Ken Howard Books

The latest Osprey campaign title on the British D-Day landings at Sword Beach and the 6th Airborne Division landings represents a mixed big. On the one hand, Sword Beach is a well written and attractive synthesis of the critical eastern flank of the Allied invasion. On the other hand, this book is hardly original and in light of the excellent Battleground Europe title Sword Beach by Tom Kilvert-Jones last year, Ken Ford's effort seems to be following in well-worn tracks. Despite the plethora of other titles on this subject, Ford renders a yeoman's effort and has produced a worthwhile summary of the British campaign in and around Sword Beach in June-July 1944. The title deserves five stars for content, three for originality and thus a compromise four stars.

Ford begins with a short section that introduces the origins of the battle and emphasizes that the seizure of the French city of Caen was regarded by Montgomery as the key to the British landing. After a detailed chronology, the author provides a short section on opposing leaders and then a seven-page section on opposing armies. The author makes good points about the British substitution of self-propelled artillery and anti-tank in the assaulting 3rd Division, but tends to unduly denigrate the German 21st Panzer Division. Ford is a bit vague about the 21st Panzer - which is odd because Colonel Hans van Luck's account of that unit in Normandy has been available for more than a decade - and suggests that the unit was not really combat worthy and composed of cast-off men and equipment. The real reason the 21st Panzer was not rated fit for service on the Russian Front was due to its lack of a Panther tank battalion, but it substituted an assault gun battalion and was a fairly heavy unit. The reason for the unit's poor performance on D-Day was not due to poor leadership or poor quality troops but rather, due to high-level confusion and tangled command control relationships. Various German commanders, from Runstedt and Rommel, down to the local Corps and division commanders, vacillated between going after the British airborne, going after the sea borne landing or waiting to launch a properly coordinated assault in strength. Ford then covers the opposing plans in seven pages. The British 6th Airborne Division landings are covered in 17 pages, followed by 29 pages on the Sword Beach landings, 6 pages on expanding the bridgehead after D-Day, and a short aftermath. A ground order of battle for both sides is provided. This volume has five 2-D maps (British 6th Airborne landing areas, German defenses in Sword Beach area, the landings on Sword Beach, the Allied lodgment at the end of D-Day, the Battle for Caen) and three 3-D "Bird's Eye View" maps (British airborne landings, Sword Beach landings, 21st Panzer counterattack). There are also three excellent color battle scenes: the seizure of Pegasus Bridge, No. 4 Commando moves inland and the capture of Hillman position.

Overall, Ford's summary of the British operations in this sector of D-Day is accurate and succinct. Unfortunately, the author falls into the ex post facto trap of suggesting that once the British failed to take Caen on D-Day that Montgomery then planned to pin down most of the German armor in the eastern sector of Normandy so that the Americans could break out in the west. This is a post-war rationalization pushed by Montgomery's adherents, which conceals the reality that Montgomery had intended to seize Caen and exploit with armor on the eastern flank but he repeatedly failed to accomplish this. Furthermore, the author tends to blame the 3rd Division commander for failing to seize Caen but ignores the plethora of missions given to this unit (seize Caen, link-up with airborne, link-up with Canadians, repel German counterattack and eliminate resistance nests in sector). Although landings of the British airborne were a great tactical success they were operationally sterile because Montgomery wanted to drive southward, not eastward. If Montgomery really wanted Caen on D-Day, he should have dropped at least one airborne brigade on the northern outskirts of Caen, which might have resulted in seizure of at least half the city on D-Day. Too much effort was put east of the Orne River, for negligible gain. The British drive inland was also delayed for seven critical hours by the 150 German defenders in the Hillman position behind Sword Beach (one wonders where all the 79th Armored Division "funnies" - tanks specifically designed to deal with bunkers and obstacles - were during this period); the author views the capture of Hillman as an out-an-out victory but in reality, the stubborn defense of that position upset the British timetable.

Readers interested in Sword Beach should use this book in conjunction with Kilvert-Jones book, because taken together they pack a lot of information and insight on this subject. Standing alone, Ken Ford's book lacks some of the depth needed for really understanding why the British failed to achieve all their D-Day objectives and why the German counterattacks were so ineffective. Readers should also consult Robert Kershaw's excellent Piercing the Atlantic Wall, which offers more material on the British landings. Oddly, Ford makes little mention of Allied casualties at any point, so readers will have to consult other sources for that type of detail. However one area where Ford out-classes Kilvert-Jones' book is on information about the battlefield today, particularly concerning the German bunker-turned museum in Ouistreham and the Merville Battery.

I noticed a few errors in Dr Forcyk's review, so feel urge to write a few correction in the hope that people will not be mislead.

Montgomery's strategy:
Refer to the Post D-Day phase lines, which suggested that Montgomery did intend to hold round Caen and thus attract the German armour, while allowing the American armies in the West to seize Cherbourg, as having a working port was vital to the success of the Invasion (though this did not work as the Germans destroyed Cherbourg rather effectively).
The so called "myth" about Montgomery's original strategy failing stemmed from arguments at command level based on the success of certain battles (eg Goodwood) failing to live up to Montgomery's hype. This was purely down to Montgomery's sometimes arrogant nature which upset certain people (Tedder, Patton etc). For rather obvious reasons, Montgomery could not publish his strategies at the time (the Germans would then find out), and so naturally the press asked questions as to why the Allied forces (particularly the British and Canadians, who I might add faced substantially better equipped troops, including the majority of the SS that was deployed in Normandy, and certainly more Panzer Divisions then the American armies) had appeared to stall in Normandy.
From this arose the "myth" of Montgomery's failed strategy. Though admittedly the British 3rd Division had failed to capture Caen, which was not planned for but was down mainly to problems on the beach, and the arrival of the 21st Panzer on the afternoon of June 6th.
And the relief of the 6th British Airborne Division was not the responsibility of the 3rd Division. The Special Service Brigade (the Commandoes) who landed at Ouistreham relieved the embattled 6th Airborne until their reinforcements arrived at 21:00 on D-Day.

The area East of the Orne was "operationally sterile"? Hmmm. Maybe so, if you call the holding of the entire Eastern Flank of the invasion "sterile."
Without the Orne bridges and the Breville Heights, and by not destroying the Dives bridges, the 21st Panzer could have quite easily rolled into the Eastern flank of the 3rd Division and perhaps got onto the beaches. The Orne bridges were arguably the most important single objective of the entire invasion!

Dropping an Airborne Brigade onto Caen?! I doubt that would have achieved a lot. Except massive casualties.

Hillman: The "funnies" were trapped on the beaches. Delays and the incoming tide, plus of course the Germans, resulted in traffic jams on the beaches. The British at Hillman were left with little armoured support. Bear in mind that this was the first time the 3rd Division had been in battle, and so over-emphasised the threat of Hillman and the German forces that were in there. Yes it could have been by-passed. But it wasn't. Fortunes of war.

"British failed to achieve all their D-Day objectives"? May I remind you that the 6th British Airborne was the ONLY D-Day unit to complete all their tasks (though the Merville battery was re-occupied later).
Caen is an issue that military historians will be arguing for the rest of time, only by considering all the options and decent sources (not Stephan Ambrose!) can we begin to get some understanding of what happened on D-Day.

but at the quoted price ($39.70) be sure you want it! JANE'S TRAIN RECOGNITION GUIDE offers hundreds of color photos of trains and trainsets and gives not only weight and date of service but system(s)served, weight, builder, number of units produced, horsepower and other technical essentials.

Be aware, though, that only about one-tenth (less than 50 pp. of this 489-page guide) deals with U.S. and Canadian locomotives and train sets. For a third the money, many if not most American rail enthusiasts will prefer A FIELD GUIDE TRAINS OF NORTH AMERICA (Peterson Field Guide Series, 1996) by Gerald L. Foster. It isn't as up-to-date; but then, the JANE'S GUIDE itself is already three years out of date.

Advice: Unless you must have a pristine copy of the JANE'S, scout out a good used copy -- or consider Foster's Peterson Field Guide for a lot less money -- also available through Amazon.

This book is THE deifinitive reference book for train enthusiasts, especially those interested in locomotives. It covers all classes of electric and diesel motive power in use as of 2005. The book is full color, and goes in to all the various classes of each type of equipment. The hundreds of color pictures from all over the world make it a must have for anyone interested in railroads. However, the book should really be named "Locomotive Recognition Guide" as there is no coverage of passenger cars or freight cars. Perhaps there will be future editions covering those topics. For the price, you cannot go wrong!

When I got to the last page....I still wanted more! This was a fantastic book and a fun read!

Nelson DeMille is hit-or-miss from my perspective; his John Corey novels deliver, but he occasionally writes a mediocre book (Up Country and Spencerville). This sequel to "The General's Daughter" is okay, but it's mostly dialogue concerning Paul Brenner's tours of Vietnam. He is sent on a recon mission to find an eyewitness to a possible murder committed by a U.S. Army officer. He meets Susan Weber, an expat living in Vietnam, and she proves to be alternately likable and shrewish. The book is interesting if you want to know more about the Vietnam conflict or history, otherwise, skip it and read his John Corey novels. They have far more action and slightly more intrigue.

While on my third trip to Vietnam in 2003 with my (Vietnamese) wife, I picked this up from the used book store on De Tham Street in Saigon (the one next to the corner cafe if you know De Tham Street). A friend had recommended it to me via email.

Up Country turned out to be one of the best reads in a long time. So good that I didn't put it down for three days (except for sleeping).

Highpoints were the vivid and accurate descriptions of modern Saigon; the insightful character study of the self-important North Vietnamese (Communist) military officer who became Brenner's nemesis; and the escape to the Highlands by motorcycle. There are numerous insights and details in Up Country that you just wouldn't know unless you'd spent a lot of time in modern Vietnam. So clearly Demille did his homework and by that I mean he went to Saigon and Vietnam and captured the most obscure details about the people, the culture, and the terrain.

This was a great read, and reflects Vietnam of 2002/2003 very accurately. It's a very entertaining story as well.

Those folks who called this book a travel log were obviously not in Viet Nam in 1968. I suppose you had to be there to appreciate it.

Up Country is a compelling, fast paced read. Demille is a real story teller and his writing style makes you feel like you are right there. He weaves facts and history into the story line in a way that makes the book not just a tale but a history lesson. When you finish you want more.

The Margin
I recently read, and reviewed, Plum Island, a novel by Nelson DeMille. I was somewhat disappointed. Friends recommended DeMille so I gave it a shot, but after reading PI I wasn't convinced his writing was to my liking. However, my wife read The Gen's Dau and recommended I give DeMille another chance and I did. Glad I did.
The general's daughter, herself an army captain, is found murdered. Paul Brenner, army CID, teams with Cynthia Sunhill also CID to investigate the crime. The hunt for Ann Campbell's killer is a story in itself. All her lovers--men she'd seduced in an effort to humiliate her father--were suspects including the base chaplin, a judge and Colonel William Kent the provost marshal. The chemistry between the two investigator's, who had had a thing for each other earlier, contributes just the right amount of spice to ignite this novel. I highly recommend The General's Daughter. It is exciting, easy to read, I think you'll enjoy it too.

Marvin Wiebener, author of The Margin, a classic modern day treasure hunt with unexpected plot tangles, murder, abduction and a finale you are not expecting. Just click on the book title above.

Draws the reader into De Mille's millitary world while being very easy to read and absorb.I saw the film first so was anxious to see how close book and film were. I need not have worried. Apart from a few minor details film was faithful to the book.Book filled in the detail and gaps that film left out.Lighter than a Tom Clancy novel, yet gritty enough for any avid reader to really sink their teeth into.Author's introduction and experience of the film adaptation was a nice touch while also being informative. All in all highly recommended

Ann Campbell is a West Point graduate, a Psy-Ops captain at Ford Hadley, and the daughter of a famed general. She is found murdered (bound and naked) one morning and CID officer Paul Brenner is given the task of unraveling the murder. Brenner quickly investigates Campbell's life and finds corruption, seduction, and a host of possible suspects.

Reading the history of Ann Campbell, her murder, and her funeral is morose to say the least. Some may find it too depressing. If not, the story is an effective police procedural.

I found it to be an interesting but dark read. Not spectacular but a fast read with many complexities. It bothered me that the detectives discounted other persons that were at the scene of the crime so quickly. For me, the novel is no where near DeMille's masterpiece Word of Honor and lags behind other DeMille novels Gold Coast, Charm School, Lion's Game, and Plum Island.

THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER is considered Nelson DeMille's breakout book, and I can see why. It's a tremendously enjoyable murder mystery involving the death of a female captain at a military base.

I've only read one other DeMille book, but I plan to read many more after this one. DeMille really excels at pacing and dialogue. THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER is entertaining from beginning to end, and there are very few slow moments in the plot. In particular, I enjoyed DeMille's insights on the culture of the US military. Since DeMille was a military man himself, there is an aura of authenticity in his work that makes it all the more pleasurable.

This book isn't perfect. I found some of the graphic sexuality to be over-the-top and off-putting. Also, many of the supporting characters (especially the male officers on the base) are little more than caricatures. I also felt the romance between the two central characters was not as well developed as it could have been. Still, these problems are relatively minor, and don't distract the reader from the storyline.

Overall, THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER is one of the most enjoyable books I've read in quite a while, and it's made me into a DeMille fan.

The writer is at the top of his game in this well crafted novel. A West Point Graduate, whose father is a General, is found dead on an Army Post and members of the Central Intellegence Division are assigned to handle this case. Paul Brenner and Cynthia Sunhill are characters who are extremely well developed in this complex novel. The writer skillfully peels away layer upon layer in this complex story. The characters are real and each adds to the suspense of the story. Having seen the film based upon this novel, it is far inferior to DeMilles work. The story crackles with suspense and keeps the reader turning pages rapidly awaiting the next twist by the writer. This is an excellent read and is highly recommended for anyone who is searching for a good read.

This book started out extremely well, carried on strongly through the middle and then, though it tailed off significantly in the last section, concluded satisfactorily. Had the final portion been as good as the start and the middle, it would rate five stars.

The strengths here are the development of the main characters and the care of the presentation of the legal machinations. While not at the level of a Scott Turow book in these categories, it is infinitely better in these respects than John Grisham's books or most others in this crowded field. At the same time, the characters' self-examination avoids the brooding length that Turow's characters indulge in, which preserves this book's proper place in the "page turner" realm.

The book unfolds gradually and events are not revealed in chronological order, so there is a steady stream of revelations, and a constant change in the appearance of events (realistic, in this sense, to an actual criminal case) that is highly engaging, until the revelations peter out about two-thirds of the way through. The last portion of the book is less realistic in its courtroom aspects and less interesting in the way it reveals what is going on. Basically, you are just waiting to see what happens. Patterson does skillfully add interest to the book by including thinly veiled, but fictionally altered, versions of real-life people--Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and Jane Fonda to name three.

I do have one significant reservation. The book involves an allegation of rape and, in the litigation of that allegation, discusses a broad array of sexual assaults and sexual abuses of women repeatedly and in detail. Patterson's discussion of them is uniformly "politically correct," which I mean in a good way. He emphasizes the seriousness of sexual assault, the challenges of prosecuting it, presents the detail much the way it would actually be presented in court, and offers no excuses for it. Nonetheless, at various points it crossed my mind that the detailed recounting of the sexual abuse was exploitive. While presented in a facially appropriate way, there is a lot of it presented in the book, so much that one suspects it is being used in part on the principle that sex sells--even abusive sex. Whether or not that is the case, I would warn readers, especially female readers: there is a lot of sexual abuse of women in this book--rape, pretend rape, extorted sex. It is certainly not approved of, but it is there, and if reading those words makes you cringe, or you can't read about such conduct abstractly, you probably want to skip this one.

I recently completed this witer"s newest work, Exile, and wanted to back and read some of his earliest work. The book is well thought out and its characters are extremely well developed. In many ways, I found similarities to his recently published work. In both cases, one finds an idealistic attotney who takes a case that is high profile in nature with little upside existing for him. He is a staunch defender of finding the truth, even it will lead to personal harm or harm to the case that is being tried. This book also features a strong woman who is extrmely well developed. The cortroom scenes are compelling and this makes for an exceptionally satisfying read. The only flaws are in his idealistic appproach, yet these are minor when the totality of this work is taken into account.

Over the years, whenever I've gotten into a discussion of books with people, the topic always comes to legal thrillers. Without hesitation I have recommended this book to every single person who likes the genre, and there has never been a person that's been disappointed by their experience reading this.

Patterson's story and delivery are pitch-perfect, and the courtroom scenese and investigation prior to the trial are top notch. Unlike many of the modern legal thrillers, a great deal of this book takes place in the courtroom. The mystery of the book in regards to who is guilty and who isn't, will leave readers guessing until the final 20 pages. There is plenty of action, and some fairly erotic love scenes as well.

This is destined to be a classic, if it isn't already.

This is a paramount plot, one of a kind for smart guys, where the reader is forced to think deeply in order to medidate about all the offered scattered events so as to understand how the situations unfold and relate

Characters are very well created and developed and some of them relate to RNP other books.

As we approach the ending, we expect Judge Masters ruling with total anxiety, however this is solved fast paced in just one chapter leaving a bitter taste after 500 pages of legal wrangling

Mr. Patterson, if you could made such a great plot you could have worked better not in the outcome but in the way the ending reveals in this book, I did not like it and that is why I take one star away. Next time do a step by step approach instead of letting loose the whole stuff in the nick of time

Fantastic!!!!. This book is going to go into my top 100 paperback reads of my life. I mean this is a book that has a basic plot which is kind of steered in such a manner to make it really look more complicated. The beauty of the book is the mixing of the flashbacks with the present. I mean few authors given this basic plot line could have told a story which is pushed forward by such amount of sheer relentless tension and suspense for over 500 odd pages. Mr paget is a attorney acting as defence for an alleged murderer who happens to be his divorced wife who in turn claims that she shot the man she is accused of killing in self defence in the process of avoiding getting raped. The whole book unravels chapter by chapter where Mr Paget and ourselves dont know whether to believe the story of the accused story or the evidence of the prosecutor. Evidence doesnt support the theory of the defendant and we keep hurtling through the pages as Mr paget battles it out in the courtroom trying to convince the court that there isnt full and incontrovertible evidence pointing to his clients guilt. The twists and turns, the lies and deception will thrill you and the emotional aspect of the book has been delt superbly. This book is legal drama thriller interspersed with emotional family drama. Enjoy...

This was the first RN Patterson book, and I found it to be very suspenseful. I simply could not put the book down! Like another reviewer, however, I must say Patterson was a bit too heavy-handed in his development of the characters. Richie Arias, the victim of murder or suicide, comes off as too evil, just as Terri Peraltas and Chris Paget are portrayed as angelic parents/people. In addition, they go through a series of dramatic events, after which they are still able to reconcile their relationship -- something that could ONLY happen in this fictional work. However, if you are like me and like books with enough mystery to keep you reading, and a happy ending to satisfy you at the end, Eyes of a Child is perfect for you!!

Thought to writing a review of this book... something which brought a lump to my throat after a long, long time...

The story is about an estranged child, called Elena, the love child of Teresa and Richie, whose parents don't love each other any more. For adults it is easy to say and accept, but for a child to comprehend that her parents can be separated is almost unfathomable. And it is this very delicate and most intricate feeling that Richard North Patterson sought to capture in this book. It is ostensibly a legal thriller, a murder mystery, a whodunit, a courtroom drama... but above all, it is the story of Elena, who is torn between her parents, both of whom tell her that they love her, but not enough to be able to settle their own differences and live together... even for her sake... imagine Elena's sense of being betrayed when her Mom tells has that her Dad is the cause of their divorce proceedings, and her Dad insists that her Mom's extra-marital affair with her boss, Chris, is the cause of this estrangement...

The book is kind of long, but the length is almost an asset, used well by RNP to make the reader bond with the characters. You end up taking sides, and almost willing for things to happen and fall right... more than once while reading did I realize that I was clenching my teeth, and surprised, I let go... actually, was more than just a little surprised... not since the time I read "Les Miserables" did I experience such plight and pain in a character made solely out of paper and ink and one man's imagination...

Though similar to Grisham in topics and characters, this book certainly qualifies to be way up and beyond the caliber of Grisham's best (with perhaps the sole exception of "The Chamber")! The mystery and whodunit aspect is kind of tolerable and in the end things fall into place so that everything somehow makes sense (or does it?). Though the author has tried to intertwine the story into knots, starting with the murder, and then going a couple of weeks in the past to build a background into the characters, then carrying on with the past, and then finally a jump right into the middle of the fiery courtroom battle. Rarely does one get to see such delicious courtroom scenes... each argument has a counter-argument, and another one there... and just when you think one side comes up with their strongest witness, the other simply breaks through and gets back! It was a treat to follow the proceedings of the court.

A few things I found lacking in the story... at times, the characters are too single-sided... some are too white while others too black. Acceptable, but at times it makes the story that much less plausible. Still, just a nick in the armor... Another point worth making out is that the characters suffer so very much as part of the story, and as a result they take very long to reconcile and come to terms with their lives, but once they are around the bend, they bounce back almost too easily and are able to diagnose their feelings and psychologies a little too easily and objectively... Again, not something that takes too much out of the story or its effect, but I felt the author had just gone overboard a few times in trying to conceive his characters in depth.

Overall, I would rate this book a neat 4 out of 5, primarily for the delicate yet plausible handling of the sensitive topics that are covered in the book, and the way the plot comes together, with everything - every small detail that at times felt nagging and inconsequential - falling into place, while maintaining the acceptability of the characters and situations, at all times.

I have two more of Patterson's books lined up in my bookshelf, and will tell you more once I am through them too!

Eyes of a Child is an excellent novel, but it lacked the suspense and thrill I hoped for when I picked it up. It more based on the trial of a murder than the actual murder itself, which I thought it was about. The book does have many twists though they are not resolved until the last few chapters. This book is very good, but do not expect a typical murder mystery novel.

The story Eyes of a Child by Richard North Patterson is a intence murder mystery. The main characters are Terri Peralta, Richie Arias, Elena, and Christoper Paget. Terri is Elena's mother who is a divorced to her late husband Richie, who was murdered in his apartment by an unknown killer. Christoper is Terri's new boyfriend who helps her out with the case since they both work together as lawyers. The genre for this story is both horror and mystery because of the unknown killer. A major quotation in the story is when Terri yells, "'I didn't do it, why does everyone blame me? '" This affects the story because it is a turning part close to the end. On a scale of one to ten I would give an eight because it keeps you interested but you have to remember what happened or else you will get lost since the length of the book is a little to long by being over five hundred pages. You also have to have a pretty good reading ability since there is a lot of descriptive words. I would highly recommend this book.

I've recently become a big fan of Richard North Patterson's work. My favorite books of his are the ones involving Kerry Kilcannon. I feel Patterson is at his best when he combines politics with law. It is also when I feel his work is the most interesting and most compelling.

However, after reading Eyes of a Child, I've discovered that he also writes a pretty darn good legal thriller. Child abuse is a very difficult and touchy subject to address. I tend to admire Patterson for his research capabilities to ensure that he's putting credible information behind his plots and characters.

The story surrounds the 6-year-old daughter of lawyer, Teresa Peralta. There is a vicious custody battle between Teresa and her extremely manipulative husband, Ricardo "Richie" Arias. Beginning on the outer fringes of the story is the man whom Teresa has come to love and rely upon, Christopher Paget, himself a lawyer and Teresa's boss. Christopher is a single parent raising his 16-year-old son, Carlo.

First of all, Teresa loves her little girl, Elena, more than anything. Christopher Paget also loves his son at the same level.

So, what happens when Carlo is accused of molesting Elena? What happens when Christopher Paget himself is accused of murdering Richie? While these are intriguing questions for the movement of the story, the heart of it lies in this: how does this impact and affect the relationships between parent and child?

Patterson succeeds in creating one of the most unlikeable, diabolical character I've seen in Richie. The man is not above using anyone or anything for his own personal gain, and disguising this behind impressions of compassion and love, two concepts that are totally alien to him.

The story opens with Richie's death. I question whether it would have been more effective to do this later in the story. I almost felt disapppointed to find out from the start that Richie is dead. He is such a despicable character, that I wonder if it would have had more impact had his death been written later in chronological order.

Patterson creates realistic parents in Teresa and Chris who do their best to protect and love their children without compromising them. They are both flawed characters. They aren't perfect parents. They simply do what they feel is best. They will soon learn that, for children, it is not so much what a parent "does" but who a parent "is," that really counts. Sometimes not saying something as a parent can do more harm than good. Besides, as adults, we forget that children aren't stupid and are often much brighter than we ever give them credit for.

One of the most difficult things for a writer to do is to give a little child a realistic voice. It's hard to remember what a 6-year-old sounds like. How do they express themselves and what kind of words do they use. Patterson struggles with this early on with Elena. I work with kids all the time, and I just couldn't see Elena speaking the way she does in this story. As the story progresses, Patterson finally seems to find that voice, thus making Elena much more realistic and believable.

While I still feel that author, Sheldon Siegel writes the best courtroom scenes of any author on the market, Patterson does a great job in this story. The trial is tense and intriguing, and you simply can't put the book down once it gets going. At least he finally put in a judge who isn't cranky and snapping at everything. The judge during the custody hearing is like this which forced me to question: Christ, are all judges like this? Not by my experience, so I was relieved when the trial judge escaped this type of characterization.

This book is very well written. You won't be disappointed. You won't be cheering for Richie. You may start to cheer for Teresa and Chris, but in the end, you find yourself truly cheering for Elena and Carlo because you do begin to see through the eyes of a child.

Though I have much liked other William Lashner books, I didn't much like this book. It took me a long time to get through it - and only then by skimming over goodly bits of it.

For me, the main problem was that there were simply too many characters to keep track of. Maybe it is a guy-thing, but I can't follow relationships among people and families over multiple generations. That's what this book is largely about - for nearly 600 pages.

Fathers, grandfathers, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, brothers, half-brothers, half-sisters, unknown brothers, newly found brothers, murdered sisters, murdered fathers, blah, blah.

Then lots of sidebars where we read old letters and diary entries and whatever else recording the events of yesteryear which held the clues as to the murders happening today. On those pages, it seems like every 400th line holds a clue - who's got patience for that? - so I skipped most of it and went for the recap at the end.

Then as if I wasn't completely confused already, he adds time juxtapositions. From time to time, we are in the actual present with the lead character. Most of the time, we are in the recent past recounting the events leading to the present. And then for other big chunks of time, we are varyingly a few years earlier, many years earlier, and a hundred years earlier.

Basically, I couldn't follow most of it and more or less lost interest.

Very upset to learn this is same book previously published under title of Veritas. Don't think author's should change titles to increase book sales of same book. Watch out!

I read a lot of hard-boiled detective fiction and legal thrillers and am always looking for new authors. When a friend recommended the Victor Carl series I immediately ordered 3 from Amazon with great anticipation. I found them OK, but not great. They are solidly in the tradition of the flawed hero/detective going down the mean streets, and getting involved in Ross MacDonald-like cases in which the past haunts the present. All that makes them pretty interesting.

However, the books are WAY too long. Lashner's editor needs to cut about 200-300 pages from each one. There's way too much of Carl's interior musings - he's just not than interesting, and interferes seriously with the plot development. To anyone familiar with the genre the actual mystery is very slowly developed and the plot holds few surprises. Some of the characters and subplots are interesting, but by the time you get to the end, the resolution has been so obvious for so long, that I find I have been skimming for about the last third of the book.

Fun to pass some time with when you're out of Crais, Connelly, Child, etc.

reviewers need to recognize this retitling of an older work

William Lashner has written a pretty good series of books featuring Victor Carl, a Philadelphia lawyer whose desire to be utterly mercenary is often impeded by a weak but definitely present set of ethics. Bitter Truth is the second book in the series, and even if not Lashner at his best, it is still a quite enjoyable book.

As this novel starts, Victor is subsisting primarily on his fees as a reluctant mob lawyer. While a nice source of income, this role also interferes with his natural sense of self-preservation. He is retained by Caroline Shaw, heir to the Reddman Pickle Empire which is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Caroline wants Victor to look into the death of her sister; although ruled a suicide, Caroline suspects mob involvement, hence her hiring of Victor. Although she is paying him a nice $10,000 fee, Victor smells much greater money, the sort that can allow him to quit lawyering and retire to some South Seas island.

Of course, such great wealth would not be easy to come by, and Victor soon finds himself in a boatload of trouble. He becomes involved with a strange little cult which is not above violence to stop Victor's investigation; more seriously, he also gets entangled in a mob war. But the key problems come from the Reddman/Shaw family itself, a clan with a closet full of skeletons. Although fabulously wealthy, the family seems to exist under a curse of death and insanity. The mansion that they are centered around is a practically Gothic haunted house; despite their vast funds, the house is in disrepair and even the food that is served is unpleasant. To earn his money, Victor will need to sort out the family secrets and unearth crimes that date back a century.

As mentioned previously, this is not Lashner's best book, but it is good. There is some intangible quality that seems to be missing from this one that prevents me from giving it a full five stars. As someone who has read the four Victor Carl books completely out of order (3, 1, 4, 2), I can confidently say that they don't need to be read in sequence and each stands alone, so if you want to start reading Lashner, this may be as good a place as any.

I think its a great first book for anyone wanting to know more technical details about the workings of the CD, digital audio in general, digital interfaces and some DSP.
What I like most about this book was it was easy to read and simple to understand, unlike some other books that are just plain cryptic.

This book really deserves to be called 'The Ultimate Digital Audio Bible'. It has anything and everything. From basic DSP to video, it's not limited to audio topics. When I read the reviews, I would not hope to read the book from the start, just use it as a reference to explain specific standard highlights. But this book is very readable. I loved it. If you are a computer eng. major who wants to dwell in DSP in any field, this book is great. I don't agree with the prejudice that the book is not very readable. There are sections that are more difficult, but the author explains things in very good analogies and examples. I must mention that I'm a comp. eng. a few months away from MS, so I may not be doing justice to the average reader. But I would never expect to find myself reading through that 700+ book with pleasure. Don't think, buy it. Then try and conceal this secret gem from others.

Prof. Pohlmann's book has become a firm favourite on my technical bookshelf. I enjoy his easy-going style and commend him for writing an informative and interesting book. I cannot imagine why anyone would not feel the same!

First off, this book is in its fifth edition, and Amazon has lumped together reviews of all editions of this book. So the oldest review shown, written in 1998, is speaking of the 3rd edition, and reviews written prior to 2005 are talking about the 4th edition.
This book is more about the principles of digital audio hardware design than anything. The author, also a college professor, starts with the absolute beginning and the binary number system, sampling, quantization, aliasing, and dither and then moves into all of the topics that you need to design and analyze modern digital audio systems. However, if the information in the first two chapters is news to you, chances are the rest of the book will be over your head. The book is full of flow charts, frequency response diagrams, and detailed block diagrams of actual systems. What it is lacking in is any kind of signal processing mathematics to explain the detailed theory behind what is being covered. There is a chapter entitled "Digital Signal Processing", but it barely introduces and defines the terms. It does show some assembly code for performing some simple filtering tasks, though, but that's the extent of the coverage. If you didn't know DSP before you read this chapter, you certainly won't know it after you read this chapter. The book does a pretty good job of discussing some of the more popular audio standards including MP3. I think this book is best suited for someone with an electronics/electrical engineering background that already knows the theory of digital signal processing and wants to apply that knowledge to the actual design and analysis of digital audio processing systems. Amazon shows the table of contents from the 4th edition, so I show the detailed table of contents for the 5th edition here:
Sound and Numbers
Fundamental Theory
Digital Audio Recording
Digital Audio Reproduction
Error Correction
Digital Audio Tape
Optical Disc Storage
Compact Disc and SACD
Recordable CD
Interconnection
Perceptual Coding: Theory and Applications
MPEG-1 and MPEG-2
MP3 Codec
MPEG-4 and AAC
Psychoacoustic Models
Surround Sound Coding
Lossless Coding
DVD-Video and DVD-Audio
Recordable DVD
HD-DVD and Blu-ray
Minidisc
Desktop Audio
Network Audio
Downloadable and Streaming Internet Audio
File Formats
Digital Rights Management
Watermarking and Encryption
MPEG-7
Digital Radio and TV Broadcasting
HD Radio
Satellite Radio
Digital Audio Workstations
Digital Signal Processing: Theory and Applications
Sigma Delta Conversion and Noise Shaping

Mr. Pohlmann's book is the most encompassing treatise on Digital Audio that is available today. As an employee at Dolby, I can tell you that you won't find an engineer at Dolby who does not own a copy of Digital Audio. The book can be used in many different ways. Whether you are an expert or a novice, this book will come in handy. I would equate this book to drinking directly from the source of a mountain spring. Don't think about it, just buy it.

Readers know from the beginning that John Orr, ace arson investigator, and the mysterious serial arsonist he investigates are one and the same. We also know that such cases are, alas, not so unusual: fire bugs are often firemen. Even so, Wambaugh's writing skill maintains the suspense of this story to the bitter end. Will justice be done for Matt, the little boy who never got that chocolate mint ice cream cone?

BOOK lovers will be struck by the central role of the perp's autobiographical novel in the case. Can the jury really believe that there is a reasonable doubt that the little boy in the book was named Matt by coincidence?

Nobody does non-fiction crime reporting like Joe Wambaugh. Like The Onion Field and The Blooding, this is a non-stop read. Wambaugh's insight into human behavior and motivations is fascinating. Joe Wambaugh is an american treasure.

Too much information. The story line gets bogged down and lost in Wambaugh's microscopic details. Too bad. Could've been an interesting read.

I thought that Ken Howard's reading added to the drama of this story about an arson investigator who set and then videotaped his own fires. The author paid appropriate homage to those whose tenacity finally brought John Orr to trial. The trial (transcript) was pretty much verbatim, but that is a plus because the attorneys were so eloquent.

Even though you know how the true story ends it is a page turner. The arsonist's mind is beyond comprehension. Wambaugh does a great job with this account.

There's nothing new under the sun. The teachings contained in this book have been given in the past by numerous teachers (Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, the Secret of the Golden Flower, maybe even Meister Eckhart.)

However, what make a whole lot of difference is the way it is presented. I found the author's instructions very clear and illuminating. They helped me understand many things that were previously unclear.

I whole-heartedly recommend it.

This little book tries to bypass poetry and offer a practical, step-by-step program for realizing the identity of subject and object. The author even goes so far as to provide his basic instruction worded 26 different ways, in the hope that one of the wordings will resonate with you.

The author makes some rather bold claims that will challenge many readers. He categorically denies the need for any sort of teacher. He also dismisses thousands of years of spiritual advice in all traditions as either insufficient or useless. Neither of these provocative claims is really relevant to the technique he is presenting. The book would be better without them.

And what is Langford's technique? The Chinese classic "Secret of the Golden Flower" calls it Turning the Light Around. But I've never seen it presented as forcefully or as urgently as this.

Recommended if you find your practice lapsing, and need your hair set on fire.

This book is a fascinating perspective on the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. It is very insightful and has been exceptionally helpful to me on my path.

Sadly, in the end, this book is also the literary version of a cult.

The entire premise of this book is:

1) The method contained in this book is the fastest, best way to attain enlightenment.

2) Any thought that is contrary to #1 is the ego talking and must be ignored.

From the authors website, it appears he does not offer workshops or have any type of commune, thank God.

If only the author could present his ideas in a less rigid/THIS IS THE ONLY WAY/dogmatic/DO THIS OR NEVER BE ENLIGHTENED kind of way, he truly would have "a spiritual classic."

Ramanan Maharshi himself supported numerous paths, including bhakti yoga, mantra yoga, "the path of surrender" and even prannayam and hatha yoga for beginners.

The author also, it seems, has invented a few of the methods in this book- the love all method, the abandon release method and the eternity method- some acknowledgement on his part that these are his creations or explaining where they come from would be nice.

A new, humbler title would be nice too!


This book is the beginning of what could be an AMAZING book. The information is second to none, the presentation, the authoritarian tone, the whole context of the book as "THIS BOOK IS PERFECT. IF YOU ARGUE WITH IT, YOU ARE WRONG" is seriously dysfunctional.

If I could change my star rating, I would give it a 2. Some of the info in it is EXCELLENT and top notch.

In my opinion it seems as Michael Langford has something really important to say but not the writing skills or verbal tools (perhaps language itself is too restrictive) to convey what it is to the reader in the way that Nisargadatta or Jean Klein are so skillful at.

The book is highly repetitive as if saying the same thing 150+ times a little differently will help you get it. It looks more like a type of rapid fire self hypnosis. If you want enlightenment through suggestion you can read Arjuna Nick Ardagh.

Langford is referring to awareness without object. What is referred to as contemplation (Brunton's 3rd stage of practice). As for the origin of "Awareness of Awareness" here is an old quote from Paul Brunton in his notebooks:

"In that stillness, far from the physical activities, emotional excitations, and mental changes of everyday life, "the awareness of awareness" becomes possible, the Mind itself is isolated. The real being of a man is at last discovered and exhibited." - Notebooks of Paul Brunton: Advanced Contemplation.

We are all allured by the promise of the short path. Reading Brunton's book will give you a very good reference on the short vs. long path and why the ego wants shortcuts. Why also we must have both paths and realization is only an end result of the short path and how one cannot enter the short path until the long path work has been done.

Brunton's book "Notebooks of Paul Brunton: The Ego, Vol. 6" is an excellent book to accompany "Advanced Contemplation"

From the Introduction chapter of the book...

"11.It is possible to be free of all sorrow and suffering
and to experience
absolutely perfect infinite eternal joy
here and now in this lifetime.
12.It is possible for all humans,
not just a few humans.
13.There is a rapid means to
infinite bliss.
14. That rapid means is taught in this book."

This book is unique contribution. It is an 'Instruction manual for enligtenment'. It contains extremely practical step by step instruction to the 'direct experience of reality'. The first three chapters are devoted to understanding the ego and tricks of the ego and how it keeps one from waking up. These chapters are extremely insightful and I personally found it very useful. One of the several ego's tricks which I Identified in myself after reading the book was a preference to engage in endless reading and discussion instead of devoting time for actual practise. Then there is a chapter on the importance of the 'desire for liberation' and how it can dissolve all obstacles to enlightenment. There is a chapter devoted to 'how to awaken the extreme desire for liberation' which is also very insightful. There are two meditation practises offered for daily practise as the 'most rapid and direct means to direct experience of reality'. The first one is the 'Awareness Watching Awareness'(AWA) method, and the second one is the 'Abandon Release Method' (ARM). According to the author AWA is the most rapid and ARM is the second most rapid method. These two methods alone are worth the value of the book. There is an extremely useful chapter on further clarification on 'Awareness watching awareness' method which addresses all possible doubts or questions one might have during the practise. The author gives very practical tips and pointers to address any questions which might cloud the meditator's mind during practise.

E.G. from chapter eight...

"10. Don't expect any type of experience.
11. If you are wondering if you will have some kind of spiritual experience,
then that very wondering means
you have added something to
awareness watching awareness.
12.Never add anything to
awareness watching awareness.
13. The key is to be content just watching your awareness and not to move from that and not to add anything to that.
.
.
165. Don't expect any of the experiences described in this chapter. Expectation will destroy the effectiveness of the practice.
166. If it seems boring
the first few times you try the
awareness watching awareness practice, that is OK. Continue to practice."

Initially when I started practising AWA, I found it to be quite difficult. Then I took the authors suggestion in the book and practised ARM first for a few months and then swith to ARM. It has been a year since I started practising seriously and the results are amazing, I can definitely say that I am on the right track. The following quotes are from chapter 6.

"67. From the very first moment one tries this practice, one is abiding as awareness!
68. There is no waiting!
69. It is so easy.
70. One does not mean to imply
that from the beginning the ego ends.
71. It takes years of continuous practice before the ego meets its final end.
72. However, from the moment one tries this simple, easy to understand practice, one is abiding as awareness!""

There are also several supplementary methods which are not meant for daily pracise but can be pracised once or twise to get a deeper understanding of the primary method. There is also a chapter titled 'reminder' which is meant to be read everyday to motivate one to practise the methods every day.

Well how does one know whether this is infact the 'most rapid and direct means to liberation'? Quoting the author from chapter 6.

"123. The only way to find out if the Awareness Watching Awareness Method works for you is to practice it.
124. If without trying it, you come to the conclusion that it will not work, then you have allowed the imposter (thinking)
to rob you of a great opportunity
125. With thinking you have a conclusion, an opinion, an assumption
that may be correct or may not be correct.
126. However, with practice, you will know for sure if it works for you or not.
127. Therefore, consider giving it
a sincere, fair try."

In my case, the unconditional joy and bliss that is starting to fill my being and is deepening with each practise session is enough confirmation that the AWA method really works.

Very Highly Recommended!