Humorist Barry demonstrates once again that he has reached that plateau of success where he can do no wrong-almost. This second novel represents something of a decline from Big Trouble, his first venture into fiction, which emerged as an incident-crowded mystery topped off with rapid-fire laughs and a dash of satire. This time, the laughs are not much more than titters, and the incidents are only intermittently compelling. In brief, the story is built around events on one of the floating casinos that takes paying customers three miles off the Florida coast each night to gamble. It leads readers into a crazy complexity of money laundering, drug dealing, murder, sex, violence, hijacking, and undercover work. As it is written by Barry, the book probably will meet with a certain amount of popular favor, but a caveat is in order: This is not the Barry of his syndicated columns or his nonfiction books. As he himself puts it, "This book contains some bad words," which he justifies by saying that his "unsavory characters" talk that way. A likely story.

We like to tell ourselves we're far too busy to cook these days...Less than forty years ago people had jobs and families to look after, but still managed to prepare and cook meals from scratch every day of the week - without the modern conveniences of supermarkets and fast food; or a fridge, food processor or microwave. But it is possible to feed your family a healthy, balanced diet (without depriving them of the things they like) even if you work full-time and don't have a lot of money. This book provides simple, wholesome and nutritious recipes for family meals; quick lunches, tasty puddings and cakes - and you don't have to spend hours slaving over a hot stove, or spend a fortune at the supermarket. There are menu plans, recipes, shortcuts and dozens of ideas for every meal, together with tried and tested tips to help you save your valuable time and money. Now everyone can be a yummy mummy or daddy in the kitchen.