband David is beaten to death in the parking lot of a Chicago fast food restaurant. Eight years later, the murder is still unsolved, and the witnesses have all dealt with their memories of that night in their separate ways. When Maureen decides to allay her fears by confronting the murderers, and goes on television to do so, she sets up a chain of events that no one could have predicted. This gripping tale of suspense and surprise is set in 1980s Chicago.

Booklist, 9/1/1985, p. 31. Kirkus, 7/15/1985, p. 658. Publishers Weekly, 7/5/1985, p. 57.

Lieberman's Folly, [by] Stuart Kaminsky. New York: St. Martin's Press; A Thomas Dunne Book, [1991.] 216p.

Veteran Chicago police officers Abe Lieberman and Bill Hanrahan attempt to help their best informer and end up working on a ten-year-old murder that occurred in Texas.

Booklist, 2/1/1991, p. 1114. Kirkus, 1/15/1991, p. 79. Publishers Weekly, 2/1/1991, p. 69. Washington Post Book World, 3/17/1991, p. 6.

Lieberman's Law, [by] Stuart Kaminsky. New York: Henry Holt and Company, [1966.] 309p.

Chicago cop Abe Lieberman becomes emotionally involved when the temple he and his wife attend is vandalized because of the temple's moderate stance on Palestine. Militant Jews, Moslems, and a local skinhead group are suspected, but the protest escalates into violence and death before the case is solved.

Lieberman's Thief, [by] Stuart Kaminsky. New York: Henry Holt and Company, [1995]. 238p.

An unfortunate burglar happens onto a murder in progress, but runs rather than risk a jail term, at least until the murderer starts stalking him. Chicago homicide detectives Abe Lieberman and Bill Hanrahan investigate.

Armchair Detective, Summer/1995, p. 343.Booklist, 3/15/1995, p. 1312. Kirkus, 3/1/1995, p. 272. Publishers Weekly, 2/20/1995, p. 198. Washington Post Book World, 5/21/1995, p. 10.

You Bet Your Life, [by] Stuart M. Kaminsky. New York: St. Martin's Press, [1978.] 215p.

Chico Marx hires private eye Toby Peters to help clear him of a trumped-up gambling debt. Grouch, Harpo, Al Capone, Ian Fleming, and Richard Daily make cameo appearances in this tale of 1940s Chicago.

Kirkus, 2/1/1979, p. 154. Library Journal, 3/1/1979, p. 650. N. Y. Times Book Review, 4/22/1979, p. 20. Publishers Weekly, 1/29/1979, p. 106.

The New Atoms' Bombshell, [by] Robert Browne [pseud.] New York: Ballantine Books, 1980. 212p. (A Del Rey Book).

Despite the "first time in print" notation that appears on the cover of this paperback novel, a major portion of the text appeared in an earlier, hardcover edition entitled The Last Man Is Out, published under the by-line of Marvin Karlins in 1969. The addition of four new chapters and an occasional name change constitute the major differences in the new edition.

Publishers Weekly, 12/10/1979, p. 68.

Last Dance in Redondo Beach, [by] Michael J. Katz. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, [1989.] 255p.

Sportscaster Andy Sussman is in California covering the Celebrity Network Superteams competition when one of the athletes, a wrestler, dies. After proving that it was murder Andy and his best friend, detective Murray Glick, set about to find the killer among the victim's Chicago associates.

Booklist, 3/15/1989, p. 1252. Kirkus, 4/1/1989, p. 505. L. A. Times Book Review, 4/9/1989, p. 13. Publishers Weekly, 2/17/1989, p. 70.

Murder Off the Glass, [by] Michael J. Katz. New York: Walker and Company, [1987.] 218p.

When Lester Beldon is murdered during an electrical failure at a Chicago Flames/ Phoenix Suns basketball game, Lester's closest associate and frequent critic, play-by-play announces Andy Sussman, is suspected of the crime. Sussman's unorthodox method of clearing his name involves solving the murder, which he does quite ably with the help of a beautiful but competent female lawyer and an obnoxious and competent private detective. Chicago and the basketball scene are well drawn, and this light mystery is very entertaining from beginning to end.

Booklist, 3/1/1987, p. 983. Chicago Tribune Books, 5/10/1987, p. 6. Kirkus, 2/15/1987, p. 262. N. Y. Times Book Review, 6/21/1987, p. 36. Publishers Weekly, 2/20/1987, p. 75.

The Celibates, [by] James Kavanaugh. New York, Cambridge, Philadelphia, San Francisco, London, Mexico City, San Paulo, Singapore [and] Sydney: Harper & Row, Publishers, [1985.] 326p.

Ted Santek and Gerry Beauvais become roommates during their years at St. John's Provincial Seminary and form a friendship that lasts throughout their lives. Although from quite different backgrounds, each is thoroughly dedicated to the priesthood, but struggles in his own way with the vow of celibacy imposed by the Catholic Church. Kavanaugh, a former priest, tells an impassioned tale of love, restraint, compromise, and guilt as he contrasts the tragic lives of two men who challenge the stance of the Church concerning personal relations. The Celibates is set in Michigan and Illinois during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, at a time when war and social change are pressuring the Catholic Church to look introspectively at its dogma and practices. Kavanaugh presents a good view of the controversy and turmoil of the Church during those years, although personal biases are clearly represented.

Booklist, 4/15/1985, p. 1139. Best Sellers, 5/1985, p. 49. Kirkus, 3/15/1985, p. 241. Publishers Weekly, 3/22/1985, p. 51.

Chicago 11, [by] Day Keene. [New York:] A Dell Book/An Original Novel, [1966.] 220p.

The neighbors in a Chicago apartment building figure prominently in this sensational novel of the 1960s, which harks back to the Prohibition Era for background. The rape of a resident in the building is interrupted by several male neighbors who are attracted by the victim's screams. During the melee one of the rapists is shot, and one of the rescuers is stabbed. All eventually turns out well for the people involved, but not until the history of the building and the unsavory pasts of several of its residents are exposed.

Debt of Honor, [by] Adam Kennedy. New York: Delacorte Press, [1981.] 374p.

When Chet Treptow, a first-term senator from Illinois, is killed in an air disaster, his brother Gabe is chosen to finish out his term in the Senate. As soon as Gabe arrives in Washington, Rosemary Kosta, a free-lance journalist, begins asking questions about the plane crash, and eventually persuades Treptow to launch an investigation. As the two probe into the circumstances surrounding the crash and another similar one that occurred two weeks earlier, their worst suspicions are confirmed. Official evasiveness turns to warnings then to harassment and retaliation, but Treptow refuses to stop until he has exposed the international conspiracy and cover-up behind the incident. Although Washington is the primary locus of this suspense novel, the hero's association with Illinois, along with frequent trips and flashbacks to his home state warrant its inclusion in an Illinois bibliography.

Best Sellers, 3/1981, p. 424. Kirkus, 1/1/1981, p. 29. Library Journal, 2/15/1981, p. 470. Publishers Weekly, 12/19/1980, p. 39.

Father's Day; A Novel by Eugene Kennedy. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1981. 488p.

Thomas Kinsella follows family tradition by attending Notre Dame University, but unlike his father and brothers, shuns the business world to become a priest. Set in 1983, with lengthy flashbacks to earlier years from 1927 to the present, Father's Day deals with a crisis in Father Kinsella's life. Having become president of Notre Dame, Father Kinsella is faced with the decision to continue in his present position or accept a promotion to the post of Archbishop of Chicago. As he considers the offer, family pressures are brought to bear, a crisis on campus must be dealt with, the sudden death of a valued friend and advisor has a devastating effect, and strong personal conflicts surface. As Father Kinsella puts these pressures into perspective and deals with each in its turn, his story becomes a study in power. The setting is about equally divided between Chicago and South Bend, Indiana, and presents some interesting vignettes of such local figures as Knute Rockne, Big Bill Thompson, Anton Cermak, and Richard Daley.

Best Sellers, 6/1981, p. 87. Kirkus, 1/15/1981, p. 94. Library Journal, 3/15/1981, p. 681. Publishers Weekly, 1/30/1981, p. 64.

Queen Bee, [by] Eugene Kennedy. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1982. 330p.

The story of Ann Marie O'Brien's meteoric rise to the post of Mayor of Chicago is told with all the power that such a story commands. Following a brief introduction to the Chicago political scene in which Ann Marie catches the mayor's attention, she is appointed to a city commission and begins her climb to power by taking advantage of convenient circumstances, and by creating circumstances where none exist. That Ann Marie, a political novice, gets caught up in a web of her own making, goes without saying; but her strong determination, her bold plotting, and her brazen acts of political and personal daring make entertaining reading. Although set ten years in the future, many situations are suggestive of 1970s Chicago.

Kirkus, 9/1/1982, p. 1012. Publishers Weekly, 10/1/1982, p. 115.

Cricket Sings; A Novel of Pre-Columbian Cahokia, by Kathleen King. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, [1983.] 162p.

Cricket Sings, an elderly herb woman of the Mississippian tribe, recognizes that her life is drawing short and begins to prepare for her death. She begins to tell her stories to the younger family members so that they may be passed on; she takes an apprentice in order to pass on her medical skills; but she isn't prepared for the outside forces that impose themselves on her destiny. The death of the Sun King and the following funeral celebration, which includes sacrifice of several young women from the tribe, hurries Cricket Sings' fate, for her attempts to save her daughter, nieces, and sister-in-law result in her own death. Set in the Cahokia Area, Cricket Sings reconstructs the daily life of the Mississippian people, relying on the scraps of information available about their culture, and filling in the gaps from the author's imagination. The attempt is a success, for Cricket Sings is an original and credible interpretation of life among the prehistoric mound builders who lived along the Mississippi River near Cahokia long before the coming of the white man.

Library Journal, 7/1983, p. 1382. Publishers Weekly, 5/6/1983, p. 95.

The Iowa Baseball Confederacy, [by] W. P. Kinsella. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986. 310p.

Gideon Clarke's legacy from his father consists of an unapproved master's thesis detailing the events surrounding an exhibition baseball game played by the Chicago Cubs in Onomata, Iowa, in the summer of 1908, and a determination to prove that the game was in fact played. The game is not in the record books, and only one old man acknowledges that he remembers it or the Iowa Baseball Confederacy, but that's enough for Gideon. Through a fluke in time, he and his best friend Stan return to 1908 and participate in the game that runs for 2200 innings, and is called because of rain only after Onomata has been washed away by the rising flood waters of the Iowa River. A fantasy in the tradition of Kinsella's earlier novel, Shoeless Joe, The Iowa Baseball Confederacy is set almost entirely in Iowa, but strong association with the Chicago Cubs baseball team and several of its players and officials make it a likely candidate for inclusion in an Illinois bibliography.

Book Review Digest, 1987, p. 1016-17.

Ike and Porker, [by] Susan E. Kirby. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983. 145p.

Eleven-year-old Isaac Burk longs to accompany his father on the annual hog drive to Chicago. Intent on making the journey at any cost, he alternates between daydreaming and manipulating family members for his own ends, until the moment when the drovers and hogs head north on the long trek to market, and Isaac is left at home with his mother, sister, and injured older brother. A spur-of-the-moment decision to run away and follow the herd leads Isaac into adventures that make him realize the foolhardiness of his act and welcome discovery, despite the fear of punishment and the disappointment of being sent home. Set in central Illinois in 1837, Ike and Porker has a flavor of pioneer life, but is tempered with the hope and optimism of youth that makes it eternally intriguing, no matter what the generation.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 2/1984, p. 109. Horn Book, 12/1983, p. 710. School Library Journal, 2/1984, p. 74. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9/25/1983, p. 4B.

The Maple Princess, [by] Susan E. Kirby. New York: Avalon Books; Thomas Bouregy and Company, Inc.; 22 East 60th Street, [1982.] 184p.

Determined to continue operation of the family's maple syrup camp after the death of her father, Julie Logan is confronted with many problems, not the least of which is the precarious financial situation in which she finds herself. It is an unseen tormentor bent on driving Julie out of business, who harasses her into compromising her dream to keep the tree farm intact. After the sap buckets are maliciously dumped, the processing shed is burned, and Julie is attacked, she is finally convinced that renting the land is her only recourse. In spite of her disappointment, her failure is made palatable by the introduction of love interest into her life. A bit of suspense, a bit of love, strong characters with which to identify, and accurate information on an unusual occupation make this a readable and informative modern romance. Illinois is the stated setting of the novel, but the sense of place is not strong enough to reinforce the identity of the setting.

One Whispering Voice, [by] Susan Kirby. New York: Published by Silhouette Books; America's Publisher of Contemporary Romance, [1984.] 187p. (Silhouette Inspirations, #24).

Meg Wyatt has resented Cam Elliot from the day he bought her grandfather's maple grove and began modernizing the old man's traditional syrup making operation. Yet, Meg finds resentment hard to maintain when confronted with Cam's charm, good looks, and obvious romantic interest. The plot of this light inspirational romance is predictable and presents no great challenge to the reader. However, the central Illinois setting and maple syrup production subtheme provide information on a little known aspect of the state's varied agricultural industry.

Street Cops, [by] William Klasne. Englewood Cliffs, N[ew] J[ersey:] Prentice-Hall, Inc., [1980.] 234p.

Officer Clarich, called Clancy by his Irish supervisor, joins the Chicago Police Department as a rookie cop and resumes his education where the police academy left off. Assigned to work on a rotating basis with several seasoned officers in the Lakefront District, Clarich is introduced to a variety of shakedowns employed by policemen to supplement their incomes. As time passes and each new partner explains his specialty, pressure begins to build for Clarich to develop his own, calling for serious self-appraisal and creating disturbing moral conflicts. Having been a policemen for nine years, Klasne writes from experience in describing the hustles employed upon the public. As an expose, Street Cops is certainly enlightening, but as a novel representative of the total Chicago Police Department, too little emphasis is placed on the honest officers who are the mainstay of every police force.

Sins of Commission; A Novel by Harold L. Klawans, M. D. Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., [1982.] 340p.

A series of unexplained deaths in the neurology ward of Chicago's Austin Flint Medical Center is diagnosed as strychnine poisoning by Dr. Paul Richardson, head of the unit. An Arthur Conan Doyle scholar, Dr. Richardson employs Holmesian methods of observation and deductive reasoning in routine medical diagnosis. When one of his student doctors becomes the prime suspect in what appears to be murder by poisoning, Dr. Richardson applies his Holmes-based diagnostic talents to solve the mystery. Written by a doctor who grew up and currently practices in Chicago, Sins of Commission has the ring of authenticity in both subject matter and locale.

Best Sellers, 7/1982, p. 131. Kirkus, 3/1/1982, p. 295. Publishers Weekly, 3/26/1982, p. 70.

Who Was That Masked Woman? [by] Noretta Koertge. New York: St. Martin's Press, [1981.] 244p.

The acceptance of a young woman's lesbianism and her adjustment to an alternative lifestyle form the conflict in this introspective novel that reads like a memoir. While growing up in a small farming community in southeastern Illinois, and later teaching in a small church-affiliated college in a north Chicago suburb, Tretona Getroek is made painfully aware that she is different from other people, but she doesn't fully understand the difference or accept herself until she has explored Chicago's lesbian subculture, experimented with both straight and gay relationships, gone through counseling, and finally moved to London, where she meets other women with similar sexual orientations and backgrounds.

Kirkus, 6/15/1981, p. 755. Village Voice Literary Supplement, 10/1981, p. 4.

The Judge's Chambers and Other Stories, [by] Lowell B. Komie. [Chicago:] Academy Chicago, [1987.] 178p.

Komie examines human frailties that beset the law profession in this collection of thirteen short stories, most with Chicago settings.

CONTENTS: I Am Greenwald, My Father's Son.--The Interview.--The Loves of David Freund.--The Cornucopia of Julia K.--The Butterfly.--Picasso Is Dead.--Professor Strauss's Gift.--The Christmas Party.--Podhoretz Revisited.--The Balloon of William Fuerst.--The Law Clerk's Lament.--Mentoring.--The Judge's Chambers.

Booklist, 7/1987, p. 1650. Publishers Weekly, 5/22/1987, p. 69. Village Voice, 8/4/1987, p. 50.

Ring Around the Bases: The Complete Baseball Stories of Ring Lardner. Edited and with an Introduction by Matthew J. Bruccoli. Forward by Ring Lardner, Jr. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York, Oxford, Singapore, Sidney: Maxwell Macmillan International, [1992.] 609p.

Thirty-three sports stories and two classic newspaper articles written by Ring Lardner at the height of his career make up this impressive volume that includes such classics as "Alibi Ike" and "My Roomy".

CONTENTS: A Busher's Letters Home.--The Busher Comes Back.--The Busher's Honeymoon.--A New Busher Breaks In.--The Busher's Kid.--The Busher Beats It Hence.--Call for Mr. Keefe!--The Busher Reenlists.--The Battle of Texas.--Along Came Ruth.--The Busher Pulls a Mays.--My Roomy.--Sick 'em.--Horseshoes.--Back to Baltimore.--Alabi Ike.--Harmony.--The Poor Simp.--Where Do You Get that Noise?--Good for the Soul.--The Crook.--The Hold-Out.--The Yellow Kid.--The Bull Pen.--Women.--Hurry Kane.--One Hit, One Error, One Left.--When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain.--Lose with a Smile.--Meet Me in St. Louie.--Holycaust.--The Ides of June.--The Cost of Baseball.--The 1919 World Series.

Booklist, 6/15/1992, p. 1807. Chicago Tribune Books, 8/2/1992, p. 1. L. A. Times Book Review, 8/21/1992, p. 4. Library Journal, 6/1/1992, p. 182.

I Am Zoe Handke; A Novel by Eric Larsen. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1992. 216p.

A young girl grows up in the shadow of a beautiful, psychotic mother in the 1950s. The setting is suburban Chicago.

Kirkus, 12/15/1991, p. 1551. L. A. Times Book Review, 4/26/1992, p. 2. Library Journal, 2/1/1992, p. 126. N. Y. Times Book Review, 3/29/1992, p. 9. Publishers Weekly, 12/13/1991, p. 48.

The Sinful Ones, by Fritz Leiber. New York: Universal, [1950.] 319p.

An early tale of the supernatural, The Sinful Ones is based on the theme that the universe is a machine, and people are mindless automatons destined to follow a pattern. When Carr Mackey steps outside his life pattern, he enters a terrifying world in which others of his kind live by their wits in mortal competition. The novel is set in Chicago in the late 1940s, and presents an accurate view of the Loop area and several Chicago landmarks, including the Chicago Public Library and the Art Institute. The Sinful Ones, was published originally as a paperback double, bound with Arthur Scroog's Bulls, Blood, and Passion. In 1980 a slightly revised version was published by Pocket Books as a single.

The Architect, [by] Meyer Levin. New York: Simon and Schuster, [1981.] 413p.

The youth and early career of Frank Lloyd Wright provide the basis for this novel set primarily in Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois. Through the fictionalized story of Andrew Lane, the reader is made to see how family background--a father's devotion to art, a mother's permissiveness, a father's desertion, a family's support--leads to the development of genius which refuses to be bound by the provincialism of turn-of-the-century society. Frank Lloyd Wright's early life was influenced by such notables as Louis Sullivan, Clarence Darrow, Jane Addams, Carl Sandburg, and Ernest Hemingway, and interesting vignettes of each are included in the novel. Although The Architect is not Levin's best work, it presents a strong impression of Chicago's growth and development from the 1880s to the beginning of World War I.

Best Sellers, 3/1982, p. 451. Booklist, 10/15/1981, p. 266. Kirkus, 11/1/1981, p. 1362. Library Journal, 12/1/1981, 2332. N. Y. Times Book Review, 1/3/1982, p. 9. Publishers Weekly, 11/13/1981, 75. West Coast Review of Books, 4/1982, p. 42.

The Harvest; A Novel by Meyer Levin. New York: Simon and Schuster, [1978.] 670p.

Modern Jewish history is treated in detail from the point of view of the Chaimovitch family, early Palestinian settlers who were instrumental in the founding of the Jewish nation. The novel focuses on Mati, the youngest, who studies at the University of Chicago in the 1930s, raises money to buy an airplane, which is used for training pilots for the future Israeli air force, and returns home with his American wife to join the British Territorial Government, where he works toward the Jewish goal of a free Israel. Gidon, killed in a terrorist raid, Menahem, who endured the horrors of Auschwitz; Nahum, the developer; Tanya, who survived the slaughter of Kiev only to die on a refugee ship; and others of the Chaimovich family play influential roles in this important novel of the1930s and 1940s.

Booklist, 3/1/1978, p. 1084. Best Sellers, 7/1978, p. 105. Kirkus, 1/1/1978, p. 17. Library Journal, 3/1/1978, p. 587. N. Y. Times Book Review, 2/19/1978, p. 14. Publishers Weekly, 1/8/1978, p. 71.

The Innocence That Kills, [by] Ronald Levitsky. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York, Oxford, Singapore [and] Sydney: Maxwell Macmillan International, [1994.] 254p.

Nate Rosen, a Washington, D. C. civil rights lawyer, returns to Chicago, where he was reared, to defend two young men charged with the rape and murder of a teenager. While the case progresses and Rosen sometimes employs questionable tactics to free his clients, he is forced to examine his own personal and professional ethics when his daughter's safety is threatened.

Booklist, 6/1/1994, p. 1776. Kirkus, 4/1/1994, p. 439. Publishers Weekly, 4/18/1994, p. 49.

Black Earth, And Other Stories by Martin Litvin. [Galesburg, IL: Sunlight Books, 1984.] 372p.

Five short stories deal positively with prejudice, whether it be against gays, Jews, or blacks.

CONTENTS: Black Earth.--The Good Sport.--Old Bricks.--In Praise of Thieves.--A Rocking Horse Family.

Once More the Sun; A Novel by Vivian Lord, [pseud.] New York: Fawcett Gold Medal, [1982.] 350p.

The years from 1892 to 1941 provide an appropriate backdrop for the story of Jonas and Anita Mark, influential Chicago architects throughout much of the period. Married without family approval, Jonas and Anita spend most of their early married life in Europe, bur return to Chicago at the outbreak of World War I to begin a new life in their old home. The Mark's marriage is the antithesis of pleasure and pain, for their perfect love is often threatened by family problems and outside forces. Although some of the situations in the novel seem contrived, the author has recreated the time in authentic and well drawn detail, including good views of Chicago's two world's fair and the forces leading up to two major wars.

Publishers Weekly, 3/19/1982, p. 68.

Traitor in My Arms; A Novel by Vivian Lord, [pseud.] New York: Fawcett Gold Medal, [1979.] 382p.

Dona Olwen, a Comanche half-breed woman, marries Stephen Raike as part of an unlikely plot to revenge her parent's deaths. However, love complicates her plan, while murder and her husband's imprisonment on false charges give her ample opportunity to experience independence and evaluate her motives and goals. Set in Texas, Chicago, and St. Louis during pre-Civil War times, the novel provides good views of those locales in the early 19th century. Descriptions of Chicago streets, gambling houses, bordellos, hotels, and homes of the city's social leaders are well done. Historic events such as the raising of the streets and building of the city are included. Major weaknesses of the novel are unlikely plot and inconsistent characterization.

Publishers Weekly, 2/5/1979, p. 94. Washington Post Book World, 3/4/1979, p. F1.

Guys Like Us, [by] Tom Lorenz. New York: The Viking Press, [1980.] 255p.

Buddy Barnes, left-fielder for the Chicago Sticks softball team, is turning thirty and determined to prove that it is no big deal. In the process of proving his point, he alienates his wife, loses his job, and presses friendships to the breaking point. As he drifts through the softball season dividing his time between drunken debaucheries and the softball diamond, only the game maintains any semblance of reality for him. When the season has ended and the Sticks have won the city championship, Buddy realizes that his softball career is over, and begins trying to pull his life together again, but finds his wife uninterested, his friends cautious, and himself an admitted loser. In a funny, poignant way, Lorenz deals with the topic of male mid-life crisis, while giving the reader an entertaining sports story in the bargain.

Kirkus, 8/15/1980, p. 1105. Library Journal, 10/15/1980, p. 2232. Publishers Weekly, 9/19/1980, p. 144.

Serious Living, [by] Tom Lorenz. [New York:] Viking. [1988.] 213p.

Members of each generation must make their peace with the world, and Ritchie Kohler is struggling to do just that. Discontent in the family-owned grocery store and at odds with his demanding father, Ritchie abandons home for a job in the real world, only to return later to settle down with his neighborhood sweetheart and run the family business. Serious Living relates Ritchie's adventures in search of his true calling. A new job bartending at a cocktail lounge near O'Hare Airport; sharing an apartment with a friend of questionable character; involvement with a single mother whose son needs a father figure--these are the things that Ritchie's life is made of until tragedy jars him back to reality and sends him home to family and friends. A touching coming-of-age novel set in modern Chicago, Serious Living has just the right blend of truth and reality to appeal to any man who has ever rebelled against family and authority.

Booklist, 5/1/1988, p. 1477. Chicago Tribune Books, 7/10/1988, p. 6. Kirkus, 4/1/1988, p. 482. Library Journal, 7/1988, p. 93. Publishers Weekly, 4/15/1988, p. 76.

The Sharing, A Novel by Roslyn Rosen Lund. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1978. 216p.

Bill Mandel thought he had made adequate provision for his family's security in the event of his death, but when death became a reality, those he trusted most--his mother, his brothers, his business associate, his attorney--conspire to withhold his legacy from his wife and children. The Sharing, is Sophie Mandel's story as she faces up to the reality of widowhood. Although she abhors her adversaries' tactics, she meets them on their own ground and fights determinedly for what is hers. Still longing for her husband, her former life, her marriage, she nevertheless accepts a job, returns to college to complete her Ph.D., actively seeks new friends to replace those who stopped calling after Bill's death, and cautiously considers a second love. The Sharing explores the Psyche of the middle-aged widow, considering both her inner strengths and vulnerability in relation to the social alienation that accompanies the loss of a husband. The setting is suburban Chicago and New York City in the 1970s.

Booklist, 3/15/1978, p. 1165. Kirkus, 2/1/1978, p. 127. Library Journal, 3/15/1978, p. 684. Ms, 7/1978, p. 32. Publishers Weekly, 2/6/1978, p. 89.

The Pelican and After; A Novel About Emotional Disturbance, [by] Tom Wallace Lyons. Richmond, [VA:] Prescott, Durrell & Company, 1983. 268p.

Tony Hastings, an emotionally disturbed teenager, is enrolled in a school for special children near the University of Chicago. During the course of his fourteenth year, Tony begins to make real progress in understanding his feelings of low self-esteem that manifest themselves in the form of violence toward others. A Florida vacation with his family marks a milestone in his therapy, for during that period he acknowledges his problem. The death of his grandmother and the onset of puberty also help him to focus on his needs. Tony's emotional growth is noticeable as the novel progresses, so his request to leave the school and his doctor's denial of the request end the work on a negative note, particularly since Tony's maladjustment seems hardly more severe than that experienced by thousands who have never sought or received treatment. The novel is based on the author's eleven years at Bruno Betelheim's Orthogenic School on the University of Chicago campus.

Best Sellers, 9/1983, p. 205. Kirkus, 7/15/1983, p. 783. Publishers Weekly, 8/5/1983, p. 81.