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Did Mary Higgins Clark even write this book? Or...did she draw up an outline, write the first and last chapters, and leave the rest to one of her minions? I've noticed this type of failure with many authors I follow. All of a sudden I'm questioning "Who wrote this book?"

There was a time that I expectantly awaited the release of a new Mary Higgins Clark. I've read them all and have even had them signed, at "Boston Globe's Authors' Luncheons" where Ms. Clark has been one of my favorite guest authors on more than one occasion.

At some point in time, though, I wondered if the hardcover price was worth an evening's entertainment...as I generally consumed her books in one sitting. Then the fact that she (like Stephen King) often put children or young people in jeopardy began to bother me.

I've wondered if this is a good thing. Certainly from an author's standpoint, it works. Talk about a hook...how many people can read one of these books and think "That could be my...son, daughter, niece, nephew, student."...not many.

Anyway...I started waiting for the publication of paperbacks...and now, get the hard covers at the library. Next on my list was "Two Little Girls in Blue." But...after this book, I'm seriously wondering if I'll ever pick up another Mary Higgins Clark.

I have this bad habit of "reading forward"...scanning future chapters, reading the ending...out of sequence. Not this time. I wasn't interested enough to do so. I doggedly read it, page by page, thinking "Eventually something of interest will happen." but it never did.

I've given this book two stars...as I did manage to finish it, rather than toss it aside, halfway through. "The Second Time Around" is, by far, one of the most disappointing novels I've read in years.

I love Mary Higgins Clark and this book was no different. However, it was really preictable and much like her other books. I figured it out within the first chapter. Not one of her better books but still an enjoyable read.

No spoiler here....I have this one only four stars simply because I did not feel this was one of her best works. That being said, she is still Mary Higgins Clark, and that means your in for a good read. There are plenty of twists and turns to this story as is the case with this authors novels. Here we have a reporter following a story with murder and mystry throughout. I do have to classify this one as a page turner. I like the way the author can handle some pretty horrible stuff but does it with class without being gross about it. For a good read, an enjoyable read, recommend this one highly.

Nicholas Spencer, the head of a company that has developed an anticancer vaccine become the suspect of stealing all the money of the stockholders that went vanishing mysteriously after Nick crush in his plane on the way to Puerto Rico and the police can't find his dead body. Marcia "Carley" Decarlo is a reporter assigned to cover the story which maybe become story of the year.

It become more dangerous when someone burned Nick house with his wife, Lynn who is also Carley stepsister in it. When Carley probe into the matter deeper, she become convinced that the matter is not as transparent like it look. Several strange accident started to happen , people went dead or missing and if she didn't solve the story soon, she maybe become the next target.

At last Mrs. Clark is back! After several of her latest books which I can only describe as good book but nothing memorable, this time she had write one of her best book . I can't put down this book cause I was so curious about the real truth of the matter in this book. Very good plot and storyline. The writing is fast paced and so good it kept you guessing the real motive through the end. I loved it!

And I can say loudly (SPOILER!) that this time , the bad guy isn't someone who romantically or try involved romantically with our heroine like so many in Mrs. Clark previous books. :D

Chain restaurants succeed because there is always a certain level of quality to the product. Never any surprises and few disappointments. That is also the appeal of books by prolific authors like MHC. She has believable characters, realistic dialog and a plot that grabs you from the first page.

In this book, we confront a medical mystery almost "snatched from the headlines." A famous man disapears. His company is investigated for stock fraud and the world believes he's taken off with the loot. There is a nutty serial killer, an unlikable step sister (aren't the always unlikale?) and a crusading reporter. The pace is fast in this audio book and the reader has an interesting voice. There were a few surprises along the way and a few tense moments too with a sniper stalking people - urged on by the voices only he can hear. I always listen in the car and this CD set helped me get through some very long hours on the road. For fans of MHC, you will not be disappointed. For folks new to this author, this is a very well written story and worth your time.

Clive Cussler is now an industry and he pumps out books with regularity and with a certain rythmic quality. Every one of his books has the same pattern: start off with a chapter that looks at an historical event (that is fictional) which normally means that some ungodly secret is hidden. Move to current times when the secret is unearthed by dastardly bad guys who want to take over the world. Next comes the team who uncover the plot by being in the right place at the right time and suffering through some bizarre events. The team figures out what is going on, manages to upstage the bad guys, and kills them. Oh, and the team leader gets the girl - very important part.

In this case - Polar Shift - the historical secret is some sort of discovery where you can cause not just a magentic polar shift, but an actualy physical geological shift which will destroy the world. The bad guys are a collection of anarchists - who are brilliant scientists, of course - and a shadowy person who is using the anarchists in his attempt to take over the world.

The team is Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala and the Trouts. They happen to come across this plot because Kurt is leading a charity kayak race when the mad scientist happens to run a test that backfires in the exact same waters; the Trouts happen to be right in the center of a several-miles wide whirlpool in a zodiac, and they manage to swirl around the rim of the whirlpool for long enough to have Kurt and Joe pluck them away in a helicopter, seconds from when the whirlpool collapses, etc.

The girl is one of the unique twists in this book. She goes after Kurt rather than the other way around as we saw in all the previous books.

Throw in some expeditions to islands in northern Siberia, woolly mammoths, tsunamis, ancient crystal cities in the bowels of extinct volcanoes, high tech gadgetry, and murderous thugs and you have a typical Cussler book.

So, given that all of this stuff is so generic, why do I give this book 4 stars? Because it is a fun read!!! It is a perfect book for a flight or two. You do not need to think too much about the contents, since you know how things will play out, you can simply enjoy the thrills and spills knowing that the world will be saved in the end!

Some of the plot lines were actually more bizzare than normal and I was hoping for resolutions - but was disappointed. What seems like a major idea (the woolly mammoths) completely dissipates and fizzles out at the end as does the whole ancient crystal city. Too bad, there seems to be the idea of a great Clive Cussler story in those ideas!!

The Cussler formula cranks out yet another wild adventure. History is re-written (this time only going back to World War II), a scientific formula is uncovered that could cause the end of life on earth, and our hero must stop a band of anarchists who mistakenly think they can use the formula to gain control of the planet's communications. Somewhere along the way wooly mammoths come out of extinction (which was a weird side story) and an underground city is found in the north.

This book reads fast and you get the feeling the authors were only going through the motions of writing it. But if you have never read a Cussler book before, you might enjoy America's version of James Bond.

Polar Shift was the first Clive Cussler book I ever read and it far exceeded my expectations. As a frequent traveler and consumer of paperbacks, I have read my share of stinkers. Here, instead, was an author writing action, intrigue, and suspense without cursing like a sailor (though most of his heroes are just that) and without a triple X rating.

Since then, I've read 8 of his novels and have another 4 on the shelf waiting to be taken on a future road-trip.

Polar Shift is part of Cussler's series featuring Kurt Austin and easily has one of the best prologues of any Cussler book I've read to date. You're immediately hooked and Cussler keeps up the suspense for the duration.

The middle and end are not as strong. Like most of his novels, there are long survival-against-the elements sections and some truly incredible (read far-fetched) episodes along the way. The ending was also slightly forgettable.

That said, you could do a lot worse and if you're looking for an easy read to eat up the miles on your next trip, grab Polar Shift.

I had to volunteer at my mom's work and I had a lot of downtime. Therefore, I went to the CVS across the street and purchased this book, which looked interesting enough. Overall, it was an alright book. This is my first C.C. novel, but it really hasnt given me a, "Im gonna read the rest of this author's books" impression. Though the details of the different shenanigans and fiascos that Kurt Austin gets into are well documented, it is kind of hard to take most of them seriously. When ever a main character is in peril and facing hopeless odds, Kurt Austin always seems to be able to save everybody, even if some of his antics require feats that transcend the limits of the human body. No one important is killed off or anything, making this an extremely linear story. And it doesnt help that this book is overflowing with cheese. To give you an example, when one scientist comments about how they will encounter 100+ foot waves, instead of looking at him in disbelief, says "I guess we should have brought our surfboards." I mean, some of this dialogue is cornier than the punch lines in the movie Commando, and thats saying alot. There are also some plot elements that could have been elaborated on more to make the novel more enriching. Should have known they were selling this at CVS for a reason. From what I have heard though, Clive Cussler didnt even write this book, and his Dirk Pitt adventures are supposedly superior to these Kurt Austin adventures.


Oh yes, and there is another thing I should mention....

It seems that who ever wrote this book(be it Paul or Clive), was overly obsessed with the bodily features of the characters. And why is it that all of the main protagonists have blond hair and blue eyes? :) My god, the author probably mentioned "blue eyes" 30 times! And how many times do we need to hear that the girl has blond hair!!! Jeez!

The subject matter of Polar Shift promised scientific intrigue and a storyline full of techno-thrills. What the novel delivered was a hodge-podge of gappy scientific reasoning, implausible circumstances, repetitive phrasing, random romance, excruciatingly over-detailed descriptions of alcoholic consumption, and excruciatingly under-developed stereotypical characters. (How often can one heroine be called `beautiful and intelligent' before the first piece of evidence is presented to make the case? Answer: 32 and still counting.)

As a vehicle for learning anything about polar shift, I think the book exhibited just enough research to be dangerous. If a magnetic shift really can cause geological shift of plate tectonics - which seems unlikely but perhaps there is some scientific merit here - how does this occur? How would an `antidote' work? Is it through wave cancellation? If so, why not go down that path a little further, both to be informative and to help the plausibility of the plot line? And what of the code/cipher nonsense that housed the critical Kovacs equations in a nursery rhyme? (What ARE these equations? I thought they were frequencies.) Either explain the code fully or not at all, but please spare the half-hearted attempt at a dialog-based explanation of ciphers and code-breaking that gets wrapped up prematurely by our hero's, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

So if Paul Kemprecos is, in fact, the ghost writer for this book, it feels a bit disingenuous. Is this true and does it explain why such a touted writer as Clive Cussler would have produced (or merely signed off on) such a tour-de-farce? Can anyone rise to Cussler's defense before I resign to this being the first and last book of his I will ever read?

Clea Koff is a forensic anthropologist who worked with teams in Rwanda, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo uncovering mass graves, determining individual identities and cause of death. This books seems to be a journal that was eventually turned into a book (the writing is informal). Koff explains how she was inspired to go into this field. She explains the process of uncovering bodies and what she learns about how to do forensic anthropology. She talks about her teammates, the good and the bad (and does a fair amount of complaining). She reminds us on the history that went on before each mass grave occurred. Overall an interesting, informative read.

I'm a bio-anthro undergraduate and although I wouldn't consider it as a career, I am very interested in forensic anthropology. This book was amazing and really useful. It gives you a window into the life of a forensic anthropologist and the impact that it can have on the world. Clea writes very clearly and with purpose, as she explains what attracted her to forensics and how she wanted to give voices to the dead. She describes her trips to Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo, the beautiful landscapes, the destruction, and of course, the graves. She gives a detailed walk-through of a day in the grave and analysis of the skeletal remains. She also focuses a lot on the people she meets in these countries and how their stories affected her. She also describes the management problems she experienced on some of her trips, as her team becomes divided between "management" and "workers". This was a great insight for anyone considering a career in this field. She talks a lot about the emotional toll of her work, as well as its benefits. This is a great read for anyone interested in forensic anthropology, but maybe not for your average reader.

I don't understand the criticism of this book. The author tells not only of the work of the forensic anthropologist in discovering the grisly truth of genocide, but also helps the reader understand the brutality of the modern era. It is a stark reminder that the Holocaust of World War II was not the only and not the most recent genocide in world history. The author brings the victims to life when describing the conditions under which they are found. Her description of their clothing, personal items and positions of death are a stark and sad reminder that her work is to restore dignity to those who were slaughtered in these atrocious acts of modern warfare. While needing to stay personally detached from the victims on a daily basis to complete her work, she also provides care and attention to detail in identifying each individual's remains. This profound respect for the victims is apparent in her writing and makes this book an important contribution to the very recent history of genocide. Pairing this reading with the book "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families" by Philip Gourevitch, gives historical perspective to the troubled African nation of Rwanda. This history is so often overlooked in schools and textbooks.

Koff's prose is fine and, at times, borders on the poetic - her descriptions of her work are well written and easily read. But that's the problem - perhaps the phrase is ubiquitous self-indulgence?

In the first few pages of her work she claims that her job is to make bones talk, and that she is restoring life to these people who have lost theirs. But instead of telling us what these bones have "said," she spends 250 pages telling us how she got them to say it.

Koff is a wonderful, articulate, and intelligible writer and, clearly, a well-trained anthropologist. The problem, however, is that she spends the majority of her book extolling these points.

[I liken her work to that of a GoodWill store clerk whose intent it is to tell you how his facility benefits the underprivileged, but instead brags about (in harrowing detail) the processes of a cashier who "rings-up" the goods that the underprivileged man is buying.]

Articulation carries little weight when it's shrouded by vanity.

Finally, the book is painfully redundant. Its superfluousness becomes obvious when the first 'chapter' moves into the second. Koff tells us the same story five times in five different locales. Don't let the half-titles fool you: Kibuye is the same as Kigali is the same as Bosnia is the same as Croatia is the same as Kosovo.

An interesting read if you're considering the field of Forensic Anthropology, otherwise the book is a self-indulgent sortie into the politics of gravedigging (my obvious condolences to anyone that this may offend).

This book was interesting but not one that I would recommend to a friend. If you want to learn more about forensic anthropology, this is something you may enjoy. If you want to learn more about the raw emotions that were involved with these situations, this is not the book for you. The author spends more time talking about "the break down of the team" vs the grieving mothers who protest the search for their loved ones, familiy members searching through clothes to identify bodies, etc.
She prides herself on the fact that she is always smiling, something I found a little off considering the circumstances. There are bloody handprints on the ceiling of a church where hundreds were murdered. It's OK to show some emotion.
There are so many books out there that give a great view into what took place within these countries. If that is what you are looking for, I'd move on to something else.
This is a good one to get from the library if you are interested.

If you cannot field strip a weapon you really have no business owning it. I bought the volume on automatic pistols and I was not disappointed. For most of my life I was a revolver man and I stayed away from automatics because I didn't understand them- and I was convinved that they were unreliable. When I bought my first Model 1911 (which has NEVER jammed on me) it didn't have a field manual, so I bought this book. It didn't take long before I was field stripping and reassembling blind-folded. I feel confident that I could do the same with any automatic even loosely based on John Browning's designs. I might have trouble with German designs like the Luger or Broom handle Mauser, but after studying this book I feel sure that I could eventually master them too.

Since I am a Gunsmith and deal with a variety of firearms I bought this book for disassembly/assembly instructions.

This book is almost 23 years old and in sore need of updating. It does not even cover the new S&W auto pistols, Glock series of Handguns, or the Heckler & Koch (HK) MP 5 submachine gun. All of these are in wide use by law enforcement. Further the Mossberg 500/590 isn't cover either. Duh! It is the only shotgun to pass the mil spec test and is in wide use by cops.

Unless you just have to have it for work wait for an updated version that covers firearms developed and in use by law enforcement in the last 23 years

This book is very good at step-by step instructions. The pictures are well taken of the actual part you are working on. There could be more model numbers to go over, but the ones they have are very good. The author is exerienced in gun repair and it shows up in the "tip" portion of every model. I think a list of specialty tools would benifit the author in this book, since each model of firearm needs at least one special tool. Not all, but most. Listing those would benifit the less experienced gunsmith. Thank you

This book and all the others in the series are invaluable to the professional gunsmith, firearms hobbiest, or the casual gun owner who just likes to "see how things work" but can't always quite remember whether this little spring went in here, or over there.

This book is an excellent guide for disassembly. It is worthless as a guide for reassembly. There are no step-by-step instructions for reassembling a firearm. At best, the book assumes that reassembly is the reversal of the steps involved in disassembly. This is not necessarily so. I would not recommend this book to a hobbyist.

The formatting problems with this calendar is now fixed.

Also this calendar comes with FREE Yearly updates.

07/16/2008:

I'm changing my review to 3 Stars, since the author took care of the initial problems. I just do not have the ability to alter the number of stars that are displayed above this review.

Now that the formatting problems have been fixed, this is a usable calendar.

The Holiday list by month has also been fixed.

It's a nice simple calendar. If one could add text to the days of the month, it would be nicer.

Bought two of these for Star Wars fans - they loved the calendar! Perfect gift for the Star Wars fan who has everything!

An almanac buys gentlemen in October and this it(he,she) is the date that has not come to me please I request that give me response that has happened(passed) since it(he,she) was for a gift in December 24 and what I see not sera like that

I found this book good for beginners in the field of visual merchandising. The basics listed were helpful and I will keep it on hand as a referance. If you are looking for inspiration, this is not the book for you. However, you can never read too much about any subject.

Legends is the first of Margaret Weis' thematically linked stories from "The Eternal Archives." The linked material is a very slender and slight suggestion that all of the stories are culled from a mystical Library.

The Stories themselves range in tone and subject, from Lindskold's treatment of a Chinese mythological fable of the white tiger to stories of subjects as diverse in subject as Ancient Egypt, and a water-nymph infatuated with a U-boat Captain.

A decidedly mixed bag of tales, slightly better than average on the whole.

This is a nice quality bag. It is smaller than I expected, but that is my fault for not reading the dimensions.

Good service but the book is in bad shape (library discarded) .. when I bought it, the book condition in Amazon`s ad said "GOOD"...it`s a shame!