John Hughes Books

The latest in the Ed Loy series has the Irish PI looking for a jockey who disappeared years before after holding back a favorite horse so it would lose. It brings him into the midst of deep dark secrets of a prominent horse-breeding and -racing family. Although there isn't enough information to even begin an investigation, such a lack doesn't seem to deter Loy.

Discovery of the first of several bodies opens the inquiry into the many mysteries of the Tyrell family. All this takes place beginning on Christmas Eve and leads up to the four-day Leopardstown Racecourse Christmas Festival. The story is set among the current and past Irish economic and social conditions, with observations on the people and the Catholic Church playing an important role. The plot involves, as usual, the sins of the fathers cast upon the children.

The drama is high, the writing solid. This third in the series is as gripping as its predecessors, and is highly recommended.

In Dublin, Father Vincent Tyrrell hires private investigator Ed Loy to find missing jockey Patrick Hutton. The case is made complex by the fact that his client offers only a name and that Hutton disappeared about a decade ago. Loy wants to say forget it as he figures he has little chance of finding the man, but the fee is too good to ignore.

Loy knows he must tread the streets very carefully as the Halligan family plan to rough him and more because they hold him culpable for one of them residing behind bars. As he makes inquiries on another case involving a homicide that leads back to Father Vincent's brother affluent business mogul F.X. Tyrell, Loy soon finds himself investigating two other related homicides connected to the Tyrell family. Beaten severely and told to back off or else, Loy keeps digging until the trail takes him to the four-day Leopardstown Race-course Christmas Festival.

In his third appearance (see THE COLOR OF BLOOD and THE WRONG KIND OF BLOOD) Loy does what he does best: gets tattered and threatened but keeps on ticking. The story line is fast-paced from the opening request and though filled with neat twists never slows down until the final altercation. Bruised, battered and beaten, Loy still conducts intelligent inquires whose link is F.X. Private investigative fans will enjoy Declan Hughes' strong Irish mystery.

Harriet Klausner

The Price of Blood is Declan Hughes' third thriller set in Dublin, Ireland. Hughes previous novels are The Wrong Kind of Blood, which won the Shamus Award for Best First PI novel, and The Color of Blood.

Private Investigator Ed Loy is hired by Father Vincent Tyrrell to find a missing jockey, Patrick Hutton. Taking the case is easy, but the clues are few. The only thing that Father Tyrrell can offer to Loy is a name-and that the jockey disappeared years ago. Not a good start for solving a missing person's case, and Loy would prefer to let it go. The problem is the money is just too good, and since Loy's bank account is depleted, he really must take the case.

During the investigation of another case, Loy discovers the body of a man who is linked to Father Tyrrell's brother F.X. Tyrell. That mystery leads to other clues, and as Loy usually does, he gets battered and bruised, but doesn't give up digging into the mystery. The trail finally leads to the four-day Leopardstown Racecourse Christmas Festival where Loy finds dangerous people and activities afoot.

I love that Loy is "everyman." and yet he has something that sets him apart from most. He's tenacious, thorough and oh so likeable. Hughes' The Price of Blood is fascinating. It's fast-paced, gives the readers some wonderful twists and speeds on to the conclusion.

If you like PI novels, check out The Price of Blood. I guarantee that you will go out and buy the first two. Hughes is a habit-a good habit.

Armchair Interviews says: Hughes' novels just keep getting better

Irish playwright Declan Hughes's third private detective Ed Loy novel, THE PRICE OF BLOOD peers into the gritty sides of Dublin and families as Loy investigates the case of a missing jockey and a case of vandalism. In a suspense thriller with echoes of Greek tragedy set in modern life, Declan Hughes creates an innovative look into the darker sides of his characters and the underside of Irish horse racing. THE PRICE OF BLOOD is a suspense read full of local color from an Irish author who looks beyond the surface into societal changes and customs as well as into the shocking secrets hidden from plain view, secrets that when spoken can often lead to tragic consequences.

Father Vincent Tyrrell asks PI Ed Loy to look into a name, Patrick Hutton. The Catholic priest and horse racing devotee gives Ed Loy just the name without any other details, refusing to break the seal of confession. Now dying of cancer, the priest's conscience troubles him. Meanwhile, Ed Loy takes on a case, assisting Joe Leonard in catching vandals. As Ed Loy pursues the Leonard case, he discovers a body dumped, a body with some shocking details and a piece of paper that might just relate to his jockey case. When Ed looks closer into the history of Patrick Hutton, the body count increases. Each victim has 2 cryptic tattoos roughly engraved into their skin and certain other details in common which Ed discovers when he comes across a dumped body. While the papers claim the murders are the work of a serial killer, The Omega Man, Ed Loy knows that the clues and relationships just do not fit the serial killer scenario. His investigation of jockey Patrick Hutton takes him into the tumultuous world of Irish horse racing and the Tyrell family where passions run deep and secrets are hidden even deeper.

From the very beginning of THE PRICE OF BLOOD, Declan Hughes takes the reader into an intimate vision of Ireland. Declan Hughes sections the book by date into Advent, Christmas, and St. Stephen's Day, thereby creating a temporal structure that relies on the Catholic calendar and focuses on Father Vincent Tyrell`s world. His moral dilemma introduces this work of suspense, allowing the reader to catch both a glimpse at the depth of this character, as a man tortured by a secret he must keep and also as a compassionate man willing to stand out as he brings Tommy Owens into the fold of his church and protection despite the congregation's displeasure. From the very beginning, the reader feels Ed Loy's ties to his youth and his independence from the Dublin of his past through the interchanges with Father Tyrell. Through the descriptions of the Joe Leonard case, Declan Hughes, takes the reader into Ireland's past and present as characters once isolated from one another by economics, now live in close proximity. Those who once thought of semi-detached housing as low class now are limited to council housing. Now, downcast, Joe Leonard is determined to protect his corner. To Joe Leonard, Declan Hughes juxtaposes F.X. Tyrell, a man for whom horse racing has improved his status and station in life.

As suspense, THE PRICE OF BLOOD delves into the dark side of horse racing, purebreds, and relationships as passions and past histories collide. The closer Ed Loy gets to answering the puzzles, the more surprising twists he uncovers. As St. Stephen's Day approaches with the exciting climactic horse race, even the best laid plans cannot prepare the characters for the shocking conclusions still to come. As with a previous past case, when the culprit is finally revealed, the revelations elicit unexpected actions. Secrets haunt but brought to light, do they bring comfort? Declan Hughes' suspense stands out precisely because answers are not easy or simplistic. Through the depth of the character of Father Vincent Tyrell, Declan Hughes creates a magnificent sense of pathos in his suspense that makes THE PRICE OF BLOOD a unique suspense read.

Declan Hughes is a must read for drama enthusiasts (particularly tragedy lovers) and literature enthusiasts. Father Vincent Tyrell recalls to mind Graham Green's memorable characters while simultaneously upping the ante several notches. While reading THE PRICE OF BLOOD, literature lovers might call to mind OEDIPUS REX and Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN, not so much in terms of plot or characterization where there are both some similarities and differences, but more so for the brilliant way Declan Hughes deviates from these classics. Declan Hughes creates an innovative work of fiction that pays tribute to previous literary classics while all the while transforming them, adding new twists as he places his tale in the suspense genre. The author invigorates the suspense genre with a new vision that will delight, indeed haunt lovers of both suspense and drama.

If you are looking for a light happy suspense read or a quick serial killer whodunit that you can easily put aside with disinterest shortly after finishing it, this book may not be the best choice. If you want a suspense read that glosses over the ramifications of actions or the pain endured by characters, search elsewhere. If you are looking for a unique read and one that stands out from all the books out there, in either suspense or literature, THE PRICE OF BLOOD is brilliant! Although tragic, THE PRICE OF BLOOD is hauntingly innovative --- the kind of book one remembers for its uniqueness.

This book is gold, not only did it answer a lot of my questions about some specific technologies like Red5 and Flash-Develop, but it also gave me a very detailed introduction to AMFPHP. Most of all, a new found respect for Apache Ant.

The book tried to cover so many different topics and so many different aspects of Opensource flash development that it was difficult to jump though the book. A lot of the concepts were basic and meant for a beginner, nevertheless this book will guide you in the ways of creating a open-source development environment more effectively then you would ever be able to discover yourself. Personally I would have liked to see more as3, however they kept it nice and 'open' so that anyone could learn from it.

Overall, this book is getting a 5 because even though some of the content was a little dated.(Like any book) the concepts that it offered were solid. This book was a rare one because I was able to read though it easily. It held my interest the entire time.

Open Source Flash Development is an excellent book for Flash developers that want to enhance their data-driven Flash applications. It covers the most essential about the so presently so used swfObject, AMFPHP, SWXPHP, Papervision3D, RED5 and many more! This book was indeed a must for me, therefore I strongly recommend it.
Carlos Amaral (Lusoned Interactieve Media, The Netherlands)

I saw one copy of this at Powell's Technical Books in Portland yesterday, and picked it up, figuring it was new. It was--just published in the last few weeks. I haven't delved into it as much I would like, but that doesn't matter here because I carefully reviewed the contents before purchase.

So: why buy this book? If you're working with Flash and ActionScript 3.0 currently, you know the Flash world is a moving target that changes very rapidly, and the main reason for this is the addition of open-source tools and "classes." This book gives us a needed status-check on what's currently available, how to get it and how to use it.

In my case, I was mostly interested in Papervision3D, the Google add-on that has rapidly gone from cute curiosity to must-have in every Flash developer's bag of tricks. However, you don't really need this book for Papervision3D--there's plenty of documentation available online.

Likewise, if all you really want to know is how to implement SWFObject (a popular add-in that lets you update a Flash element by updating your html or external text file), or how to make Flex work with XML, you may not need or want this book.

But if you like to read about some fun new stuff that's available and that you might like to explore--all of kinds of mashups, FUSE, HAXE, Red5 video--then grab this book right away. It's readable, fresh, and informative--like most Friends of ED books. Also like most other Friends of ED books, it will rapidly go out of date as the moving target moves on!

A great book. The selections of essays are so varied. The opening piece by the Author/Editor John Hughes is breathtaking, he paints a memorable picture of his youth in Morrocco. Mark Twain's rather jaundiced writing is very funny. The 1975 John Milius movie THE WIND AND THE LION has its Hollywoodized fiction finally set to right, with the true version of what happened when Ion Perdicaris was kidnapped by Mulai Ahmed er Raisuli in a good chapter of this enjoyable book.

d slattery

House Of Tears: Westerners' Adventures In Islamic Lands gathers and presents narratives about the Islamic world from the last several decades - but it's more than a travel or true adventure collection, even though elements of these two genres are present. House Of Tears is, above all, a survey of cultural encounters which collects and presents the stories of Westerns who traveled to Islamic nations during the 18th to 20th centuries. From an encounter with a homicidal sultan to harsh journeys over 'blasted land', House Of Tears is literary, vivid, and provides powerful social and cultural insights draped in the guise of adventure.

This is a very absorbing read full of adventure and history in parts of the Islamic world I basically knew nothing about before reading this. My main complaint is that the author who gathered different real stories from explorers books did not write more of the book himself. His writing was riveting and did great set ups for the chapters which are taken from original accounts by Westerners Americans and Europeans who opened the Muslim regions. It was interesting to read the writings of those who went into the Muslim countries over the last 200 years and see how many of their names were famaliliat, like Lawrence but others, even more exciting I never heard of.

Thank You Patrick Henry!!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful story with the World. Thank you for allowing us to know you and your delightful family. Thank you for all that you have done to help the Crusade for Children, the March of Dimes, etc., etc.,. But mostly, thank you for inspiring both the physically able, and the disabled into being the BEST person we can be. God doesn't make mistakes. We were made the way we are, for a reason. I think, Your purpose is to share your many special gifts with the World. Through you, we see the World in a new light! Shine on, Shine on Patrick Henry!!

Thank you for sharing your world, I learned so much. My son shares the same March 10th birthday as Patrick Henry. My son was also born with severe Bilateral Microphthalmia or small eyes, he is also blind. My son is now 19 months old and reading this book gave me some insights on what I might expect in the future. Reading about the struggles and hardships that Hughes family has tackled and overcome is inspiring. As a father of a boy with a similar condition - Patrick John Hughes insight as a father was enlightening. Anyone wishing to read a good book should sit down and read this story. I know my opinion is biased - but again it is only my opinion. It will be interesting to see what book gets written 20 years from now about the young adult life of Patrick Henry. I wish Patrick and his family the best. His optimism has helped my family and other families that I know that are dealing with blindness. Hopefully Patrick will continue to break down barriers and share his talents with all.

If you saw the Hughes family on the ABC TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" this past February (2008) you may have wondered who they were and why they where chosen. The bigger story is however much deeper and more loving and certainly one that is most inspirational. The book " I Am Potential: Eight Lessons on Living, Loving, and Reaching Your Dreams" is a wonderful true life tale as told to Bryant Stamford by Patrick Henry Hughes and his father Patrick John Hughes. It goes well beyond just telling you who this family is and what makes Patrick Henry so special - it gives depth to the family experiences and gives the reader a look at something very special indeed.

This book is about how a young man, who has not only over come his disabilities, but inspired a community; and now, he inspires an entire nation with his positive zest for life. It also shows how his father coped and dealt with it and how the whole family made it work. This is one of those feel good stories that would make a great feature movie by Disney. The story is uplifting and not about what is wrong, or what someone cannot do. It is a positive message that makes the greater family of mankind feel better.

I enjoyed reading the book but I also found it impossible not to love this young man and to wish him all the best. He may be in a wheel chair and unable to see with his eyes - but he is moving others at light speed towards something much greater within their own selves. The book has a spiritual message without any lectures or ego driven, self-serving attitudes - it is honesty and pure love!

This book has gotten the highest book rating of FIVE STARS from "The American Authors Association" and is on my short list of recommended must read books! I give this my personal endorsement. This is a book that all family members can read.

I typically consult perhaps half a dozen commentaries when it's my turn to lead our Bible study group. I like different ones for individual reasons. Matthew Henry is a "standard". I like Jamieson-Hausset-Brown because it's adenominational. Adam Clarke offers strength in the underlying languages (in which I am not schooled). But when it came to our study of John 17, I found the most helpful information in Preaching The Word.

As other reviews attest, this is not a verse-by-verse commentary. Indeed, it seems to be more a collection of sermons than a traditional commentary. But the information is faithful to Scripture, and it is practical. I found Dr. Hughes' applictions an excellent tool to focus our deliberations.

Is it the only commentary I'd own? Probably not. Maybe not the first I'd buy. But there's a lot of useful information here that a serious BIble student willl appreciate. It may be the most practical available.

I bought this to serve as a commentary on the Gospel of John, and although it is not truly a commentary, it is a wonderful read that covers John's entire Gospel. The author uses strories and antidotes to guide you through the meanings and it is easy to understand. It seems to be a series of delightful and compelling sermons that He may have at some time preached. It covers almost every verse in John, but does omit a few short passages, not in the sense of skipping something in the middle of a teaching, but rather skiping two or three verses occasionally when going from the end of one section to the start of another. Read John's Gospel first, then reading this book is a great place to start your in-depth study. I would add however, if you are looking for a verse by verse commentary, like Expositor's, this may not suit your purpose.

The Preaching The Word series by R. Kent Hughes is a great commentary series for anyone who wants to understand any New Testement Book of the Bible from an Evangelical Christian point of view. For years Pastors and Sunday School teachers and interested students of the Bible have resorted to Barclay's series of commentaries on the New Testament for practical illustrations and understandings. But now Barclay can sometimes be outdated and are not always consistent theologically. Hughes has done a great service is supplying easy to understand explanations and challenging illustrations on each book of the New Testament. John is a very good commentary at that level. The serious student will suplement this book with a more scholarly commentary such as D A Carson's John. But everyone will be challenged reading this very consistent popular book. I gave it 5 stars because of its consistent practical explanations but I must re-state this is not a scholarly treatment of John.

Robin Vowel's book compliments Hughe's book for a variety of algorithms and none-MVS platforms (emphasizing certain PL/I facilities well).

NB.
Caution with inexpensive used copies. They may not be the latest edtion. Previous editions are more verbose.

I needed a reference manual for PL/I and decided to go for this book. It is very good if you are new to the language or are trying to remember what a particular function does. It even has separate sections at the back of the book for ASCII and EBCDIC tables, how the different PL/I data formats are stored in records, and a good summary at the back showing which functions are supported by the various PL/I compilers and subsets. It is not a the cheapest (hardback) book on PL/I but is well worth the investment.

This book is utilized as a standard reference guide within our PL/I programming group. It doubles as a training reference for new PL/I programmers and as a general desk reference for programmers with more advanced PL/I programming skills. The overall content is well organized and easy to use.

This slim volume contains fifteen scary stories told in free verse. Each poem is accompanied by a unique illustration that perfectly matches the tone of the tale. These story/blank verse poems are fun to read aloud to a group with the caveat that the more intense offerings might actually frighten sensitive and youngest members of a gathering. Other selections are more pure comedy. A great collection for grades four and up!

This is one of my favorite books from childhood. The poems in it are so witty and gross and totally entertaining for adults and kids alike.

This collection of scary poems includes poems about a dark, dark cave with a giant troll waiting to swallow any visitors, a bone-less creature that slides its agile body through keyholes and under doors to feast on the bones of children who stay up too long in the middle of the night, a carnivorous white fog that smothers anyone who comes near it, a horrifying breakfast scene where your parents have their bodily features removed and replaced, a particularily haunting tale that shows of a careless kid who walks in acid rain and has his body slowly dissolved into tiny bits, a shocking tale in which a swarm of mosquitoes suck the blood out of a spoiled girl who would scream at her parents, a poem about a many-legged creature under you stairs that will devour and torture anyone who wakes up in the night for a snack, and other poems that will definitely chill your child to the bone. (Need I say any more?)

If you are considering buying this great book, make sure that your child is mature enough to handle the severity of this book. Your kid could have reoccuring nightmares (or worse) if he/she comes across any of these poems...

Eugene Smith was one of the greatest photographers of the Twentieth Century. He worked as a photojournalist from the 1930's until the 1970's. Smith was able to elevate his photographs from the realm of journalism into high art. His best photographs use the contrasting effect of light and dark in the chiaroscuro tradition of Spanish Master, Francisco Zurbaran.

This volume is part of Aperture Masters of Photography Series. At under ten dollars, there is no better introduction one can find on the life and work of Eugene Smith. The publisher of this volume is Koneman, a German company well known for the high quality of its productions. This book is a good value and is highly recommended.

This is a great introduction to one of the most outstanding photographers of all time. The author obviously understands Smith's genious!!

If you are interested in photography and want to see a good introduction on an excellent photographer, buy this book. The Aperture edition has most of Smith's important pictures and discusses his personal/professional dilemma, which generally should be read very critically in art books, which informs us of the tension in the photographer, which is the important element of good photojournalism. In photojournalism, the tension should be the informing pointer as to what is going on in the picture.

Smith is one of the most important photographers from the 20th century. His influence was great and his work on the photo-essay is defining (e.g. his Life magazine essay on Dr. Ceriani in 1948). His most memorable photo was of Tomoko Uemura with her son in 1972).

Other 20th century photographers you may want to discover or learn from are: Eugene Atget (late-19th/early 20th C), who documented Paris for artists, but whose work influenced the existential air of 20th century photography; Alfred Eisenstadt (mid-late 20th C), who, in my opinion, was the father of modern photo-journalism; and Mary Ellen Mark (late-20th C), who captured the zeitgeist of late-20th century better than most photographers, who tended to project meaning onto their subjects, rather than receive them as Mark was and is so adept at doing.

Of the many photo books on the shelves, this one is worth your time and money.

This is a great book. The counterpart of Gary LaFontaine's classic on the caddis. The book is well researched, clearly written, well illustrated with drawings and photographs. Filled with recipes for all the mayflies you could want to tie.

Everything about this book is first class, the quality of its construction, illustrations and top-rate information. The book focuses on info that can really be used by the fly fisherman. I found it both fascinating and helpful. If you want to move from guessing about which insects to use to being knowledgeable, this is the book to have. I think anyone confused by insect hatches and their importance to trout fishing will find this book extremely invaluable.

The book has a short introduction to the various types of insects found in western waters. From the intro, it moves on to the insects most commonly found in the region, their importance to trout feeding, the differences among them, including those existing between the male and female of each species, the patterns to imitate them (with appropriate sizes, colors, etc) and the best times to fish them.

This is a beautiful book and should be in any fly fisherman's collection. I highly recommend it.

Aquatic entomologist Rick Hafele and fly fisherman Dave Hughes combine their knowledge and experience in Western Mayfly Hatches From The Rockies To The Pacific, a straightforward reference packed with everything the the fisherman needs to know with regard to how to identify and match mayflies and how to fish their imitations, as well as a wealth of information fascinating to anyone interested in collecting and observing mayflies, their behavior and their natural history. Full-color illustrations and more than 350 color photographs throughout add a bright touch to this thick compilation of information gathered over twenty years. A must-have for anyone, whether inclined toward science or fishing, who needs to know more about the secret lives of mayflies.

As a Fortune 500 Market Researcher specializing in targeted/online marketing, I can't stress enough the importance of this foundational work. If we take a step back and think about the future of e-commerce more broadly, then the true significance of Cyberpolitics becomes even clearer.

The Internet is, above all else, a vehicle for information. E-commerce is often the medium through which information is provided, organized, and housed. However, before marketers can determine the most effective means of successfully accomplishing this task, we have to gain a fuller picture of the overall audience. Since political information is a primary information need for Internet users, the dynamics of this user market is something that should interest anyone involved in e-journalism, political sites, community portals, and online information sources more broadly. I look forward to follow-up studies from the authors!

This is really a very good book, and very timely as well. Too many books about the Internet, including books about politics, investing, relationships, privacy, etc., are simply pie-in-the-sky theorizing. This book, focussing on politics, actually provides evidence through what looks like lots of research to prove its assertions. I highly recommend this book to people interested in something a bit more down to earth and less breathless about politics, the Internet, and the future.