Digital Books

I've previously enjoyed Julie Hyzy's excellent forays into science fiction, but "Sanctimony" was my first exposure to Alex St. James. Now I know why Hyzie's "Deadly Blessings" has received such praise--Alex is a tough, nervy investigator, and the world she inhabits is as colorful as it is secretive and mysterious. Read this story, and I'm sure you'll be looking forward to more of Alex's adventures, too.

Julie Hyzy's short story, "Sanctimony," reminded me of the great short stories by the really masterful writers of mystery. In the tradition of the masters (MacDonald and Grafton) a crime in the past suddenly rears up to affect the present. The story is like a mini-novel, providing interesting characters, realistic dialogue, and a whole bunch of thrills. In fact, it could have been expanded into a book---the story has real legs, but I'm glad Julie left it as a short story. That way, more people can get to meet Alex St. James, and to meet her is to love her. I've been following Hyzy's work for a couple of years now and there's no one better. Julie rocks!

An intriguing 30 minute roller coaster ride. Hyzy picks up Alex St. James career where Deadly Blessings left off. St. James is quickly becoming a favorite character of mine, right up there with Alex Cross and Kay Scarpetta. Keep 'em coming.

I particularly enjoyed reading this account of such a remarkable historic event. The author captures both past and present with compelling details.

Wonderful, vivid, and touching. The personal viewpoint and first-hand account is very moving. Thanks for writing it.

With the "greatest generation" dying off, it is memoirs like this that we need.

This is an amazing story of encouragement and I strongly recommend that everyone read it. As a Family Assistance Crisis Team member for S.A.P.D., I saw this type of abuse that many women suffer on a daily basis. The author helps illustrate what a victim's world is like and reaches into the character's soul. I feel this piece is a great contribution to raising awareness of domestic & family violence.

MUST READ

I just read Jacqueline's short story and just had to write a review. If you know someone who suffers domestic violence, works with domestic violence victims, is sensitive to domestic violence issues or are a victim yourself, it's a "must read". Ms. Mendez offers victims advice, without being preachy. She seeks to empower victims to take control of their lives to end the cycle of abuse.

I congratulate Jaqueline Mendez on this excellent story about physical and emotional abuse towards women. This was a topic that was taboo for too long and so many individuals suffered defenseless because they felt that was their destiny. So many others have died at the hands of a merciless person without ever having the chance to seek help. Many will relate with the author's story and celebrate the fact that things are changing and women and children now stand a better chance to get help and
save themselves towards a better future and having the freedom to find their "shadows to call their own". The author's story tells only part of her devotion to bring this topic to our attention. Her continuous efforts to continue helping those who may be in such crises is evident in all her
current activities.

Richard Lewis takes the reader on a short cruise in his tropical world of warm seas and palm trees. You can feel the breeze off the Java Sea and yearn for the beautiful dancing Nike and glimpse the dark shadow of a shark in the depths. Vivid. Excellent story telling. Excellent reading on a cold winter day.

What a brilliant story! The opening line is one of the best I've ever read, and the rest of the story does not disappoint. I found myself unable to turn the pages quickly enough, to both stay in the moment of the story and yet to see what was going to happen. There's an almost unbearable tension in Shallow Water Blackout that carries the reader along in a rush toward some aching conclusion.

I won't reveal anything here - you really must read this story for yourself - but need to point out Lewis' masterful use of what is for many of us an extremely exotic locale along with an unusual activity to set an internal struggle that is, for its part, not unfamiliar. As the protagonist calls his own existence and ethics into question, the reader finds herself doing the same, wondering what she would do in his place. It's an exquisite dilemma and presented engagingly.

Read this story!

Two men spear-fish together for marlin, a macho sport that requires holding one's breath for far longer than most humans can manage. A sport in which shark attacks and deadly oxygen-starved blackouts are a matter of course. Waiting in the boat for them is the sensuous Nike, one man's lover and the secret object of the second's desire.

So...when your friend, whose lover leaves you breathless, blacks out in shallow water, do you rescue him?

This story is masterfully written and briskly paced. I knew nothing about the physical world in which it's set, but the author moved his characters through it naturally and with great clarity, unspooling the human drama without "teachiness" or confusion.

Wow--very good!

P.S.: Don't be surprised if you find yourself staring at the second hand on your watch and holding your breath.

The visionary ideas put forward by Lempert, Popper and Bankes work not only for business analysis but provide thought -provoking models for many different types of long term planning. Of particular interest to the general reader are the discussion of conditions of deep uncertainty and the necessity of seeking robust strategies.

"Shaping the Next One Hundred Years" by Lempert, Popper and Bankes is as an exciting new book on strategic thinking and is comparable in importance to Michael Porter's "Competitive Strategy ". The book describes a methodology that mirrors how successful business leaders think while using novel software to expand and codify the decision making process. Lempert et al accomplish this by using exploratory modeling to evaluate the myriad possible futures a decision maker faces and then comparing different strategies against the desired metrics. The results are new insights and a strategy that works regardless of unpredictable events the future. The methodology is revolutionary and will become the preeminent way important decisions are made.

The collaboration of Robert J. Lempert, Steven W. Popper and Steven C. Bankes, Shaping The Next One Hundred Years: New Methods For Quantitative, Long-Term Policy Analysis offers complex mathematical analysis techniques for making long-term policy predictions. Sample models, ways to analyze sustainable development, robust and adaptive strategies, and more fill the pages of this technical guide focusing upon quantitative approaches to long-term policy analysis. An excellent guide for forward-thinkers and strategists in business who must take into account such diverse considerations as environmental protection, political terrorism, genetic technologies, international trade developments, and more, Shaping The Next One Hundred Years is very strongly recommended reading.

Who is the old hermit who comes to town once a year to buy paint? Rumor has it that he hides stolen treasure in the swamp. To men whose lives and wives leave them disappointed, the whispered tales about Shashy's Gold turns ennuie into longing. Jerry Bolton's characters leap from the pages of this story freshly painted and filled with greedy hope. Two men, achingly reminiscent of men we all know and care about, seek out the treasure -- and find it. This one's a winner, folks. Read and enjoy!

Mr. Bolton knows Southern Louisiana and the people that inhabit it. It seems he is most familiar with the strange sorts of piccadillos they sport in the rich competition they engage in with each other and the land they live on. Bolton carries the reader on a merry ride himself and one should be wary not to be taken in too easily by that beguiling Southern way of tale telling or one could wind up hoodwinked--but in a quite pleasant way! Great story. Highly recommended.

Shashy's Gold is a very absorbing and interesting story set in the Southern Louisiana swamp with a cast of characters that only someone familiar with the "real" folk who inhabit the swamp could create. Jerry Bolton's familiarity with the sights, sounds, smells of the swamp combine beautifully with this absorbing tale of the search for treasure. Greed invariably rears its' ugly head in a treasure hunt but in the swamp it can be particularly nasty....and when the treasure is found, one man must wonder if the hunt was worth the consequences. This story is so well written you can "be there" quite easily - makes for a very absorbing read. I highly recommend it....it's a story you won't soon forget and will leave you wanting to read more of Bolton's wonderfully rich writing.

What friends had to say about Show Me the Way , Oh, Lord!, July 3, 2007
By Mary Ellen Goble Preece "Mary Ellen Preece Ke... (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

The following are from friends who have read the short story and sent their review to me. Mary E. Preece

Barbara K: I gave you five stars and the following comments. "The focus on God being the One to turn to even when life knocks us down like it had Lucy is the most worthy basis of all for an author to "put pen to paper". Whether Appalachian mountain woman or sophisticated city dweller, matters of the heart hit us all on a common ground. God has the answers for preserving a balance no matter what the outcome. Mary Ellen Goble Preece has shared this message in her writing -- a message of hope that all of the hurting, misguided people in our world today need to hear, believe and seek for the healing of the misery in their (our) lives."

Marlene W: The words were good and meaningful and the topic wonderful.

Lisa W: It is a wonderful story of powerlessness and forgiveness.

Well written and descriptive. A familiar story, but holds the reader's attention because it offers a story of hope and God's goodness. Another testament to Mary Ellen's gift of story telling.

This is a very interesting short story. I can't believe it's only 49 cents. It's well worth your money & time and should have cost a lot more. I would recommend it to anyone and it could be a tremendous help to someone if they are going through a hard time in their marriage. I feel truly blessed to have got the opportunity to know Mary Ellen personally. She is such a wonderful,talented person.

trust me!!
I know the guy who wrote it and i must say the book is something ...

This book really covers a vast literature and new trends of Pattern Recognition and Image Processing area. Are in need of new ideas? / Want to fill your voids in understanding the basic concept and especially if you want to explore the new area like Symbolic data analysis. Yes, this is the right choice please go ahead.

Covers different applications and contains real good stuffs for the one who likes to do bona fide research. Don't be Fuzzy! Just buy it.

Here an old soldier visits the scenes of past battles and wonders if he did the right thing at a critical moment. I think we can all relate to that. This is a very well written story with a cinematic feel reminescent of an old "Twilight Zone" episode. It carries you along quite nicely and the ending is both logical and surprising. Don't miss this one.!

Several years ago I was on my way to my villa in the Dominican Republic and I picked up a book by James Baar entitled "The Great Free Enterprise Gambit." As I read it I could not stopping calling attention to myself by laughing out loud and then, later, by the pool the family wanted to know what was so funny and attention gathering.
I was fortunate to come upon his most recent effort, "Ultimate Severance." Ditto on that. Then I found Amazon and Baar's "Believe Me!" and "Somewhere On The Elbe." Ditto, ditto, more, more.

"Somewhere on the Elbe"

"Somewhere on the Elbe" is an absolutely delightful quick-read with a conversational approach that dramatizes fascinating episodes in the life of Zachariah Steuben Prescott during and after World War II. Whether aficionado of European and German dynamics or not, you will enjoy the details and lessons from the author's view of an intriguing part of the past.

Tony Waugh has outdone himself with "Spacibo". Normally a writer who will hold your interest, then smash you to pieces with a surprise ending, he has somehow managed to exceed even that with this mystery thriller, all tucked neatly into a fascinating story about a business trip to the Soviet Union that reeked with authenticity and interest.

At well placed points on this fascinating trip, however, Our Brother from Dublin has the reader's heart hammering as various aspects of the scheme Ted Knowles has been blackmailed into participating in play to their conclusion.

But watch out...it's only the beginning...the Master of the Mood and the soul-smashing ending does it again. A beautifully done, well proportioned story that maybe some day should grow into a feature length novel. A Real Winner!!! Spacibo, Tony! Five Stars!!! John W. Cassell
For a full-length novel of intrigue see Hell's Quest: 1971

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The US/Soviet relationship has always been one of suspenseful intrigue and less than forthright interactions. In Spacibo, I found Tony Waugh's title to be clever although I doubt I've pronounced it correctly, the author takes us on a fast-paced adventure full of one surprise after another for lead character, Ted Knowles.

Ted, an Irishman working at a US steel company, is sucked into a dangerous cat and mouse spy game between the US and the Soviets. With the "turn of a phrase" he enters the dark cloak and daggar world. But, does Ted Knowles come out of this world unscathed. You must read Spacibo, a five star masterpiece by Tony Waugh, to find out.

Reviewed by Joshua Berry - author of A Miracle for Ruthie and Too Much Love.

I'll put it simply, Spacibo is the best story I've read so far on Amazon Shorts. Period.

Now I'll temper that with the fact that I'm relatively new here and these reviews are of course highly subjective. I'll also say that crowning a story like that is covering a lot of ground because I've given out my share of five stars to some great stories here. In addition, with some of the impressive talent that you find on and in these pages of Amazon Shorts - the 'best' is always being chased down by the hungry pack. The best, will eventually be overtaken but sometimes not before a long, long run.

I humbly predict Spacibo will have one of those long, long runs. It was an extremely entertaining read for me. Precise and sharply written. Neatly wrapped. The author crafted a story that was intrigue filled, with superior dialogue, believable characters and satisfying detail. As a side note and added benefit, Waugh nailed international travel. You just can't write about something like that without having actually done it. And by the way, if you can find a better bargain for 49 cents, please, please let me know what that is.

This is a long short and you'll wish it was longer. A gift from the author. Just a great story from Tony Waugh. Buy it. - Jim Wilsky