Rating: 
Summary: These Bones Are Made For The Reckoning
Review: After reading Jeff Long's last book, "Year Zero", I ordered this book right away. Jeff Long has the ability to fuse the natural and supernatural without going over the top, but still capture the reader's imagination. Once again he has successfully pulled off another exciting book in "The Reckoning"!
At first, I was a little leery about this book. The subject matter of recovering soldier remains in Cambodia, didn't seem all that interesting to me, until I started reading futher in the book. I was so engaged in the book during my night time reading, I wouldn't get to sleep until 1 or 2 in the morning.
This was an excellent book to read. The last few chapters of the book kind of reminded me of the movie, "Sixth Sense", if you enjoyed that movie, you will enjoy this book.
Thanks Again Mr. Long!
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as I see the other reviews would have you believ
Review: I liked Long's other books (I've read 2 The Descent and Year Zero)enough that I've been anticipating The Reckoning for a while.
The only faults in the other books that I found was in the characterizations. This time, it is almost all characterization and the storyline is almost secondary.
Mr. Long is a talented writer and I will continue to buy and read what he writes. However, this was not one of my favorites of his work.
Rating: 
Summary: I RECKON IT'S ABOUT TIME TO MOVE ON!
Review: I loved Jeff Long's Descent, and liked YEAR ZERO, but this one bored the crap outta me.
The story drags...plain and simple.
Please, Mr. Long, just make a sequel - and a bloody adventerous one - of Descent.
You know that's what everyone wants to see.
Rating:
Summary: He's done better
Review: I loved Jeff Long's THE DESCENT, I'd rank it as a masterpiece of the genre. YEAR ZERO, though flawed, was still a very imaginative read. Now comes THE RECKONING, which feels like the lesser of all Long's efforts. There just isn't much to this story (pretty thin book too), and you really only understand what's happening and why it all matters toward the end. Up until that point, it's only a mildly interesting story involving a lost city, but it's difficult to understand why the characters care so much about it, and hence, why we the reader should care.
Also, this is the first time where I thought Long's rather lyricial, poetic way of writing went overboard. I like that he can bring added depth and description to these sorts of stories, but it can go too far. This time there's so much of it that the characters don't feel like real, authentic people. Perhaps Mr. Long is constantly viewing the world through a poet's prose, but I doubt soldiers stuck in the muck of Cambodia would be. My suggestion is to dial the "density" down and let characters feel a little more real in their reactions and dialogue.
Rating: 
Summary: 4 1/2 stars
Review: If you like tales of lost cities in the jungle as well as stories that involve the supernatural, I think you will enjoy this latest effort by Jeff Long. Stylishly written with some good visuals (...a hailstorm of frogs) and a brisk pace.
It was a quick and satisfying novel.
Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A dark and surreal trip into the timeless heart of Cambodia
Review: Jeff Long has a talent for not just painting a location with his words, but painting the actual feeling of the surroundings, drawing out in literary fashion the overwhelming mysticism and dread that permeate the very fabric of his physical realms.
Free lance journalist Molly Drake, on assignment for her big break with the Times, travels to modern day Cambodia to photograph and report on the U.S. Military's efforts to excavate the site of a plane crash back in the 1970's, hoping to find the remains of the pilot.
She joins the team, along with two other civilians, an archeologist named Duncan O'Brian who specializes in temple restorations, and John Kleat, a development contractor who makes annual pilgrimages to Cambodia in hopes of finding the remains of his long lost brother. She also meets an old, one-legged Khmer named Samnang who is the work boss on the excavation site.
She spends a month with the RE-1 unit, enchanted by the strange morning people who wander through the early mists, and by an odd gypsy boy who skirts the site like a feral dog. But when she finds American remains in a deep well, she and the other civilians are evicted from the site and sent home. While having dinner at a local restaurant with Duncan and Kleat, the gypsy boy shows up with American dog tags and says he can lead them to the burial site. Taking Samnang and three local brothers, the three set off to find out if what the gypsy boy promised was true.
A long drive through the night, past a strange rain of tiny frogs, they discover ancient ruins buried deep inside the Cambodian forest, primitive and eerie, dating far before any of the ruins Duncan has studied. Conflict begins immediately, with Kleat insisting their focus be on uncovering the missing men, Duncan wanting to explore the strange city, and the locals hired by Samnang wanting to plunder the relics.
It doesn't take long to discover that there is something strangely alive about this ancient place, and Molly is determined to find out what it is, in spite of the rising tensions and the threat from both a typhoon and the upcoming monsoons. She will uncover more than her story here, finding answers to her quest for her real parents and to the strange behaviors of her companions.
Just as Long did with his previous work, `The Descent', he is able to paint a mystical atmosphere that literally comes alive with its creeping mists, sultry humidity, aggressive growth, and mystical ruins that crouch under the canopy of the lush jungles. I could feel the atmosphere, the sense of urgency, the dread, and the excitement that pulls Molly deep into mysterious puzzle of the missing soldiers and the city itself.
Jeff Long is proving himself to be one of my favorite authors, someone I can compare to Michael Crichton with his ability to make me grab up a hardcopy the minute it is released. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: The Reckoning- Supernatural Wonder
Review: Jeff Long has delivered another supernatural gem as his characters weave an archealogical adventure in the South-east Asian jungle to locate remains of a fighter crew but accidently stumble across an ancient lost city. The descriptive writing places the reader in another world. Long is at his best here. Great character development. A must read.
Rating:
Summary: Author does it again!
Review: Just finished The Reckoning last night. Jeff Long does it again! Just as he was able to pull off in The Descent (or The Ascent, or Year Zero) the characters were interesting and sympathetic, the story fast paced and intriguing, and best of all the writing fluid. The prose is gripping yet complex enough to be far above the standard fare in this kind of fiction. I've tried a couple of authors in similiar genres, and his work still impresses me the most by far. When others are forgotten, I find myself thinking about his stuff and wanting to jump in again. The Reckoning is no exception, starts and ends perfectly. My only complaint is that the author doesn't publish fast enough.
Rating:
Summary: thrilling chiller
Review: The New York Times assigns Photojournalist Molly Drake to accompany the U.S. Army as they retrieve the bones of a pilot who went missing in Cambodia. However, they find no sign of bones or dog tags until Molly sees through the lens of her $10,000 camera the remains of a mass grave. With the monsoon about to begin, depart, their mission failed.Once again, Molly uses her camera lens to find a cache of bones in a well. The Cambodian government allows them one week to find what they seek but Molly, archeologist Duncan and Kleat, who is looking for the thirty-year-old bones of his brothers are ordered off the project. One of the people who watched the dig shows her a dog tag and tells the group there are nine others; he will lead them to it. Unable to contain their excitement, Molly, Duncan, Kleat and their guides follow Lukas to a deserted ancient city thought to be two thousand year old. Molly sees and experiences things that can only be attributed to the supernatural as she discovers the truth about her path. THE RECKONING starts as a thriller and metamorphosis into a supernatural tale. Cambodia, a place where legends and myths are closer than most people ever experience, works its magic on the visiting Americans, especially Molly, who sees and hears things the other's don't. There are very few people, who could cope with what Molly experiences and stay sane, but she is a strong woman and it will take a lot to break her. Jeff Long has written a thrilling chiller in which the natural and the paranormal world collide with fantastic results. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: thrilling chiller
Review: The New York Times assigns Photojournalist Molly Drake to accompany the U.S. Army as they retrieve the bones of a pilot who went missing in Cambodia. However, they find no sign of bones or dog tags until Molly sees through the lens of her $10,000 camera the remains of a mass grave. With the monsoon about to begin, depart, their mission failed. Once again, Molly uses her camera lens to find a cache of bones in a well. The Cambodian government allows them one week to find what they seek but Molly, archeologist Duncan and Kleat, who is looking for the thirty-year-old bones of his brothers are ordered off the project. One of the people who watched the dig shows her a dog tag and tells the group there are nine others; he will lead them to it. Unable to contain their excitement, Molly, Duncan, Kleat and their guides follow Lukas to a deserted ancient city thought to be two thousand year old. Molly sees and experiences things that can only be attributed to the supernatural as she discovers the truth about her path. THE RECKONING starts as a thriller and metamorphosis into a supernatural tale. Cambodia, a place where legends and myths are closer than most people ever experience, works its magic on the visiting Americans, especially Molly, who sees and hears things the other's don't. There are very few people, who could cope with what Molly experiences and stay sane, but she is a strong woman and it will take a lot to break her. Jeff Long has written a thrilling chiller in which the natural and the paranormal world collide with fantastic results. Harriet Klausner
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