As for death, reverent or mocking or frightening or angry or resigned or cynical or admonitory reminders of it recur all over Mexico and turn up again and again in Ms. Iturbide's work.

At one point late in the book, Turtle experiences a frightening reminder of her early horrors, and much is made of the damage this sort of reoccurrence can do - but then the subject is dismissed.

He never forgot for a moment that he was in an enemy country - the sudden unexpected arrival of the gendarme at the door yesterday morning had been a frightening enough reminder.

For many it was a frightening reminder of the 1999 killings at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colo.

The quake was a frightening reminder of the 7.1 magnitude quake that struck northern California on Oct. 17, minutes before the start of the third game of the World Series at Candlestick Park.

For those of us who see questioning and constant re-evaluation as essential to progress of any kind, this is one more frightening reminder that our administration is taking us down the wrong road at ever increasing speed.

But in places like Elba, as in many small towns with fragile economic foundations, the prospect of losing autonomy for the schools was a frightening reminder of the effects of a downturn.

A house fire is a frightening reminder that our own homes could one day be razed to the ground.

A frightening reminder of this, in Western Europe, is the tragic situation of refugees and migrants, and in, Eastern Europe, that of the Roma.

Rosen's observations offer a frightening reminder of the past, a powerful analysis of the present and a disturbing glimpse at what the future might bring.