Barrett Books

The book is nicely illustrated and the book quality is good. However, it is too advanced for children. It is over-rated I suspect due to the voices of the celebrities that are on the CD. Many pages are actually quite depressing and negative. I like more upbeat books even if there is a moral to be taught.

The format of this book and the others like them give a young reader a very enjoyable experience. The adult side helps to embellish the story but the children's side lets a new reader be part of the story not just a listener. Our first grader takes great pride in his part of the book and seems to have better comprehension. These are a great find.

I had been given 2 of these books from a friend and I decided to see if there were anymore. My son loves this book. He's now working on reading the adult side. It's a great idea to have a page each, 1 for the adult and 1 for the child. We have several of these books now and I see my son sitting down and reading them on his own.

I read this book to my little sister, she is 9 and thought it was the funnist book she had ever heared of. She really liked the part were the emporer.... well I won't give the ending away. But, I hope you enjoy it.

Generally, I do not care for audio books; many of the readers speak in a dull voice that rapidly drives me either away from the story or to sleep. However, there are a few exceptions; this is one.

Understand, that this is not the normal audio book; this edtion has a large cast of actors who collaborated to produce this item as a fund raiser for Starbright.

The result is an ensemble piece that is witty and charming. Part of the fun for me, was guessing who was reading before looking at the cast list included in the box.

Other folks feel that this isn't for children; I don't know as I don't have children, but I found that my "inner child" was highly entertained for 40 minutes with this tape.

If you are a fan of one or more of the actors in this edition or like puns (there are many here!), then you will probably like the Starbright edtion of the Emporer's New Clothes.

Aczel is a master craftsman and author who describes things in prose as if you might be there. I have read each of his books and recommend them all.

'The Jesuit & The Skull cogently and saliently prvides well documented discourse of how the FOOLS Across The Tiber(Vatican's Curia) operate to this very day, and is 100% correct.

This latest offering Aczel is a MUST READ!

This book gives a good historical background of Teilhard de Chardin's life and his struggle with the church's position and evolution.

In his very readable The Jesuit and the Skull, Amir Aczel offers a rather sweeping account of the early and mid-twentieth century search for the "missing link," focusing in particular on the contributions of the French cleric and scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. In the process he discusses the history of paleoanthropology, the Scopes trial, disagreements in the scientific community over the significance of the Java Man and Peking Man fossils, and the Galileo-like struggle between de Chardin and Church authorities.

The two undisputed stars of Aczel's account are de Chardin and Peking Man. In a curious manner, both suffered similar fates and similar resurrections. Both were "silenced," buried under layers of nearly impenetrable sediment, literally in Peking Man's case and metaphorically in de Chardin's when he was silenced and exiled by the Church. But both also came to light: Peking Man in 1929 when he was discovered in a cave near Beijing, and de Chardin posthumously with the publication of the thousands of pages he wrote but couldn't publish during his lifetime.

Aczel's account of this chapter in the tussle between religion and science is certainly timely, and it provides a good overview of the topic. I wish, though, that he'd taken more care to explain de Chardin's unique understanding of the convergence of Christian faith and evolutionary theory. This would've made the Church's opposition more clear. Aczel focuses especially on an early essay of de Chardin's that calls the original sin doctrine into question. But this is only the tip of the iceberg of what ecclesial authorities saw as problematic in his position. Much of the book's details about the relationship between Lucile Swan and de Chardin could've been omitted to make room for this kind of discussion.

Still, well worth reading. Three and a half stars.

I bought this book for my husband after we heard an interview with the author on NPR. He (my husband) loved it. Well written, intelligent.

I have always been fascinated by Teihard de Chardin. Pere Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a Jesuit priest, geologist, palaeontologist, theologian, scholar and Christian mystic. This book is about him and the circumstances surrounding his discovery of the Peking man.

Teihard de Chardin fascinates me because he tried very hard to reconcile science and religion. He felt a calling to the Church and joined the Jesuits or Society of Jesus at a very young age. In spite of his all conflicts and heartache with the Jesuits, he never did consider leaving the order. During his training as a priest, he spent 4 years as a stretcher bearer during the First World War. The horrors and inhumanity of war had a profound effect on him. He was ordained a Jesuit. Aside from a theological education, he also studied the science of geology and palaeontology. He received his PhD when he was 45 years old.

Unlike many Christians, Teihard de Chardin did not find any conflicts between his belief in his Christian faith and science. He sees a convergence of both. His main thesis is that God is a God of change and all creation is in a constant flux of change until it all reaches a point of union with the One which he called the Omega Point. This means that human beings are also changing as we evolve to a higher level of consciousness. What this also means is that he embrace the theory of evolution as a theory of change. Not only do animals change or evolve but the earth itself evolves. This brings him to consider these changes as the evolution of the Noosphere.

His acceptance and teaching of the theory of evolution came to the attention of the Jesuits and the Vatican. Teihard de Chardin was commanded to stop his teaching. However he was such an established scientist that the Church decided to send him as far away from civilisation as possible. They decided to send him to China! It is the greatest of irony that in China, Teihard de Chardin discovered the remains of the Peking man. The Peking man is considered scientific proof that human beings have evolved from earlier hominids. All these support evolution and are against creationism. Thus in sending him away to China, Teihard de Chardin was sent to a place to discover something the Church has wanted to avoid.

Teihard de Chardin was censored by his order and not allowed to lecture and publish. Most of his books and writings are published after his death.

An interesting and informative introduction to Teihard de Chardin, evolution and the Peking man.

An account of several F-8 versus Mig encounters during the Wietnam War.
It also gives an insight about the men that flew them and their opinions.
A wonderful read for anyone interested in military aviation.

Book arrived within a few days and was in the condition that it was described or better, very happy with there service.

Barrett Tillman has long been the "gold standard" in naval aviation writing, and nowhere is his expertise more evident than in MiG Master. Long a classic in naval aviation literature, it is a solidly researched, exciting account that blends in equal measure the history of aviation technology, naval strategy, and combat operations, all well-seasoned with a strong "in the cockpit" flavor that is guaranteed to keep the reader firmly glued in the seat from the moment the book is opened until it is finished. Tillman's take is that the F-8 was a crucial fighter at a critical period in Vietnam air war history. Called at the time the "Last of the Gunfighters," it was the most successful air-to-air fighter of the war in classic high-g swirling furball dogfights. Considered by many an anachronism before the war began--an era when air-to-air missiles, then in the early stage of their own development, were hugely overvalued--the F-8 instead proved its mastery over a variety of opponents, all the way from supersonic merges and breaks in the substratosphere to tail-chases at levels so low that reeds in rice paddies were blown about by the F-8's aerodynamic wake. The combat results validated both the expectations of its designers, the training and expertise of its particularly aggressive pilots, and the dedication and skill of its maintainers, both ashore and afloat. Altogether a remarkable book by a remarkable historian, and an evocative portrayal of an era in naval aviation that is, alas, no more.

MiG Master tells the tale of the F-8 (also known as the F8U) Crusader. The F-8 Crusader was a fighter developed in the 1950's and was flown by Navy and Marine pilots during the Vietnam War. Mr. Tillman tells us of the development, procurement, deployment, and fighting history of the Crusader.

My Likes:
I picked up this book because I was mainly interested in learning about the Crusaders service during the Vietnam War (note: I learned some from Clashes: Air Combat over North Vietnam, 1965-1972 but wanted to expand my horizons somewhat). To support this, Mr. Tillman provides two chapters on Crusader service in Vietnam, one on the general usage of the aircraft and the other describing the air-to-air engagements. The air-to-air engagement chapter (MiG Encounters is it's name) provides good details on the individual engagements between Mig's and Crusaders.

Another nice piece is the Glossaries. Here we about lots of interesting trivia about the Crusader from different variants, mapping for the original Navy identification code (F8U-nnn) to its Joint code (F-8E, F, etc...), to it's service in Vietnam (carriers it was assigned to , kills, etc...).

My Dislikes:
I'm going to open with the general structure of the book. Mr. Tillman writing seems a little clunky and chunky. In repeated chapters Mr. Tillman failed to define acronyms in their first use (Glossary F does function as an acronym/slang list) and repeats portions of his story. Furthermore several chapters layout promoted confusion about the F-8 or had data that seemed totally out of place or not really related.
While the Vietnam chapters (The Vietnam Years and MiG Encounters) were the best in the book, I had problems with the layout because The Vietnam Years covered all uses of the Crusader and MiG Encounters then went back and only covered the air-to-air engagements. I would have rather have had one chapter where Mr. Tillman presented the Crusaders Vietnam service in total, blending air-to-air with its other missions.
My last dislike was the failure to include drawing depicting engineering aspects of the F-8, armament configuration, or cockpit layout.

The Rating:
Three stars. I was really excited to learn about the F-8 Crusader and this one let me down. I was looking for a good book on the F-8 Crusader (ala F-105 Thunderchief: Workhorse of the Vietnam War) but got something that didn't scratch the itch I had. This book is a good summary of the F-8, but not one I'd want if I could only have one book on the F-8.

This book focus only on the F-8, thelast Navy fighter that was designed for gun air combat. You can find very detailed air combat record in Vietnam, including the time, place and names and you can really enjoy the contents and understand the other side of the stories of Navy air combat history in Vietnam

"There's no use blaming yourself for this grievous turn of events. It is your fault, of course, but there's little you can do about that. Wisdom comes easily to the man who's waiting for the axeman's blade to fall. For the first time in his life, he knows exactly where he's going next."

This quote, uttered by an argumentative mechanical lizard named Julia Jessica Slagg, exemplifies "The Prophecy Machine". Neil Barrett Jr. wrote two of these delightful comic fantasy novels. I read the sequel, "The Treachery of Kings", last year, and found it to be one of the most brilliant and eccentric novels I'd ever read. I'm actually a little bit less enchanted with "The Prophecy Machine", but it's still a quite impressive achievement.

Master lizard-maker Finn and his lovely wife Letitia Louise are trying to take a vacation, but an unfortunate set of circumstances strands them in the land of Makasar. Along with them is the aforementioned mechanical lizard, a creature named Julia Jessica Slagg, with a sharp tongue. This odd trio makes for one of the most entertaining sets of relationships in imaginative fiction. The dialogue they trade, and the subtle interplay of their personalities, is delightful. Barrett's intuition for comic timing is amazing, and his dark, cynical sense of humor cuts through all pretense.

Now I could go into a further plot summary, but I think I'll let you discover all the clever parts of this book for yourself. Barrett's name is not widely recognized, even among fantasy geeks, but the same could be said of many today's most talented writers. After "The Prophecy Machine" and "The Treachery of Kings", he certainly deserves to enjoy the same fame as Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.

...this is a thrill ride into the strange and bizarre world of Mr. Neal Barrett Jr. and what a wonderful world this is...

It has a lot of ideas that I haven't seen anywhere, and even though it seems a bit weird and at times childish, it is... but it is also its strength.

I would like to say something about what the book is about, but it would take some of the fun out of reading it... so I won't.

Enjoy it!

An odd couple (inter-species?) with an odd vocation (lizard-maker) and an unusual companion (a mechanical lizard) get waylayed in a strange land with weird customs and nonsensical religions and are forced to take refuge in a bizarre house with a strange family and fight through a ton of weird situations to extricate themselves.

A variety of plotlines are left hanging and the "prophecy machine" itself is not explored very much and even in the end there are a lot of unanswered questions. Furthermore the action itself is somewhat unsettling, kind of like watching a sci-fi fantasy train-wreck spoil the heroes' vacation. Although it's a page-turner that keeps you reading I couldn't really call it enjoyable - the house, offkilter and dizzying, could in fact be a metaphor for the effect this book has on the reader.

I give it three stars for general quality and a fourth star just for the weird originality that is it's defining characteristic.

Sci-fi or fantasy fans are always looking for something new -- a new twist, a new concept, or a new world-view -- to challenge their voracious appetite for the new and unread. Neil's newest foray into space-time has a new flavor -- perhaps flawed by an unformed or undefined raison d'etre that leaves the reader longing for a more definate explanation of the forces behind the action or forces -- but then, mystery leads one onward. My review is, of course, colored by a sci-fi background which seeks answers rather than mysteries, but mysteries are tolerable in that they provoke thought rather than rendering palatable answers. Anyone that enjoys "Time Bandits" or "Brazil" (over and over again) will enjoy this book.

I read books extensively. Occasionally I'm fortunate enough to come across a excellent piece of prose such as this book. Esoteric but enormously entertaining. The way it is structured constantly keeps you turning pages. Neal builds a "Alice in Wonderlandish" world where what you can expect is the unexpected. You get a chance (that you don't get in other novels) to visit a place you've never been before. In the case of this book...a very strange place indeed. The inside of Mr. Barrett's head must contain contain a amusement park for the eccentric.

P.N. Elrod is a great story teller and I find myself so involved in the characters lives that I feel like I am there. I loved the Jack Fleming stories but it is nice to read about Jonathan, the forever romantic vampire.

Jonathan Barrett is having problems. He and his mother don't get along, he has been sent to England against his will and he falls in love with a woman who one of his friends also loves.
Then he is forced to return to America where he gets shot and finds out he has even more problems. First, he's a vampire. And as a vampire he has to deal with his family, the British army and the American rebels. If he's not careful he might end up dead and this time he won't come back!

Having read the vampire files I had high expectations for this book
and was not disappointed. I have one suggestion for anyone planning on reading Red Death, and that is to buy the next one in line Death and the Maiden. This book gets you so involved in the main character that you may find it hard to sleep at night as you lay awake wondering what happens next.

This book introduces Jonathan Barrett, who we meet briefly in Bloodcircle (Elrod's 3rd Vampire Files novel). Jonathan is much less cynical and polished than Jack, and also quite a bit younger (only seventeen as the story opens). We get exposed to his family (his mother, father, sister and cousin) and also see how he came to be a vampire, from the very beginning (falling in love with a strange girl, Nora) to waking up in his coffin and convincing his family and the townspeople he isn't dead. I loved this book not only because it presents the American Revolution from a decidedly anti-Washington view (very uncommon in historical fiction) but because unlike the Vampire Files, in this book we see Jonathan as human. He's young, he falls in love, doesn't get along with his mother, goes away to university, makes new friends, and 'learns the world.' The changes he makes while he is alive mirror the kinds of things he goes through after death-both are a type of change, of growing up. And unlike Jack Fleming, Jonathan has no idea what's happened to him when he wakes up in his coffin. He doesn't know where he is, what he is, why he survived his death, what he has to do to continue to survive, or how to judge and use his strength and gifts, and what his weaknesses are. The book ends not with him learning those things, but with him accepting that there is still a lot he doesn't know.

This book kept me guled until I was done. Jonathan Barrett, the unsung "hero" experiences first hand the lure and lust of the vampire world. Reading through the pages it was if I were there on the hot summer days, and erie nights. I will say I found the ending a little weak, but it sure left things open for P.N. Elrods next book. Worth the time!

With the likes of Carl Hiassen, James Hall, Laurence Shames, and a passel of others shooting it out regularly in the same mosquito-clogged marshes and sunny beaches once ruled by John D. MacDonald and Charles Willeford, the Florida crime fiction field has seemed somewhat dangerously overfished in recent years. Apparently, however, Austin screenwriter Darryl Wimberley (The Radicals, Love Thy Father) wasn't too worried about all that when he penned his debut mystery novel, A Rock and a Hard Place, which takes place in the realistically redneck but fictional little town of Deacon Beach, located on the Gulf Coast of the Sunshine State. An expert storyteller with a voice that bears the grit of experience and confidence, Wimberly creates a sense of ambivalence and danger in the interplay of sun and water and decaying enterprises commonly found at land's end.

Before reading this book, I wondered whether Wimberley's screenwriting box of tricks would manifest themselves in his novel. In the end, I have to say that Wimberley's practiced hand at the art of visual storytelling translates nicely to the printed page. The reader's attention glides from one viewpoint to another with the ease of a deftly handled Steadicam, with spicy tough-guy dialogue and plenty of tips of the fedora to all the right classic movies. Move over, Florida tough-guy writers, I think I see a hit series coming on strong. -Jesse Sublett, The Austin Chronicle

Although I don't regularly read books like this one, it was well worth the change of scenery. Based in modern times, this books opens with the brutal murder of a town local, Ramona Walker. When the main character, Bear, finds out his brother is a suspect, he is set between a rock and a hard place. He is the detective in charge of the case and has to face sending his brother to the electric chair or to set him free. The novel is intriguing and while it has it's dull moments, it is continously suspenseful and alluring. For a reader who is open to new kinds of reading, this is definetely worth the time.

Here's the first book in a series with distinct possibilities: the black man who "made good," graduated valedictorian at his high school, went on to get himself well educated and, ultimately, became the only black detective on the force in Deacon Beach. What is striking here is the insight into the sensibilities of being a qualified person of color in a racist environment. What is troubling is the depiction of Ramona Walker, much admired, much lusted-after owner of an enormously successful eating establishment and the person most responsible for Barrett "Bear" Raines's being hired by the local police department. Turns out Ramona had a secret, private life that was beyond sleazy and completely inexplicable.

When Ramona is found murdered and Bear's brother, Delton, is the prime suspect, all the ingredients are in place for both a close study of historical family dynamics as well as the bizarre secret life of Ramona. Both are, in the end, a little hard to buy. But along the way there are some good action scenes and a few scenes with Delton and Bear's twin sons that are beautifully executed.

That said, I just couldn't buy the turnabout ending. It just didn't play for me, in terms of what the author structured. Worth reading, and certainly an author worth following.

I really have nothing to add to the previous three glowing comments about this mystery novel. I agree with their statements. They have really said it all. However, I'm really pleased to know that Wimberley has a sequal. I hope that he settles the question in the new novel of what happened to his nieces (Corrie's and Delton's daughters). As the story ended in Rock and a Hard Place, his characters Laura Anne & Barrett Raines, were sitting on Fort Walton Beach with their twin sons after the death of Barrett's brother Delton and sister-in-law Corrie, but no mention is made of the orphaned children.

"A Rock And A Hard Place" is an entertaining book that evokes a place that many of us have never seen, but -after reading the novel--understand. The protagonist, Barret Raines, and his wife, Laura Anne, have worked hard to carve a comfortable middle-class life in the town where they hope to live out their lives. The murder of Barrett's friend and patron threatens to destroy their carefully-constructed dream, especially when his older brother is accused of the crime. Does Barrett clear the family name? How does he find the truth? The book is engrossing. The narrative entices the reader from the first chapter, adding background and exposition as the book unfolds. The author, although not a police officer, seems comfortable with police procedure and Southern politics. He has a "good-ole-boy" approach to the supporting characters, giving the reader enough detail to imagine them but not so much that they intrude on the narrative. This is a good story, written by someone who has a grasp of narrative and pacing. I look forward to reading the next story.

Being a big fan of private detective tales (Mike Hammer in NYC, Nate Heller in Chicago and Vinnie Calvino in Bangkok), I knew I'd be enjoying this novel as soon as I got it and that's exactly what transpired!
Once again, Dean's love for the Sukhumvit Rd area, especially the bar areas where many farang men hang out (Soi Cowboy, Washington Square), cannot be missed and what this writer has learned/discovered/ouright lived through for more than a few rainy seasons is perfectly melded into the storyline so even were I to be reading this novel here in the States, I could still smell that bizarre mixture of street vendor food, joss sticks, pollution and Buddha-Alone-knows-what-else, I could still hear tuk-tuks drag racing with motorcycles and I could still see all the lovely and not-so-lovely Thai bargirls parading under sizzling neon signs in the redlight districts that partially make Bangkok what it is. And that's just the background!
The main character is someone most of us will relate to at once as you follow him all over the place first wondering "What the hell?" followed by "Whodunit?" and finally "How does he solve this case without going home in a body bag?"
If these are the kinds of elements you require in a mystery novel NOT taking place in New York, Chicago, LA or London, get a copy of this and prepare for a good ride on a blood-washed avenue.

A very well written detective novel set in Bangkok. A down and out American detective and his martial arts trained Thai girlfriend and lots of bizarre characters both Thais and foreigners living there. The author obviously knows the place. For example: "Thais are the nicest people in the world. Until they're not."

A great read and I learned a lot. If this book doesn't make you want to go to Thailand, nothing will.

Scott Sterling, an American expatriate living in Bangkok, Thailand, spends most of his time hanging out in bars and teaching scuba diving. Occasionally he uses his expertise as an ex-CIA agent by doing a little detective work, mostly following cheating spouses. His Thai girlfriend, Dao, is a boxer and an extremely jealous woman. When Lisa Avery, a blonde knockout from the States, starts hanging around, Scott begins to feel a bit uncomfortable caught between the two women.

Lisa requests a meeting with Scott, and he thinks he might get to the bottom of her odd behavior--maybe she wants to hire him for some detective work. Their meeting doesn't end as planned, and Scott leaves with many more questions about Lisa than when he started. Then Lisa turns up dead, and he makes it his mission to find out why she was killed and who killed her. There are people who would prefer Scott stay far away from the investigation. As he starts to uncover clues, he finds that Lisa was not who she appeared to be. Will Scott discover the motive for the crime and the identity of the killer before the culprit eliminates him from the equation?

SKYTRAIN TO MURDER is a brilliantly written novel. The author,Dean Barrett, a resident of Asia, delivers firsthand knowledge of what it is like to live and work in this fascinating country. Sprinkled throughout the book are funny accounts of the different bar patrons and their interactions between themselves and the locals. Scott is a well developed character and the reader has a rapport with him and his plights, even the uncomfortable ones he brings on himself.

The mystery of SKYTRAIN TO MURDER is detailed and intriguing, and will keep readers guessing until the exciting climax where all is revealed. I take it as a sign of a good mystery when I can't figure out the identity of the villain, and this novel delivers a well-crafted surprise. The dialogue is fresh and fast-paced, full of Thai cultural references, both funny and shocking at times.

One criticism I have is that a few of the things referred to in the book are unfamiliar to me, and may be unfamiliar to other readers. It would have been helpful for some commonly mentioned things to be defined, such as "bargirl" and "muay-Thai."

Overall, SKYTRAIN TO MURDER is one of the most fascinating mysteries I have read in a long time. The exotic locale coupled with captivating suspense make for a winning combination. I definitely recommend this book for all mystery lovers on your holiday shopping list--and buy a copy for yourself as a treat!

Courtesy of www.AllAboutMurder.com

There's no real reason to read this average pulp thriller unless you're specifically interested in the sights and sounds of Bangkok. The hero is an ex-CIA operative Scott Sterling, now living the expatriate life, eking out a living as a scuba dive instructor and part-time private detective. However, one gets the distinct impression that he spends most of his hours haunting the bars of Soi Cowboy. The story kicks off in true pulp fashion, with a sexy blonde walks into a bar and captures his attention. But before she can become a client, she turns up murdered. Feeling inappropriately obligated, Scott decides to investigate and soon finds himself in a predictably murky plot involving rich men, expensive call girls, and sexual shenanigans.

Fortunately, this rather rote material isn't all there is to the book. The author provides a bridge to the Thai people via the sassy bar girls Scott knows (and lives amidst in his run-down apartment), and Dao, his kickboxer girlfriend. Of course the whole notion of the ex-CIA guy with the sexy (every woman in the book is sexy) local Muay Thai champ is pretty over-the-top, but that's the kind of book this is. There's a fairly significant subplot involving a gang of slum loansharks who kidnap a girl and Scott's mission to free her. This brings Dao's gangster/monk brother into the story, and the entire affair is kind of overpowers the main plot, which seems curiously commonplace next to the colorful local scene. A lot is made of Dao's character as well, plenty on her her training and then a long blow-by-blow account of her "big match".

So, this is a curious failure of a book in that when Barrett leaves the main plot, it generally gets much better. The details of Dao's spartan kickboxing camp are quite interesting, as are the dynamics of the slums, the funny scenes in bars involving other colorful expatriates, and even the scuba instructor parts. In other words, all the local flavor stuff is nicely done and rings with authenticity, while the murder plot seems kind of paint-by-numbers. The hero seems rather too easily surprised in the climax, although the manner of his deliverance was quite clever. In sum, don't read this for thrills and a good murder mystery, read it because you want a sense of life as an expatriate boozer in Bangkok.

Skytrain to Murder, by Dean Barrett, is a decent noir-like thriller taking place in Bangkok, Thailand. It doesn't really involve a skytrain, but it does involve a murder, so that's one for two, anyway. Barrett is known for writing Asian thrillers and Skytrain to Murder is another good example of this. Unfortunately, Barrett spends too much time giving us the flavour of the city rather than giving us an interesting tale. Atmosphere is like a spice: if you use too much of it, you drown the taste. Add to that a subplot that doesn't really seem to go anywhere and you've got a rather short, yet still padded mystery.

Scott Stirling is an ex-CIA agent from the Bangkok bureau, now living there. Short of money, he's moved into an apartment over a local bar. He teaches diving and does some detective work on the side. A beautiful blonde asks him to her apartment, supposedly to request his help, along with a good screw. When he gets there, she has decided she doesn't need his help anymore, but the screw could still go ahead if he wants. He respectfully declines, but unfortunately, she later ends up dead. Investigating the murder leads him through the seedy underside of Bangkok life, reaching all the way to the top of the business world. He's also asked to rescue a little girl who's supposed to be used as collateral in a loan-shark deal. In this quest, he's aided by his martial-arts trained girlfriend (Dao) and her family. It's too bad that she's also a suspect in the murder.

The more I think about this book, the more problems I come up with, though I do have to say that I ultimately enjoyed the book. Barrett throws in a lot of sub-plots, some of them leading to other avenues of investigation and some apparently red herrings (or, for this novel, red pufferfish). It's unusual to have whole subplots be red herrings, though, and I found that it detracted from the book. Especially bad is the rescuing of the girl. After finishing the book, I can see no reason why this was in there, other than giving us a view of his girlfriend's world. This could be fine, but we get to the spice analogy above. It overwhelms everything else. Barrett makes it seem like a big deal, but when he's finished, the only thing it really did was show how tough Dao's brother is. What's the point? He also spends a lot of time on Dao's muay-Thai martial arts match, going into heavy detail about it, punch by punch. If Dao were a major character, I could see the reason for this, but she really doesn't do much in this book. So why are we spending so much time with her?

It's also bad when the narrator draws attention to the many coincidences that permeate a book. Near the end, Stirling (the book is written in first person) comments on the unlikely string of events that led him to the predicament he was in, and how he got out of it. I think readers should probably come to that conclusion themselves, and they might be a lot more forgiving about it if they do. However, the two comments at end of the book (the one about the coincidences and then the one explaining why there's a skytrain in the title of the book) are so heavy-handed and obvious that they almost don't feel like they were written by the same writer. The rest of the prose in the book is great, reminiscent of a Sam Spade in Asia novel. It almost felt like I was watching a black and white movie.

It's a shame that there are so many structural problems, because Barrett does give us some very interesting characters. Stirling is a great main character, with a cynical outlook on life yet remaining a pretty positive guy. I almost picture him with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, ala Bogart. Barrett also provides us with quirky bit characters and interesting suspects in the murder. In fact, even Chinaman (Stirling's adopted Chinese brother who adopted that nickname, but only for a select few people to use) is intriguing. We only get a couple of glimpses of him when he calls Stirling, but I definitely would love to read a book about him. The dialogue that Barrett provides for these characters also crackles. I loved some of the exchanges in the Boots and Saddle bar between the regulars there. It really added to their character.

I didn't let the problems in Skytrain to Murder get to me until after I had finished it and thought about it. While I was reading it, I really enjoyed the prose, the characters, and the dialogue. While the plot was a bit contrived and there were too many extraneous sub-plots (especially for a 260 page book!), I was hooked from page one until I got to the end. If you turn you allow yourself to go with the flow, and if you like your thrillers with a bit of exoticism to them, then give this one a try. I'll even add an extra star for the enjoyment factor.

David Roy

Read this for my sustainability in engineering class. The guy has some really good ideas but through the entire book hes patting himself on the back. It was extremely irritating to hear him rant about how great he was.

So in short, the book is very much worth reading but you're going to need to steel yourself for an author that needs his ego bubble to be broken.

The content contains many different ways to help improve the lives of workers and the environment. For someone trying to figure out a way to jumpstart a green business plan it would be a good place to start.

You don't have to be in the wine business to have noticed the rise of Fetzer Vineyards over the last decade or so. As a Californian and a long time devotee of the vintner's art (as well as a consumer!) I can tell you that Fetzer makes six and seven dollar bottles of wine with the best of them, and their more expensive labels are outstanding. And maybe this has always been the case, but before Paul Dolan was picked to head up the company in 1992 most of us didn't know much about Fetzer Vineyards.

In this candid memoir (and frankly, part manifesto) about corporate culture and responsibility, Dolan gives us some insight into how he was able to grow the company by more than fifteen percent a year as he shares with us his ideas about how businesses should be run in a time of dwindling and strained natural resources. Fundamentally he believes that "it's time for business, one of the most powerful forces on Earth, to become a positive force for change. We already know that we can create tremendous wealth and technological progress. The new possibility...is to preserve that progress and wealth for the generations to come." (p. 8) This is the mantra of "sustainability" which rewards employees as well as shareholders, customers as well as executives. For someone involved in viticulture this means sustaining the land as well, and for Dolan this means organic agriculture.

But Dolan also wants to make a difference in a larger sense. He wants to win awards for environmental excellence (and he has) by filtering the winery's wastewater and using renewable energy for the winery. He especially wants to show the world how Fetzer is both an economic success and a leader in environment-friendly practices and community and worker relationships. His "green" credentials might be judged from this statement: "The true cost of a gallon of gas is not the price you pay at the pump. The true cost" includes "what it costs the earth when oil is extracted and the cost when some of its byproducts return to the atmosphere..." (p. 17)

He also recognizes that "Nonrenewable resources are running out," and that "Nothing takes place in isolation." (p. 18) Would that more business leaders recognized these facts and acted appropriately.

This is also a book about how to become an effective manager. Dolan describes how he learned to listen, to his employees, to his son, and how he learned to put aside preconceived ideas and realized that sometimes the problem was himself. He tells a story about an annoying person (to him) named Tracey and the clay model they were trying to make (pp. 81-83) and how his change in attitude (inspired by his competitive nature!) allowed them to be successful in their project, and how that led him to stop regarding his son as "My Son The Jerk" (p. 84). This impressed me because it is not easy being that honest in public and in print. Later he even tells of a boldfaced lie he told and of an environmental mistake he made.

But Dolan can afford to reveal his shortcomings because when you read the chapter devoted to his third principle: "The soul of a business is found in the hearts of its people" it easy to see that he not only respects and appreciates the efforts of others, but that he knows that such respect and appreciation allows them to do their best work. He sees this as part of our "inner psychology engine...that gets us to put our heart and soul into something." (p. 101)

Another part of the book is actually about the wine making business, about how he grew the business by acquisition and branding, and how Fetzer committed, for example, to making a lot of Merlot and why (see especially pages 143-146). And there is an Afterword on how wine is made. The book ends with a Fetzer history time line and Resources for future study including books on sustainability.

This is an inspirational book by a man who is proud of his achievements and wants to share that pride with the world. And it is a story about growth, not just the growth of Fetzer, but the growth of Paul Dolan. I should add that this is a beautifully produced book, clearly written (wine writer Thom Elkjer had something to do with that) and meticulously edited.

True to Our Roots is a combination of one man's evolution as a leader and a case history of how to engage business in serving its stakeholders in more ways. This is one of the rare books I have read where a company has used environmentally friendly policies and practices to enhance its business performance on a sustained basis while influencing its industry to make the same kind of improvements. Any business leader can learn helpful lessons from this book.

Mr. Dolan came to Fetzer as a winemaker and helped the company make great strides in that role. One day he had an epiphany. Tasting grapes to see if they were ready for harvest, he noted that the flavors were much richer in one section than in the next. They were the same type of grapes, grown in the same microclimate. What could be the difference? Then, he remembered that the better tasting grapes had been tended with organic farming practices while the less good tasting grapes at received conventional chemical fertilizers and pesticides. His conclusion: His customers deserved the better tasting grapes. From that epiphany, he began a life journey that has led him to becoming a new type of leader and one who hopes to influence everyone in the world.

As a young man, Mr. Dolan was like many young people -- anxious to prove his worth. Working like a maniac, he wanted everyone to cater to his decisions and purpose. That kept people from becoming close to him, and led to the break-up of his first marriage. He later remarried one of the Fetzer daughters, and tried to cure his over-controlling nature. Eventually, he learned that he should listen to, encourage, and inspire other people to do what they thought was right . . . rather than expect blind compliance to his ideas. That shift made all the difference in his personal life, and to the business.

One of the surprising things about this story is that Mr. Dolan made most of these changes after Fetzer had been acquired by Brown-Forman, the alcoholic beverages giant. It's even rarer to find such industry leadership innovations coming from the heart in a small division of a large public company. But Brown-Forman has encouraged the changes. No doubt the support was enhanced by the Fetzer company's extraordinary success . . . growing earnings by 15 percent a year -- a remarkable feat in the wine business.

One of the interesting lessons of the change to environmentally friendly practices (called "sustainability" in the book) is that it drew on the preferences of employees to do the right thing, and provide higher quality.

Most of the book is devoted to explaining the six principles of the company's management style (with one chapter for each).

Your Business Is Part of a Much Larger System -- The focus here is to see the linkages between what you do and the effects on your stakeholders and those who are connected to them. For more on this kind of systems thinking, see The Fifth Discipline.

Your Company's Culture Is Determined by the Context You Create for It -- By setting appropriate goals that inspire people, you establish a way of thinking to creates the changes that you seek to make. For more on this thought, see Peter Drucker's The Effective Executive.

The Soul of Your Business Is Found in the Hearts of Its People -- Letting people know that more than profits count leads to innovation by everyone in taking responsibility for the rest of the company's relationships. For more examples, see any of Millard Fuller's books about Habitat for Humanity International.

True Power Is Living What You Know -- Living with integrity creates great personal and organizational power and effectiveness. See Tony Robbins for more examples of personal and organizational power.

You Can't Predict the Future, but You Can Create It -- Your vision of what's missing to create a better future liberates the process of making the changes that are needed. The example of establishing leadership in the Merlot category is a very good one here.

There Is a Way to Make an Idea's Time Come -- Set a good example to ease the process of change makes good ideas become real.

The book has many good qualities, but I have to note what seems like a potential deficiency in the case history. While all of us like to think that alcohol is harmless, it actually destroys many lives and harms the families and friends of those whose lives it destroys. Alcoholics drink fine table wine just as much as they drink anything else. Although there is one brief mention of standing for wine consumption in moderation, the Fetzer story doesn't include any ideas for making itself more sustainable by dealing with alcoholism. It's a startling omission. I also wondered how much of the company's efforts to be "green" and respectful to stakeholders and stakeholders' stakeholders are related to residual guilt over the harm created by alcoholic beverages. For example, if you grow consumption of wine in the United States by increasing overall alcohol consumption, have you just created more alcoholics? Is that sustainable progress?

I graded the book down one star for failing to adequately address this issue.

Be sustainable in every way you can!

What could be more fitting than a recommendation for Paul Dolan's book, "True to Our Roots: Fermenting a Business Revolution"? Through this book, I became aware of Fetzer's attempt to reengineer the entire American wine industry along sustainable principles.

A few quotes:

"Fetzer Vineyards increased earnings an average of 15 percent a year through the 1990s, while keeping its environmental and social responsibilities as top priorities. Our experience proves that operating on a more sustainable basis is not an economic liability. If anything, we see sustainability as an economic asset and a competitive advantage."

"A successful sustainable business... reaches out beyond the next four quarters, beyond the next five years, to consider what's ahead for the next generation. I is prosperous without being wasteful. It grows without mortgaging its future. It shares its discoveries without giving up its leadership. A successful business lives by its principles, and each new challenge is an opportunity to express those principles more fully, not abandon them conveniently."

Taking a stand is different from taking a position. Gandhi did not take a position that the British salt laws were bad, or unfair, or illegal. They may have been all that, but he was not interested in taking a position about them. He wanted to end them. So he took a stand. There is a huge difference."

(I wish I had space to reprint Dolan's vision of a sustainable society based on sustainable business. If you get the book, it's on pages 150-151.)

Paul shows how a big business can have a much bigger and healthier effect on society not just the company's bottom line. The integrity of Paul Dolan and Fetzer vineyards in their goal to be sustainable should inspire everyone.

This book further fuels my interest in the ever surprising hosta. Such an interesting variety and history.

'Hostas' by Rosemary Barrett is well written, thoroughly researched and a pleasure to read. The photographs are first-rate and will inspire anyone who is landscaping in the shade. The reference sections of the book seems very thorough - although I am no expert! This is a book that can truly be judged by its cover: well designed, well-produced and beautifully presented.

It was a pleasure to read this book and worthwhile. However I am a person looking for more of a book that doesn't put it all on the line. She states in the book on pg. 27 that she does not like to write about pest and diseases however she does imparts some useful information for the novice hosta grower, but not nearly enough for an enthusiast. This is a good little book for the half hearted gardener. This is certainly not a book to hold as any type of real reference material.

Informative book for the hosta lover. Advice on growing, companion plants and combination design suggestions for a stunning shade garden. Breath-taking photos. A book you'll enjoy looking through again and again.

Excelent book for the average gardener. This book concentrates on using Hosta's in the garden with other plants. Gives lots of suggestions in choosing color and texture to add interest and accent other plants as well as showing hosta's to their fullest potential. Also covers how hosta's grow, dividing, planting and hosta care disease and prevention. Wonderful color photo's.

This is a very touching story. There is a lot of valuable information about farm life that I think is fascinating. Some of the language is tough for a child. However, it is great for a child to learn his/her grammer.

I loved this book. I love all of James Herriot's books. He is my favorite author. To bad he is dead. He died in 1994. This book is about a little kitten who is found by a vet. Moses is put in the stove to warm him up. The farmer's wife puts him with the piglets. And he starts to eat with them. And he lives with them forever. Buy it. You'll love it.

In the beginning a man found a very ill kitten, so he went to a farm close by. The people there said, "We can help." They gave him some warm milk and meat scraps. Moses, the kitten, one day was hungry and nobody was around. So he went searching for food. Then he found a sow (or pig) and saw all her piglets. They were all eating so he decided to call the sow his mother, and he drank from her and got milk. As he grew up he had a very good life and he always remembered and kept company with his adopted mother, the sow.

From A Ray of Sun Shine on AOL

This is a beautiful, moving story for children, which will touch even the parent reading the book! My only complaint about that it uses archaic (or regional?) language that in many cases even I (the parent!) didn't understand. It didn't really keep us from enjoying the story; it was just frustrating for me to be flustered by words in a children's book! I would recommend it nonetheless; just be sure to read it to your kids rather than handing it to them to read themselves, as it may frustrate a young reader.

The text of this book is pure James Herriot, with absolutely no attempt to speak down to a young audience. Therefore, the use of the regional dialect may be a bit of a challenge to some young readers, but the exquisite illustrations should spur nine year olds & older to read it for themselves. It should be stressed that this is a true story as all of Herriot's writing is based on his experiences as a country veterinarian.

Do resist the temptation to skim through the book for the illustrations before reading it though. The illustrations are definitely a part of the story and one of the double page illustrations will definitely get a better reaction if not seen until one reads the preceding text.

If this "children's book" is left out on the coffee table, I predict that everyone in the family will at one time or another read it and enjoy it. I'm sure that any teenagers will wait until nobody sees them reading it, and that they won't admit enjoying it, but chances are they will.

Also, this book may well inspire those 12 and older to read James Herriot's adult books.