Bryan Books

Maryland is a diverse state, locally referred to as Little America, for having every geographical terrain in the United States outside Deserts. Now in a newly updated second edition "Hiking, Cycling, & Canoeing in Maryland: A Family Guide" by Bryan MacKay is a thoroughly 'user friendly' guide to taking advantage of this vast and beautiful array of nature available in a small area. Covering over twenty hikes, sixteen cycling paths, and nearly twenty rivers worth considering to canoe, "Hiking, Cycling, & Canoeing in Maryland" is a must for any outdoors lover who is either living in or planning to visit the state.

At last a perfect guide for hiking and biking in Maryland! I don't have children but found this book to be a great resource for the short hikes and bike trips I enjoy with my husband. We went to the Cranesville swamp and had a difficult time finding information. This guide had the trails, directions, and plenty of interesting info on the natural history and ecology of the sites. I have used it for two of the other sites and have dogged-eared several more. I find it to be the perfect companion.

From the standpoint of a cyclist who doesn't live near Baltimore, this book is no help at all. It offers a description of 16 bike rides, most of them near Baltimore or Anne Arundel county, and a few rides in Pennsylvania and Virginia. This may be helpful for anyone near the city, but I feel calling it a guide for Maryland is misleading.....However, their descriptions do go into great detail about directions, what kind of traffic you can expect, and the wildlife you may encounter. There are about 10 pages for each trail described.

If you're looking for good biking near the city then I highly recommend this book.....

I first purchased this book a few years ago and have used it so often that I may have to invest in a new copy. As a lifelong outdoor enthusiast and Marylander, I was surprised at how many little known gems Mr. MacKay packed into this one book. The trip descriptions are accurate and complete; directions are easy to understand; and the natural history info is authoritative, sharply observed, and truly fascinating. It's the best Maryland guidebook of its kind. Thank you Mr. MacKay. I've recommended it to so many new paddlers, cyclists, hikers, and out-of-towners that I should probably get a commission...

Great advice for the serious writer, but too complicated for any one who is struggling and in need of rapid improvement. I really wanted to keep it for myself, but needed more of a resource to teach my 16 year old than an in depth study for my own writing. Would be very appropriate for a course of study rather than a reference book.

This book provides excellent advice for the person unfamiliar with the UK education system, examination by essay. It is very thorough and includes explanations related to note taking, organizing and revision before the exam as well as essay preparation. I wish I had it before my first series of exams in Great Britian. It would probably be useful also for those in other areas, where this kind of exam is required, certainly humanities majors. Covers the exam essay as a formal argument to answer a question as well as presenting advice on targeting the specific question.

Having looked at many many titles that purport to help students write better essays this is definitely the best.
The author has clearly taught and thought about this topic for some time and the needs of the student come first.
His explanations and examples are well outlined, and he gives lots of good reasons why a student should take the advice offered.
This is not a book about where to put a comma - this is about how to think, how to develop the skills needed to write well.
Although aimed at higher education students this book could easily be used by anyone wanting to write well.

A really excellent book and the best I've ever read on the subject. Takes you step by step through structuring an essay with helpful guidelines and useful exercises throughout. Really invaluable in helping you to develop the necessary skills for good essay writing. First rate. Look no further than this gem of a book.

Book is in great condition. I thought it would be shipped to my house a little sooner though.

This A&P book explains everything easily- the photos and graphics help to visualzie how things work in the body. A must have in any student library!

I purchased this textbook for an intro anatomy and physiology class, I use the book mainly as a reference guide. I really appreciated the fact that the book came as described, there wasn't any unexpected surprises when I received the book;the seller was very honest and promt with delivery. Im overall satisfied with the purchase/transaction.

Kniketta

i am very happy with my purchase i needed this book for uni nd it came in perfect new condition and was cheaper than buying it at uni
thanks sue

I received the textbook it was in good shape. However, my CD-ROM was not in the sleeve inside the book. Where is the CD? Here at the school the CD comes with the textbook? I have tried to get information on my CD nevertheless; I can't get an answer!!!

John Cain has seen and experienced way too much in his many years as a government agent. Guilt over the things he's done weigh him down making him hate his job and leaving him feeling completely alone. He'd love to quit his job and live a regular life but work is really all that he knows.



Bobby Ray is a punk arms dealer, born and raised in the heartland of KKK country. His kid brother Billy is his bane. The boy obviously isn't ready for the big time but he gets himself into it anyway. Like always, Bobby Ray is there trying to take care of his brother.



Unfortunately, this time even Bobby Ray can't help his brother. The two find their way into a trap. Billy is killed. Bobby Ray vows to make his brother's killer pay.



Killer Cain is the real deal. The characters seemed to have jumped right off the streets and onto the pages of the book. In particular, I thought that the dialogue suited the situations perfectly without any political correctness or watered down ideals to ruin the effect. I also have to say that I didn't expect the book to end the way it did but truthfully why would Killer Cain follow any sort of ordinary cliché of an ending. Besides it completes the reader's experience perfectly.

This is a great story with plenty of suspense. It's a fast read, so if you have just a little bit of time, you'll be through it in no time.

Bryan Foreman's debut novel, Killer Cain, is a fast-paced thriller that chronicles the deadly adventures of ATF agent John Cain. Cain, a seasoned agent, carries the emotional scars resulting from the dark and disturbing life as an ATF officer. He is a man riddled with the guilt and haunting memories of love and loss. Living a life focused entirely on his job, Cain becomes obsessed with a gun-dealing psychotic by the name of Bobby Ray Hooker.

Hooker, a racist and religious fanatic, escapes from prison and becomes dangerously fixated on Cain, the man he blames for his own loss. Cain and Hooker embark on a mad journey of payback where everything and everyone Cain cherishes becomes threatened. Cain and Hooker become embroiled in a twisted and sinister chase that takes both men from the seedy and crime ridden streets of LA, to the dark and deadly forests of Alabama, and finally to Cain's brother and family in Oklahoma City.

Killer Cain is a captivating thriller filled with many surprising deadly twists and turns. The author takes readers into the vividly described violent world of guns and racist hate mongering fanatics. Although the dialogue may seem harsh to some, it gives a sense of realism to the twisted and deadly hate filled racists such as the KKK.

Within the violence and bloodshed, important themes of love, loss, and family become entwined with self-pity, guilt, and vengeance. Cain's brother and family reveal Cain's longing and painful guilt for the peaceful life that he gave up for a life of capturing criminals, and delving into the darkness they represent. My only question of a realistic approach to one issue is Cain's brother and how quick he forgives indiscretions.

At the heart of Killer Cain, is a story of revenge and redemption. From start to finish, the thriller is a definite page-turner. I highly recommend the book to readers who enjoy engaging and action packed stories with unexpected twists and turns.

Tracy Roberts, Write Field Services

I grew up reading Robert Parker and Dan Simmons, and as a result I set two criteria for mystery novels: they should keep the audience's attention the whole way through and be written in a way that brings you back enough to wear the book's spine thin. "Killer Cain," the debut novel by Bryan Foreman, passes the former but falls short on the latter.

The book is at its core a revenge tale. John "Killer" Cain, a veteran ATF agent haunted by a tragic early career that includes the disaster at Waco, Texas, is pitted against Bobby Ray Hooker, a racist gun dealer who blames Cain for his brother's death. Cain pursues Hooker from the back alleys of Los Angeles to the backwoods of Alabama, each just waiting for the chance to deliver a lead lobotomy.

It's a story that would probably make a solid action film, but as a book it's undistinguished - at several points I felt like I was just reading a film novelization and drifting from scene to scene. Though the dialogue is natural the novel's overall language is unimaginative, and similes like "fell like a ton of bricks" and "kid in a candy store" only mar the story with each use.

Cain is nowhere on the level of Philip Marlowe, with little to recommend him even as an anti-hero seeking redemption. He picks up hookers, wallows in self-pity and eventually gives up the system in favor of his own. Other characters in the book are stereotypes ranging from skinhead to housewife, and Foreman's effort to share their viewpoints only detracts from the novel's flow.

"Killer Cain's" back jacket claims the novel is written in the "hard-boiled" style of Mickey Spillane and Raymond Chandler, but it has little of these authors' terse action or literary sense. It's simply an action story that goes from start to finish, and while it makes it through the whole journey it's forgotten after the last page.

This biographer wrote about a man whom 99% of readers have never read his books. And he does it well. Johnson wanted to push into the future and not repeat the linear exposition of novels that remain popular today. Johnson was a literary artist, not a bestselling author. Coe recognizes this and should be acclaimed for the honest and careful style he uses as a biographer to explain Johnson and his work. Johnson influences many writers today who seek the leading edge.

Coe has taken a subject known for his experimentation in fiction and produced a delightfully experimental biography.

Johnson was a difficult character and, at times, an unlikeable person. Overly arrogant concerning his talents and constantly annoyed at his lack of sales the reader of this study will find it hard to warm to him.

Nonetheless, he did genuinely try to innovate with his fiction and I am a big fan of his experimental writing. As with many experiments, they don't all work, but I respect him for trying and find his failures more interesting than a lot of writers' successes.

Coe has constructed this book in four parts.

The first is broadly a critical analysis of his work, focussing on his novels in chronological order. This is an insightful and measured look at the books and adds a great deal for both the fan and reader new to Johnson's work. This is a section which will be re-read by many each time they tackle one of his books.

The second, and major bulk of the biography, is a life told in 160 fragments. Here Coe tells the story of BSJ's life through a collection of writings - diaries, letters, notes, published and unpublished work. It is a wonderful way to let the reader into BSJ's state of mind and the finest moments are the many times that BSJ rants at an editor or agent for not selling enough of his books.

The third is a neat collection of quotes from people interviewed for the book. Memories and views on BSJ from friends and colleagues.

The final part is a fascinating piece of detective work from Coe, piecing together BSJ's last days.

I cannot remember having read a more imaginative, honest or thought-provoking biography. This is a masterpiece and deserves a wide audience.

The Washington Post reviewer betrays his own mindset when he allows that Johnson's ALBERT ANGELO to be "an impressive novel, though redolent of 60s experimentalism," in which the word "though" stands out like a red flag. What does he mean, "though"? Read the sentence without "though" and it would represent my point of view. Oh well to each his own. But I say, what's wrong with 60s experimentalism? You'd think it was a taint of some kind.

The truth is that Bryan Johnson, ill read and ill served by his publishers (though he couldn't have been easy to handle) is a far more interesting author than Jonathan Coe, no matter how many awards the latter has received. The whole project had a quixotic tilt for Coe, who seems to have regarded himself very reflexively, for of course he is constantly having to defend his own bourgeois conception of the novel against the avant-garde of Johnson and, say Beckett, and constantly he is shading his generally well thought out exegeses on Johnson's books (a few of which I have not read) by citing their inhuman, formalist coldness, a quality he abhors, a quality that he believes contributes to the "deadness" of experimental writing.

So it's a funny book in many ways, and yet I am grateful to Coe for writing it, for it establishes a context, no matter how skewed, by which he might form a coherent view of BS Johnson's life and times. And surely we owe him a huge debt of gratitude if only for spending eight years interviewing many souls (and many who have since passed on) who knew Johnson and who otherwise would have let their knowledge go quietly into the grave of experimentalism in England. It is a rich turf, nearly unknown, terra incognita and nearly untouched by biographers.

All in all, a splendid book, a book you can lose yourself in, and perfect for long winter nights

You may love BS Johnson, you may never have heard of him, but if you're interested in writing - how to write, why to write, what does it all mean? - this book is wonderful: interesting, enjoyable, thought-provoking, but most of all, somehow heartwarming, even though it is about a writer who killed himself.

In a way, this is the biography of BS Johnson that BSJ himself would have wanted (and then some). I'm not talking about the content particularly, although Johnson's life has been rigorously researched and then described in fascinating detail, but the tone and form of the biography. It holds a mirror up to what Johnson was trying to do with his own (mostly autobiographical) novels and reflects as much as it can back at you. Johnson had two strongly (passionately, belligerently) held beliefs about the novel. First was the idea that 'telling stories was telling lies' and he tried to make his writing as honest as possible (or did he? is there in fact as much artifice in the 'truth' he writes about as in any work of fiction?), writing mostly about himself and his experiences. He didn't believe in 'fiction' but he did believe in the 'novel' and his second strong belief was that James Joyce's Ulysess changed the novel so significantly that to act as if it had never happened was tantamount to treason, instead the novel must continue to evolve. An experimental writer (although Johnson himself disputed this term, claiming his experiments were just that and never submitted to publishers), his most common experiment was with form - using whatever form he felt best suited his material.

And that is exactly what Jonathan Coe has done. He grapples with the act of writing biography, how to get at 'the truth', how to write honestly about someone you never knew, and he freely admits when he's guessing or extrapolating. He talks personally about his experience of Johnson, as a teenager, a student, a biographer, a fan, but also as a successful novelist, standing in direct opposition to Johnson, not just because Coe is admired by the literary establishment but because he creates fantastic stories/'lies'(although is it just coincidence that Coe's novel The Rotters Club, written at the same time as this biography, is more strongly rooted in his own past than any before?). And then, having collected all his biographical evidence, Coe creates a narrative out of it by using whatever form works best to 'tell the story' - usually directly quoting from a friend, an irate letter of Johnson's, one of his poems, screenplays or novels. This is done most evocatively towards the end of the biography in one section that consists solely of recollections from friends and Johnson's widow.

BS Johnson himself, of course, is the only person who could ever reveal the real truth behind the truth, what really went on 'inside his skull', but Coe manages to reveal the heart of the man. While Johnson could dismiss Coe's tentative Coda suggesting what might have led up to his suicide, BSJ and the rest of us can only admire this honest, passionate, playful portrayal of a troubled, confused man, a single-minded writer, and writing itself.

This was a college text book I used a couple years ago. It was a great resource to learn about various marketing research methodology.

Suffice it to say, it was an assigned text in an upper division college course. Suffice it to say also: I started a market research firm after graduating. The content of the book and lessons set a great foundation for my work.
There are two areas I would like to see improved upon in future versions however:
1) Have closer editing and copy proofing. There were far too may grammatical errors.
2) At times the author(s) used terms or names/labels that weren't already defined or described, so it left me having to stop reading and go back for a precise definition so that I could understand the intent being covered at the point in the text.
Other than that, well worth the read and investment. I still have it on my shelf and refer back to it when needed.

I found the authors put in a lot of extra wording where it really wasn't needed. Really great examples throughout the text though, and a must have for anyone doing marketing research.

I used this book along with a Marketing Research class at Drake University. The text clearly explained the principles of marketing research and provided real-life examples. I highly recommend this book to anyone involved with Marketing.

Nickels and Dimes is a combination love story/suspense story that therefore has something of interest for readers who enjoy different kinds of novels. The reader is left wondering how the protagonist will resolve the romantic dilemma and the solution will surprise readers as well as generate a range of emotions. Be prepared to be astonished by the resolution!

This book takes place in metropolitan Washington DC, with side trips to surrounding areas. It is mostly an adventure story with a lot of mystery, sensual romance, humor and real life thrown in. It is fast paced and intriguing; hard to put down. Altogether, a very satisfying read.

There were so many things that I enjoyed about this book - a very compelling love story started by a mutual magnetic attraction, with a side story of intrigue that takes place in the Washington, DC area. The writer is adept at painting dramatic word pictures so that you not only enjoy the facts of the story, but you also can "feel" the electric emotions of the characters. This book had romance, sex, drama, humor, intrigue - a little of everything that makes it a great read for men and women alike.

Since I live and work in the Metropolitan D.C. area, this book really captured my attention. With its blend of suspense, intrigue, romance and passion, it met all levels of my expectations. Anyone who likes these qualities in a story will definitely like this book.

The tips are very helpful and the pictures are very colorful... I love the paper material.. the content is nice.

Well I have a chow chow there so cute if you have a dog tell me about it would you yes or no

This book has some really good "getting started" pointers for raising a puppy. I suggest also purchasing a more comprehensive guide (and I recommend "Making Friends: Training Your Dog Positively" by Linda Colflesh).

I am a Sheltie breeder and am always looking for stuff to put into my puppy packs. This book is perfect! It has a great price (very important since I usually buy 10-15 books at a time) and it's full of color pictures and helpful information for the new owner of that fluffy puppy! I am back here again to buy another batch of these books!

Manly is an excellent writer who has written several excellent texts and is an editor of a biostatistics journal. This is a revision of a very popular text on randomization or permutation methods. Because of the immense popularity of bootstrap methods (a similar resampling procedure), he elected to add some coverage of the bootstrap. All topics are covered in a clear and scholarly style and examples from biology are given. The interested reader might also look at Good (2000), Permutation Methods, 2nd Edition, published by Springer-Verlag and Edgington, Randomization Tests published by Marcel Dekker for other accounts on permutation tests. There are now several good books dedicated to bootstrap methods including Davison and Hinkley (1997), Cambridge University Press, Efron and Tibshirani (1993), CRC-Chapman and Hall and Chernick (1999), John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Statistical analysis based on resampling methods are clearly the way the bulk of statistics should be done, and the trend is towards this. Manly gives an excellent and clear treatment introducing these methods in various settings in population biology. This book is clearly a must for any biologist that has to deal with data, and it should be read by all such biologist. I shamelessly copy from this book when I present resampling methods to my graduate biostatistics class.

Manly is an excellent writer who has written several excellent texts and is an editor of a biostatistics journal. This is a revision of a very popular text on randomization or permutation methods. Because of the immense popularity of bootstrap methods (a similar resampling procedure), he elected to add some coverage of the bootstrap. All topics are covered in a clear and scholarly style and examples from biology are given. The interested reader might also look at Good (2000), Permutation Methods, 2nd Edition, published by Springer-Verlag and Edgington, Randomization Tests published by Marcel Dekker for other accounts on permutation tests. There are now several good books dedicated to bootstrap methods including Davison and Hinkley (1997), Cambridge University Press, Efron and Tibshirani (1993), CRC-Chapman and Hall and Chernick (1999), John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Chernick (2007) is an update of my bootstrap book and Manly Has added additional material in the third edition of the book that just came out.

I found this book rather interesting, with a nice mix of methods and applications. I intended to use some of the examples in a course that I am teaching. There are many examples given which use data sets to illustrate important concepts. However, I was unable to access several of these data sets. I contacted the author and mentioned that I was particularly interested in accessing two of the data sets that were referenced in the book --- his reply was that data sets for the book were available at a specific URL. Indeed there were several data sets at this location; but, not the data sets that I had mentioned in my inquiry.

I did a lot of searching on my own for these data sets. One of these supposedly came from Sweden; but, after extensive searching through several Swedish databases I found nothing on this particular data set. I contacted the author again and requested at least a reference or link to these data sets --- no reply to my request has been received (after 11 days).

I feel strongly that all data sets referenced in a book of this type should be available to the readers. If not, then they should not be used in examples.

This is a very straightforward and unassuming study of the Salem Witch Trials, an event that encompassed a rather small group of people over a short time period, but continues to capture our imagination. It's the mother of all witch-hunts and amply illustrates how seemingly rational people can be swept up by mass hysteria. Le Beau's most interesting revelations here involve how dozens of people were tried and executed based on the circumstantial testimony of just a few teenage girls. These girls were proven to be influenced by the hysteria around them, coached by the authorities, and even afflicted with psychosis. Le Beau finds that the Salem saga was at its core an outbreak of social control arising from some minor political strife in the town, the rapidly changing social order, the desire to punish those women (and a few men) who spoke their minds and refused to fit into rigid Puritan social strictures, and closed-minded religious mania. Le Beau acts as an impartial investigative journalist here and mostly refrains from offering his own opinions and conclusions, instead sticking to analyses of theories offered by other historians. Le Beau's avoidance of taking a stand does make this book rather dry and workmanlike, but we are rewarded with an impartial study that we can use to reach our own conclusions. Some extra food for thought is the connections Le Beau finds between the Salem saga and other mass persecutions that could be called symbolic witch-hunts - like communist purges, anti-communist red scares, child abuse allegations, satanic cult conspiracy theories, and other types of social hysteria that will continue to torment the innocent in the future.

I had to write a research paper on the Salem Witch Trials. My teacher recommended this book. I thought it was wonderful! This was the only book I needed for my research paper and I got an A+! My relative's were some of those killed and put in jail during the Salem Witch Trials! The only problem I have is that the author doesn't write books for all of my research papers! Thank You!

Although very detailed, packed with information, I would not go as far as calling this book a narrative as the Amazon Review did. LeBeau very likely choses his words and it all looks good -a tight summary of a very interesting topic, good language, etc. I started reading with a vengeance but shortly after the first 50 pages I got extremely bored by the book, because in combination with the language and the huge amount of compressed data, I simply was not able to both stay interested in the topic and remember all the incidents. I think if somebody would count the names that appear on those 300 pages, you'd probably get a few thousands. Of course you get a date to every person that appears in the book and of course you get a lot of cross-references to persons the author already mentioned. In my opinion this is not a very good book because you can't use it just for quick reference like a good encyclopedia (because that's exactly what it is with these tons of information)nor can you just dip into it for a good read. The only thing that saved at least three stars for the book is the story itself. And it was written by one of the most powerful author's of all time.
History itself. The Salem Witch Trials is a story of betrayal, superstition, murder, conspiration, corrupt small town politics ... something one can still consider as a methaphor for modern life, because there still are these things after all.

The author did an excellent job of documenting his findings as to the root causes behind the Salem Witch Hunt of 1692; mainly, spite of the Putnams. Three of my maternal ancestors, Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, Susannah (North) Martin and Mary (Perkins) Bradbury were among those falsely accused and the first two were executed. Mary Bradbury escaped.

The author did my ancestors (indeed all of the victims of this wholesale tragedy) justice: They refused to sell the truth to serve the hour. May they rest in peace.