Biographies Books

I could not put this down. I read the first 110 pages before falling asleep at bedtime, woke up the next morning and kept reading until the end. I had read the first memoir when it came out and was looking forward to this one, but WOW. Fierce is the perfect title for this fierce memoir.

I first "met" author Barbara Robinette Moss when I read Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter back in 2001. In that first memoir, I recognized a resilient woman of incredible strength despite an impoverished, abusive and physically challenged childhood. In her newest memoir, Fierce, the same strength of character, resilience, and determination are the threads that weave the author's story. I loved Zeus's Daughter and doubted that a second memoir could even begin to compare in depth and quality. I was wrong. Fierce is another deeply moving, poignant look at Moss's life from a different perspective than her previous book.

This is the story of the author as a single mother who chooses to turn away from the ways of life she experienced as a child. Her goal to provide a better life for her son is admirable. Her determination to fulfill that goal is nothing less than remarkable.

As is so often true for children of alcoholic and abusive parents, Moss finds herself in addictive and abusive relationships but eventually is able to break out of that pattern. In doing so, she reclaims the dreams that she abandoned as a child. But she also begins to understand more clearly why her mother did or did not act differently when her father was in the depths of alcoholism and abusive behavior.

The author's foreword hooked me right away, convincing me that I was in for another incredible journey with Moss as my guide. An excerpt: "Fierce was written like one of my mother's quilts. The chapters, like seemingly separate pieces of cloth sewn together, create a pattern, the very thread of life."

Throughout the pieces of the story that become Fierce, Moss interjects some of her childhood to provide enough backstory for new readers. But have no doubt that the story stands alone and provides a powerful memoir at its best. Though one could read Fierce without having read Zeus's Daughter, I am grateful for the backstory the first book provided. It allowed me to understand even more fully the extremely difficult life Moss has led and her remarkable determination to break away from her previous life.

Moss introduces readers to her brothers and sisters as now-grown siblings... in some instances, complete with their own alcoholic tendencies. She brings us through her tumultuous relationships with several abusive men, each with his own addictive tendencies. And with descriptive scenes that can only be written by one who has lived through it, she details her relationship with a non-compliant schizophrenic.

Perhaps one of the most difficult traumas of the author's adult life was her father's suicide. After much prodding, Moss allows herself to seek counseling but doubts its ability to help her get on track. Fortunately, her counselor is just the right person to help. Reluctantly, Moss agrees to go to ACOA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) and comes to realize the benefit in the community of people who share the same sort of history. She writes, "My childhood trauma continued to wake me at night, but they didn't swallow me up like before."

Just as in Zeus's Daughter, Moss manages to share her story with raw truths while still interjecting her own bits of humor. It is in these humorous tidbits that one discovers the depth of the author. She writes, "For those who have lived similar circumstances, and for those who haven't but want to better understand their friends and loved ones who have, I hope you will find warmth, and ultimately comfort, in these words."

by Lee Ambrose
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Moss' work, Fierce, channels every emotion felt and puts it on paper in a way that makes you feel as if you are sitting in a chair, watching the events of her adult life unfold. A masterpiece!

I read this book in three days awhile back, and still remember most of it, especially the night I bolted up in bed and turned the light on after dozing and thinking about the rattle snake and said to the air, "There has to be magic." I went back to sleep with that thought.
I'll never forget the garbage can, which I think is the story of all of us at one time or another. The contemplation of this book followed me around for several weeks, weaving in and out of other books read after it.
Thanks.

Again, Barbara has written a compelling story of a part of her life that is insightful, and most of all thought provoking. As I read the book I found myself in many of the pages. It gave me courage and strength to look at my own life.

After reading Fighting Immigration Anarchy, I could not sleep for three nights. I kept thinking about all that I had learned from Daniel Sheehy's book about what is truly going on in my own backyard and in the rest of America. The book tells what the our government and the mainstream media won't tell you about the seriousness of the illegal immigration crisis and how we are rapidly losing our country and quality of life. The book isn't just about what is wrong with our government's virtual open borders policy. The book mostly focuses on American citizen-activists of different races and ethnicities who have made a difference in the fight to preserve our borders and sovereignty. I have been truly inspired by these stories- and I plan to get involved myself. This book has caused me to wake up and take notice! I'm buying several more copies to give to my friends.

Mr. Sheehy's book presents current and continuing events about public patriots as well as unknown patriots - those who attend rallies, write to newspapers, call radio talk programs, join Roy Beck's fax writers to Congress, and in many other ways inform the public about the illegal alien invasion of the United States.

It's an easy read about the histories and daily activities of those featured in the chapters and their supporters. Every member of the U.S. Congress and Senate should be locked up in some hotel and not released until they finish reading this book. That goes for state legislatures as well.

Mr. Sheehy's book presents current and continuing events about public patriots as well as unknown patriots - those who attend rallies, write to newspapers, call radio talk programs, join Roy Beck's fax writers to Congress, and in many other ways inform the public about the illegal alien invasion of the United States.

Any person who believes these folks are nativist or bigots just by the title should read the book to learn about the threat to U.S. national sovereignty.

It's an easy read about the histories and daily activities of those featured in the chapters and their supporters. Every member of the U.S. Congress and Senate should be locked up in some hotel and not released until they finish reading this book. That goes for state legislatures as well.

Daniel Sheehy has done an outstanding public service by exposing
the Bush Administration's determination to keep the Mexican border open thus allowing illegal immigrants and terrorists to
enter the U. S. borders. The Bush rhetoric is old and worn as
Bush shows more loyaly to Vicente Fox than he does to the U.S. citizens. Californians Barbara Coe, Glen Spencer and other California voters began taking action in 1994 to get, what became Proposition 187, on the ballot to stop illegal immigration and the resultant burden on taxpayers, schools,
hospitals and jails. Even though approved by the voters, former Governor Gray Davis and former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo and others prevented it from becoming a law. Nothing
could be more basic to National security than closing our borders to unidentified people. Homeland security has been a joke because of irrational priorities and inconsistencies by the
Bush administration and now open borders. I am a former airline pilot and know many pilots who believe uninspected cargo is a great threat to airline passengers and crew and the ease with which an airplane can be shot down with a shoulder
fired missile. As a Naval Aviation veteran of WWII, a USAFR
retired Major and pilot veteran of the Korean, I believe our country is in great risk because of our weakened position by using our Reservists and National Guard to fight battles in far off Iraq when our troops should be guarding the borders here. My grandson is a U. S. Marine in Iraq fighting "insurgents", while illegal aliens come across our borders at the rate of over 10,000 per day--isn't it ironical? Daniel Sheehy is a fearless patriot, who has exposed what I believe is a national disgrace and which should be the concern of everyone.
Dr. Norman E. Witt (Ed.D.) UCLA--Class of 1969.

This book really gives you important facts about the threat of millions of illegal immigrants in this county. But I think the book should also talk about legal immigration. I am an immigrant from Germany and my goal was to become an American and leave everything else behind. I promised to never rely on any welfare and in all the past decades I never have. There are rarely people who recognize that I wasn't born here.

One of the best books about Vietnam I have read! It reminds me of a kinder gentler version of Caputo's Rumor of War. It has the feel of what it was like for an average soldier to be there without the blood and vulgarity of Caputo. If you like blood and guts memoirs then look elsewhere but if you are looking for a coming of age story about a young man who goes off to War, then you will love The Ghosts of Vietnam.

This is an excellent book, a poignant, sometimes funny, realistic, and down to earth honest look at growing up in rural America, and going to war.

Jim gives us a rare look at the Vietnam war from a different point of view, with insights that will engage a broad spectrum of readers, especially those of us who were there!

Thanks Jim for the memories!

First-time author Jim Stewart has written a raw and powerful memoir of his years in Vietnam and his life. Unlike many of the current Vietnam-era memoirs, Stewart's uncommonly poignant and well-written story details his four years in the `Nam without the blood, gore, or trauma so popular today. This is the story of a young man's coming of age and maturing as a human being while simultaneously dealing with a war, a callous family `back in the world', and his first real love and long-term relationship.

Stewart takes us back to his childhood, where he grew up in a poor but loving household, and how he tried re-create it with his young Vietnamese girlfriend, Mai. In the midst of the Tet Offensive and the later collapse of the country, Stewart and Mai strive for normalcy in the insanity of Vietnam towards the end of the war. His relaxed yet detailed writing style allows the reader to begin to understand what it was like to live and work in Saigon, both for a Vietnamese and an American; even such insignificant events as shopping and taking a taxi turn must be pre-planned, and Stewart draws the reader directly into the traffic with him.

While the author was an MP instead of an infantryman and therefore believes himself possibly fortunate not seen any actual combat, his book is not really about the fighting in Vietnam; it's a story of the author, his dad, Per, Mai, and Phuong - and it's a story well worth reading. Highly recommended !!

Jim Stewart's remarkable memoir "The Ghost of Viet Nam" is a gut wrenching true story about a boy's rights-of-passage to manhood. Stewart's descriptions of life and love in Viet Nam breathe life into the story of Military Police action across the war torn country. The excellent narrative rings with truth and humor as Stewart relays his four years in country and the devastating effect on his personal life. I recommend "The Ghost of Viet Nam" as a well written and authoritative. It provides a unique perspective on the effects of a long forgotten war.

[...]

I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it. I like how the author described his childhood and took us with him on a realistic account of his life in Vietnam. Few authors have been able to do this without getting political. I felt for his loss of his daughter and how these past ghosts stayed with him for so many years. A lessor man would have forgotten all about his girlfired in Vietnam and went on with his life. Jim carried with him his past and he did something about it. It was a great read and I highly recommend it. I too served in combat in Vietnam and know what he wrote about to be true and unusuallly frank. LT. Charles E. Gibb, Ph.D. USN Ret.

James Frey has written Annette's life story so beautifully. We've been fortunate to weave our lives together for over 30 years and experience Annette's gifts and her life. The book is written so well with some of her experiences and gifts helping so many.

In seeking help, I reached out to Annette, who I did not know, however I am aware of the skills psychics possess. I was so happy that Annette sent this book to me while on a business trip, because I could not put it down and it passed lonely hotel nights quickly. If i had not already known, it would have validated her stills, but for me, it gave me an understanding of the personal sacrifice Annette makes in some very grave cases. The evolution of her work, has brought her to the most challenging of cases, and she gives of herself, for the benefit of others. I have just ordered 4 of her first book, to give to my friends, and start them on the journey of understanding Annette's psychic world.

I first heard Annette Martin's June 27 interview on the Jeff Rense radio show (rense.com). Jeff is known for the many outstanding people he interviews 6 days a week. Among Jeff's guests, Annette really stood out for her congeniality, her infectious laugh, and her obviously extraordinary abilities. When her book was mentioned, I went ahead and ordered it. Once I started reading, it was hard for me to put down. Annette has been able to help find amazingly accurate answers to unsolved murders, missing people and animals, personal and past-life issues, health challenges, and much more. It is a most unusual story, and if approached with an open mind, will really change the world view, and perhaps the lives, of many. Based on who this woman is, I requested a life reading by phone, and was very pleased with her astonishing ability to go deeply into many aspects of my life (and people close to me) and point out fruitful areas to focus on. I would recommend Annette, and this book about her, very highly!

A thoroughly enjoyable read. Annette's fascinating life and experineces validate the credibility of her gift. Although at first reluctant to pursue her divine gift, she relents and is set upon a unique life path that aids so many of us mortals through her connection with the goodness of the heavens. A really interesting life, and with so much she has generously given back. Thank you Annette!

It's so wonderful to have someone who has the gift not get all "mystical" about it -- yaaay Annette! It takes courage to carry and embody the gift of the white light...but it's not some fantastical power. Annette doesn't use her talent with the light to set herself up as someone to be held in awe and worshipped; rather she exchanges information with you and wants you to put it to use! By the end of this book, you will adore Annette Martin because she is so real, humble, and unassuming about her gift. I think she'd rather get your attention for her fabulous acting and singing!! Thank you Annette for letting us peak into the world/work that you do!

GOING BACK TO BISBEE is essentially a memoir augmented by plenty of history, both natural and human. It won an award in 1992 for "creative nonfiction" and I can understand why. The conceit of the book, which is taken up by the title, is a drive by the author Richard Shelton from his current hometown of Tucson to Bisbee, Arizona, where he had spent two years of his life, newly married and a fledgling teacher, fresh out of the military, about thirty years earlier. He intersperses his account of his half-day-long, 100-mile drive with recollections of his personal life in Southern Arizona, stories of the history of the area (for example, the Apaches, the U.S. Army, and a century of mining), and sidebars on the flora, fauna, and geography of the region. The book ends with Shelton back in Bisbee, having dinner with an old friend and grande dame of the former mining town re-invented as a center for the arts.

For my taste, the "going back to Bisbee" conceit is a little too artificial and forced, and the anthropomorphism to which Shelton is prone becomes mildly annoying, especially when repeatedly used with reference to the van, "Blue Boy," in which he makes his trip. But on the whole, the book is very engaging. It certainly is a much more entertaining way of learning about Colorado river toads, Perry's agave, coyotes, mesquite, and many similar subjects than the typical natural history guide. At the same time one learns much about the destruction of the landscape by the Anglo invasion and their cattle-ranching and mining without undue preaching, and one is treated to a number of interesting personal anecdotes, some of which are genuinely funny.

Hence, GOING BACK TO BISBEE can be recommended on a number of levels, but it would be especially appreciated, I think, by those interested in the Sonoran desert and the mountains of Southern Arizona.

"And I'm going back to Bisbee, not really knowing why. Perhaps it is because two years of my life were left there, put behind me, and now I have reached an age at which I cannot afford to forget even two years out of those allotted to me. Perhaps I am looking for the spirit of a mountain I never knew, a mountain which became a crater on whose edge I lived for two years, happily, while the landscape and earth around me was being destroyed. Or perhaps it is just nostalgia. I was happy there, while the destruction went on for twenty-four hours a day, and now I want to go back" (pp. 21-22).

Richard Shelton is an Arizona writer and poet. His 1992 memoir Going Back to Bisbee won the Western States Book Award for Creative Nonfiction in 1992 and was selected for the 2007 One Book Arizona program. It is his love song to Bisbee, a desert city with a European feel located 82 miles southeast of Tucson in the mile-high mountains of southern Arizona. With his poet's eye for detail, Shelton immerses his reader in the landscape, flora, and fauna of the Sonoran desert as he makes his nostalgic journey (in the temperamental van he proudly calls "Blue Boy") from Tucson to Bisbee, where he taught English in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Along the way, he not only revisits the natural history of southeastern Arizona, but he reveals the beauty of the Sonoran desert, even capturing in words the scent of the desert when it smells like rain. Ultimately, Shelton's highly-recommended memoir reveals that Bisbee is as much a state of mind as a place. I should know. I have Bisbee dust in my blood. I was born and raised there. And like Shelton, I was happy there. I say read the book, and then experience Bisbee for yourself.

G. Merritt

This is a terrific book. I live in Arizona and learned so much from reading it. It is never boring and is full of information and fun stuff.
I even learned a few new words for things that happen in Arizona.
I would highly recommend this book.

Others have already heaped praise on Mr. Shelton and this book, so I can't improve on that. But you must also try his 2007 book "Crossing the Yard". It is every bit as good, if not better,Crossing the Yard: Thirty Years as a Prison Volunteer than "Going back to Bisbee"

What fun we had tracing Richard Shelton's steps (and drive) through the Arizona desert. He's personal stories throughout this book are great. The information on the flora and fauna are very detailed. The history on this desert area itself is fascinating.

I am deeply sad that the author Martin Booth is no longer with us. However, he left behind a treasure in this amazing memoir. This book is also published under the name "Gweilo." I hated coming to the end of this enchanting book and recommend it to everyone.

GOLDEN BOY, Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
By Martin Booth
Picador Press |(St. Martins) 2004
ISBN 978-0-312-42626-2 (pbk)

What gave a seven-year-old British boy courage to explore the Hong Kong of 1952 in places where no foreign child belonged? Martin Booth felt safe among unusual friends during his adventures, because Chinese people believed rubbing his golden hair brought them luck.
Booth's superb prose pictures brothels, opium dens, Chinese drug-lord friends, forbidden temples and also the wild life and flora in both Kowloon and Hong Kong. Often lonely, Martin's independence was encouraged by correspondence and gifts from his grandfather in England. He never told his parents the extent of his explorations into forbidden and dangerous areas.
The boy also endured the hostilities between his bigoted, bureaucrat father, a man who never quite succeeded, and his out-going mother who was fascinated by Chinese culture.
The author calls himself a "curious, somewhat devious, adventurous and street-wise child whose heart never left Hong Kong" after his father's job sent them back to England four years later.
Anyone who likes biography, history, adventure, Chinese culture and beautifully written literature will enjoy this book.

Martin Booth had an amazing memory for the details of post-WWII Hong Kong and the times he had there as a seven to ten year-old boy. His civilian father gets transferred by the British to the far-flung colonial outpost. While his father is more of a spoilsport, his mother tries live life to the utmost--wherever that life may be--and she allows Martin the freedom to do the same. He takes her fully up on that offer, befriending hotel staff, local storekeepers and more and tasting practically every Chinese dish and joining in every local festival with eyes wide open. However, there are actually very few stories of his escapades with fellow children, mostly stories with the adults that surround him and the nature and culture of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is ruthless with its built history, so a book like this is the only way to get to know the Hong Kong that existed only fifty years ago. It includes one of the few descriptions of a westerner in the `Kowloon walled city.' And from an eight year-old boy too!
I am grateful that Mr. Booth was able to finish this book before he died. I wish he had lived a few more years for selfish reasons--so that he could have finished a book on his second time around in Hong Kong. I am sure he had just as many adventures as a teen as he did as a young boy.
Richard Mason's `World of Suzie Wong' takes place at approximately the same time and is a great and recommended look at a decidedly different part of Hong Kong. So it was neat when Booth's world and Wong's world intersected (innocently) in a few of Golden Boy's pages. Mason actually spent very little time in Hong Kong prior to writing the fictional Suzie Wong, so Golden Boy is a more knowing portrait of Hong.

This book was recommended to me by a friend who said she was sad when it ended. Well, I am recommending it, and also sad when it ended. It is a delightful memoir of a blond 9 year old boy living in Hong Kong in the 1940ties. Blond means "luck" to the Chinese and everyone wanted to pat his head. He learned Chinese and was allowed into areas that no other "white" person could go.

I read this book because I love Hong Kong and its history. I was totally unprepared for Booth's parents and adored Joyce. How cannot you not like someone so lively, loving, accepting (except of Ken) and adventuresome?

While the family (Ken, Joyce and Martin) are exploring Algiers, Joyce buys some dates from a market stall, and Ken pitches a fit because they are probably unsanitary. He asks, 'How can you tell where they've been?' Joyce replies that they've been up a date tree. 'And they picked themselves I suppose?' 'No,' Joyce rplies, 'I expect they were plucked by a scrofulous urchin and thrown down to his tubercular aunt who wrapped them in her phlegm-stiffened handerchief.' I had a large mouthful of iced tea when I read that and spat the tea I didn't snort up my nose all over the page. I couldn't stop laughing. This was, I learned, pure Joyce.

'Golden Boy' is delightful, insightful and something more - a word or phrase that escapes these old brain cells. This is the first book by Booth I've read, and I'm eager to read more.

THANK YOU FOR THE PROMPT DELIVERY OF THE BOOK: HANA'S SUITCASE. IT WAS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. THE BOOK ITSELF WAS WONDERFUL, AND THE PICTURES ADDED SO VERY MUCH TO THE BOOK. I SHALL NEVER FORGET READING THIS LITTLE BOOK. I SENT IT ON TO MY GRANDCHILDREN. THANK YOU.

This was a wonderful book. Hana's Suitcase allowed children to connect the events of the Holocaust with the experiences of a person about their own age who actually was affected by these events. Although sad by definition, the tale ends on a high note, as Hana's older brother travels to Japan to meet with young visitors at a Holocaust Museum. He is able to tell of his young sister who actually carried the suitcase in one of the museum's exibits and who later died while imprisoned by the Nazis.

Hana's Suitcase, by Karen Levine, published in 2007, is the true story of a young girl named Hana Brady, who was taken away by the Nazis as a small child along with her older brother George, and her suitcase, which through a chain of events ended up in Japan. It is also the story of a Japanese woman's efforts to find out about Hana- who she was and what happened to her. The book is incredibly moving. Illustrated with photographs of Hana and her family as well as the Holocaust center in Japan where her suitcase is found, Levine tells Hana's story in parallel with the story of the efforts to learn about her. This structure sets up two crushing waves of emotion that left me in tears by the end. It's bittersweet tragedy, told with beauty and sensitivity.

I have read this book to my fourth grade class for the past two years. They are instantly drawn to Hana, Fumiko, and the story of the Holocaust. The minute they see the picture of Hana's Suitcase, they begin to ask all the questions that the children in Japan asked of Fumiko. They always want me to continue reading and they are so eager to find out about her story. This book has inspired so many deep and thoughtful discussions with my students. They really connect to Hana and her story and the book helps them understand what happened with the Jewish people in WW2 and why it got so out of control. The chapters switch between Hana's story and the story of the children in Japan who are learning about Hana, so it kind of breaks up some of the more difficult parts of the story with the more happier, hopeful parts. I highly recommend this book for anyone- kids and adults.

This is a very different account of the holocaust than I have ever read before. It is a living account of the holocaust and how it still affects our lives today. This book brings the holocaust into the present by telling the story of a Japanese woman searching for a girl who was lost nearly 60 years ago. I loved this story and wonder how many more stories of survival, hope and faith we can find if we just dig a little deeper to unbury a past that is not always pleasant but that we can always learn from.

A book every woman needs, especially if your journey is personal power development. It's not just the interviews that empower and connect us it's the authors thoughts which make this SUCH A GREAT BOOK.

I have found this book to be GREAT!, just what I need to tell my students. Very good bits of info that almost everyone can use. If you are a fighter even better, you don't have to get into scrape to learn this. I will recomond this title for all of my teachers and students.
toma the old one 4th Level Aikido Teacher and USAF-WR teacher and Canemaster teacher.

If there was ever a book that says "you can do it" this is it. The women were real and Fawn seemed to be able to bring out what is real in their lives. Women are women the world over and she shows that success doesn't always come easy but it can come to any and all with determination. Amazing stories and amazing women, the most exciting thing to me was the women are like almost every woman I know. Hope she writes something again soon. This book gave me a lot to think about and compass for my own path.

When Oprah told how inspiring this book was, I ordered it immediately. Thanks, Oprah. This is the most uplifting, powerful book you've turned me on to.

The author's human touch makes you a part of the experience of learning from such great women leaders. I truly felt like I could do ANYTHING after I read Hard Won Wisdom, and that's a good thing because my company is on the verge of layoffs. Fawn Germer's book reminds you that smart women survive and prevail in the toughest moments. This book changed so much about how I view myself and the possibilities that exist for me. You'll see.

I was given this book as a gift and wasn't intentionally reading it as a Self Help book. I found that I couldn't put it down, pulled out my high-lighter as I was reading it and started highlighting and starring as I read. Fawn didn't simply interview and tell a story. She wove the lives of these exceptional ecletic women telling of their trials and tribulations, their perserverence, and the outcome of their lives because of the choices they made during adversity as well as good times. The reader could easily identify with each concurring that we are the ones that are responsible for
following our own dreams. The dream may not become a reality but we are stronger and have grown from our efforts. This is a
great gift for friends of all ages as well as a perfect
graduation gift.

As a well traveled German, living in America the Country of my choice, Henry's Journey brought back fond memories of England, Africa and India. I was much moved by the German subplot.As I was born in postwar Germany, I am always asking myself "would I have been a Henry or a Henrietta? I just wished, there would have been more Henrys or Churchills and this era would not still be such a shadow on my conscience. The twist at the end definitely brings us all back to the dangers we face today.
I particularly liked Henry's reaction to the racial discrimination he had to endure himself, and instead of faltering he rose above it.
Stephen Maitland-Lewis is a wonderful story teller, skillfully introducing real historic events throughout the book. One has to remind oneself that the main characters are just fiction. Brilliant! (Henry could be a great role model for today's times.)
I am looking forward to what this author can next produce.

As a well traveled German, living in America the Country of my choice, Henry's Journey brought back fond memories of England, Africa and India. I was much moved by the German Subplot. AS I was born in postwar Germany, I am always asking myself "would I have been a Henry or a Henrietta? I just wished, there would have been more Henrys or Churchills and this era would not still be such a shadow on my conscience. The twist at the end definitely brings us all back to the dangers we face today.

I particularly liked Henry's reaction to the racial discrimination he had to endure himself, and instead of faltering he rose above it.
Stephen Maitland-Lewis is a wonderful story teller, skillfully introducing real historic events throughout the book. One has to remind oneself that the main characters are just fiction. Brilliant! (Henry could be a great role model for today's times.)
I am looking forward to what this author can NEXT produce.

I love finding a new author. I love it even more when I can honestly say that I look forward to their next book! I read on the average a book every two or three days and if it dosen't capture me in the first 3 chapters I remind myself to pass on any future dealings with said author. Stephen Maitland Lewis has what it takes to grab you and hold you until you find yourself reading the last line of the last chapter! Cheers.

The author of "Hero On Three Continents" is a true mastermind. He writes in a charismatic text, with a focus on detail. Hero on three continents is a "must read!"

A friend recently purchased this book online in the US. He said it was the best book he'd read in years and sent me his copy to read. I have to say that if anything his comments were an understatement.This is as good, well-written and researched novel as I have ever read. I consider it a masterpiece. A new star is on the horizon and I hope he writes another book soon

While the story chapters in the book are individually interesting, they somehow don't make a whole. The book feels choppy, as if it needed additional narrative to make if flow more smoothly. I expected, based on other reviews, to become immersed in the life of a narcotics officer. Just a average read.

I truly enjoyed this book. Paul Doyle's experiences were something that needed to be put on paper and published for the world to see. Although the names and the places may change, the core root of the drug world remains the same. In reading this book I found that other than the bell bottom pants and silk shirts, the happenings of the underground drug world are in so many ways similar today. The difference being the technology used and the way the intelligence is gained. I bought this book at a fair where the author was present and signed my copy. I spoke to him for a few moments and told him that I worked for a police department in a neighboring town and that my husband was also a police officer. He suggested that I read it and have my husband do the same. This book was a real page turner and I wasn't able to put it down until I was finished. I was truly impressed with his compassion for people which can easily be lost in the investigative and enforcement field. He points out that he actually had to become 'one of them' in order to take some of these criminals down. It was a different day and age. God Bless Paul and the guys that he worked with. It's not a job for the meek and mild.

Paul Doyle delivers edge of your seat excitement. Poignantly related, this warrior served as an undercover drug agent in the seamy sixties and seventies, in Boston's most rag-tag blighted neighborhoods.What is most refreshing is the lack of moral ambiguity in this narration.While remaining compassionate to the true victims of drugs- the addicts themselves, Paul Doyle mercilessly hunts down the perps on the top of the food chain, the major dealers and manufacturers- in an effort to staunch the flow of the drug epidemic.
I really enjoyed the book, my hope is that if it does get made into a film that the director has as subtle a touch as the memoirist.

Read this book at the advice of a friend and it is a must read for every caring American. Opened my eyes to the sacrifice some people are doing on our behalf and opened my eyes to a life most of us cant imagine. These folks do it for us and then in the end the Author takes us on a learning experience about where the drug money goes and who is behind it - the terrorist connection. He also lets you know the solution to cracking the incredible drug problem in this country lies in our families and not in Washington. Read it

Excellent. Didn't want to stop reading until I was finished the book.