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OK but.........
A page-turner until the end!
A strong first effort
An Ivy League mystery with a scientific twist
Good, but ...

The Blackbird Papers: A Novel
Ian Smith
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385511361
Release Date: 2004-06-15

Book Description

A rainy night . . . A stranded motorist . . . A Good Samaritan passerby … a Nobel Prize–winning professor . . . The setup for a shocking murder designed to cover up an even more sinister crime . . .

The Blackbird Papers marks the debut of Ian Smith, a major new talent in crime fiction, and of Sterling Bledsoe, his smart and occasionally combative sleuth.

World-renowned Dartmouth professor Wilson Bledsoe is returning from a party celebrating his latest honor when he encounters a broken-down pickup on the secluded country road to his home. The next day, the discovery of his body with a vicious racist epithet carved into his chest leads to the quick arrest of two loathsome white supremacists. The local authorities seem ready to accept the case at face value as a racial hate crime. But the murdered professor’s brother, FBI agent Sterling Bledsoe, has inserted himself into the investigation and isn’t ready to buy into this pat solution. A look around his brother’s lab and brief interviews with his students and colleagues pique Sterling’s curiosity about Wilson’s pet project: a nearly completed paper on the mysterious deaths of hundreds of local blackbirds.

Fast-paced and cleverly constructed, The Blackbird Papers introduces a major new talent in mystery and crime fiction.

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1

Professor Wilson Augustus Bledsoe's car glided along the dark narrow roads of Hanover, New Hampshire, then crossed Ledyard Bridge into the vast wilderness of Vermont. The rain had started slowly at first, but now heavy drops danced staccato across the windshield of his old Mercedes. He felt relieved to be heading home, away from the noisy party still in full swing back at the president's mansion. The celebration was in his honor, yet he had been the first to leave. It wasn't that he was ungrateful. Bledsoe simply felt uncomfortable in large crowds, especially ones convened on his behalf, as they were these days with increasing frequency. What most of the guests didn't know was that but for his wife's insistence, he wouldn't even have gone. He had much more pressing matters to see to in his lab.

Bledsoe was no ordinary professor. He had just been awarded the twenty-third Devonshire, the most lucrative prize in science and second only to the Nobel in prestige. Winning it was no small feat, even for a full professor at Dartmouth College, which boasted more academic luminaries than universities four times its size. That's why Wallace Mortimer III, the college's revered president, and his wife, Serena, had spared no expense in celebrating their most acclaimed--and certainly their most acclaimed African American--faculty member.

It was clear to all who had gathered this evening that they were celebrating not just the Devonshire but a career that had been filled with a remarkably long list of achievements. Having won a Nobel five years earlier, Bledsoe had trumped his own legend, now becoming the first American to claim the world's two largest science awards. As his colleagues congratulated him on the Devonshire tonight, they teased him about the lavish treatment he'd receive when he and Kay took their complimentary trip to England and were feted at an elaborate ceremony hosted by the Queen. Everyone wanted to know what he was going to do wit

Customer Reviews:

OK but................2007-04-22

I thought I was enjoying the book but somewhere along the way it become a job to finish the novel. The plot was all right and the birds were enjoyable but somewhere it lacked something. That something that keeps you wanting to continue and finding you are almost done and wishing it wasn't. I bet his future books will become better and I will look forward to trying them in the future.

A page-turner until the end!.......2007-01-09

I could not get this story out of my head! A friend recommended it, and I am ashamed that I took so long to get around to reading it. This was an interesting book and an EXCELLENTLY crafted mystery. One special feature of the novel is the perspective on nature, and how it can be both beautiful and cruel at the same time. I was also very impressed by the ease with which Dr. Smith entered the world of writing mystery-thrillers-- I would not have guess that he was a first time novelist and a physician, except that I had already seen him on TV!

In terms of literature and writing style, the book is not incredibly original, but few mysteries are. As a story, this one really can't be beat. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery, especially African American book clubs, because we need more books like this one -- Sterling Bledsoe, a black character who is a FBI agent, and not a street hustler. A very refreshing portrayal!

A strong first effort.......2006-07-27

Okay. I figured out who set up/betrayed the murder victim less than halfway through the book. (Smith loses a star because he didn't fool me.) However, Smith kept me guessing how and why all the way to the last chapter. This is a great first effort for a mystery writer. FBI Agent Sterling Bledsoe is a believable sleuth. Add the scandal and intrigue of university life and the environmental twist (even though it felt a little like The Pelican Briefs), and you have a book with enough compelling characters, hidden motives and twists and turns for a very satisfying read. I look forward to following Agent Bledsoe's future exploits. Bravo.

An Ivy League mystery with a scientific twist.......2006-07-23

Dr. Ian Smith has done a great job introducing the reader to the world of Ivy League academia, mystery and murder. It's fast-paced, creative and has memorable characters that are quite familiar to anyone who has been in a competitive academic environment. The cultural diversity of the characters also gives the book additional depth. It should be optioned for a movie.

Good, but ..........2006-07-13

The Blackbird Papers was a good read. It had a very interesting plot and seemed very well thought out. At times, though, it was long-winded, outlining detail by detail, which made the story drag. In a mystery story, I would like there to be some mystery, where the reader puts the pieces together. It seemed like he wasn't confident that the reader got it and that he had to explain every little thing. Oddly enough, he explained so much in excruciating detail, but then, he made an unexplained leap in logic on one of the more important pieces of the story, the suspect. (There was also a blunder, where someone knew a name that they should not have known.)

The explanations weren't confined to the mystery, either. He also explained trivial details, like why he was familiar with a particular establishment, which added absolutely nothing to the story. Dialogue is also not his strong suit. It was cheesy and awkward at points.

Lastly, his female characters and female-male relationships were not believable. Virtually every female was described as beautiful. The female characters were not developed. They did erratic things. The relationships were neglected, but they weren't really important to the story line. However, he would go on a tangent about them that made no sense.

I would suggest renting it at your local library.

World's Greatest Airplanes: Blackbird SR-71 (Cut & Assemble the World's Greatest Airplanes)

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World's Greatest Airplanes: Blackbird SR-71 (Cut & Assemble the World's Greatest Airplanes)
Hillel Ben-Yosef
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Blackbird Papers

Manufacturer: BOOKS ON TAPE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: 1415900884

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The Blackbird Papers: A Novel
Mannfred A Hollinger
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0595340393

Book Description

In the science fiction thriller The Blackbird Papers, plans for an anti-gravity propulsion system—developed by the Germans during World War II—mistakenly fall into the hands of Middle Eastern terrorists with one goal in mind: to develop the technology into the form of bioterrorism against Israel.

In 1944, the Germans successfully launch a “rocket” to Mars in order to intimidate the Allies. After the vehicle crashes and the demonstration fails, an American Mars lander provides photographic evidence of the landing. Eventually, Hitler's director of armaments shares the plans with the prime minister of Japan. Dr. Anthony Church, an English physicist who is studying antigravity, ultimately discovers the plans, and his pro-Palestinian sentiments lead him to form an alliance with the terrorists. Ryan Carpenter, an American student, uncovers the plot and must find a way to foil the conspiracy against Israel without jeopardizing his relationship with his boss and mentor, Dr. Church.

Drawing on his knowledge of microbiology, German science, and actual historical events that occurred during World War II, author Mannfred Hollinger, PhD, guides the reader into a gripping tale of bioterrorism that could cause widespread devastation in a world constantly threatened by the acts of terrorists.

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Blackbird Papers
Ian Smith
Manufacturer: DOUBLEDAY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OK84G8

The nomenclature of the red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) of South-Central Mexico (Occasional papers of the Museum of Zoology)

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The nomenclature of the red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) of South-Central Mexico (Occasional papers of the Museum of Zoology)
Robert William Dickerman
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

A new species of blackbird (Agelaius) from Peru, (Occasional papers of the Museum of Zoology)

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A new species of blackbird (Agelaius) from Peru, (Occasional papers of the Museum of Zoology)
Lester L Short
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Test of methods for amending and seeding spoils at the Blackbird mine (USDA Forest Service research paper INT)

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Test of methods for amending and seeding spoils at the Blackbird mine (USDA Forest Service research paper INT)
Bland Z Richardson
Manufacturer: Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006XQ5PU

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