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You won't know how this dramatic thriller ends until you read the last word. It's a shocker with depth. The story, taken off newspaper headlines, could be happening around us. The novel reads like a layman's guide to the corrupt business of Media and a Who's Who of people--real and imagined- we ought to recognize. We would love to have this novel open-ended and ongoing!

Like many classic films, the story revolves around a love triangle. But Jack Engelhard's characters in Bathsheba Deadline are far more subtle than characters taken from the film noires of the 1930s and 40s because they have psychological verity. We readers demand it. In film noires, the characters are pawns moved on a chessboard, but the love triangle in Bathsheba Deadline is real. We cannot escape the consequences of the action. The story is happening in real time: we read it as it unfolds.

Throughout the novel, we live inside the head of the main character, newspaper man, Jay Garfield, chief editor of The Manhattan Independent. Inevitably, we incorporate into our own thoughts Jay's self-doubts, tormented guilt, joys, and regrets. In this installment of Bethsheba Deadline #12, we experience cutting through the delicate layers of what it is to be human - from angel to animal - like cutting through a layer cake. We are left breathless.

Letha Hadady
[...]

Is it coincidence or fate that as I write
this headlines around the world are:
"I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl."
In addition the slaughterer boasts that if you don't believe him you can see him carrying Pearl's head yourself on the web!
(I do not think it is coincidence at all.)
I won't tell you why, but it fits right in with part 12 of Bathsheba.
Jack Enfelhard has this gift of taking the reader right along with his main players.
Be it making a minyan at the airport where he utters the holy Shema, going to Jerusalem and putting a note in the Western Wall, like thousands of others who have hopes and dreams.
Then I am catipulted into a car with
strangers on a more then a perilous
ride to Gaza (yes folks this is real and actually happening today) where he
'sees' Phil.
[I wonder how much the BBC will pay the
Hamas terrorists who kidnapped
their reporter several days ago.]
Still entangled with Phil's Lyla,
Jay returns home to NY to a bogus 'trial'
(by his so-called peers), on trumped up charges.
Then we are off to the racetrack for the
grand surprise finale.
Throughout Bathsheba I constantly learn from the author.
History does repeat itself:
Decades ago my grandfather, the late Rabbi Eliezer Silver, in the late 30's and early 40's clearly and forcefully told of the destruction of Europe's Jews by the Nazis.
His pleas fell upon deaf ears.
Three days before Yom Kippor in 1943 he organized the 300+
Rabbis Grand March On Washington.
Rather then meet with the delegation,
FDR chose to play golf, heeding the
advice of his 'Court Jews.'
Grandfather took it upon himself to
rescue living Jews in post-war Europe,
be they in orphanages or anywhere else.
He traveled in my late Father Dr. Nathan Silver's Army Captain uniform
(Patton's 3rd Army).
As Engelhard writes decades later,
Meir Kahane warned what the Arabs
and Muslims would do to Israel,
and they have done exactly as he said.
[One can only wonder why the FBI had
him under surveillance 24/7, while they
turned a blind eye to the Muslim
terrorists coming into the US!]
Engelhard's review of the Millenia-old treatment of Jews by majority
populations is masterful.
Doesn't the world get it yet?
The Jews are NOT going away.
Like every other people on this earth
the Jews have a right to their
homeland, Israel.
Did you ever take a look at that sliver of land on a map of the world?
It is much smaller then the state
of New Jersey!
Throughout The Bathsheba Deadline I am on
an emotional roller coaster,
sad, joyful, calm and worried.
Only Engelhard could pull this off!
WHERE IS THE SEQUEL?

Alright Readers...I've been champing at the bit to rattle off this assortment of word zingers care of Mr. J. Engelhard. I'll have you know there were many many more (say this with your best Carl Sagan accent, ps) than this...though these were the choicest fruit which caught my scribbler's fancy:

** "Still virgins after all those guests?" (<-- why I didn't think of that, I still don't know...BRILLIANT!)

** "Oil is thicker than newsprint." (<-- okay, it's situation specific, but you tell *me* how many writer's would be able to muster up that sort of creativity?!)

** "In 1920, 1921, and 1929 there were no territories of 1967 to impede peace between Jews and Arabs. Indeed, there was no Jewish State to upset anybody." (<-- how true this is!)

** love the word "whoopee." Now THERE'S something I haven't heard in a long long time.

** "This is Jerusalem. Three major faiths drink from this well."

** "People turn Messianic just by breathing in the air."

** "This is what we get for trying to make peace with them."

** "This is about the love of murder and the joy of bloodshed."

~~~~

I dunno folks. You?

I'm deadset in my belief we're all going to have massively mixed reviews from this latest T.B.D. installment. To this here Reviewer's eyes, it marks a radical departure from the tried and true character study and truths which marked Jay and Layla all the way through.

I suppose, like Fleming's quintessential Bond character, Jay and Layla, too, require a new way of being looked at. Prepare to encounter a fiercier and roguer Jay, one clearer of conscience and firmer of conviction, one who seeks righteousness in all his ways, but is perhaps disabused of his illusions about his place in the world as a result of what transpires to him inside these pages.

Why, oh why, I've been asking myself.

Indications are that Sir Engelhard has heard the plump lady sing on this number, folks, but I'm *still* scratching my noggin wondering which director called "CUT!" and which producer called it a wrap on this yummy clambake. We've only just begun to take a good look at Jay's inner soul, and as I scroll through to the final page of this delectable dozen of Shorts, I'm left hanging high like unreachable fruit, dangling above the level like a mighty orangutan, craving fruity sustenance and nourishment but unable to grasp for it.

Jay, oh Jay. Where art thou, oh steadfast brother of ours?

For all who know me from the Land of Amazonia, I'm generally chock-a-block with praise whilst on Shorts Duty. Heaps of same have I for Sir Engelhard, but I'm reluctant to get anywhere near discussion of what goes down in Part 12. Ugh.

My ultimate conclusion is that you must read for yourself all of this. These...these... You must sit back and digest the sour and the sweet of it all, arriving at a suitable conclusion for yourself. I cannot help you, Luke.

As for my overall take? Hue and cry. Filibuster. I say, please Sir Jack, bring Jay back.

Signed,
A somewhat sad, ADM.

In his novel, The Bathsheba Deadline: An Original Novel, Jack Engelhard has crisply, brilliantly reflected our deadly world in its ugliest, dirtiest descents. Yet the novel's varied moods shift regularly into a barely perceived, underlying beauty, seeming to refract darkly, through a war-cracked looking-glass. Using a simple, yet subtly-sophisticated syntax, this author voices deeply-rhythm-ed Songs of Israel, back-dropped by the relentless clacking of dedicated Underwoods.

"Phil Crawford was easy to dislike, which is probably why I liked him.... Maybe I didn't like him all that much, but he was okay. We had our differences, politically."

I'm not merely impressed, but in awe, of how many threads of vital issues Engelhard has woven and mirrored in BATHSHEBA... right-now politics; media foibles and "facts"; deadly-dangerous, romantic roller-coaster rides; political correctness spotlighted in hypocrisy and lack of glory; spiritual moments dawned in the ebony richness of potential doom...

Yet the weave is not too tight. It allows spaces for contemplation between color contrasts; it allows repetition of subplots to prevent unraveling of wayward strings.

The result is a kaleidoscopic tapestry of an engrossing tale which should be terrifying and depressing by content, yet which gives an incredible amount of hope, because of, rather than in spite of, Jay Garfield's last line, which is as exquisitely honest as it is inevitable. Loved that line, though my favorite line was of political incorrectness gone right, from Jay to Lyla, "Can't you stop being a girl for a minute?" I wanted to stand up and cheer.

A favorite plot twist was Jay's Muslim friend's wife breaking out in compassion to Jay, "Allah be with you." THEE favorite plot twist was a Muslim acting rightly to save Jay's bacon, no fuel intended! My favorite exposure was not a Northern one; it was the "going South" of the dark sides of religion and politics, as they enact the power and purpose to sink humanity in one tar glob, into the black holes of anti-life, where falsehoods are sold as truth. (That tar would not be aligned with environmental mania's attempts to discard industrial waste; it would be the byproduct of philosophical idiocy burned balsamic into goo.)

Every word in this novel, alone and by its placement within phrase, syntax, paragraphing... speaks of literary power, full-on and brilliant. The reader receives those searing spotlights willingly (actually he begins craving them). This reception occurs within a strange type of comfort, within what could ironically be called light entertainment. I see this light touch as essential, since what the author is exposing through Jay is a world, now and through history, which should be irrevocably hopeless.

Engelhard's composing style, and gentle use of constant contrast ("This, but that, too") seem to serve as a continual release of the bondage of powerlessness... a bondage which sometimes arrives from setting in concrete a belief or stand, before the time has come to do so. As Garfield says, a true prophet always knows what time it is. Jay comes to his time at the right moment.

I believe Engelhard could accomplish this release for readers through fiction or through his type of journalism, as he chose. In this wholeness of effect Jack Engelhard has transcended the literary greats (who too often begin and end with nothing beyond eloquently detailed depression).

This transcendence comes through a painting in words of the elemental forms of profanity and powerlessness.

This transcendence comes within a syntactic paradigm of a not overdone, barely-there sense of hope for redemption, a sense of joy in the power of a soul connected to the Height of Good...

(... even if that good is way up there somewhere, barely reachable beyond ozone layers and holes in the Universe, beyond the broadest rainbow... yes it was a HUMAN who stole the ONLY pot of gold... and it wasn't John Galt!)

For me, the most potent segment of this novel is Jay's journey to, and short stay in Jerusalem, where he sinks into the physically dark, spiritually enduring events and ambiance there. In that pilgrimage, this novel's power explodes and implodes. An uncanny dynamic balance comes to catharsis through a scene in a motel room in the middle of the night:

... the sense of a presence... the shadowed, mirrored image of a tall, thin, bearded man... the gifting, discovery, and working into acceptance of The Blessed Cane.

That scene had the seated feel of being lifted from a lucid dream Engelhard may have had, around which he may have written this book. The actual dream there served as a quantum kernel of hope, seeded within the essence of horror.

The motel room sequence felt like touching a spiritual force, delicately but absolutely, like touching a purity of potency which is not limited to any religion, book, or viewpoint, possibly not to be as easily found in any of those, as through the individual soul of each human being. It was so very appropriate that Jay would touch that through his father's heritage, sharing it from that paradigm. Icons of religious trappings, talismans, and traditions exude a mesmerizing magic. These can be good, as can an un-tethered soul in solitary search.

After contemplating the Jerusalem sequence in the middle of night, I clarified what I saw in connection to this novel, in a puzzling vision of red votive candles, which I had after reading the first part of the book. This novel subtly nurtures a type of hope I felt in my youth, from red-votive-candles flickering in church at night. I felt a clean, quiet sense of rightness to come. As I felt that subtle connection to BATHSHEBA, doubts flared, discounting the feeling and votive candle parallel:

Why would an image from my Catholic past intrude on a novel with Jewish spiritual symbolism (which has always fascinated me). Yes, Garfield's mother was Catholic; his father Jewish. But that joined contrast wasn't woven into BATHSHEBA'S plot or subplot tapestry...

It was after reading the scene of the Rabbi-Blessed-Cane, that I realized the link of the cane to the candle. I was sparked to visualize those images artistically overlapped in a painting of spirit-in-oils which might do justice to this novel's holy moment. I couldn't hold the symbols within the same visual, tactual space. They needed to be kept separate to avoid breaking down a reality, a reality which is working both those icons, and more like them, from different spiritual kaleidoscopes. Yet, I wanted to see them together.

I can recreate my vision of the votive flickering... or I can call up Jay's vision of the shadowed presence in the mirror (felt like a rabbi from higher realms), and the cane.

The red-votive flickers gave a welcome memory of my few times as a child going alone to the church at night, sitting in a middle pew on the right, breathing the presence, focusing the candle collections, always lit. Sometimes I would kneel by the candles and pay my coins to the box, then watch the flame I had lit, for a long, peaceful time. I enjoyed being in the church alone at night much more than I enjoyed the Masses with their Holy Words (they were supposed to be holy, were to me then, but I don't quite see some of the meanings that way now) voiced, read, and prayed, among the day's light and crowds.

The above doesn't begin to hint what this novel draws to consciousness, even on the spiritual tumbles of the kaleidoscopic tapestry of BATHSHEBA. Then there are the political, journalistic, romantic...

Buy and read the book! See how this wealth of global microcosms works into a story of high entertainment, possibly better than any other book you've read, with more truth exposed than you'll know what to do with. Months will go by; you'll reflect on these scenes and schemes, and you'll know.

With confidence I say that Jack Engelhard expertly manages the medium of the novel, as he does journalism and op-eds. He is an Nth degree, mastered professional of the effective use of the writer's voice.

With greatest respect for those among us who walk with words,

Linda Shelnutt

Shelnutt is the author of several Kindle books, including MYRTLE'S ULTIMATE MYSTERY; including The Books of Gem: THE ROSE AND THE PYRAMID, FULL MOON RISING, NEW MOON BLUES, QUARTER MOON DUES; including in Amazon Shorts a serialized novel, MORNING COMES The Pre Dawn Blues (Book 2 in The Books of Gem), and a Visceral History series of short true stories featuring the mining industry in a small town in Colorado.

...because then you're going to accuse me of being arbitrary with my granting of stars, and I've got to admit that I'm not. I'm actually quite judicious...reading right along...

First off, more Engelhard quotables from Part Five...p.s. Jack, I totally digged the way you brought back a couple of Montreal momentoes and references from your childhood days with mentions of that "Letters to the Editor" gal Marie something-or-other and then the two-in-a-row references (Parts Four and Five) to Maurice Richard, the late great player on the Canadiens hockey squad.

Here goes, let's begin with the quotables:

** from the prophet Isaiah: "Woe when day is called night, night is called day, bitter is called sweet, sweet called bitter." (<--- LOVED that verse, ain't it so true?! I'm sure people have been quoting this for, well...for centuries! What a sage insertion at this point in the game, power to you, I prostrate myself before thee and touch your feet, in the finest of Hindustani traditions -- I can't believe it took me this long to get to the bottom of this series, incidentally!)

Okay, so some more of these...

** "To get to the top a woman has to go down."

** "But he was terrifically square-jawed and handsome and you just knew that he was just biding his time for the next casting call." (<--- brilliant refernece to the vapidness of L.A. I once heard John Leguizamo say the same thing about L.A. in comparison to New York, said he: "At least in New York you can get out there and TALK to people! In L.A., everyone's locked into their cars...it's crazy, L.A. sucks!)

** "'You're pro-Israel, aren't you?' I said I'm pro-truth and immediately hated myself for being so pompous and self-righteous."

** "He grinned when he said, yes, he was an Arab himself, but that 'we're great at deception. Deceiving ourselves, deceiving the world.'" (<--- this was a particularly apt little quotable, and, basically, the entire passage where it appears, I'm generally impressed to the nines with how it was laid out. I had to reread it, and then marvel (like the comics) at how fantastic this was.)

~~~~

Part Five delves into areas of the lead character's rock-solid sense of integrity.

You're going to learn a great deal about Jay's moral boundaries, the sorts of things he's comfortable with (because we all push those limits now and again), and even though he might be slightly morally compromised (okay, he's boffing Phil's woman), you realize that he's got an essential underlying morality that won't be tossed out the window (he's not going to send Phil to his death just because. And Jay's also not the sort of dude to sit idly by when a damsel is in distress -- note how he slugged Kevin the heck out -- I mean, come on, we ALL know that Phil wouldn't do that -- the last time Phil had a chance, he turned tail and ran).

I think Jay's dilemmas are indicative of the rest of the human condition, in that certain aspects of morality are variable and fluid. Meaning, there's a fixed portion which we won't compromise for a soul -- in Jay's case it's his pro-Israel stance (really, the only stand possible) and his old-fashioned sensibilities with respect to loyalty (for Lyla) and his unwillingness to cop to any fanciful notion and cover story/feature article in his paper strictly because it's fanciful). Conversely, then there's a part of him and his moral code which is up for grabs, that depends on the current situation in which we find ourselves at whichever point in the story. Morality isn't a monolith. It shifts and moves and adjusts. I like that about Jay, makes him all the more accessbile to me, and I want to empathize with his troubles, his inability to resist Lyla's charms, even though he knows in the end that it will probably end up badly for him.

You've also just got to love the manner in which he kicks around the idea of sending Phil to the West Bank to see the Hamas-ites. First he's enthusiastic, then he quibbles, then he's all for it again, then he splits himself again. Depending on the level of his righteous indignation is the level at which he's going to stick doggedly to his decision to banish Phil -- like, as Jay often cites, "Uriah in battle."

All I'd like to know is how does Jack manage to do this? Where does he come up with the lines?

A theory about the writing of this part, however...I bet Jack was actually in L.A. at the time he'd written this portion. That explains the copious Brentwood references, from what I can tell. Even if I'm wrong, which I probably am, it's a humdinger of a guess, ain't it?

Moving onto Part Six....

-- ADM in the Golden City on a Friday night, realizing that the charms and the hot girls in Prague are virtually no comparison for a night of excellent fiction with the likes of Jack E.

If you don't know what's making news in the US or the world, read Bathsheba.
You yourself become more worldly!
Everything from the Cheney hunting episode to the explosive and violent reactions to the Mohammed cartoon, and the effect it has on the end of part 5 left me gasping for more, and wondering what will happen next.
We are introduced to new characters and the players we already know are further developed.
Did he really think Lyla would be a lady?
A lady is not what he wants anyway!
(The JD Salinger sub-plot is genius.)
He names names in contemporary media and talks his truth about what it takes to either get ahead or not.
He shows himself humanely when he tells Lyla's husband, a man he purposely was placing in harm's way, to come home (to safety).
Jack Engelhard knows how to tell a story!
He does a good job comparing LA "Girls" to Manhatten women.
I couldn't agree more, and that's why I live in Northern Calif.
He is so right about attitude:
I would only add that the attitude in LA
is as sanitized as the rest of it wants to be.
Can't wait for part 6!

Author Jack Engelhard in "The Bathsheba Deadline Part 5" proves himself a genius at walking a thin line between comedy and drama. Tough-minded but thoughtful Engelhard contrasts New York and Los Angeles even better than Woody Allen did in his classic movie Annie Hall. Our protagonist in Bathsheba, Jay Garfield, chief editor of The Manhattan Independent, flies to L.A. to get privileged information from a photographer that may save him from scandal. Jay's descriptions of L.A. are quietly hilarious. He finds smiling movie stars everywhere and streets so clean you could eat off them. "In New York," he quips "poor people would be eating off the streets."

As usual, Engelhard, who has a large international Internet following, jabs at the media Establishment, naming names. He suggests that sexual favors get anchor people their jobs. But a skimpy view of Baba Wawa is going too far... I can't imagine any sort of sexual scene involving her except perhaps in a pre-historic cave hooked up for cable.

Engelhard is topical and uses the uproar over the Danish Mohammed cartoons to move his characters' actions. The old saw suggests that a picture is worth a thousand words, but Englehard proves it wrong: You need words, lots of edgy, thought-provoking ones to move mountains. This installment of Bathsheba, like the first four, is fast-moving so that you jump right into the sophisticated political, social, sexual scene that is Engelhard's meat. You'll gasp, applaud, and enjoy!

by Letha Hadady
author Asian Health Secrets

Part 5 keeps the fast-moving tempo of 1 through 4, and you beome concerned whether you should be worrying more about the next terrorist attack than if Jay and Lyla are going to get caught. The action is so contemporary that the headlines in Jay's Manhattan daily someimes seem to beat the ones we read over breakfast or see on the morning news.

Uhuh, I say, to the previous reviewer from a couple of sections back who mentioned that Engelhard was beginning to lose his sauce. Right...not!

The plot has picked up nicely here, and Part Seven concludes on a nice little cliffhanger. Jay Garfield receives an unexpected visit from the likes of the security chief Elias Francone of the Manhattan Independent's grounds staff, and all hell threatens to break lose when a tape emerges which shows Jay getting it on with none other than...

...ach, you know, what's the point in giving you a play-by-play? That's not what you come here for -- to read my reviews of plot points and the like. You like my schmaltz, my Bohemian charm (literally -- check out where I'm from), my essential chutzpah, and for an irreverant twist and the tried and tested book review, no?

Look, my friends, just get out there and purchase this Short and read it for all for yourselves, if you're so curious! (said with my best Jackie Mason accent, incidentally) -- besides, if you're reading a review for Part Eight here, it means that you've already had the brass literary cojones to make it until part seven (and what's that, $3.50?)-- so g'head and splurge the extra half a dollar on this penultimate section -- aren't you burning up with curiosity? I'd be... :-) Jay Garfield and Lyla Crawford SIZZLE up the page! I can't wait to see who's going to be casted in this one...

Besides, Eight is a darn good little yarn, and nothing that I myself could purport to say and ascribe my name to would even dare to match the clever delivery of author Engelhard's punchy prose. Best leave the expertise to the fiction experts, and that's that. I don't profess to be one...

Here are some of my choice Jack Engelhard quotables (as I've been doing for Parts 1-7, inclusive) from this little 24pp. read:

"...and not even New Year's -- what are people so happy about? Another year? This is good?" (<-- ADM: I imagine this should be delivered in my best "Polishe-grandmother" tone. Mind you, it might sound off well in just about any accent...power to the Jack-man!)

(ADM question: Hey Jack, did you really work for a carpet company in a previous life in Cinci? Would love to know where that particular Jay Garfield facet comes into play here, since (admirably) so much of your BATHSHEBA narrative mirrors your earlier days in Canada and Ohio. I love how things are beginning to come full circle.)

"Truth is not my business. Facts are my business." (<-- ADM says that's a beautiful spin on the old Kosinski line. Nice going! One of my favourite writers, now being liberally quoted by one of my new favourite writers. Yes mon!)

These were the two which stood out most strongly for me in this Part. Usually I've got something of a smorgasbord on offer, but you'll have to forgive me on this go. None but these two stood out as starkly.

Very little was mentioned here about Phil, and that's a good thing. Inside these Part Eight pages, we dove deep-down and delectably into the psyche of the writers -- the real scribes, people like the fictional Jay Garfield, Managing Editor of the Manhatten Independent, and the man *used* to be; reinforced by Sam Cleaver, a cub journalist who's beginning to "see the light." I majorly digged how we feasted on the writers waxing poetic about the practice of their craft, and with Jack liberally quoting from Hemingway, I love how they arrive at a conclusion that Sam might be on the fast-track to "selling out," and how Jay might be washed up for having sold out on his ideals.

It's a scathing indictment of the practice of (a somewhat perfidious?) journalism. Loved every word, sentence, and paragraph of that passage.

I don't want to waste too much time here. Onto Part Nine.

-- ADM in Prague with the flying fingers...

The reader is taken into the depths of today's newsroom:
Human nature reigns.
A "good writer" is facing a real dilemma.
He is an idealist in a business where luck is everything.
He wants to tell only the truth.
He is a purist.
He is also gravely disillusioned with his work at the newspaper, media in general, book publishers, etc, and feels it necessary to quit his job.
Not so easy.
He can't let go of the story about the "Miracle Rabbi", Rabbi Eliezer Silver, who saved thousands of Jewish orphans and adults in postwar Europe, wearing my father, Dr Nathan Siver's 3rd Army, (Patton) Captain's uniform.
As though it was yesterday, I vividly remember a call to grandfather's home in '68 from Russia, needing help 6 hours before he passed.
A Jew in the Soviet Union was being persecuted for alleged "ribbon crimes."
In actuality, he was being persecuted for being a Jew!
The meeting of the idealist and his boss takes place at Belmont Racetrack.
The reader gets a quick efficient lesson on horseracing and the thoroughbred world.
We're truthfully reminded of our 12 minute attention spans!
Was anything settled at the track?
What will happen to the "lovechild"
and parents?
What role will Islam and Sharia play?
Will someone die because of the discovery at the very end?
Why has Engelhard got another bestseller?
HE IS SO REAL!
Thanks for the memories, Jack.

The Bathsheba Deadline Part 8 gives us sex, appealing glimpses of "athletes," and touches on an insidious form of terrorism--the everyday abuse of facts and the power the Media has over people's behavior.

Jay Garfield, chief editor at the Manhattan Independent, escapes work for a day at the races. He takes along cub reporter Sam to an off track racing parlor to let the novelist talk his heart out. Sam's novel, which encompasses a passionate story that could equal Schlindler's List if it were made into a movie, has been refused and insulted by editors. In despair, Sam believes that no one cares. The media and other forms of snooping and censorship have changed the face of what is valued in society.

Back at work, Jay finds that unknown assailants care too much about what happens at the paper. Someone's life is threatened. Will it be Jay, his lover Lyla, or her husband Phil? Sex, deceit, and orthodox religion make a deadly cocktail that threatens anyone alive today.

Letha Hadady
www.asianhealthsecrets.com

I've been following this series from the start, and I'm hooked! I look forward to downloading each installment, and must admit it just keeps getting better! I've followed your writing for a while Jack, and hope I will see this novel on the big screen just like Indecent Proposal. Can't wait for next month! Thanks again!

While reading "A Needle in the Right Hand of God" I got frustrated by the size of the plates and the lack of clear references to the various scenes. Then, I bought this...Voila! This incredible piece of work is so illuminating, amazing in its details and versatility. It is filled with surprises and knowledge. I thought it was a bit pricey, but now I would have paid even more for it!

Being a Hood (and a student of Dr. Foys), I found this CD to be extremely informational and easy to use for background information regarding assignments. Pop the CD and you're on your way towards a whole bank of knowledge.

This CD proves to be handy to the novice who wishes to know more about the Bayeux Tapestry or the time period, to professors and students alike. One piece of advice: TAKE IT SLOW--regardless of your level of knowledge. This CD is filled with information, as well as detailed maps, photographs and clips.

I recommend this CD to all people alike interested in this particular field.

This amazing CD offers not only incredible visual detail of the tapestry, but also a treasure of historical, literary and topographical information related to the battle. A panoramic photograph of the battle site and an interactive map are just two examples of the many wonderful features of this CD. Anyone interested in the Middle Ages, the tapestry, the battle, or the era of the Norman Conquest must own this invaluable resource. (I have very little savvy when it comes to computers; but I had no trouble at all running this on Windows--very user friendly.)

This CD-ROM edition of the Bayeux Tapestry is a great program for students, teachers or people just interested in learning about this famous piece of history. An amazing amount of detail is included, from a basic introduction, to scholarly arguments about how to interpret a single inscription or figure in the border. The videos and colour maps are helpful, as is the ability to search through the entire program by keyword. As a Mac user, I was also grateful to find that it runs on both PCs and Macs.

Miura continues his opus with this 16th volume and shows the same skill and beauty in his art as he always does. His work is perfect.

I do wish that Dark Horse had opted not to translate the sound effects, Miura's art is all the description the reader needs.

I am so happy that the mist valley stuff is over now. the action and art is still awesome, just what you've come to expect from Miura. I was just not into this story though. the elves and what not... just didn't do it for me.

I think this book well summarizes everything I like about the series to date, it has good action scenes, good interactions, and a bit of dark humor.
I disagree with an earlier reviewer, I am glad that Dark Horse is now translating the sound effects - I also like the fact that they're not just ham-handedly trying to convert it into English equivalents there are some things for which it just doesn't work. (The 'sound' of something being noticed, for example).

I especially liked this book for a few reasons. One reason is it has an excellent quote by Guts, ".. look at the darkness around me.", once you've read that part you'll know what I mean. Secondly, we can see the dark side of Guts continue to grow with "The Beast of Darkness". Lastly, the action is intense and superbly drawn by Miura. Guts' unquenchable thirst for revenge really shows here...

The band of the hawks are in for some crazy stuff. The story only gets more twisted and awsome as it progresses.

At this point I am sure that I will never find a manga that can compete with Berserk for the top spot on my list. This manga has it all, breathtaking art, a mesmerizing and complex plot, multiple themes intertwined in the story, and a great dose of violence, gore and sensuality. But above all, it has a character that fans love and can empathize with. The transformation Guts has suffered throughout this series is mindboggling, and it feels like this volume is a crucial one in this evolution, kind of like a fork in the road.

At the end of the previous volume the Hawks were still fighting to capture the strategically important Doldorey castle, and both Guts and Casca were in deep trouble. Guts had a broken sword and was facing the fiercest soldier in the Chudan army and Casca was in dire straits once more, against the "immortal" Adon. On top of all this, the duke in charge of the castle is the one that got Griffith to sleep with him years ago in exchange for money for the Hawks, and now the duke wants another taste. In this setting, an interesting character from Guts' past reappears and has, once more, a considerable impact on Guts' destiny. Fans of the series will love this.

Politics are still an important part of the story, as Griffith and the Hawks continue to make enemies among the nobles and royal family. The conspiracies abound, and the Machiavellian Minister Foss is still an instrumental part in the plotting of the nobles. He is the brain and puppet master behind the whole operation. But also, in the previous volume we saw a hint of romance appear in the story, and this is augmented now, especially with the relationship between Griffith and Charlotte. This multiplicity of themes keep the interest level high and prevent us from getting bored from seeing the same thing over and over, which is a problem for many mangas.

We have seen Guts say that he will leave the Hawks after this campaign is over. The question is if he will change his mind or not, especially now that he is starting to develop a friendship with Casca. Witnessing the evolution of this plot line is one of the most attractive aspects of this volume, but there is also the fight that ends this installment. Although it is really short, this confrontation ranks among the best in the series due to its level of emotion and what it means for the future. Hope other fans enjoy it as much as I did.

This is the best Manga out there. It gets interesting with each volume. And in this volume on, the story begins to differ than its animation counter part.

So for those of you who saw the anime and didnt read the comic, I sugget you start reading from here because there are important characters and events that were cut from the animation.

Berserk is probably my favorite Japanese-imported fantasy series. Set in the feudal era where destiny seemed so ingrained, one man bravely swung his sword to ensure his own freedom. Guts is the one man with enough power and determination to challenge the transcendental entities, the Godhand, that impose their sordid sick will on humanity.

Never have I so desperately cheered on a protagonist as he took on insurmountable odds with the careless, berserking rage that carried the weight of an entire era.

In vol. 8, a Guts much reformed by the heat of battle again challenges Griffith, this time for his freedom from the Hawks. Despite the successes of the Hawks and Griffith's seemingly unstoppable campaign to the Midland throne, Guts wants to swing his sword freely. The life of a mercernary is all he has ever known. Life as a noble simply could not fulfill his own dreams and sense of purpose.

Also, Guts can no longer stand being the subordinate of Griffith, Guts battles to claim equality with Griffith, the man ordained by the Behelit (The Egg of the one who would be king). In a discussion with his closest companion Judeau, he realizes that he must become his own man. Judeau, seeing that he might attain this dream, does not attempt to convince him to stay.

However, Judeau does warn Guts that Caska, the woman he respects and probably loves, would not leave the Hawks. Guts revealed that in her eyes, he cannot compare with Griffith. However, if he were to make a name for himself, maybe she would look his way. Either way, it is time for Guts to leave the Hawks.

"Berserk" is the proof positive that the comic book is one of the greatest products of the arts, combining two mediums: drawing and storytelling. I await the next volume with great anticipation, and even more so the one after that in which Guts pursues the demonized Griffith. If you like anime or manga, do not pass this by!

After a series of volumes in which happiness abounded and things were looking up, this installment represents a turning point in the story and a return to darker times. At the end of the previous volume, Guts swiftly defeated Griffith and abandoned him and the Band of Hawks. Guts did this in an effort to seek his destiny and his dream instead of just following Griffith's. But now he is already having doubts, especially since for the first time in his life he had a group of people he could call friends.

Griffith has been greatly affected by Guts' departure but is still pursuing his dream, and in the process he is getting romantically involved with Princess Charlotte. But there will be repercussions from his actions. In the meantime, Casca, who had started developing a friendship with Guts, misses him greatly, as does a good portion of the Band of the Hawks.

There are two things that make this an outstanding volume in this superb series. First, the story speeds forward into darker times with an intensity seldom seen, but also manages to insert some interesting elements in the process. Second, you will get to witness one of the most awaited moments of the series, and one which allows the creator to show his magnificent ability for detailed and vivid drawings.

Once again, we get a healthy dose of violence and gore, but this installment contains a much higher concentration of sexual scenes than any of the previous ones. There are even elements of incest, and some of the allusions get bolder and bolder. Moreover, some of these elements are efficiently used in helping understand better the psyche of the characters. Fans of the series will likely find this volume to be one of the best in the series so far.

I was able to get a great price on these New Beserk books but it took around 8-10 days before I received them.

If you've found yourself tiring of high school comedies & ninja kids, but still want engaging graphic storytelling, then do yourself a favor & give this series a try.

By volume 9, Miura's style is at it's height. This volume is the end of the beginning, so to speak - the good times of comraderie, romping around as a mercenary gang, climbing up the midland social ladder - are coming to a sudden and violent end. Griffith's ambition may destroy the hawks once and for all...

The series is now almost to the point where the Anime left off..and believe me, you want to see what happens next.

Background (general series) info: In the feudal era, a time of demons and knights, one man refuses to let anyone else control his destiny. Gatsu, a mercernary who recently left the infamous "Band of the Hawk," wanders and trains to become even stronger. As the protagonist of the series, Guts approaches battle with a mixture of savagery and cunning that is utterly destructive.

This issue: Guts has just left his post in the mercernary group, the Hawks. To do so, he defeated Griffith in a duel. Upon gaining his freedom, he wanders alone into the woods, confronted by the Knight of Skeleton. Strangely, this awesome figure utters advice that he believes will save Guts' life. Something incredibly ominous approaches. Something is about to happen that will change the lives of Guts, Caska, and Griffith forever.

If you enjoy a good plot, you cannot go wrong with Berserk. It is such a strange and skillful blend of fantasy and realism that you become completely submerged in it. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys action and supernatural intrigue.

Excellent and entertaining book. Just start with the story 'Living La Vida Robot'.I particularly enjoyed Koranteng Ofosu-Amaah's writing too and would recommend this book to anyone looking for well written pieces. Excellent book to read when travelling, and a great gift for the technophile in your life. I have already ordered the 2007 followup to this book!

Some of the best writing in technology comes together under one cover, compiling works from authors who work in everything from computers and digital mediums to health and science fields. Both college-level collections strong in technology and general-interest public lending libraries will find THE BEST OF TECHNOLOGY WRITING most accessible: a collection of polished essays which invite both technology readers and the general public into the world of possibilities.

Refreshing collection of techxperiences !The stories in this volume will definitely inspire many to try their hand at technology writing . I will look forward to it every year.

All of the articles in this first annual addition of The Best of Technology Writing are great picks. The articles range from an interesting robot competition in "La Vida Robot," a great article on "The Bookless Future," (and many other articles on what's happening on the Internet (trends, security, etc.), to the strange history of "The Ups and Downs of Jetpacks." Looking forward to the next edition.

It's an escape, it's a social event, it's a chance to redeem yourself. It is a deeply moving story where struggles, hopes, and dreams, converge under the canopy of a bingo game.

This vivid, evocative and moving story is real fiction, about real people. Sensitive, evocative and painful at times, Susan O Neill is a writer at the height of her craft.

In this sad and beautifully written story it's what isn't said that truly matters. It's clear that Susan O'Neill cares deeply for her characters; consequently, you will too.

Vividly written, you can almost hear the undertone of gossip and laughter and smell the cigarette smoke. There is far more than just a BINGO game here. There is a slice of life with the abused wife, the cancer survivor, Mom and Daughter. Well worth reading.

This article offers unique thought and wonderful wisdom.
I also enjoyed reading Susan's book- "An Invitation to heal". The book
goes deeper into the author's life changing experiences and I found it fasinating to read.

After reading Susan Spalding's article, I felt a great sense of peace and a "knowing." Rich blessings were mine. I had only to make that choice. Highly recommended.

Uplifting. Profound. Shines with clarity. Author shares true accounts and insights that show in a powerful way, how events in our lives are echoes of our inner dialogue of thoughts and identifications. She presents beautiful and simple ways for opening to flow of greater blessings in one's own life. It offers a way for actualizing miracles that offer themselves in each moment of our lives! It is amazing how so much valuable information flows so effortlessly in so few pages. Her Secrets show us what is necessary to create life-affirming choices from our hearts, thereby living with deeper meaning, harmony, and as "Blessing". This is a secret I cannot keep to myself...I will share it with my family and friends!

I love this Amazon short because it contains practical methods for receiving blessings. I have only to put the ideas into practice in order to open the gates of abundance in my every day life. It is clear, concise, thought provoking, easy to read and motivating. Thank you so much for taking the time to offer this gift to us. It is worth SO MUCH MORE than I paid for it.