One of The "Chicago Tribune"'s Best Reads of 2011.One of Dublin's most powerful men meets a violent end--and an acknowledged master of crime fiction...... more

One of The "Chicago Tribune"'s Best Reads of 2011.One of Dublin's most powerful men meets a violent end--and an acknowledged master of crime fiction delivers his most gripping novel yet.On a sweltering summer afternoon, newspaper tycoon Richard Jewell--known to his many enemies as Diamond Dick--is discovered with his head blown off by a shotgun blast. But is it suicide or murder? For help with the investigation, Detective Inspector Hackett calls in his old friend Quirke, who has unusual access to Dublin's elite.Jewell's coolly elegant French wife, Francoise, seems less than shocked by her husband's death. But Dannie, Jewell's high-strung sister, is devastated, and Quirke is surprised to learn that in her grief she has turned to an unexpected friend: David Sinclair, Quirke's ambitious assistant in the pathology lab at the Hospital of the Holy Family. Further, Sinclair has been seeing Quirke's fractious daughter Phoebe, and an unlikely romance is blossoming between the two. As a record heat wave envelops the city and the secret deals underpinning Diamond Dick's empire begin to be revealed, Quirke and Hackett find themselves caught up in a dark web of intrigue and violence that threatens to end in disaster.Tightly plotted and gorgeously written, "A Death in Summer "proves to the brilliant but sometimes reckless Quirke that in a city where old money and the right bloodlines rule, he is by no means safe from mortal danger.

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Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack, The Hole might, more appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front...... more

Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack, The Hole might, more appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front of a fiery backdrop; it owes far more to Tales of the Unexpected than the slick US teen movies (I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty) it tries so hard to imitate. This British horror flick displays the same cheap production values as the 1970's series, but rather than staying within the confines of a half-hour TV slot, The Hole stretches its thin, but promising, premise over 90 minutes. Based on Guy Burts novel, the story follows three rich kids from an exclusive English boarding school who avoid their school field trip by hiding out in an underground bunker. Liz (a suitably embarrassed Thora Birch) tags along for the ride in the hope that she may consummate her crush on Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington), the school's resident American hipster. They are then left imprisoned, which should be the cue for The Breakfast Club Goes Insane but isnt, as director Nick Hamm eschews the straightforward in favour of clumsy flashbacks and contrived plot twists, robbing the film of any tension or shock and turning it into a tiresome stretch in the company of four very disagreeable stereotypes. The Hole is a witless movie, entirely lacking the self-referential humour and technical skill of its better American counterparts. If you want classic British horror, try Peeping Tom or The Wicker Man instead. The Hole is a movie that may be set deep underground, but ultimately its a very shallow experience. On the DVD: the extras add nothing to this movie. The theatrical trailer and widescreen 2.35:1 ratio come as standard. Of the nine deleted scenes the original coda for the end of the movie is the only one worth seeing purely because it is so ludicrous. Director Hamm's po-faced commentary sheds little illumination into this deep, dark hole. --Tom Nash

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One of The "Chicago Tribune"'s Best Reads of 2011.One of Dublin's most powerful men meets a violent end--and an acknowledged master of crime fiction...... more

One of The "Chicago Tribune"'s Best Reads of 2011.One of Dublin's most powerful men meets a violent end--and an acknowledged master of crime fiction delivers his most gripping novel yet.On a sweltering summer afternoon, newspaper tycoon Richard Jewell--known to his many enemies as Diamond Dick--is discovered with his head blown off by a shotgun blast. But is it suicide or murder? For help with the investigation, Detective Inspector Hackett calls in his old friend Quirke, who has unusual access to Dublin's elite.Jewell's coolly elegant French wife, Francoise, seems less than shocked by her husband's death. But Dannie, Jewell's high-strung sister, is devastated, and Quirke is surprised to learn that in her grief she has turned to an unexpected friend: David Sinclair, Quirke's ambitious assistant in the pathology lab at the Hospital of the Holy Family. Further, Sinclair has been seeing Quirke's fractious daughter Phoebe, and an unlikely romance is blossoming between the two. As a record heat wave envelops the city and the secret deals underpinning Diamond Dick's empire begin to be revealed, Quirke and Hackett find themselves caught up in a dark web of intrigue and violence that threatens to end in disaster.Tightly plotted and gorgeously written, "A Death in Summer "proves to the brilliant but sometimes reckless Quirke that in a city where old money and the right bloodlines rule, he is by no means safe from mortal danger.

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Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack, The Hole might, more appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front...... more

Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack, The Hole might, more appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front of a fiery backdrop; it owes far more to Tales of the Unexpected than the slick US teen movies (I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty) it tries so hard to imitate. This British horror flick displays the same cheap production values as the 1970's series, but rather than staying within the confines of a half-hour TV slot, The Hole stretches its thin, but promising, premise over 90 minutes. Based on Guy Burts novel, the story follows three rich kids from an exclusive English boarding school who avoid their school field trip by hiding out in an underground bunker. Liz (a suitably embarrassed Thora Birch) tags along for the ride in the hope that she may consummate her crush on Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington), the school's resident American hipster. They are then left imprisoned, which should be the cue for The Breakfast Club Goes Insane but isnt, as director Nick Hamm eschews the straightforward in favour of clumsy flashbacks and contrived plot twists, robbing the film of any tension or shock and turning it into a tiresome stretch in the company of four very disagreeable stereotypes. The Hole is a witless movie, entirely lacking the self-referential humour and technical skill of its better American counterparts. If you want classic British horror, try Peeping Tom or The Wicker Man instead. The Hole is a movie that may be set deep underground, but ultimately its a very shallow experience. On the DVD: the extras add nothing to this movie. The theatrical trailer and widescreen 2.35:1 ratio come as standard. Of the nine deleted scenes the original coda for the end of the movie is the only one worth seeing purely because it is so ludicrous. Director Hamm's po-faced commentary sheds little illumination into this deep, dark hole. --Tom Nash

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The drama was poured on aplenty in the second season of The O.C. , as the sun-dappled denizens of Orange County found their lives massively upended and then...... more

The drama was poured on aplenty in the second season of The O.C. , as the sun-dappled denizens of Orange County found their lives massively upended and then some. At the end of the first season, the Cohen household had been reduced to two--parents Sandy and Kirsten (Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan)--as the boys had flown the coop, moody Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) back to Chino and goofy Seth (Adam Brody) for the wide expanse of the Pacific (somehow ending up in Portland, Oregon). Once the prodigal sons returned home, thanks to a lot of persuading, both tried to mend relationships with their former girlfriends, Marissa (Mischa Barton) and Summer (Rachel Bilson). While friendships were solidified, everyone was dating someone else: Seth was with sultry club manager Alex (Olivia Wilde), Summer with sensitive polo jock Zach (Michael Cassidy), Ryan with smart girl Lindsay (Shannon Lucio), and Marissa with her family's pool guy and a bottle of vodka. That's just the first half of this year of The O.C. , and we haven't even gotten to the adults yet. Both Sandy and Kirsten found themselves tempted away by more-than-willing suitors, and wicked Julie (Melinda Clarke), Marissa's mom, cheated on new husband Caleb (Alan Dale) with ex-husband Jimmy (Tate Donovan). An extremely tangled web was woven, one from which the show almost didn't recover: the Lindsay storyline started out strong but went nowhere, Sandy's ex-girlfriend (Kim Delaney) was a bit of a bore, and the same-sex relationship between Marissa and Alex never really gelled. All seemed like sure-fire character additions, but it was the later peripheral characters, including Billy Campbell as a magazine editor smitten with Kirsten and the menacing yet sexy Logan Marshall-Green as Ryan's ex-con brother, who injected The O.C. with energy, and helped steer the show back on course. Brody, who became the show's de facto poster boy, got to show off his comedic talents with the wonderful Bilson (who rode the Zach-Seth-Summer romantic triangle most smoothly), and the heretofore sullen McKenzie got to lighten up quite a bit, until the show's violent yet effective season finale. Forsaking a good amount of its comedy for drama, The O.C. got a little too seriously soapy, but its characters were so compelling you couldn't stop watching--even waiflike Marissa grew some edges. Clarke's scheming Julie was a constant pleasure to watch, and Rowan turned Kirsten's late-season downturn into a steely yet heartfelt portrayal. Despite the bumps, The O.C. remained one of the most exciting shows to look forward to week after week, a soap with smarts thanks to its fresh dialogue, gifted cast, and careening plot arcs. --Mark Englehart

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Rees is undoubtedly a popular and prolific writer for young people, but ever since the immense success of her historical sagas like Witch Child and Pirates!,...... more

Rees is undoubtedly a popular and prolific writer for young people, but ever since the immense success of her historical sagas like Witch Child and Pirates!, she has not written many of the disturbing thrillers or other kinds of psychologically taught fiction for young adults like she used too. The Wish House is just such a novel, being moody and very dark, with emotions aplenty simmering under the surface of each page. Richard, Rees main character and in his twenties when the book begins, recalls a tumultuous, pivotal summer in his life. In 1976, while on holiday in South Wales, he was a naive 15-year-old temporarily in the thrall of a family of free-living, free-loving, drug-imbibing bohemians who have renovated and moved into one of his old childhood haunts, the Wish House. He is shocked by their nudity, openness and artistic lifestyle but is lured into their world by kindness, sexual awakening and fascination. The object of his affections, Clio, is like no girl he has ever met before. She is fresh-faced, gorgeous, supremely confident and easy to talk to. They soon become intimate and Richard loses himself to her completely. For days on end, in the hot summer sun, while Richard poses for Clios father, Jay, a famous artist, her mother and brother swirl around them, greeting friends, eating, drinking, swimming, partying on the beach--living a decadent life with no inhibitions. But Richard soon discovers there are secrets in this house, and that surface appearances can hide complicated and twisted relationships that will finally explode into tragedy. Rees book is about how people can manipulate others, and how innocents can be so easily snared by something different and seemingly glamorous. Instead of focusing on plot, the author dissects her cast of characters and exposes their many foibles to great effect. (Age 14 and over) --John McLay

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If you like murder and dig beachwear, you'll love The In Crowd. Former obsessive Adrien is released from a mental institution (cue ominous music) and her nice...... more

If you like murder and dig beachwear, you'll love The In Crowd. Former obsessive Adrien is released from a mental institution (cue ominous music) and her nice psychiatrist finds her a summer job at a snooty country club, apparently reasoning that there's no better place to rebuild your self-esteem. Adrien quickly encounters the rich kids, who mostly run around being rich and beautiful. Rich queen Brittany decides to become Adrien's new best friend. Could it be for (oh, no!) the wrong reasons? Actually, her reasons turn out to be baffling, along with the rest of the poorly thought-out plot and thinly sketched characters. Director Mary Lambert makes a game attempt at building suspense with incredibly dark lighting and generic Spooky Music, but the script doesn't give her any help. The ending involves one of those elaborate, Scooby Doo-ish plots that require knowing precisely how someone will react and exactly where she will go when she is very, very upset. Nonetheless, the movie presents lots of attractive young people in swimwear and provides an excellent opportunity to play the which-of-these-actors-will-still-have-a-career-next-year game. Enjoy.--Ali Davis, Amazon.com

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Rees is undoubtedly a popular and prolific writer for young people, but ever since the immense success of her historical sagas like Witch Child and Pirates!,...... more

Rees is undoubtedly a popular and prolific writer for young people, but ever since the immense success of her historical sagas like Witch Child and Pirates!, she has not written many of the disturbing thrillers or other kinds of psychologically taught fiction for young adults like she used too. The Wish House is just such a novel, being moody and very dark, with emotions aplenty simmering under the surface of each page. Richard, Rees main character and in his twenties when the book begins, recalls a tumultuous, pivotal summer in his life. In 1976, while on holiday in South Wales, he was a naive 15-year-old temporarily in the thrall of a family of free-living, free-loving, drug-imbibing bohemians who have renovated and moved into one of his old childhood haunts, the Wish House. He is shocked by their nudity, openness and artistic lifestyle but is lured into their world by kindness, sexual awakening and fascination. The object of his affections, Clio, is like no girl he has ever met before. She is fresh-faced, gorgeous, supremely confident and easy to talk to. They soon become intimate and Richard loses himself to her completely. For days on end, in the hot summer sun, while Richard poses for Clios father, Jay, a famous artist, her mother and brother swirl around them, greeting friends, eating, drinking, swimming, partying on the beach--living a decadent life with no inhibitions. But Richard soon discovers there are secrets in this house, and that surface appearances can hide complicated and twisted relationships that will finally explode into tragedy. Rees book is about how people can manipulate others, and how innocents can be so easily snared by something different and seemingly glamorous. Instead of focusing on plot, the author dissects her cast of characters and exposes their many foibles to great effect. (Age 14 and over) --John McLay

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The drama was poured on aplenty in the second season of The O.C. , as the sun-dappled denizens of Orange County found their lives massively upended and then...... more

The drama was poured on aplenty in the second season of The O.C. , as the sun-dappled denizens of Orange County found their lives massively upended and then some. At the end of the first season, the Cohen household had been reduced to two--parents Sandy and Kirsten (Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan)--as the boys had flown the coop, moody Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) back to Chino and goofy Seth (Adam Brody) for the wide expanse of the Pacific (somehow ending up in Portland, Oregon). Once the prodigal sons returned home, thanks to a lot of persuading, both tried to mend relationships with their former girlfriends, Marissa (Mischa Barton) and Summer (Rachel Bilson). While friendships were solidified, everyone was dating someone else: Seth was with sultry club manager Alex (Olivia Wilde), Summer with sensitive polo jock Zach (Michael Cassidy), Ryan with smart girl Lindsay (Shannon Lucio), and Marissa with her family's pool guy and a bottle of vodka. That's just the first half of this year of The O.C. , and we haven't even gotten to the adults yet. Both Sandy and Kirsten found themselves tempted away by more-than-willing suitors, and wicked Julie (Melinda Clarke), Marissa's mom, cheated on new husband Caleb (Alan Dale) with ex-husband Jimmy (Tate Donovan). An extremely tangled web was woven, one from which the show almost didn't recover: the Lindsay storyline started out strong but went nowhere, Sandy's ex-girlfriend (Kim Delaney) was a bit of a bore, and the same-sex relationship between Marissa and Alex never really gelled. All seemed like sure-fire character additions, but it was the later peripheral characters, including Billy Campbell as a magazine editor smitten with Kirsten and the menacing yet sexy Logan Marshall-Green as Ryan's ex-con brother, who injected The O.C. with energy, and helped steer the show back on course. Brody, who became the show's de facto poster boy, got to show off his comedic talents with the wonderful Bilson (who rode the Zach-Seth-Summer romantic triangle most smoothly), and the heretofore sullen McKenzie got to lighten up quite a bit, until the show's violent yet effective season finale. Forsaking a good amount of its comedy for drama, The O.C. got a little too seriously soapy, but its characters were so compelling you couldn't stop watching--even waiflike Marissa grew some edges. Clarke's scheming Julie was a constant pleasure to watch, and Rowan turned Kirsten's late-season downturn into a steely yet heartfelt portrayal. Despite the bumps, The O.C. remained one of the most exciting shows to look forward to week after week, a soap with smarts thanks to its fresh dialogue, gifted cast, and careening plot arcs. --Mark Englehart

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If you like murder and dig beachwear, you'll love The In Crowd. Former obsessive Adrien is released from a mental institution (cue ominous music) and her nice...... more

If you like murder and dig beachwear, you'll love The In Crowd. Former obsessive Adrien is released from a mental institution (cue ominous music) and her nice psychiatrist finds her a summer job at a snooty country club, apparently reasoning that there's no better place to rebuild your self-esteem. Adrien quickly encounters the rich kids, who mostly run around being rich and beautiful. Rich queen Brittany decides to become Adrien's new best friend. Could it be for (oh, no!) the wrong reasons? Actually, her reasons turn out to be baffling, along with the rest of the poorly thought-out plot and thinly sketched characters. Director Mary Lambert makes a game attempt at building suspense with incredibly dark lighting and generic Spooky Music, but the script doesn't give her any help. The ending involves one of those elaborate, Scooby Doo-ish plots that require knowing precisely how someone will react and exactly where she will go when she is very, very upset. Nonetheless, the movie presents lots of attractive young people in swimwear and provides an excellent opportunity to play the which-of-these-actors-will-still-have-a-career-next-year game. Enjoy.--Ali Davis, Amazon.com

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Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack, The Hole might, more appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front...... more

Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack, The Hole might, more appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front of a fiery backdrop; it owes far more to Tales of the Unexpected than the slick US teen movies (I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty) it tries so hard to imitate. This British horror flick displays the same cheap production values as the 1970's series, but rather than staying within the confines of a half-hour TV slot, The Hole stretches its thin, but promising, premise over 90 minutes. Based on Guy Burts novel, the story follows three rich kids from an exclusive English boarding school who avoid their school field trip by hiding out in an underground bunker. Liz (a suitably embarrassed Thora Birch) tags along for the ride in the hope that she may consummate her crush on Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington), the school's resident American hipster. They are then left imprisoned, which should be the cue for The Breakfast Club Goes Insane but isnt, as director Nick Hamm eschews the straightforward in favour of clumsy flashbacks and contrived plot twists, robbing the film of any tension or shock and turning it into a tiresome stretch in the company of four very disagreeable stereotypes. The Hole is a witless movie, entirely lacking the self-referential humour and technical skill of its better American counterparts. If you want classic British horror, try Peeping Tom or The Wicker Man instead. The Hole is a movie that may be set deep underground, but ultimately its a very shallow experience. On the DVD: the extras add nothing to this movie. The theatrical trailer and widescreen 2.35:1 ratio come as standard. Of the nine deleted scenes the original coda for the end of the movie is the only one worth seeing purely because it is so ludicrous. Director Hamm's po-faced commentary sheds little illumination into this deep, dark hole. --Tom Nash

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With A Whistling Woman, AS Byatt reaches the fourth and final instalment in her popular sequence of novels, after The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life and Babel...... more

With A Whistling Woman, AS Byatt reaches the fourth and final instalment in her popular sequence of novels, after The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life and Babel Tower. It is now the summer of 1968. Newly divorced Frederica is living with Agatha and their children while pursuing a somewhat desultory affair with John Ottakar. But everything changes when John accepts a post at the University of North Yorkshire, while Frederica stumbles into a new career on television A Whistling Woman is a busy, energetic novel, juggling its various plot strands--experimental scientists, psychiatric patients with nasty secrets, the upper echelons of university life--with the slick skill of a TV soap. Characters, familiar and new, are evoked with Byatt's customary easy vividness, but this time the exuberance is tempered by a noticeable sourness. One gets the distinct sense throughout the novel that by 1968 British society as we know it has started to spiral downhill. For Frederica, whereas "the carpet of the 50s was woven of many colours, in fine threads", the sixties were "like a fishing-net woven horribly loose and slack with only the odd very bright plastic object caught in its meshes, whilst everything else had rushed and flowed through, back into the undifferentiated ocean". Echoing Frederica's disillusion, Byatt's satire is more than usually acerbic towards various targets--in particular in her account of the newly politicised academy (which seems more a parody of 80s political correctness than of 60s activism). But for those dying to know what life brings to Frederica, then A Whistling Woman will be a welcome end to the years of waiting.--Alan Stewart

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It comes as something of a relief to find that Oceans Thirteen eases itself back to the charm and suave, sophisticated swagger that underpinned the first in...... more

It comes as something of a relief to find that Oceans Thirteen eases itself back to the charm and suave, sophisticated swagger that underpinned the first in whats become a trilogy of capers. And for those who endured the self-indulgent mess that was Oceans Twelve, this latest and final entry in the franchise is a very welcome treat, proving very much that lessons were learnt. Dropping Catherine Zeta Jones and Julia Roberts from the cast list, but signing up the smaller matter of Al Pacino instead, the rest of the players remain broadly intact. So its George Clooneys Danny Ocean who leads the team of cons, supported by Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle and Carl Reiner. And its the easy chemistry between these and the rest of the team that underpin what makes Oceans 13 such an enjoyable ride. The plot pits Ocean and his gang against Al Pacinos ruthless casino boss, and while the script perhaps lacks the cleverness and dense plotting that worked so well in the first adventure, it still leaves plenty of room for outright entertainment. The end result is an easy-to-enjoy caper, thats not the equal of Oceans Eleven, yet far superior to Oceans Twelve. And considering it was released in the midst of a summer where threequels generally werent too well received, Oceans Thirteen arrives in fine shape, and rounds off the trilogy with panache. --Jon Foster

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It comes as something of a relief to find that Oceans 13 eases itself back to the charm and suave, sophisticated swagger that underpinned the first in whats...... more

It comes as something of a relief to find that Oceans 13 eases itself back to the charm and suave, sophisticated swagger that underpinned the first in whats become a trilogy of capers. And for those who endured the self-indulgent mess that was Oceans 12, this latest and final entry in the franchise is a very welcome treat, proving very much that lessons were learnt. Dropping Catherine Zeta Jones and Julia Roberts from the cast list, but signing up the smaller matter of Al Pacino instead, the rest of the players remain broadly intact. So its George Clooneys Danny Ocean who leads the team of cons, supported by Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle and Carl Reiner. And its the easy chemistry between these and the rest of the team that underpin what makes Oceans 13 such an enjoyable ride. The plot pits Ocean and his gang against Al Pacinos ruthless casino boss, and while the script perhaps lacks the cleverness and dense plotting that worked so well in the first adventure, it still leaves plenty of room for outright entertainment. The end result is an easy-to-enjoy caper, thats not the equal of Oceans 11, yet far superior to Oceans 12. And considering it was released in the midst of a summer where threequels generally werent too well received, Oceans 13 arrives in fine shape, and rounds off the trilogy with real panache. --Jon Foster

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With confident style and low-budget ingenuity, Jeepers Creepers gets under your skin, provoking spine-tingling horror when college siblings Trish (Gina Philips)...... more

With confident style and low-budget ingenuity, Jeepers Creepers gets under your skin, provoking spine-tingling horror when college siblings Trish (Gina Philips) and Darry (Justin Long) encounter a flesh-eating demon along a barren rural highway. After a harrowing car chase that sets the movies nerve-wracking tone, they investigate suspicious activity near an abandoned church, where a corrugated pipe leads to unimaginable horrors. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game against the regenerating demon, which feeds on fear--and selected body parts--according to a psychic (Patricia Belcher) who adds chilling portent to the routine climax in a besieged police station. Writer-director Victor Salva (Powder) emphasises primal fear over logic, but plot holes are easily forgiven when you're scared out of your socks. A surprise box-office hit in late summer 2001, Jeepers Creepers will please even jaded horror fans with its back-to-basics frights. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.comOn the DVD:Jeepers Creepers on disc shows off the dark tones and menacing shadows of this urban horror road movie to great oppressive effect in this anamorphically enhanced 1.85:1 widescreen special edition. The schlock-horror soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and although the film predominantly relies on back-to-basics shock tactics, the audio track handles the balance of subtle dialogue and dramatic crescendos well. The DVD is also packed full of cultish extras. There are six featurettes, which add up to about an hour of documentary footage bringing together all the aspects of the production process from audition tapes, artwork, behind the scenes stuff and even a documentary on the film's two other "stars" the twins' 1960s Impala car, and the creeper's van. There is also a healthy spattering of deleted scenes an audio commentary by writer/director Victor Salva, trailers and a photo gallery. --Kristen Bowditch END

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Camp Rock is a Disney Channel original movie about a rockin' teen summer camp that's highly appealing to tweenies and young teens despite the movie's...... more

Camp Rock is a Disney Channel original movie about a rockin' teen summer camp that's highly appealing to tweenies and young teens despite the movie's failure to favourably compare with truly great Disney Channel movies like High School Musical. Joe Jonas (of the Jonas Brothers stars as Shane Gray, a member of the rock band Connect 3, who is compelled to serve as an instructor at Camp Rock in order to counteract his increasingly negative public image. Tess Tyler (Meaghan Jette Martin) is the camp diva whose self-absorption defies description, Caitlyn (Alyson Stoner) is a past Tess groupie who's now ostracised from the popular kids at camp, and Mitchie (Demi Lovato) is a camp newcomer whose mother is the camp cook. Caitlyn initially befriends Mitchie, but the friendship wanes when Mitchie makes up an elaborate story about her family to get accepted into Tess's exclusive clique. As Mitchie struggles to maintain her façade around camp, Shane begins to reform his bad-boy ways and find his own personal voice and he and Mitchie become friends--unfortunately, their new relationship is based partially on Mitchie's lies. In the end, Mitchie's deception is exposed as is Tess' true villainy and the perfect summer camp experience threatens to turn into the worst summer ever for everyone involved. Camp Rock is infused with lots of energy, fun choreography, and a ton of good, if not particularly memorable, music. Add in the cast of generally unlikable characters with extreme characteristics whose changes of heart at the end of the film are not particularly believable, and Disney's got an entertaining film for tweenies and teens that adults might just as well skip. --Tami HoriuchiCamp Rock 2: A summer spent at music camp is all about fun, friends, and making music together, and Mitchie (Demi Lovato) can't wait to return to Camp Rock to see her friends (Alyson Stoner, Meaghan Martin) and spend some quality time with Shane (Joe Jonas). Unfortunately, greed, rivalry, and the relentless pursuit of perfection threaten to sour the whole Camp Rock experience when the new Camp Star across the water lures many of the Camp Rock campers and counselors away. The new enterprise promises industry exposure and higher pay and then challenges Camp Rock to a high-stakes final jam challenge that threatens to put the camp out of business. Mitchie rises to the challenge and takes on a huge leadership role, finding replacement counselors and working to create a winning show for the final jam, but the pressure to win affects everyone's camp experience, making it less about fun and the enjoyment of music and more about winning the competition. It also leaves Mitchie and Shane with virtually no time to spend together. Camp Rock 2 has an abundance of good, memorable songs presented with lots of energetic choreography. The characters are generally more likable and believable than they were in the original Camp Rock, but the plot could be more engaging: while viewers will certainly root for Mitchie and the camp to succeed, neither Mitchie nor this film's new characters (Chloe Bridges, Matthew "Mdot" Finley) inspire a particularly overwhelming emotional investment. Nonetheless, tweens and teens will love Camp Rock 2--they'll watch it repeatedly, memorize the words with the help of the rock-along special feature, and probably learn a few new dance moves. (Ages 7 and older) --Tami Horiuchi

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It comes as something of a relief to find that Oceans Thirteen eases itself back to the charm and suave, sophisticated swagger that underpinned the first in...... more

It comes as something of a relief to find that Oceans Thirteen eases itself back to the charm and suave, sophisticated swagger that underpinned the first in whats become a trilogy of capers. And for those who endured the self-indulgent mess that was Oceans Twelve, this latest and final entry in the franchise is a very welcome treat, proving very much that lessons were learnt. Dropping Catherine Zeta Jones and Julia Roberts from the cast list, but signing up the smaller matter of Al Pacino instead, the rest of the players remain broadly intact. So its George Clooneys Danny Ocean who leads the team of cons, supported by Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle and Carl Reiner. And its the easy chemistry between these and the rest of the team that underpin what makes Oceans 13 such an enjoyable ride. The plot pits Ocean and his gang against Al Pacinos ruthless casino boss, and while the script perhaps lacks the cleverness and dense plotting that worked so well in the first adventure, it still leaves plenty of room for outright entertainment. The end result is an easy-to-enjoy caper, thats not the equal of Oceans Eleven, yet far superior to Oceans Twelve. And considering it was released in the midst of a summer where threequels generally werent too well received, Oceans Thirteen arrives in fine shape, and rounds off the trilogy with panache. --Jon Foster

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As the number one bestselling saga writer in this country, Josephine Cox utilises elements of her own tough past to create a tale that is both involving and...... more

As the number one bestselling saga writer in this country, Josephine Cox utilises elements of her own tough past to create a tale that is both involving and effective, while always being firmly grounded in reality. Cox has created some memorable and distinctive heroines, but Looking Back's Molly Tattersall is something special: a character who undergoes considerable change under the great stresses that are placed upon her, and with whom the reader strongly identifies. Molly's mother has disappeared, leaving only a letter in which she asks her daughter to look after her five brothers and sisters. She cannot depend upon her feckless father, who similarly neglects his duties, and she is put in an impossible situation. She must choose between the young man she loves or, forsaking her happiness, look after the children. It is the hardest decision she has ever had to make. And while we are caught up in the drama of Molly's difficult choices, Cox is working her magic with other plot strands that will ultimately become important. Who was the stranger who called upon her mother shortly before she disappeared? It is a cliché to describe a writer like Cox as a born storyteller, but there is simply no other way to describe her appeal. Nevertheless, other elements are subtly utilised by the author to weave her spell: a powerful sense of time (Looking Back begins in the summer of 1948, and the reader is always conscious of the passing of time); then there are the evocatively drawn locales. Most of all, though, it is the characterisation that remains Cox's trump card, and here, particularly with the beleaguered Molly, she excels herself. The dialogue, too, has the salty taste of authentic working class life: "I know it sounds terrible", she murmured, "and it makes me look like a hard woman, and happen I am, but if I am it's your dad who made me like that. I'm tired of being as big as a ship from one year's end to another; too heavy to walk, legs like pit props, and so weary at the end of a day I could lay down in the gutter and sleep...that's how it's always been with your dad." --Barry Forshaw

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With A Whistling Woman, AS Byatt reaches the fourth and final instalment in her popular sequence of novels, after The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life and Babel...... more

With A Whistling Woman, AS Byatt reaches the fourth and final instalment in her popular sequence of novels, after The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life and Babel Tower. It is now the summer of 1968. Newly divorced Frederica is living with Agatha and their children while pursuing a somewhat desultory affair with John Ottakar. But everything changes when John accepts a post at the University of North Yorkshire, while Frederica stumbles into a new career on television A Whistling Woman is a busy, energetic novel, juggling its various plot strands--experimental scientists, psychiatric patients with nasty secrets, the upper echelons of university life--with the slick skill of a TV soap. Characters, familiar and new, are evoked with Byatt's customary easy vividness, but this time the exuberance is tempered by a noticeable sourness. One gets the distinct sense throughout the novel that by 1968 British society as we know it has started to spiral downhill. For Frederica, whereas "the carpet of the 50s was woven of many colours, in fine threads", the sixties were "like a fishing-net woven horribly loose and slack with only the odd very bright plastic object caught in its meshes, whilst everything else had rushed and flowed through, back into the undifferentiated ocean". Echoing Frederica's disillusion, Byatt's satire is more than usually acerbic towards various targets--in particular in her account of the newly politicised academy (which seems more a parody of 80s political correctness than of 60s activism). But for those dying to know what life brings to Frederica, then A Whistling Woman will be a welcome end to the years of waiting.--Alan Stewart

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It comes as something of a relief to find that Oceans Thirteen eases itself back to the charm and suave, sophisticated swagger that underpinned the first in...... more

It comes as something of a relief to find that Oceans Thirteen eases itself back to the charm and suave, sophisticated swagger that underpinned the first in whats become a trilogy of capers. And for those who endured the self-indulgent mess that was Oceans Twelve, this latest and final entry in the franchise is a very welcome treat, proving very much that lessons were learnt. Dropping Catherine Zeta Jones and Julia Roberts from the cast list, but signing up the smaller matter of Al Pacino instead, the rest of the players remain broadly intact. So its George Clooneys Danny Ocean who leads the team of cons, supported by Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle and Carl Reiner. And its the easy chemistry between these and the rest of the team that underpin what makes Oceans 13 such an enjoyable ride. The plot pits Ocean and his gang against Al Pacinos ruthless casino boss, and while the script perhaps lacks the cleverness and dense plotting that worked so well in the first adventure, it still leaves plenty of room for outright entertainment. The end result is an easy-to-enjoy caper, thats not the equal of Oceans Eleven, yet far superior to Oceans Twelve. And considering it was released in the midst of a summer where threequels generally werent too well received, Oceans Thirteen arrives in fine shape, and rounds off the trilogy with panache. --Jon Foster

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