Rating: 
Summary: What a ride!
Review: A great adventure, an exciting, exhilirating trip with a fascinating woman through a world few of us will ever know. Loved every page.
Rating:
Summary: Witchdoctor
Review: An incredible book of adventure that I couldn't lay down until I hit the back cover!
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational Adventures out of Africa
Review: Dancing with the Witchdoctor is a marvelous book, all the more remarkable because it is Kelly James' first one. This account of some of her experiences as a private investigator in Africa reads like a well-crafted novel, a page turner at that. But as she says in the preface, these tales are not about her. James' aim is to tell the stories of women she met and the extraordinary ways they prevailed against the challenges of ordinary life in Africa in these troubled times. She succeeds with gusto.James calls them "heroines," and does them proud. Among others, she introduces us to the Watusi women of Rwanda, to Moana of Mozambique, and to Lua, a Turkana woman who saves Kelly's life. The qualities James admires in these people come through in the text: courage, compassion, commitment. I found inspiration here. The land, the elements themselves, have presence in Dancing with the Witchdoctor, notably the unceasing winds of Lake Turkana and the rainforest home of the mountain gorillas. The book smacks of Africa. The beat of life that drew James to that continent resounds in these pages. This book defies categorization. One Seattle book store originally put it under travel, until an employee who had read it, said "no way." Another has it under World History for some reason. Call it an adventure story (which it is), and people think fiction. Say it's a memoir, and watch people yawn. It's by a woman about women, but it's not a "woman's book," or if it is, you certainly don't have to be a female to treasure it. One category this book certainly fits: Damn Good Read!
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible Read
Review: Don't waste your money! As an English Literature professor, I often frequent the bookstores. I found this book in the bargain isle for $3.00 and liked the cover so I picked it up. Sadly, I found Jame's style arduous and disappointing. Extremely difficult to pick up the book after putting it down Don't waste your money. Having been to many of the places Jame's professes to write about, I doubt she was ever there. Pure fiction and narcissism. Good material for starting your fireplace on a cold winter's night, but that's about it.
Rating:
Summary: Dancing with the Witchdotor
Review: For a non-fiction book, this reads like one of the best action, fiction books I have ever read. Looking forward to Kelly James' next book.
Rating:
Summary: Dancing with Kelly
Review: For anyone who ever dreamed of Africa, Kelly James takes you there; not the sanitized safari wagon tours, but the real, the scary, the truly exotic Africa. The characters with which she peoples her stories are individuals you would like to have known, would have been privileged to know. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Myths of Africa
Review: I lived in Beira, Mozambique for two years in the early 1980s, researching the history of women in that city, and I returned for a week-long visit at the end of that decade, so I was very interested to read Kelly James' account - her 24-hour visit to Beira some unspecific time in the 1980s makes up one chapter in this book. I found absolutely nothing that I recognized - not the hotel name, not the descriptions of the harbor, not the portraits of expatriates who were there, not the ubiquituous "shelters," nor her potted history of Mozambique - every detail rang false. By the time I finished this chapter I wondered if she had perhaps been somewhere else entirely, or had fabricated the visit out of whole cloth. I did not read any other chapters after the exceedingly disappointing experience with this one, as I have no trust in the observations or analysis of this author. I find it horrifying that this kind of writing that harks back to the "dark continent" stories of a century ago can still get published by major publishing houses. She has certainly written an adventure story, but I believe it belongs in the fiction aisle.
Rating:
Summary: Not one boring sentence and the action never stops. Great!
Review: I love true stories about adventures in faraway places. And this fine book certainly meets that test. Kelly James gives us a short introductory chapter in which she describes her upbringing on a ranch in the American northwest. She was raised to ride and shoot and live with adventure. Soon, she realized she didn't want to be relegated to a typical female role in life. And so she became a private investigator and has traveled all over the world in a wide variety of international business investigations. Mostly, she works in Africa and the book is comprised of four separate stories about a few unique assignments. Her writing style is fast-paced, breezy and has the sense of adventure that obviously drives her life. There's not one boring sentence in the whole book and the action never stops. I read these stories with the kind of attention that kept me breathless and turning the pages as something new happens on every page. And my sense of wonder at her bravery and willingness to take risks never ceased. I just couldn't stop reading and was sorry when this 235-page book ended. In the first story she investigates a mysterious death of a wealthy plantation owner. In the second story she travels into the depths of gorilla country. In the third story she helps a young man visit his war-torn land. And, in the last story, she is hired to investigate a young female African doctor's disappearance. Often, she fines herself in personal danger and has is forced to survive in a very hostile environment. Each one of these stories kept my eyes glued to the page. I couldn't put the book down until they were finished. "Dancing With the Witchdoctor" was a mini-adventure for me. It brought me to places I've only dreamed of visiting and made me identify with the author's courage, stamina and sense of adventure. For me, reading this book was like being picked up by a whirlwind and experiencing the trip of my life. I loved it! Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Not one boring sentence and the action never stops. Great!
Review: I love true stories about adventures in faraway places. And this fine book certainly meets that test. Kelly James gives us a short introductory chapter in which she describes her upbringing on a ranch in the American northwest. She was raised to ride and shoot and live with adventure. Soon, she realized she didn't want to be relegated to a typical female role in life. And so she became a private investigator and has traveled all over the world in a wide variety of international business investigations. Mostly, she works in Africa and the book is comprised of four separate stories about a few unique assignments. Her writing style is fast-paced, breezy and has the sense of adventure that obviously drives her life. There's not one boring sentence in the whole book and the action never stops. I read these stories with the kind of attention that kept me breathless and turning the pages as something new happens on every page. And my sense of wonder at her bravery and willingness to take risks never ceased. I just couldn't stop reading and was sorry when this 235-page book ended. In the first story she investigates a mysterious death of a wealthy plantation owner. In the second story she travels into the depths of gorilla country. In the third story she helps a young man visit his war-torn land. And, in the last story, she is hired to investigate a young female African doctor's disappearance. Often, she fines herself in personal danger and has is forced to survive in a very hostile environment. Each one of these stories kept my eyes glued to the page. I couldn't put the book down until they were finished. "Dancing With the Witchdoctor" was a mini-adventure for me. It brought me to places I've only dreamed of visiting and made me identify with the author's courage, stamina and sense of adventure. For me, reading this book was like being picked up by a whirlwind and experiencing the trip of my life. I loved it! Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A story of strong women
Review: I loved how Kelly James wrote a book honoring the women she met in her adventures in Africa, instead of just describing those adventures. The sights and sounds in this book will stay with me a long time. The story, Gorillas and Banana Beer, is a tale of hope in the face of no possible reason to hope, of a young man's discovery of a reason to live and give back when he found no life in our culture, of the bravery and strength and endurance of those who are trying to protect the children and gorillas. This story and the others are too powerful to describe. Remind yourself again that America is not all there is to the world.
| 
