Nevada Books

Las Vegas Babylon is an excellent peek at the "real" Vegas. It is loaded with fun stories that you won't find anywhere else. What's amazing is the horrible editing job done by the publisher. There are factual, grammatical and spelling errors that should have been caught before publication. Jeff Burbank has done a fine job here, but has been let down by his publisher.

EXCELLENT BOOK WRITTEN ABOUT LAS VEGAS AND THE EARLY PIONEERS. WAS VERY VERY FASCINATING IN THE BEGINNING. THEN WENT TO THE POLITICAL SCENE WHICH BECAME VERY BORING AND UN-INTERESTING. THEN IT PICKS UP AGAIN TO TALK ABOUT THE STARS. THE CONCLUSION WAS ALMOST LIKE AN AD FOR THE NEWSPAPERS. HOWEVER, WITH ALL THIS SAID, WAS VERY INTERESTING, INFOMATIVE BOOK. A GOOD READ. I ONLY WISH THE AUTHOR WOULD HAVE GONE MORE IN DEPTH ABOUT THE EARLY AND LATER PERSONALITIES RATHER THAN THE POLITICAL FORUM THAT HE WROTE.COULD HAVE BEEN AN EASY 5 STAR. BUT I WOULD BUY IT AGAIN.

The stories presented in this cynical, hasty book could have happened anywhere--what does this have to do with Las Vegas? So the mob was involved in Las Vegas--so what? That topic is covered thoroughly in other, better-written books. So casino execs care more about the bottom line than about their customers--is that news? Also, how many times can the author describe casino partons as "losers" and "suckers"? The author then shares bawdy stories of unruly celebs, their sexual obscurities, etc. The author relishes sharing the naughty side of celebrities and politicians but then adopts a high-road attitude as if he's disgusted by them (and by Las Vegas as a whole). Tabloid journalism just to sell some books? Well, whatever sells, I suppose.

Many of the vingettes the author includes in this mess have nothing to do with Las Vegas except that the city is where the story happened to take place. The casinos, desert, history, etc. of Las Vegas has nothing to do with many of the chapters.

As if the negative tone wasn't enough to prevent people from trodding through this sensationalized tripe, there's roughly 90 typos, grammatical errors, broken sentences, etc. in this book. Maybe next time some of the money spent on the dust jacket design could be diverted to hiring a proof-reader? I'm not exaggerating, by the way. During certain chapters the errors can be found as frequently as every other page.

What a waste of time. There's only about 20 other books on Las Vegas that I would recommend before this. Then again if you're hard up for mean, amateurish, and irrelevant writing, this book might be just what you're looking for.

I found the book very intersting and a quick read since it was split into many short chapters of all sorts of interesting characters and events. Not sure who, if anyone, proof read it though. There are numerous grammatical errors and several incidents where it seems little mistakes were overlooked. For instance it said Tony Spilotro started his fifteen year Vegas career in 1986 (thats when it ended) and said Wynn Las Vegas was the most expensive casino ever built at the time (2.7 million? Maybe billion!?) Overlooking the minor details it is a good book with lots of interesting stories for the novice Vegas reader. Recommend it. Good one for the flight to Vegas.

While not the worse book on Sin City, the glaring omission of Vegas' most famous resident is unforgiveable. Reduced to little more than a footnote by the author, its unfathomable that Howard R. Hughes, Jr. would not have at least 2 chapters devoted to his Vegas footprint.

Rather than move out of the Desert Inn, Hughes bought it! Hughes didn't even want to move down one floor with no charge for 6 months (ask the author why). With more than a half billion dollars in windfall cash from the TWA judgement, Hughes treated the Vegas Strip like his own personal monopoly board. Even beyond the feat of personally owning more casinos (5 or 6) than any other human on earth, the man NEVER, I repeat, NEVER appeared before the Nevada Gaming Commission (a requirement by law for everbody else but him?). Never mind that he tried to derail the Atomic Energy Commission from testing bombs 90 miles outside Vegas'! He swore out he could feel the earth shaking. Of course, when $100,000 of your money finds its way to 1600 Penn Ave., wouldn't you ask a favor, too?

Hughes never set foot in his casinos - he never even set foot on Las Vegas Blvd. In fact, Howard R. Hughes, Jr. never set foot on Nevada soil. He rolled into, and out of, town by private railcar; his Mormon aides carried him by stretcher into, and out of, the Desert Inn penthouse. Howard R. Hughes bought numerous casinos from known mobsters (Big Bob Maheu was the face of HRH), all from the 'comfort' of the blacked-out penthouse he occupied the years he was in Vegas'. The man NEVER saw the Vegas sun.

The fact that Mr. Burbank omits each and every one of these 'minor details' is appalling in a book entitled Las Vegas Babylon. It's like leaving Al Capone out of 'Windy City Babylon', or leaving Alfred P. Sloan out of a book on GM. This major omission is a cardinal sin for someone supposedly a journalist. Glad I only paid...

Okay, my headline is a bit harsh, but I expect a little more from a travel guide of this region. This book is a little campy and its fair to say that travelers over a certain age group will revel in its tales of highway adventure. I'm of a tougher crowd and think the book fell short in its attempt to convey the true glory of coastal California and the desert byways. I read the book feeling like my dad was with me on a trip, driving us to places to see, but not experience. Two and a half stars would be most fair.
Review every book you read- authors deserve your opinions, not just elitist critics.

This is an invaluable guide for tourists (and even some natives) who rarely venture beyond the familiar and sometimes very busy tourist traps and destinations. I myself am familiar with areas such as Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties, the backcountry behind San Diego including Julian and the Borrego desert, and the Central Valley from Sacramento to Bakersfield, and have spent some enjoyable times in these places. Don and Betty Martin have obviously visited these areas often amd done their research.

I got this book mainly to see about the areas up where I live in the San Bernardino Mountains in California. I have two major complaints. 1. The so-called "tours" that you would be hard-pressed to spend a day doing each one, much less a week like the authors claim; if you really tried, you might be able to stretch them out to two days if you stayed overnight somewhere. 2. Obviously, the authors have not bothered to visit their own "tours" on a regular basis to make sure they are still relevant and valid, and not obsolete. For example, in Crestline, California, they list The Cliffhanger as a good place to eat and that you must stop there. Well I have news for the authors: this establishment has been out of business for years and years and has been constantly so and up for sale even and is totally vacant; and had been for years and years when the book was last published also. So unless they want to buy it for muchas dinero and remodel and restock it and turn it back into a fully-functional restaurant and business again (or you do), it is not a good place to eat, because it is still totally empty, and it is known as a cultural landmark up here to the locals. :P Basically, the whole book is laden with information like this. So even if that is the way it was back in the 1970's, the authors need to update their book and do a complete rewrite which means retraveling all of the routes and taking notes of the changes, and writing new stuff also to make the tours more complete. This could be a very good book with lots of value and merit, but it has to be kept current and also to have more options and stops in the "tours" than just a handful of "attractions". The authors seem like really nice people, they just have to be more earnest if they are going to write a traveling book for ~others~, otherwise their readers might just really end up chasing ghost dogs. 2/10

This is a guide to 21 road trips in California and 4 in Nevada. I've now taken a number of the backroads described in this book. There are some excellent suggestions for getting away from the interstates and finding the true character of these two states. The Martin's have a folksy style that I enjoyed. They didn't include much info about the scenery in between but mainly rundowns of the main cities along the way and places to eat and sleep. They really keep to the basics here. For example the section on "The Silver Trail" from Las Vegas to Virginia city is only 14 pages for a trip covering 443 miles. This book is a good starting point to get ideas for road excursions, but if you're going to spend any length of time on one of these trips I'd recommend getting further material before setting out.

I never thought a book could have so much information about how to get around to different places. The authors know what they are talking. They have researched all information that is in the book and now I can travel and see that I have been missing. Thank you for a great book.

This book gives you almost no taste of what the show is like. It is a collection of beautiful but artsy fartsy pictures, capturing the photographers style rather than this amazing show. The bad poetry dramatically inserted as captions to the pictures continues the slightly pretensious path the book took.

there are only TWO PAGES at the end of the book devoted to writing about the actual show. For a show that is completely groundbreaking and unique, that is far too little. It is almost all text that is available at the cirque site (an excelent site, as opposed to this book)

To see what this book could have been, take a look at the book of "Pride Rock on Broadway: Julie Taymor's The Lion King". This is a book about an amazing, one- of- a- kind show, packed with quotes from the creators, concept drawings, beautiful photographs, ideas that were cut, technical diagrams and explanations of problems that arose during production and how the team solved them. It is a book that any person, and *especially* a theater person from any discipline would love. That is the kind of book that this could have been, and it isn't.

If you want an artsy collection of photographs, this is for you. Otherwise, wait till you get a chance to actually see the show - it will be worth it!

While the pictures in here are quite good (not fantastic), that's mostly what the book is all about. Pictures. There's no story behind each of them. It's quite pricey for pictures. I'd wait a while until it comes down in price. As for the show? It's the best show you will ever see in your lifetime. Trust me. I've seen a show or two before, and this is something special.

This book appears as if ALL the photographs in it will be as outstanding as the cover picture but this is quite deceiving.

Considering the quality of the show, price of the book, etc... much more effort and professionalism should have been put into the photography.

Very disappointing with a handful of good photographs towards the end of the book.

I have just recived this book, and if you have ever seen "o" at The Bellagio and loved it and want good memories of it, this is the book you want! Buy this book if you love Cirque Du Soleil! I have seen the show 3 times and this a book of high quaility pictures taken from the show! Thanks

I just saw the water-themed "O" by Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio in Las Vegas mere days ago and was utterly spellbound by the otherwordly experience. Afterwards I decided to check out the souvenir shop and perused this book there. What I found inside were a bunch of lack-luster photographs taken from the spectacular performance, but none of them actually capture the magic of seeing it happen before your very eyes, and what a marvel it is to behold upclose!

In short, these images don't do the production justice! I would not recommend this to anyone who's considering buying tickets for the continuously sold-out "O" and would like to get a taste of what your in for because this may disgcourage you, and that would be a crying shame. Just trust in all the people that have raved about how amazing the show is and buy this simply as memorabilia.

Every play needs its actors, and someone has to sweep up the hall as well. Littlejohn says that they didn't seek to focus on the negatives, but the result is that while Las Vegas may be the fastest growing city in America, both in jobs and population; it doesn't sound that appealing other than as a place to visit.

Most of the reports are glum, and sometimes downright disheartening. Sure, many cities have these problems, but most of them try to do something about it. In Vegas, if it negatively affects the Industry, then it is either ignored or swept under the carpet. It puts a dull finish on what is otherwise presented as a glittering jewel.

The Real Las Vegas is written by a retired profesor from Berkley who, after loosing two rolls of quarters at a strip casino, is bent on teachinng the rest of us how "evil" Las Vegas really is. Among the more "enlightened" things that we simple minded people would never know about this city are: Seniors like to play BINGO. Some teens growing up in Las Vegas drink and get into trouble - some even have children before they are married! The local police department protect tourists downtown and on the strip! (Can you just imagine that?). Casinos have their own private security force, and money flows free and easy! The education system of this city (and it must be only this city) is over-crowded and under funded, and there are less expensive, and faster growing southwestern cities than Las Vegas! The book is simply not helpful and not interesting given all of the maladies this author cites are around "In spades" if you will, in other cities. I am not sure what is so Real about this book, except that it is clear this man wants his two rolls of quarters back.

It seems from the reviews that some people were disappointed by this book, but I really enjoyed reading the various essays. The book is a series of journalistic essays from different writers, and each one writes for about 5-7 pages on a specific topic. Some of the topics the book covers are housing/development, water, the sex industry, African Americans in Vegas, crime, growing up in Vegas, etc. Some of the essays were more serious (water) than others (sex industry), but all of them offered a nice insight into the city, especially if you've only been there a few times and have never ventured beyond the strip. I read this book a few months before moving to Henderson, NV., and thought the book was a nice way to get acquainted with the city and what goes on there. This is definitely not a book for tourists or someone planning a trip to Vegas, but more for people who live in the area, people considering moving there, or perhaps people who have visited and developed an interest in the area. It's an easy read, and an enjoyable one.

This book is primarily written by a handful of contributors, mainly journalists and edited by a seasoned journalist and former journalism professor at the University of California-Berkeley. Because of the number of authors, the quality of the chapters vary, but in general, this was a very noble effort and a well-thought out and implemented project. The idea, according to the editor, was to demystify the resort destination and to look at it as a real, although unique American city.
The introduction by the editor is excellent, as is his epilogue, synthesizing and analyzing the content of the book.
The chapters in between discuss various aspects of the city, the educational system, the plight of the homeless, the large population of hispanic immigrant workers, the casino and sex "industries", the scarce water supply, etc. The book also attempts to discuss such things as the special characteristics of Nevadans.
Many of these chapters are very well written, and are all very easy to read. Some of the authors tend to fall into a pattern that I find particularly troublesome about, in particular, television journalism. The author is looking to make a point (for example, there are a lot of kids in the Clark County School District who use drugs). So, they interview and present the most shocking results from their interviews regarding what a few kids say about their drug use. Never mind the fact that one could have probably obtained similar comments from some kids in any other city. Reading the chapter on the schools, I would think that it is impossible to grow up in Las Vegas and to be a good kid and not drop out and go onto college. However, quite on the contrary, over the last 4 years that I have lived in this city, I have interviewed 30+ high school seniors on behalf of my alma mater on the East Coast. I have met kids who are outstanding students, have some of the highest test scores in the nation, are deeply involved in athletics, music, and community service and have never touched a drug and don't regularly hang out on the strip.
It is very difficult, I believe, as a visitor, to get a true picture of this city. The tourism economy actively attempts to create and maintain the atmosphere of "anything goes" "have fun and drink and gamble and do whatever you want" for the tourists. However, as the editor astutely notes, beyond the strip, "many conditions recorded in this book will be recognized by Americans from other states and cities..."

Beyond some of the shortcomings, this is a very well-done work. Some of the authors spent a great deal of time locally researching their work. The introspective thoughts by the editor really pull it together. As a resident, I find this book helps me to get some critical distance to evaluate the city in which I live. My only fear is that for someone not familiar with the city, the work of some of the authors may paint a uncharacteristically negative picture in some cases that does not give Las Vegas the proper perspective in these problems relative to other places.

Having spent at least 1 week a year in Las Vegas since 1960, the scope and breadth of the "Real Las Vegas" was rewardingly real, and suprisingly interesting and very readible. Staying at the Sands Hotel in the sixties with my family and - the obvious metamorphousis of a few casinos in the desert to what is is today is a marvel and wonder. The 2 reviewers listed seemed to be looking for some explanation or reason for the diversity of L.V.. Answers. Answers - You won't find any here. The stories and straight up, direct, and frank. Real investigative insight into some of the many facets of life in Las Vegas. What I really liked about this book is it's about real people, with real dreams and disapointments. It's about a city that's grown too fast, under the stewardship of gaming, sex and power. It's about the extremes. Las Vegas is a wonderful metephore for the United States society - some are just turned off the the brash and brazen display of human nature Las Vegas encourages. You won't like all the stories, but you will find some very moving people and issues. The introduction is 1 of the best sections in the book. They had to leave out many sories because of space. I hope there's another volumn.

Mr.Branon should be and could be a great writer, if he could improve his trivial and roaming writing style like James Joyce. His two books were both with hopeful stories but just failed to deliver clearly and conclusively. You could only absorb some of the scenes and plots in his two books, but just could not patiently read through. Such as DEVILS HOLE, for example, the 2nd Chapter should become the 1st Chapter, and the 1st chapter should be completely deleted and/or moved to the back with just several condensed short paragraphs in narration. Because if not doing so, it would turn off a prospective reader to drop the book after three minutes. The twin assassins as shooter/spotter are a very good design but failed to deliver again. Their acceptances and carrying out contracts for common people is but an idealistic poetic justice, but how they got such contracts and how regular people would know their existence and how they approach them for how much cost, Mr. Branon simply overlooked it. There are so many scenes totally unnecessarily probed but went nowhere, like chapter 14, from page 141 to 144,42-43, 66-67(two lines),151-152,181-198, 211(lowest part)-212, and etc, were totally waste of readers' time, and definitely should be deleted. Chapter 12, is alike Thomas Perry's BUTCHER'S BOY, the readers and the author should both be conscious! The whole chapter 7, is a long but tasteless going-no-where. Yet some of the Chapters and scenes were beautifully written and should be collected into some writing textbooks! Such as chapter 3,p.135-p.140. The worst problem of Mr. Branon's writing is the obscurity of his characters,especially the male characters and frog-leaping writing style with too many unnecessary flash-backs. No-big-deal characters doing no-big-deal jobs, making the readers going no-big-deal whereabouts. Like LET US PREY, same problems didn't improve but worsened in DEVILS HOLE. Lot of digressions, lot of blab,blabs,blabs! These are two books which should be rewritten, if possible. And the vertical stripes on every page should also be deleted, since they bothered the reading a lot!! Mr. Branon should write a book with clearer characters instead of vague personalities, it should developed like a tree grow into a forest, not a forest into a tree, especially, a rootless and fruitless tree

Even hitmen fall in love with women half their age, try to act like young studs, and embarrass themselves. That's the message of DEVIL'S HOLE, Bill Branon's second novel. It, too, is peopled with uninteresting characters, and you may find yourself hoping they die in inventive ways, just to hold your attention. If you like the "old goat with young doll" concept, pick up anything written in the '50s by John D. MacDonald. JDM had a lot more insight about men following their crotches than Mr. Branon. Better plots, too

I read this book on the beach in Ixtapa (along with about a dozen other books) and thought that the plot was OK, but the execution was iffy at best. He tends to dawdle a bit when exploring the sexual side of his heroes (darn near stops the book, in fact). He explains in excruciating detail what he is doing with his girl in bed (an embarassing look at his ideas about women and what he THINKS they want) while glossing over important plot details that would explain his protaginist's motivation and goals. If you enjoy the types of books that Bill Branon is trying to write, a better choice would be any of the books in the 'Bob the Nailer' series by Stephen Hunter. I will probably buy his next book, but if it has the same 'narrative stoppage' with his sex scenes that this book does, I will not buy any more.

I happened to run across this book knowing nothing about it, but the description on the jacket cover intrigued me so I picked it up. I had not heard of the author before, but after finishing it I can say that I was extremely impressed. He has a special talent for developing characters through subtle scenes, and I found myself really rooting for all of the characters. There is one chapter where Arthur and Melody go shooting in the desert which was one of the best chapters I've ever read in any book for the interaction, bonding and friendship between the characters. It helps to explain what would otherwise be an unlikely relationship between them. Unlike other customer reviewers, I thought that there weren't any unneeded scenes or chapters, and thought that the 1st chapter, although not really referenced later in the book, was an attention-grabbing opener. I'm really looking forward to reading his other books!

As an amateur geologist (minor in geology in college) I found this book to be very illuminating, clearly written and very useful as a field guide during my travels through Nevada. MacPhee is a poet of great power, who forunately turned his attention to geology and is a joy to read, but his books would never be as useful as this one for actual journeys when you might be trying to identify details in the landscape.

I bought this but was disappointed. The writing was plain bad, like high school writing. Hard to get through it to the geology, which is boring and uninspired (like high school science?). Was this self published? An exciting topic like this deserves much better. See McPhee.

We wrote this book to let people know about a place we know well, a vast and beautiful landscape that lies hidden behind the clanging slot machines and roulette wheels that people associate with Nevada. This is a dynamic landscape created by glaciers, vast lakes, desert winds, and explosive volcanism. We lead you to active faults that have produced violent earthquakes, hot springs where steam escapes from far below, ghost towns where men once toiled for gold, and 10,000-year-old petroglyphs left behind by ancient inhabitants. We'd like to invite you on a trip that may change your mind about Nevada; we'll be your guides, but the land itself is the storyteller.

I bought this but was disappointed. The writing was plain bad, like high school writing. Hard to get through it to the geology, which is boring and uninspired (like high school science?). Was this self published? An exciting topic like this deserves much better. See McPhee.

True Yosemite Hikers know Mr. Schaffer's contribution
to the park. Try on-line search with keywords "Yosemite Schaffer". This book is based on his research at Berkeley.
Until I read this book, I thought "the Yosemite problem" was
solved. But seems like not as you see in the review below.
As John Muir was attacked by Whitney, Mr. Schaffer is also
under attack.

I will read his book every time I come back from Yosemite hiking. Also this book will give me an idea of where to go next.

People interested in purchasing this book should be aware that Schaffer's ideas presented here have yet to pass muster in scientific peer review (i.e., in a credible geologic journal), and that most past and active researchers in the Sierra Nevada do not support many of his conclusions. For a more detailed review, see P. W. Birkeland's review of the book in the journal Quaternary Research (Academic Press), v. 50, no. 2, p. 200-201. In essence, the abundance of qualitative observations and inferences presented in the book do not subsitute for calm, careful, directed research, field-based or otherwise. Also, there are too many straw men in the text, in which Schaffer misrepresents the works of other scientists before dismissing them. The highly negative references to other scientists are particularly inappropriate. Bottom line: the book covers a lot of ground, but the final conclusions remain scientifically hollow.

To address a few of the concerns of the review above, I am also a field-based geomorphologist (as are the other workers I refer to), and in no way am I "scared" of Schaffer's work. I am more than happy to entertain new and different ideas. Jeff's book, however, is prone to exaggeration and misrepresentation. If the ideas are valid, they should stand on their own merits, and pass scientific review, period. That is a fundamental tenet of the scientific method, and sets it apart from mere bluster. The fact that the ideas in Schaffer's book haven't passed this test does not mean they are invalid, but they should not be viewed as being scientifically rigorous.

Finally, the characterization of academic geologists as being "stultifying and dogmatic" bespeaks ignorance on the reviewer's part. A visit to any geologic convention will dispell that myth.

The other reviewer of this release (Clark, a glacial geologist) does not like the upstart attitude displayed by Schaffer and poops on his conclusions. Other than for Birkeland, I'd like to know from Clarke which members of the academic community (that need to be protected?)have problems with this book.
I found it refreshing to have an actual on-the-ground 'field' geomorphologist, rather than, for example, an aerial photo mapper, draw conclusions about Sierran alpine landforms and glaciers. So what if Schaffer may be pushing the envelope, and simultaneously, pushing some academic egos around? Who are these 'past and active researchers' that
Clark defends in his review? The challenge remains in the field, where I'd wager Schaffer's work WAS careful and directed, rather than the calm, stultifying and dogmatic halls of current geoscience academia. I bought this book (used, $10) because Clark sounded really scared and his review was more of a classic attack on the messenger rather than his message; after reading most of it, I can see why. This book and the Sierras would make a good combo.

Schaffer's book is a fresh look at one of the paradigms of glacial geomorphology - that mountain glaciers are capable of large-scale erosion and create the valleys that they lie in. He concludes that they generally do not. He based this on more than a decade of field work in the Sierra Nevadas (more field work in this range that any other geologist - dead or alive). Dr. Clark is wrong. Shaffer's work is not a failed dissertation. Instead, it has been rumored that a geologist from a well known governement organization wrote a letter to Schaffer's dissertation committee asking that they stop Schaffer's work (his work was stepping on to many toes). Apparently, Shaffer could have received his PhD if he had re-written his conclusions to conform to the party line (the ideas put forth by previous workers). Schaffer has done the one thing that many workers have not done. He has gone in the field and let the data control the theory rather than let the theory control the data (this problem is not confined to geologists). I am a working California geologist and have been in the field with Schaffer. It is quite interesting to stand at a rest stop on I-80 and have Schaffer point out ridge tops and mountain peaks and give specific information as to the presence or absence of glacial information at those sites. You really get a feel for the level of work he has done after his arm has pointed out every ridge and peak over a 120 degree arc. If Schaffer is wrong, it would be a simple task to demonstrate it. He has documented so much specific data that all any geologist would have to do is go to the locations descriped by Schaffer and shown that his data is wrong or distorted (disprove the data and you disprove Schaffer's theory). Curiously, there is no indication that this has happened at all (Schaffer has contacted several geologists and offered to go in the field with them and look at the data - not one has accepted). All that has occurred is that professional geologists sit in their offices and snipe. Dr. Clark should read the more recent(2005) review by Dr. R. Dorn (available on the web). Yes, Mr. Shaffer's book has its problems, but it is a must read book for anyone interested in the developement of the Sierras.

A friend of mine was reading Johnstone, and I decided to try one of his books. I don't think I'll be trying a second.

Power of the Mountain Man is about Smoke Jensen ("the last mountain man," as we are reminded ad nauseam) and his New Orleans buddy Louis Longmont, who easily dispose of some crooked businessmen trying to take over San Francisco, about the year 1880.

And right in that word "easily" is the key to the book's failure. Jensen and Longmont are so far superior to their opponents with gun, tomahawk, and trailsmanship, that I never felt any suspense or excitement over the outcome of their constant fights with the Forces of Evil. By page 50, when yet another chapter ends with Jensen's opponents filling their hands with guns or knives, I had stopped mentally crying out to Jensen, "Watch out!" and instead found myself addressing his enemies: "Oh God, you poor suckers are in for it now."

Alfred Hitchcock once said that a movie is only as good as its villain. Johnstone misses that lesson. Cyrus Murchison is apparently based on corrupt Central Pacific railroad baron Collis Huntingdon, even down to the sound of his name, but he lacks Huntingdon's criminal genius. With a spark of intelligence, Murchison could easily have defeated Jensen in the second half of the book; he finds himself fleeing in a train from Jensen, who is following in another train more than 45 minutes behind. All Murchison needs to do is stop and disconnect the rails behind him, and the Last Mountain Man will be road pizza. But no, Murchison stupidly insists he will beat Jensen "at his own game," and predictably doesn't even come close.

The hero has several points in his favor. To start with, he has a great name: "Smoke Jensen" is a ringing, almost poetic moniker for a gunfighter. He has several appealing character attributes: he is faithful to his wife, loves nature, stays cool under fire, and has compassion for his animals. His best moment occurs (in a flashback, oddly enough), when Jensen is trying to evade some Snake Indians in a storm. His faithful horse breaks its leg, and Jensen, at great risk to himself, stays with the animal until the rain stops, so he can put dry powder in his gun and kill the horse humanely. It's a nice vignette, more revealing of Jensen's character than anything that happens in the actual narrative.

One of Jensen's character flaws, his poor judgment of people, is an appealing one, humanizing him without making him dislikeable. He demonstrates it in this book by hiring two saddle tramps whose motives he should have suspected. But Jensen has a far worse drawback: he's a bully. He has no compunction about pushing people weaker than himself (which is just about everybody) around to get what he wants. Worse yet, Johnstone doesn't seem to realize that Jensen is a bully; none of the other characters resent or even question Jensen's behavior, and he never pays any price for it.

The book is crowded with action scenes, which get tedious quickly. Although I mentioned the main problem above, the lack of suspense, that's not all. The violent passages are also cluttered with the make, model and caliber of just about every firearm that comes into play. If Smith & Wesson and Colt's Manufacturing Company weren't paying product placement fees to Johnstone, they certainly should have been. In the heat of combat, it's ridiculous to focus the reader's (and by implication, the characters') attention on whether the opponent's six-gun is a 10mm Mauser or a .44 Dance, rather than on more pressing matters such as where it is pointed at the moment and how many shots it has left. Worse, unless you're intimately familiar with the firearms of the period, the gun names won't even help you visualize the scene. I finally took to reading the book while seated at the computer, so I could look up the firearms as I read their names.

The last problem with the action scenes is that they never convey the awful arbitrariness and unpredictability of real violence, the feeling that nobody is in full control of the situation. The best battle scenes have a sense of Clausewitzian friction, the difficulty of doing even the simplest thing under conditions of tremendous stress, fear, and urgency. Johnstone's scenes have more of the flavor of a boy's fantasy of what we would like violence to be: a simple, low-cost, triumphant assertion of our superiority and power over our enemies.

Johnstone does appear to have a good grasp of American Western history. Egregious anachronisms are avoided, and the flavor of rawhide seeps through the everyday scenes. You get a good sense of the ethnic mishmash and tensions that pervaded a young nation. The one place where Johnstone goes wrong is in his adventure into San Francisco's Chinatown; he imports pinyin spellings from the 1950s, like "Xiang" and cluelessly mashes them together with old Wade-Giles transliterations like "Lee" and "kung fu," and even throws in Japanese weapon names like "bo." Anyone familiar with Chinese culture will find this jarring, but I don't want to be too hard on Johnstone. Becoming an expert on American Western history must be difficult enough; it would be too much to ask him to become an expert on a four thousand year old civilization too.

So overall, despite a fairly appealing hero and a reasonable grasp of history, Johnstone is disappointingly shallow and juvenile. I would recommend old hands like Louis L'Amour, or even Zane Grey, over him.

I like Smoke Jenson; he is strong and stands for good and right, but after reading other Last Mountain Man stories I could pretty much tell you what was going to happen around each bend in the trail. Smoke leaves his Wife on the ranch in the High Lonesome to save someone from bad guys. He kills many who don't backdown, lets the ones go who turn chicken, and turns very few over to the "Law". The same thing happens in other stories with different characters. This series needs some imagination and creativity or I may stop reading it.

Smoke Jensen gets a cripted letter. After interpreting it he gathers what he needs for the journy to San Fransico. Smoke finds his only acquaintance has been killed. Then he learns of a dangerous plot to take over all of the regions wealth. Smoke beats a trail back to the Sierras and gathers angry prospectors, ranchers, and farmers for the showdown in Frisco....

Gabriela Zim's editors did her a disservice by allowing this DRAFT to be released as a final book. Reading between the lines the chapters' concepts are apparent, but they are not brought to fruition, and after a few chapters I was parched for some substance. I sensed a talented writer. But, really, I read this book and felt like I was reading Beverly Johnson's daytimer. Places and people are not well developed.

I thought this was a very well written book. The grammatical/spelling errors aside, I like the style of the book. The author uses mostly Beverly's letters to her parents to tell her story. Beverly wrote some truly amazing letters. Her sense of humor, fun and outlook toward life comes thorough. Some interviews with friends after her death are also included. The author only touches on Beverly's life as a climber; after reading this book you can see was only one aspect of her life. Beverly comes across as a amazing woman someone whos lifestyle many can admire. I think a must read for any woman in a male dominating sport or activity.

A glowing, praise-filled biography of someone everybody seems to have loved, probably with good cause. If you were looking for details about Johnson's stellar climbing career, however, you will be disappointed: the author is clearly not a climber and seems to have little interest in that aspect of her subject's life. Also, the editing job on this book is terrible; it's full of misspellings and grammatical errors. I'd get it from the library.

Without a doubt, this book is a big undertaking and doing it well has to be very difficult. There were a number of interesting chapters, but the style of writing, compound sentences combined with hyphenated phrases that went on for line upon line, made it very difficult to read and follow. This was probably the most frustrating book I've ever read, and I only finished it as a matter or principle.

This book gives alot of good information about the settling of the west and about many key figures who influenced the settlement of what was a vast wilderness area. The writing style is sometimes a bit too pedantic and this is not light reading that you'll go through quickly. However, the volume of information makes this book worth it. The closing of the American frontier and the settlement of the west are interesting subjects and this book does a good job of covering them.

I welcome feedback on this and all reviews at wstrnlibwarrior@yahoo.com