This column in The Philippine Star has its priorities straight. First it comments on the local bar scene. Then it gets to some novels. Of REUNION it says:

A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell (available at National Book Store) Lady, Vee and Delphi Alter are the three middle-aged sisters who turn this darkly humorous novel into a suicide pact note. Great granddaughters to the infamous Lenz Alter — credited for inventing the ammonia gas during the First World War, the first use of chemical warfare — the sisters firmly believe that they carry the curse of the third and fourth generations for that which Lenz had created. But trying to put an end to it all at the stroke of midnight, Dec. 31, 1999, in New York City, is not as easy as it would seem. Seamlessly mixing historical facts (with a change of name) with fresh, illuminating fiction, Mitchell creates a world that is suffused with human drama, comedy and pathos, all in equal measures. While leaving a bittersweet taste, this one delights.