= New Kudos =

Lethal Journey (Pub date 1 Sep 2009)

944 Magazine: "Truly captivating. I'm looking forward to reading more of your work!"—Derek Shaw, Distractions columnist, San Diego edition, April 2009.Note: Lethal Journey made the 'fall list' of Publishers Weekly in summer 2009, and in September 2009 was the highest rated (#1) of all books at Fictionwise.

A Walk in Ancient Rome (Pub date 1 Sep 2009)

Marvelous! "What a marvel. The guide book we've all been waiting for. It is SO accessible. I certainly hope a video follows."—Dr. Rose Mary Sheldon, Ph.D., Chair, History Dept., Virginia Military Institute.

A real treasure! A Walk in Ancient Rome, Rev. 2d Ed. is accessible and readable. It offers a complete virtual tour of ancient Rome. Readers gain access to every corner of the ancient capital. Along the way, they learn surprising and interesting facts generally known only to experts. I recommend it for schools and personal enjoyment.—Simcha Jacobovici, The 'Naked Archeologist,' seen across Canada on Vision TV and across the USA on the History Channel.

Fine Piece of Work. "That's a fine piece of work—my compliments. I'm sure it won't surprise you to hear that I've got the English translation of Lanciani, but your book puts him in the shade."—Dr. Harry Turtledove, Ph.D., Byzantinologist and bestselling author.

Fabulous! "It's really great. Learning a whole lot of new things."— Mr. William Cobbam, History aficionado and television documentaries director, Associated Producers, Toronto.

Baedeker Redux "This is the guidebook Baedeker would have written if he were alive two thousand years ago. Anyone who reads it will feel that ancient Rome, with its slaves and Senators, its temples and palaces, its slums and brothels, its sounds and smells, is only an air flight away."— Mr. Anthony Everitt, bestselling author of Cicero: A Biography and Augustus.

A Delight. "A delight to read. Cullen is especially effective in bringing the streets of Rome to life, adding people, sounds, and smells to the empty marble and concrete buildings."—Dr. Fred S. Kleiner, Professor of Art History and Archeology, Boston University.

A nice introduction... "...to ancient Rome for a general audience...overall quite accurate, and certainly better than the majority of historical documentaries about Rome that one sees frequently on TV today."—Dr. Gregory S. Aldrete, Professor of History and Humanistic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Internet News, Jameson Broadcast (Aug. 19, 1998) "Cyberspace just loves a good yarn. We tell each other the stories of our lives on message boards and in email. But the Internet also is becoming an excellent reservoir for fiction as well. I'm Charles Bowen with the Internet News. Today's report: Clocktower Fiction, an enormous resource of quality, original stories online. Started two years ago, Clocktower now has more than 1,700 pages of good reading online, with more being added all the time. It specializes in science fiction, mysteries, and suspense thrillers. Even the titles are fun. I like Taxi M'Koo & The Helium Drive. Taxi is a tough lady warrior who battles evil at a former government genetics lab in the post-apocalyptic future. Read all about it—online." Charles Bowen, The Internet News, a service of The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. [Interesting, how his sense of wonder reflects the early days of the Internet, before e-commerce and so much cybercrime. Service no longer active. JTC]

= Old Kudos =

Three John T. Cullen novels were picks of the Forbes Book Club: The Generals of October, The Christmas Clock, and Have Blue. The Forbes Book Club is no more, but this was a fun tribute while it lasted.

Let Me Tell You A Story: This is the best possible praise for a writer, and I've gotten it often. Here's a typical example. Years ago, I walked into a copy shop to have a copy of Neon Blue made. Their main copier was broken, and the lady had to make copies a sheet at a time, manually, on a smaller machine. She told me to leave my manuscript (a ream at approx. 500 pp.) on the counter and promised she'd have it for me tomorrow. When I returned the next day, two reams sat side by side—the original and the copy. "Oh!" she greeted me excitedly. "I started copying your book, and my eye just wandered down to the page. Next thing I knew, I was reading it and couldn't stop. I took it home with me and stayed up all night reading it, which I why I'm dead tired today. Great book! Do you have another one I can read?" I'm counting on that spirit gaining this website a lot of readers as you tell your avid reader friends about my books. Thanks, and Happy Reading!