Distributors Books

This 1980 book provides 758 readable digests of doctor's findings, medical journal reports, and government studies to answer the question: is smoking marijuana dangerous? [We know of the dangers from tobacco and alcohol, which have long been used by the general public for many centuries.] Marijuana smoke is more dangerous than tobacco, and as intoxicating as alcohol. But these dangers and better known. Marijuana can cause memory loss, lethargy, and actual brain damage. It causes damage to the liver, lungs, and respiratory tract. It can leave users passive, lazy, disoriented, unable to make decisions, and lacking ambition.

The author, a parent, decided to assemble all the facts he could find from many publications. He believes marijuana is more dangerous than cigarettes or alcohol, and can cause irrevocable brain damage and adversely affect other parts of the human body. Every item of information has its source listed. There is no preaching or sales talk, just the facts from experts. This book tries to correct the view that marijuana is harmless, or less harmful than cigarettes.

The Table of Contents lists 27 chapters for the 758 articles.
1) Harmful Effects on the Body
2) More Harmful Than Alcohol and More Damaging Than Tobacco
3) Stays in the Body
4) Damages the Brain
5) The Connection with Cancer
6) Weakens Resistance to Disease
7) Affects Human Cells and Chromosomes
8) Harms Male Sexual Function
9) Danger to Pregnant Women and Their Babies
10) Harmful Effects on Senses, Respiratory Tract, Liver, Heart, Glands,
Central Nervous System and Sleep Patterns
11) Damages Memory
12) Impairs Learning and Concentration
13) Alters Thought Process
14) Causes Loss of Motivation ... Apathy
15) Upsets Time Sense
16) Dangerous When Used Prior to Driving
17) Threat to Aviation Safety
18) Found Harmful in the Armed Forces
19) Reduces Coordination
20) Harmful Effects on Young People
21) Changes Behavior
22) Affects Mental Health
23) Psychological Dependence
24) Comparison With Other Drugs
25) Can Lead to Using Other Drugs
26) Harmful Effects Can Return
27) Warnings From Experts All Over the World

The last chapter "Sources" tells where the articles came from. It is something of a mixed bag of general literature and scientific journals. This book has no index.

The book has lots of interesting anecdotes on Thackeray, Hawthorne, Dickens, Wordsworth, "Miss Mitford" and others, many from the author's personal interactions. He seems to enjoy dropping names and letting you know where he has been! He is a bit wordy, and admits as much, himself, in the preface. Few others would have been as well-equipped to offer personal observations on well-known authors of this period.
. . . . some have suggested that his wife, an outstanding literary person in her own right, may have been the source of more of his insights into the authors' thought than he acknowledges . . .

(I have included below some excepts on the author, from Wikipedia, for the edification of browsers):
Fields was the publisher of the foremost contemporary American writers, with whom he was on terms of close personal friendship, and he was the American publisher of some of the best-known British writers of his time, some of whom he also knew intimately. The first collected edition of De Quincey's works (20 vols., 1850-1855) was published by his firm. As a publisher he was characterized by a somewhat rare combination of keen business acumen and sound, discriminating literary taste, and as a man he was known for his geniality and charm of manner.

In 1862-1870, as the successor of James Russell Lowell, he edited the Atlantic Monthly. In 1871 Fields retired from business and from his editorial duties, and devoted himself to lecturing and writing. He also edited, with Edwin P. Whipple, A Family Library of British Poetry (1878). His chief works were the collection of sketches and essays entitled Underbrush (1877) and the chapters of reminiscence composing Yesterdays with Authors (1871) in which he recorded his personal friendship with Wordsworth, Thackeray, Dickens, Hawthorne and others. He died in Boston on the 24th of April 1881

Gerald Posner's book, Case Closed is a real eye opener. If, like many people, you base all of your opinions on the JFK assasination on the Oliver Stone film, then you need to read this book.

Posner's book, incredibly well researched and annotated, demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that Stone's film, while remarkably entertaining, plays fast and loose with many of the facts surrounding this historical event.

As Posner details, most of the so-called "evidence" of a conspiracy presented in the film does not stand up to close examination. Some of it is no more than wild speculation, much of it flat out untrue, but has through years of retelling entered the public consciousness as if it were fact. For instance, the alleged eyewitnesses featured in the movie have largely been discredited over the years, many changing their stories several times, others having been shown not to have even been in Dealey Plaza on 11/22/63. Posner also takes on the so-called scientific evidence of the conspiracy buffs, dismantling their arguments piece by piece in convincing fashion.

The important thing to realize about this book is how thoroughly and meticulously researched it is. There is no conjecture - merely cold hard facts, presented as found. As convinced as I was before I read this book that there was a conspiracy to kill JFK, I am just as convinced now that there was not.

Years ago I came to the conclusion the assasination MUST have been a conspiracy. But later in life after some research started to be open minded to the idea that Oswald acted alone.
I read this book with the hope, that it would close this case (for me). Incredibly, what Posner did for me, was leave me thinking that it is impossible all these events are just a series of random coincidences.
It is clear after reading the book that Oswald was not just some nut who acted alone. .

My search for JFK assassination material began when I booked a trip to Dallas for a football game. I really didn't have any preconceived notions on whether the assassination was a conspiracy or not. I simply wanted to educate myself on what I would be looking at when I visited the Dallas School Book Depository. After reviewing most of the well known theories on wikipedia.com, I decided to purchase a book that went into depth on why Oswald acted along.

"Case Closed" does a good job giving the reader an insight on what Lee Harvey Oswald was all about. It also goes in depth on the background of Jack Ruby. Most impressively, Posner does a fantastic job citing where and how his information was obtained.

When I finally got the the sixth floor of the Depository, I quickly came to the conclusion that the shot from the window was not a difficult shot to make (esp in 3 attempts). I also made a point to go down to the grassy knoll. I couldn't help but think to myself, "the grassy knoll sure is close to location where the president was shot. If the shots came from there how could not everyone notice?"

What sealed the deal for me was watching the assassination on youtube.com. One can clearly see that when the second shot is fired, both the President and Governor react as if they have been hit at the same time. You have to ask yourself, if it wasn't a "single bullet" that hit them both, what is the probability that a conspirator(s) could make it appear as if it were a single shot?

In my opinion, if Jack Ruby hadn't shot Oswald, there would be no conspiracies.

...I've seen in print to capture the logical progression of what likely happened. Naturally, ANYTHING is possible. We can never know with absolute clarity everything about the JFK assassination. Over the years, I've found myself intrigued by the various alternative ideas of what happened, and even now I find it difficult to consider the various sinister associations of the principles in the case and arrive at a "2 independent lone killers" hypothesis. However, we are left at this point 45 years later having no real choice but to make do with the most plausible and demonstrable alternatives among the world of competing theories. I think this is it, or at least as close to it as we're ever going to get.

Mind you, I TOO believe that Mr. Posner sometimes gets too far afield in some of his speculations. He sometimes shows his lawyer training by appearing to present more of a slightly stretched legal brief than an objective evaluation of the facts. Nevertheless, on balance, he's hit a home run. Much of the technical scientific data appears so sensible as to be beyond dispute. His strongest argument against an involved conspiracy in my opinion has to do with the nature of SEQUENCE OF EVENTS. For example (one of many): How does Oswald (as a logical result of a conspiracy) end up working at the Depository well in ADVANCE of the decision of JFK to drive by that particular building, in that particular city? I think most conspiracy theories over the years have tied themselves in knots trying to deal with straightforward questions like that. In the process, they have tended to become more and more convoluted, and less and less plausible. Mr. Posner brings a lot of this back to earth, and this really is pretty near to "closed" in my opinion.

I can't even give it a star but it's a requirement. Part surmise part fact, this is not definitive in any aspect of the word. He cherrie picks his way through the evidence.

The book was in good condition and well wrapped but was so late arriving it was a bit ridiculous.

Don't be deceived by this book's length - although The Red Badge of Courage is a short book (written by Stephen Crane in ten days), the depth it goes into easily surpasses novels of greater lengths. Crane fills this novel with ironies and color symbolisms throughout the course of the war, which can be easily overlooked. At 129 pages, this novel covers young Henry Fleming's enlistment, training, desertion, and three days of battle. Despite the short span of time the book records, it depicts Henry entering the war as a naïve young man who later matures into a brave soldier. This goes to say that one of the book's major topics includes the coming of age. All young recruits seek to emerge as men at the end of war, but later realize that the war is not the glorious affair described in Greek mythology. Although only Henry's thoughts are known, it is heavily implied in the book that other young soldiers are having conflicted feelings just like him. This in turn contributes to shaping the novel's focus more on the psychology of war than the history.
The novel is a chronologically organized series of episodes as seen through Henry's eyes; although the 304th regiment was fabricated, the battle described in the novel is the real-life Battle of Chancellorsville. . By keeping the characters nameless, Crane universalizes the novel and makes the lessons applicable to any person at any given situation. Although the war is implied to be the Civil War, it is never mentioned in order to achieve the same purpose of promoting the novel's universality.
Overall, the book does a so-so job at keeping the reader's interest at bay. Although events are fast-paced, the novel itself is not a page-turner - there is just never enough to capture the readers' attention. To me, Crane's technique of not using names is frustrating at times to remember who is who. If you are seeking for an exciting read, look elsewhere.

Crane has a weird, impressionist writing style showing the battle fields of the American Civil War as seen through the eyes of Pvt. Henry Flemming. Unlike all the other editions, Crane's story is fully restored here in this W. W. NORTON edition, republished for the first time since 1889, with Crane's complete exploration of why a person acts courageously in war. This is the only edition of the complete novel before editors got their hands on it.

I am very satisfied with the Book and it's condition. Excellent price. The order was processed quickly and delivered fast. I was kept informed of the Status of the order and shipment. Excellent Seller and smooth transaction.

What can one truly say about an American Classic. It would be presumptuous on my part, at the very least, to analyze Mr. Crane's masterpiece after so many literary giants have already poked and prodded this novel of youth and war to ad nauseam. As a young boy in the early 1950s, I first read this novel and enjoyed the superficial battle narratives. Later as a college student in the 1960s, I again was treated to an analysis of this great work by a distinguished university professor. Needless to say he dug deep into the meaning of this and that and what Mr. Crane was "really" saying. Academia arrogance always amuses me. As I grew older, and not necessarily wiser, I grew to enjoy reading about the American Civil War more and more. Today in my 60s I guess you could say I am a Civil War buff as I have read about and visited most civil war battlefields and sites. The one thing that keeps coming back, and to me grows more interesting with each passing year, is the life and views of the common soldier. When the smoke clears away, and the generals have gone, it is the essence of the common soldier that remains. It is he, or she, that was the spirit of the battles. In this light Mr. Crane captured that elusive spirit.
Today, I periodically reread The Red Badge of Courage to feel and taste what those common soldiers saw and felt. Although Mr. Crane did not actually serve in the Civil War, he was not born until 1871, his narrative nevertheless captures the flavor of those horrific times.
It is a simple book about a young boy growing up during a terrible war. As the pure, innocent young boy leaves his mom and trudges off to find glory in war, he soon discovers that war is anything but glory. It is dirty, messy, bloody, lonely, and at times, most times, terrifying. He must confront his demons as the guns roar and find out who he really is. During his first encounter of battle, the boy simply runs away terrified. He agonizes over his cowardice. He longs to return to his unit but is afraid of what his mates will think of his running away. Then he is struck in the head by a rifle from another soldier and realizes he can return and claim a battle injury. So he returns and is hailed a hero. In his heart he sadly knows the truth and during a second battle redeems himself in glory. The story concludes with his realization that there is no glory in war or death and sadness. Despite this he rejoices to be among his comrades.
A simple story that brings home the horrors of war and the truth of glory. Again, an American classic and a must read.

I missed the tough skinned Anita, and now we got her back. The past few books have been to sappy and over sexed to the point of boredom. I cherished that some of my favorites have returned and LOVE the fact Anita is finally getting her backbone and smart-mouth self back in the picture for readers to enjoy. The helpless maiden bit was getting old. If I wanted to deal with over emotional whiney women I would go spend thanksgiving with my family. I cannot wait for the next book.

Here's the Anita Blake I know and love! She's not being the prude she was when I first met her, nor is the story bogged down by too much erotica as the later stories were. The balance along with the tension of all her relationships makes for an excellent story.

it's about time. i'm refferring to that pivital moment near the end. we all knew it had to happen sometime. surely now things will be far less stressful for Ms. Blake.
if you have not yet read the books preceding this one, stop reading the threads. search this awesome author and amazon has this nifty thing that tells you which book in the series is the first. buy it. read it. love it. share it with your friends. but get it back from them too or you'll have to buy the same book several times because others refuse to give it back to you. bitter? who me?
and does anybody else think Janean Garafolo might play a fairly good Anita should she ever reach the big screen? lol buy this book. the whole idea of the harlequin is such a cool thing, that all vampiric story lovers should know it.

I agree with a previous reviewer. I think I got through this book alot easier by deciding the story has turned into a sort of comedy...though un-intentional. Seriously...I laughed alot. I woke my husband when I bust out laughing about the condom apparently falling off the swan king. Are you kidding? But then I forgot how much she enjoys watching all her men *work* if you know what I mean. Of course that would be the only place she would be looking after the guy turns into a swan! I thought I was crazy when I connected the red shirts to Star Trek...haha..glad I'm not the only one. The ENDLESS dialog about Anita thinking everyone is picking on her, and snoozer sex scenes (oh add some additional whinney dialog there too)....wait....wasn't some/most of that passed off as the Harlequin *messing* with them?
Regardless, there are only so many times I can tolerate Anita or any of her men saying what "flat does it for them". I get it...just about anything flat does it for her. When I read that term "mommie dearest" for the Mother of All Darkness, I always want to cry out "no wire hangers EVER!!" I'll probably read the next one. It's like driving and watching a major car crash in slow motion. You know you really need to move on and you can't help but stick around to see how bad it can get.
I guess I can say at least she spent a couple hours at the office this time, Dolph, Zabrowski, and Edward make shadow appearances. I know I won't need to wait for long on the library list to check it out. Stay tuned!!

The 15th book in the Anita Blake series starts out with some promise. Anita is finally back at work and it looks like she'll actually do something interesting. The introduction of the Wild Hunt caught my eye right away. It's something I know a lot about and LKH's brief infodump on it looked correct. And that's where it was dropped. Key to the idea of a hunt is hunter and prey. Did the Harlequin pursue Anita et al? Nope, they were already in town and their power seems to consist entirely of the ability to irritate people and cause friction. That isn't exactly imposing. Then LKH adds the Commedia del Arte. I didn't know anything about it when I started reading The Harlequin and I didn't know anything more after finishing the book. There's no real description of it or why vampires would find a bunch of clowns so scary. And what do clowns have to do with the Wild Hunt?

Worse yet, we eventually learn that this isn't the *real* Harlequin, just imposters. This is the first book in which the Harlequin are even mentioned. Since we don't know anything about them, it's hard to feel shock or surprise to learn they aren't the real deal. If the book featured a group of corrupt cops, we wouldn't need a lot of explanation. We already know how cops are *supposed* to behave, so if we're told they're on the vampire counsel's payroll, we'd know they'd gone bad, but we've never seen the Harlequin act the way they're supposed to act, so who cares if they're real or not?

They come across as an inept Black Ops group rather than hunters. Of course the best part comes in the end of the book when the Harlequin stand around like characters straight out of Austin Powers and wait until Anita and crew finish having their emo moment to fight. A group of kindergarten children could take them out. All the while, the real villian of the story, Anita herself, is presented as the hero. If LKH realized Anita was evil and turned the story to describing a conflicted character's fall from grace the story might be salvaged, but she's stuck in a Mary Sue fantasy that makes Anita right no matter what she does.

Edward is finally back, the one highlight of the book, but he doesn't have much to do and seems to have turned into some emotional family man. Most of the real action happens off stage while Anita lies around in a hospital bed. We already know that LKH isn't willing to kill off any major characters, so there's no real tension. We also know she'll get the new super power du jour, so why even bother? Anita's powers are centered around sex, so the gang bang is on every time she needs to do anything metaphysical. When Joseph refuses to bed Anita for *her* benefit, she puts out a hit on him. I guess we're supposed to think, "That Joseph is terrible! He should do whatever Anita wants." but every concern that Joseph's wife puts forward is accurate and since when does staying true to your vows earn a death sentence? Especially when another bozo is available for the banging.

Which brings us to the Swan King. The guy is marched onstage solely for the purpose of serving the Doom Crotch and is set to work. After the usual boring, overlong sex scene LKH makes her usual error in telling too much. I mean really, the condom fell off? I get that he was forced to shapechange, but do we really need to know what happened to the condom? Granted it was hilarious. My husband and I laughed about that line for days, but that line doesn't belong in anything but a parody. Of course we never hear about him after that so where did he go? I guess he was sucked up into the Black Hole of St. Louis. Maybe he's still there now, wandering around. Hopefully Lemmiwinks will guide him out.

And the self-parody to end all parodies is the line about red shirts. Did she put this in the book as a joke? I mean the woman wrote a Star Trek novel, she should know the red shirts are the guys on the chopping block in TOS. I guess it's truth in advertising, since sex with Anita is the end of any characters personality. If you're looking for a good book with a great plot, great writing, and hot erotica look elsewhere, this book is more useful as a paperweight.

Without giving any plot points away just let me say this was one of the most rushed, boring, and obviously phoned in for the contract books I've yet read. And I say that as someone who greatly the Sword of Truth series as a whole.

Nearly every other page or so it seems some HUGE plot point was wrapped up or major character killed off. Barely ANY time was given to flesh out any of the story, and what little there was added nothing to the overall storyline.

Talk about an ending gone wrong. If you're considering buying this book to finish the series (like I did) don't bother; you'll just come away disappointed.

I really wanted to like this book. The series was nothing short of amazing at times. Throughout many of the first 5-6 books, I couldn't pry myself away. As the series went on...and on...and on, I found myself skimming more and more. Goodkind became so repetitive in multiple was that it became difficult to maintain the same enthusiasm for the series. He continually re-told the readers what they already knew. Plus, he also continually beat the reader over the head with his ideals. Ok, we get it. The Order is bad.

What the series left me with was this...

1. He's a big fan of pushing his ideals... Sounds almost like what he Richard was fighting AGAINST, doesn't it?

2. He didn't know how to finish the series. The ending was nothing short of bad.

3. Goodkind's obviously extremely talented. The first few books were tremendous.

4. It seemed to me that the series was probably at least 3 books too long. I suppose fewer book doesn't do alot to help profits though....

5. It's obvious that the series was too long when he began repeating many of the same scenarios a bit too closely... So yeah, Nicci's captured again.. Richard is near death again... Rachel is a slave to Violet again.. He went to the well a few too many times.

I don't know. I guess I'd give the series a 3 out of 5 overall... Yeah, I couldn't put down the last book. I couldn't wait for it to be over. I don't know that I've ever been let down so much by a book/series.

I was gifted the first book of the series, Wizard's First Rule, by a friend for my 18th birthday. (We shared not only the same birthday but a love of fantasy.) I read it quickly and grew to love the characters who were strong but not infallible, wise but human, pivotal to the existance of all mankind yet quirky and flighty. Characters who had strong morals and were fiercely loyal.

I also grew to hate the enemy. These were vile people, if they could even be called that, who had no morals, who were only strong when putting others down. These people had no value of life so felt nothing at taking it away from others or squandering theirs away.

And the entire series is really hinged on this concept, the moral really that life is something to value and no one has the right to decide how you live your own life but yourself. The choice is yours to make even if you make a poor choice. Thus, anyone who would try to force a way of living upon another or take life from others becomes the enemy.

Besides free will, the series emphasizes using reason and taking responsibility for one's own actions rather than using weak philosophies or belief systems as a crutch. The right to make a choice comes with the responsibility to use said right and to use wisely to affect change.

The morals within the series are parallel to Goodkind's own beliefs as believe in Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand and is described by here as such:

"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." (Terry Goodkind)

While I did a rather poor job of summing up the philosophy, Terry tells it well. And often. And he continues it in Confessor, perhaps even more so than the other books though, I believe, not without reason. It is because of his philosophy that Richard, the protagonist is able to survive and, to ultimately defeat those who would stand in his way, really the way of all those who value life.

Those simply looking for fantasy may have to look elsewhere because everywhere in the Sword of Truth, the reader will be assaulted with Goodkind's philosophy - also the philosophy of Richard. Still, the rants and asides from Richard concerning his philosophy are many and repetitive and could certainly be skimmed down.

The philosophy, alone, is something I can see being a deal breaker for many and, indeed, it is one of the bones non-fans have to pick with Goodkind. However, those who agree will want Richard to win the war against evil (played by Emporer Jagang and the Order) and see how this philosophy has extremely realistic implications and roots.

However, for those who have been a fan of the series (or simply the trilogy) thus far or those who cannot start a series without following it through, Confessor is definitely a must read!


As the book opens with Richard, a slave to the Order and in the midst of its army which is camped out just beyond the People's Palace of D'Hara, soon realizes that Kalahn, his wife and the Confessor who has been wiped from the memory of nearly the entire world and has no sense of her own identity because of magic, is also held captive by the evil Jagang and his men.

As a captive of the army, Richard is forced to play Ja La, the game of life in which winning is literally a matter of life or death. In doing so, Richard earns the respect of his teammates, captives and soldiers alike and has an opportunity to finally turn the tides of war, as well as escape for himself and his loved ones by showing the Imperial Order in its true light.

As one can imagine, a book which begins in the middle of a war and the middle of an army, no less, begins quickly. It took no time at all for Confessor to get off the ground because it started at such an elevated state and only rose to achieve more than my highest expectations by the end of the book.

As one would expect, Richard does eventually escape the camp of the Imperial Order and find his way back to the People's Palace. And even the loss of his magic cannot stop him with the little help of a friend. However, along the way it's not just the foes who go down and some characters who have been with Richard and his party for much of the series are lost.

As Richard continues to fight the war and foes known and unknown - Jagang and his Sisters of the dark; The evil sorceress Six and even the Underworld (and its Beast) - he sticks to his philosophy in an attempt to save mankind and the woman he loves. Unfortunately, due to the unknown and misunderstood nature of the spell which is tainting magic and has erased Kalahn from the memory of all but a few, figuring out just how to win this war is difficult, especially to someone who has such limited knowledge of his wizardry skills.

Of course, he does and happy endings abound. So happy, in fact, that I found myself brought to tears by Goodkind's writing. The book ends in such a way as to prove the value of Richard's - and Goodkind's - philosophy by showing the reader something which never could have happened had this philosophy not prevailed.

I really found Confessor to be an easy read despite the repetitive and almost preachy tone it sometimes took on and could have finished it in well under a day, had I the time, even though it weighs in at just under 600 pages (the perfect size of a fantasy novel, in my opinion).

The novel also tied up some wonderfully loose ends bringing back characters whose roles I didn't find to be quite finished. All in all, it closes the series smoothly and the happy ending is only the icing on the cake.

Now for the criticism, which is few and far between on my part. There wasn't a vast amount of traveling done in the novel as the Order was camped on the front porch of the People's Palace but much of the traveling which was done by the characters was done in a very rapid matter with the mode of transportation being invented or written in solely for that purpose which was a bit lackluster. Perhaps Goodkind would have done better to spend less time talking about Objectivism and have his characters use more traditional, if slower, forms of mobility. However, this may have put a damper on the fast pace of the novel.

Some also find fault with the similarity between The Sword of Truth and the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan but, as I've only finished the first novel in that series, only time will tell how I feel on that subject.

I definitely recommend Confessor to Goodkind and SoT fans. If you've an interest in fantasy and especially if you agree with his philosophy, I urge you to pick up this series. If the 11 titles are a bit daunting, I feel that it would be sufficient to read only the Chainfire trilogy as Goodkind does an adequate job of bringing new readers up to date with the happenings in his world as well as refreshing the memories of current readers (which I did need!).

I've been reading Goodkind's series for years. At first, I thought it was pretty good stuff. I liked Wizard's First Rule (a little cliche, but oh well). I liked Stone of Tears even more. It was decent all the way until Pillars of Creation. And then it just went downhill.

Confessor was worse than Phantom. I'm not sure what could be worse than Phantom. The book is filled with loooong drawn out explanations of every possible thing (magic, Nicci's feelings, Orden, prophecy...again, everything). They all sound a bit like summaries of every theme covered by the entire series. That is a LOT of summaries. Most of it is covered in strange, drawn-out, dull dialogue. The only part I really enjoyed was the Ja'La games.

I wanted to quit by the second chapter, but I kept going for the sake of finishing the series. Confessor just left a bad aftertaste in my mouth.

I think the 10/11? books could have been reduced to about 4 books at best. After the 3rd book, I feel like the author spent more time reminding the reader about previous books then adding to the story. I also think that the last 3+ books were mostly spent rambling and repeating himself in regards to the value of individual freedom and the importance of life. I think he must have read Atlas Shrugged by Anne Rand somewere in the middle of writing. I kept reading in the hopes that the end would be the payoff. No such luck. The writer must be laughing as the cash roles in.

This book isn't very well written. Extended examinations of characters' state of mind take place very often, even mid-conversation and mid-sentence. There's a noticeable amount of repetition as well. This book has a way of droning on for paragraphs and pages about stuff that is interesting enough as a topic, but unnecessary to explain at such length. I usually only break my reading at chapter marks, but there were at least two instances in this book where I had to stop reading mid-chapter because a particular scene was going on too long for me to even make it to the end.

The strength of this book is that it is actually an interesting story. There are enough interesting characters, and each one is well developed. The theme of scheming is prevalent and intriguing. Almost everyone in the book has some self-interested scheme, and thinks they're smarter than everyone else. Witnessing Boba Fett, and seeing first hand how he's simply in a completely different league than everyone else on the field, is a real pleasure of this book. If you're a big Fett Fan, though, it might be a double edged sword, as this book has him as talkative, open, and cooperative as you'll ever see him. His willingness to work with others and give them information is just barely within acceptable range for his character.

Overall, this book is a worthwhile read if you're at all into bounty hunters, but I wouldn't recommend it on its merits as a novel.

I get the impression that a lot of the people who read this were expecting something different. While I haven't read any of Jeter's other work, I was clued in to his intentions due to the fact that he'd previously written a novel called Noir. Put simply, this is hard-boiled crime fiction set in the Star Wars universe. (I get the impression that Jeter was looking to authors like Richard Stark for his inspiration.) While it may not work 100% of the time, I feel there is definitely enough to recommend to those who enjoy those two elements. I was also impressed by the fact that Jeter managed to make Xizor an interesting character. True, he doesn't have much more than a cameo here, but he made more of an impact in those few pages than he did in the entirety of Shadows of the Empire. As a first entry, it has me interested in checking out the rest.

For the most part this book is excellent, and it features the return of the greatest bounty hunter Boba Fett. There is one drawback that includes not this book but the entire series and that's the flashbacks. At times they can be confusing especially if you'r elike most of us and have to put the book down every so often.

The Manadalorian Armor by K. W. Jeter is the first book of a trilogy about the Bounty Hunter Wars, i.e., a three-part series about the indestructibility of Boba Fett. Now, I have no problem reading stories about Fett. He is a wonderful character, wears great armor, has the appropriate weapon to suit any occasion, and has Slave I - one of my favorite ships in the entire Star Wars saga. He apparently can get out of any kind of difficulty, and he has the best reflexes of any non-Jedi we know about (except possibly for Han Solo). Having said all of that, I still have difficulty understanding how Boba ever managed to fall into the Great Pit of Carkoon. However, he does manage to escape the clutches of the Sarlacc and is then rescued in the beginning of this book by fellow bounty hunter Dengar and Neelah, one of Jabba's dancing girls. From that point in the book the story ranges back and forth between Now and Then with Now being at the time of Return of the Jedi and Then being just after A New Hope.

The Now sections of the book are fairly straightforward with events taking place on Tatooine as Boba gets out of the pit, regains his strength with the help of two very opinionated medical droids, and fights his way off the planet only to run into the Trandoshan bounty hunter Bosck who is cruising around looking for revenge. The Then sections of the book are not straightforward, and one can only hope that things will become clearer as we move through the next two books. The action here involves an extremely convoluted plot set up by Prince Xizor with the blessing of Emperor Palpatine despite the misgivings of Darth Vader. Boba Fett accepts a job from the assembler Kud'ar Mub'at that requires that he join the Bounty Hunters Guild. From that point on, events are fairly chaotic.

Mr. Jeter tries too hard to write something other than just a pure action story about bounty hunters. Too much time is spent trying to explain the thought processes for many of the characters. I found that I lost interest. One particular scene with Xizor, Vader, and Palpatine just talking is interminable as it goes on for page after page with nothing really happening. I kept waiting for him to get on with the story. He does introduce some interesting new characters such as the Shell Hutts who are encased in cylindrical armor and float around on repulsorlifts. Imagine Jabba the Hutt floating around in a giant can that can be closed up in the event of an emergency. We also have D'harhan, a huge bounty hunter with an immense cannon that is basically a part of his body. His weapon is always handy. Then we have Kud'ar Mub'at - oops, sorry. I mean the assembler Kud'ar Mub'at. Mr. Jeter seems to think that we have to be told that Mub'at is the assembler any time he appears in the book. Mub'at is an arachnid that has spun an immense web in space and can keep track of events all over the galaxy.

Maybe the next two books will be better, but I am not really very optimistic.

K.W. Jeter's The Mandalorian Armor kicks off The Bounty Hunter Wars, a trilogy set during the events of Return of the Jedi. However, in an unusual tactic for a Star Wars EU novel, the chapters are split between present tense events and prolonged flashbacks set immediately after A New Hope. Jeter does not rely heavily on the main film characters to spin his tale: Vader and the Emperor show up, and Boba Fett and his five bounty hunter compatriots from the Executor scene in Empire are main characters, but otherwise he stays away from the tried-and-true set of heroes and villains. Prince Xizor of Shadows of the Empire fame is important to the story line, a coldly powerful industrialist named Kuat of Kuat appears regularly, and a new character named Neelah, an escapee from Jabba's palace, rounds out the main cast.

In the Expanded Universe, Boba Fett survives immersion in the Sarlacc and in fact has a great many more years of adventures. We get an extensive look at the process by which he was healed of his grievous injuries with the assistance of Dengar, Neelah, and two drolly amusing medical droids. Soon enough, Fett is back on his feet and ready for action. Jeter's version of Fett is an incredibly talky character: rather than issuing a few terse statements and swinging into action, Fett tends to speak in long monologues, explaining many things at great length.

This brings us to a real issue throughout the book. Not just Fett, but all the characters tend to speak with the exact same tone and every single one is ready to break out into a long monologue at any given moment. These bounty hunters could capture their quarry by boring them into surrender! There is a phenomenal amount of time spent with the characters detailing their every thought and move aloud. Actual action sequences are few and far between. Now, I'm all for getting into character motivations, but so many of these conversations simply recap things we've already read. Additionally, Jeter tends to continually restate things we already know in his descriptions. For instance, every time we meet the arachnoid assembler Kud'ar Mub'at, we are reminded that he is an assembler, that he has the characteristics of a spider, and that his full name is Kud'ar Mub'at.

Speaking of assemblers, the race is a neat concept. The arachnoid assembler Kud'ar Mub'at has spun a living web in space essentially consisting of extruded sub-assemblies from himself and rounded out with his collection of objects such as spacecraft. Jeter does a good job in introducing an intriguing new alien race with Kud'ar Mub'at, something that's not always easy in the crowded Star Wars universe.

There's a prolonged flashback sequence involving a bounty hunt on the Shell Hutts' world of Circumtore. Fett once crossed one of the Hutts named Gheeta, and Gheeta is enthusiastic for revenge, to put it mildly. Kudos to Jeter for putting a unique spin on a common Star Wars race: these Hutts wear armor suits and float around thanks to powerful repulsorlifts. We also meet D'harhan, essentially a bounty hunter with a gigantic cannon for a head. In general, imagining new concepts is a strength of Jeter's, helping to counterbalance the talkiness and repetitiveness of the novel.

I suspect that this trilogy should have been condensed into one book, something I will confirm as I read the other two. There's too much time spent in lengthy conversations and repeating descriptions, too little spent advancing the story.

I think this book is not worth much. The story is simplistic and slow up to the half of the book. Then the suspense kicks in and you don't want to put it down. The description of the characters, however, lacks depth. On top of this the author seems to know his homeland (Britain) very well while his description of the United States is very much lacking. (see use of words, habits that are described)

The characters on both sides of the ocean just seem to be interested in the case. The union worker is connected to the mob, a typical stereotype. The president, whose name is Cazalet, seems unrealistic. We never hear of his security detail and he just seems to think that smoking is OK but a trouble if his voters hear it. Otherwise he seems to lack any political convictions or plans (i.e. what is his take on the Northern Ireland problem?).

The book also talks alot about the situation in NIreland and peace but very little about the issues involved. Should every reader be an expert?

...to rate this book so low. I am a long time fan of Jack Higgins having enjoyed his books since I was a teen. I don't know if the writing has deteriorated or maybe my tastes have matured, but I could not finish this book. The plot was stale, the dialouge staged and it just failed to generate any suspense at all. Maybe it's time for the Sean Dillon series to end, I know there are several more after this. Whatever happened to the Martin Brosnan character? He and Dillon have an old score to settle. Now that would make an interesting book.

I debated between four or five stars and gave it five stars because I enjoyed it from the beginning to the end. It piqued my interest at the first with the 60 year old hit woman and kept it all the way through the book. She is killing the Sons of Erin and the British and American special intelligence are trying to find out who is doing it and why. They are also looking for the connection at the White House who has been giving out secret information to the IRA group. I read this book in one day. I highly recommend it.

The plot of this book is simplistic: a mother wants revenge for her son, and gets it. Other than that, nothing much happens. The whole story is predictable. I don't think I will spoil anybody's surprise by disclosing that the mother -- loved by all -- dies when revenge is complete and has a lovely funeral.

This is a book peopled by ... caricatures, such as the troubled soul with a difficult past, and bizarre habits only to be hinted at. Imagine! one character has a Gurkha batboy named Kim. I bet the author stayed up all night trying to think that one up.

You can get cancer just by reading this book, with all the smokers in it. If you cut out every time somebody lights up, or asks for a cigarette, you would reduce the book's volume by a good 10 per cent.

The dividers tell you that this section takes place in New York or London, or something. Beyond that, and a few street names, the book does not produce any sense of place. It doesn't help that the "Americans" sound British. Read James Lee Burke and you're squarely in rural Louisiana; Ian Rankin places the reader right in Scotland. I have never visited either place, but feel I know them, just from the authors' skill. Jack Higgins' writing makes you feel you are sitting in a chair at home, wondering, isn't New York any different from London?

It rains a lot in this book. Characters slip through walls and out windows. They like to do nothing so well as to tell about battles they have fought, and they do so almost every time they speak. Two characters (Hedley and the Secret Service agent) even review their battle resumes as they slug it out: My war was bigger than your war! Fortunately, the Gurkha orderly doesn't get a speaking part. Otherwise, he too would be telling us about battles he fought: "Here's your tea, sir. Reminds me of the time I was in Nam."

There is an interesting line; the author refers to types you see 'anywhere in the world, from New York to London.' The world is a lot larger than the shores of the North Atlantic, but Mr Higgins is probably surrounded by so dense a cloud of cigaret smoke that he cannot see very far or very deep.

Would I recommend that you read this book? Well, I hear there's a new Robert Parker out, if you get my drift. Let's go see what Michael Connelly is up to.

I've read few Jack Higgins books, and this was my first. That said, I didn't know any of the recurring characters or their stories, yet it didn't make a difference. The story makes perfect sense without foreknowledge of the characters, and this was still a great book.

In the opening pages, an assassin waits patiently for a Senator to arrive at his residence. Against the backdrop of a light rain, two men pull a woman into an alley with the intent to rape her. The assassin comes to her aid, and we find that the assassin is an old woman, a kindly old grandmother! From this moment on, my interest was peaked. I had to find out who this woman was, how she entered her profession, etc. I was not disappointed. "The White House Connection" is a spy thriller true to its purpose, perfect for a rainy day or an extended plane ride. If you like Jack Higgins, you'll definitely love this novel. And if you've never read his work, this is a great starting point. For a quick reality escape, read this book!

Britt Gillette
...

I watched the whole dot.com craze from the sidelines 10 years ago having decided .com stocks were amazingly overpriced (then just went higher).

Despite it's factual errors which are irrevelant to the basic story (see other reviewer's snipes), this book portrays the reality of the whole dot.com mess.

Where to start?

You've got start-up businesses with no hope of ever making money issuing IPOs and making a fortune. How? Because "analysts" at brokerage firms were telling everyone about the "New Economy" and how everything had changed and "old" pricing models didn't work for .com's. Of course, those same brokerage firms made money by selling the stock, so obviously they couldn't be completely trusted.

You've got the media who fawned over any company with a .com address. Why? Because it sells.

You've got the fund managers who are afraid of going against the tide and staying away from .com stocks. Why? The risk of being wrong (relative to other fund managers) are FAR more damaging than the benefits of being right.

You've even got the Fed who signals repeatedly with their comments and monetary policy that stock prices are appropriate. Why? Maybe they were investing as individuals as well and wanted to make more money. Maybe these "experts" didn't know what they were doing.

Finally, you've got the individual investors who went along for the ride. Why? Because of all the above.

During the 1995-2000 period, investing was fun. Everyone was making money.

Like the Dutch tulip frenzy and the pre-1929 Era in the United States, greed overcame common sense. History repeated itself again during the internet craze. The detailed chronicle of the event in the text brought back too many bad memories, especially my investment losses.

After having read many stories about the companies that are mentioned in this book, I appreciated the way the author was able to put things in context, and his in depth research allowed an interesting peek on the human stories that some individuals faces:

From the "lucky punches" (the story of the early PR coverage of amazon.com), to the difficult situation in which Greenspan found himself of either stopping the party or running the risk of letting it go to even higher levels of euphoria, I liked the way in which it provides details on how these people reacted or how they should have felt when they ended in the middle of the biggest speculative bubble that our generation has seen.

The space it devoted to stock analysts left me wanting to read more.. and IMHO the numbers frenzy that the author had providing details just before the crash was unnecessarily long and boring to read.

The book is somewhat old, and hence it misses interesting current phenomena (~Flickr, Youtube, and Google itself) but nonetheless it provides very valuable context on how the dot.com boom speculation happened.. and hopefully readers will get a sense of deja-vu whenever they find themselves in similar circumstances in the future. As I was curious on that area, the space devoted by the author to the dutch tulip bubble and the japan real estate bubble seemed too short.

I enjoyed this book. This book is highly recommended as therapy for anyone who went thru the dot com boom and bust and wonders if it is all a dream.

Dot.con is a book that reads like a long "New Yorker" article. I view this as a quality, given the subject matter. Despite the size of the ".com" bubble, its explanation is not as elusive as other speculative frenzies (e.g., 1929). The recent speculation is the outcome of "herd behavior" on a massive scale, favored by unique historical conditions, such as the development of a new technology, the liquidity excess in the american markets, and a favorable economic environment. There are plenty of quantitative models and historical studies of such behavior. Cassidy spells out this early (quoting in the process Charles Mackay's seminal treatise), and gets it out of the way. What makes the book interesting is the intricate relationship--and amplification of speculative behavior--among the actors of the bubble: investment banks, venture capitalists, the media, the Federal Bank, entrepreneurs, and finally the american public. Taken individually, the actions of each group may appear greedy, dishonest, stupid. Placed in the proper context however, the judgement is more nuanced. Cassidy shows how the skeptical VCs, financiers and journalists were repeatedly proven wrong in the early stages of the speculation and decreased in number, to the point of extinction. Nowhere is the pressure to imitate the crowds more evident than in Mary Meeker's case, the poster boy of Wall Street hype. Cassidy partially exculpates for her behavior, based on the environment in which she operated. But the examples in the book abound. Noone gets out scot-free, save one or two honest Wall Street stock strategists on the verge of retirement. Cassidy is relatively lenient toward the individual investor, the world of finance, and the entepreneurs: after all, these people had an incentive in feeding the bubble. The author uses his venom for the media and the fed. These are two actor whose role was to inform and vigilate, not to speculate; hence they were failing in their most important role. With all the qualifications of the case, Cassidy heavily criticizes Greenspan, and stigmatizes Wired, CNBC, and Time. His point is well taken, and I would recommend the book because it takes the time and effort to spell out the whys and hows.

A final remark: in my edition (2003, with a post-9/11 afterward) there were very few typos and glaring mistake. For example, Altair was named after a star mentioned in Star Trek, not Star Wars, as mentioned by a reviewer. The early history of the internet is sketchy, but appropriately succint, given that the topic has been eviscerated in thousands of articles and books. On the other side, the events between 1993 and 2001 are covered in detail.

I first read this book back in 1983 and found it one of the strangest but certainly more interesting novels I have read set in WW II. The style of writing is remarkable with well drawn characters. Set within the closing weeks of WWII the book invokes a deeply mystical aura supported with a comprehensive knowledge of contemporary German weaponry and organisation. I was so intrigued by the book that I wrote to the author. His reply illuminates the thoughts behind the book and, having re-read the book recently I feel sure his letter will be of similar interest to other readers:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From Stephen Hunter, April 1983.

Thanks for your kind note concerning "The Master Sniper"; it encourages an author to know that his book is still being read. I shall try to answer your questions.

In Repp, I was trying to represent authentically the German point of view viz a viz the Holocaust. I felt that too many popular novels had portrayed the Nazis as slithering fiends, cowards, bullies, molesters; in other words, so safely distanced from the human condition as to let all the rest of us off the hook. In Repp I tried to build a man in many ways honourable, even heroic, quite decent. Except that he murdered people and believed in it ; I felt that what no book had quite caught was the zeal, the missionary passion, the Nazis had for their self-appointed mission; I felt that they weren't cynics at all, but rather idealists and for this reason were far more terrifying a moral phenomenon. And naturally a part of this view (was) the conviction that the Jews caused the war and were responsible for their own death...my idea was that this, in its utter self delusion, was far more terrifying than the more conventional theatrical evil that the movies seem to insist on giving us.

As for "Vampir" yes, such a device existed, much as I described it; I took the liberty however, of developing the "solar assist" unit, because I needed an artificial device to hold the Germans in that camp (Anlage Elf simply means installation 11, although I liked the pun in the word elf, because it suggested goblins and children, which are, of course, two other themes in the book) while Leets and his team tried to locate it.

As for Vollmerhausen, no, he's not based on anybody specific (although I did use the Giepel team for some background) ; I simply borrowed the name from a road that runs near my house. And, in fact, other readers, when they pass under it on the super highway, have been compelled to call and find out if that's where I got the name. And all the organisatons of the Third Reich -- from WVHA to Amt IV-b-4 -- all existed.

And thanks for your suggestion for another book on Repp, but in all honesty, I don't think it's in the cards -- although I almost wrote a book in which Leets and Evans got involved in the MacLean-Burgess-Philby espionage case. But at least for now, I've spent my obsessive interest in World War II and particularly the Third Reich. But I haven't given up history; my next book is set in 1937 in Spain, during the Civil War and I'm having a great time.

Thanks and best

Stephen Hunter

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

An enjoyable action novel about the closing days of World War II. Hunter's plot strains credibility a bit in the end - not so much the secret weapon cooked up by the Germans but the use to which it is put. Still, he is a good writer, with a cool, sardonic tone just right for the tale. The technical detail about a next generation sniper weapon is absorbing, is consistent with the historical one-step-ahead state of Nazi science, and is unfolded well to drive the plot.

Hunter also does a good job drawing German sniper Repp - modest, fearless, invincible in battle, seemingly an all-purpose war hero until you learn more about him. He is tracked doggedly by Leets, an out-of-shape, underrespected, mostly ignored American intelligence desk jockey who must glean the tiniest of clues to determine what's up. Hunter's depiction of concentration camp survivor Shmuel, a lone witness to the plot, is touching and a cut above what I expected in this sort of military novel.

Quibbles: The text could use a decent copy-editing; there were numerous errors involving quote marks. And Hunter allows himself an indulgence- a twenty-page passage on Leets' annoying college-boy assistant who plays an exhibition tennis match with no plot connection. It's just an excuse for Hunter to write about a sport he apparently loves.

This is still a pretty good book. It keeps moving, it's paced right and it's absorbing.

This was the first of Hunter's books that I read and it is probably my favourite, despite the implausible plot, because of the character Repp. I know that we are supposed to despise this killer but he is one of the most absorbing characters I have met in fiction. Men with such single-minded commitment to an ideal are very rare today, but in the 1930s and 1940s and during the Crusades or perhaps as Janissaries for the Ottomans they were more common. Hunter was still learning his trade at this stage but he manages to create some riveting battle scenes, especially the description of Repp's sniping battle in Demyansk in Russia. He has also obviously done some research on weapons from the period which gives a realistic feel to the story. It's an entertaining read for sure.

This book is not bad but it was not as good as I thought it would be. For one thing it left you hanging as far as some of the characters went. Even though it was a WW2 story. It really did not seem like one to me. It lacked the feel of one.

The plot was very unique as far as who the final target was. But otherwise it is the same old cat and mouse chase.

Bottom line is I was very excited about this book because I like WW2 history. But this was kinda a let down

As many of the other reviewers have stated, this book feels like a first-time author testing the waters. It's worth reading for sure but I personally enjoy some of the later titles a little more.

After reading the first hundred pages or so I set this down for a while and came back to it. It picks up in the second half of the story when the plot is actually starting to become somewhat clear. And when the full scope of the assassinaion plot is revealed it is quite unique. My main problem is with certain characters that seem to pop up and then go nowhere. There's a love story thrown in here for awhile that just kind of...disappears. Hmmm.

I would recommend this to those who've read other Hunter books but, for the first-timer, check out Dirty White Boys or another title in the Swagger series.