Because this is an election year, I’m going to provide you with some guidance in selecting a political party to support. Here are a few quotes by famous Democrats and Republicans: "Sometimes in order to make progress and move ahead, you have to stand up and do the wrong thing." Congressman Gary Ackerman (D) "The conservation movement is a breeding ground of Communists and other subversives. We intend to clean them out, even if it means rounding up every bird watcher in the country." John Mitchell (R) "Outside of the killings, Washington, D.C. has one of the lowest crime rates in the country." Marion Barry (D) "I think we can agree, the past is over." George W. Bush. (R) "I can’t believe that we are going to let a majority of the people decide what is best for this state." John Travis (D) "I have opinions of my own — strong opinions — but I don't always agree with them." George Bush (R) "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." Dan Quayle (R) "I would have made a good Pope." Richard Nixon (R) "Poultry waste is something that continues to threaten our country." Tom Daschle (D) "Scary, very scary." Glenda Bremer (D) commenting on the above comments. You can escape from political idiocy by visiting the library and checking out Sidney Sheldon’s new book, "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" In Berlin, a woman vanishes from the city streets. In Paris, a man plunges from the Eiffel Tower. In Denver, a small plane crashes into the mountains. In Manhattan, a body washes ashore along the East River. At first these seem to be random incidents, but the police soon discover that all four of the victims are connected to Kingsley International Group (KIG), the largest think tank in the world. Kelly Harris and Diane Stevens — young widows of two of the victims — encounter each other in New York, where they have been asked to meet with Tanner Kingsley, the head of KIG. He assures them that he is using all available resources to find out who is behind the mysterious deaths of their husbands. But he may be too late. Someone is intent on murdering both women, and they suffer a harrowing series of near escapes. Who is trying to kill them and why? Forced together for protection, suspicious of each other and everyone around them, and trying to find answers for themselves, the two widows embark on a terrifying game of cat and mouse against the unknown forces out to destroy them. Also new on the fiction shelf is "Blind Alley," by Iris Johansen. Eve Duncan's job is to put a face on the faceless victims of violent crimes. Her work not only comforts their survivors- — but helps catch their killers. The victim is a Jane Doe found murdered, her face erased beyond recognition. But whoever killed her wasn't just trying to hide her identity. The plan was far more horrifying. As the face forms under Eve's skilled hands, she is about to get the shock of her life. The victim is someone she knows all too well. Someone who isn't dead, yet.Instantly Eve's peaceful life is shattered. The sanctuary of the lakeside cottage she shares with detective Joe Quinn and their adopted daughter Jane has been invaded by a killer who's sent the grimmest of threats: the face of his next victim. To stop him, Eve must put her own life in the balance and question everything and everyone she trusts. Not even Quinn can go where Eve must go this time.