Buck Books

"The Buck Stops Here" is a compact collection of sayings of Harry Truman. It is organized topically. I read it in search of quotes for a class on Harry Truman for which I was preparing. For this purpose I would rate it as successful. I ended up noting 16 entries. This book does provide the reader with an insight into Truman's thoughts and words. This book provides few memorable quotations to elevate your speech. I do not fault the book. Truman was common, not very quotable. It is often said that Republicans like to quote Democrats. After reading this book one will understand why Truman is rarely quoted. He was truly a common man in word and action. This is not one of the better quotation books which I have found.

We constantly hear from conservatives, especially Rush Limbaugh, how liberals are "touchy", and overly "sensitive" to critisism. Limbaugh makes it a habit to point out that liberals can't handle opposing view points. Well, here we have Mr. J.P. Mauro, a conservative who apparently was so rattled and upset over a COMEDIAN'S book on the conservative icon Limbaugh, that he exposes the conservative side of "touchiness" by writing this weak, poorly thought out knockoff of Franken's humorous and interesting book. Obviously, conservatives consider any sort of investigation or analysis of Limbaugh to be "off limits" (how American!), and Mauro displays his lack of wit and integrity throughout this book. It's a perfect example of the conservative mindset of attack and discredit the messanger, even if the messanger has a valid point. So overall, this book actually helps the left by exposing the "overly sensitive" and desperately touchy attitude of the right.

...I might just purchase it!

(Before Obama deems it and other Conservative books "hate writing" and bans them...)

A surprisingly ineffective and unfunny attack on Franken. It's pretty clear that the author is unclear on the concept, sure, some of Al Franken's skits weren't that funny, but that isn't the way to attack a comedian, especially one with such a sharp satirical bent. The truth is, Mauro is just a humorless right wing sorehead, and that's the way he comes off. The cover is a good indicator of what is to come, Franken's cover is funny as it is a play on Limbaugh's, with goofy old Al aping Rush attempting to appear thoughtful, Mauro just takes Al's cover and tries to make him look buck toothed. Funny? No. Original? No. Pointless? Yep. The best comment ion the book, and the most revealing, is where Mauro admits republics don't care if their leaders are politically corrupt (i.e. taking brides) as long as they don't have sex scandals. That about says it all. The book is self parodying. A real dog.

Mercifully I've never come across this bit of printed pulp in any store, but the cover says all you need to know. If you're going to attack someone as bucktoothed, at least the target ought to be bucktoothed. I know my expectations are high but come on now. If the whole premise of your title isn't even accurate, what's left to stand on? For the right it's usually name calling and that's there too.

I loved the cartoons and illustrations in this book. I especially liked the piece where he studies how Saturday Night Live's entertainment value was conversely effected by the involvement of Franken in the show. The guy is the kiss of death to any form of entertainment he touches. Why the only way HE could get his own radio show is if someone bought him a radio station...

Oh yeah. I forgot about Air America.

Another Rina and Peter Decker mystery, this one investigates a missing baby and a maternity nurse who has disappeared as well. As this happens on the same maternity ward that Rina has given birth to the couple's first baby together, their engagement in the crime becomes deeply personal.

This book was a 390 page let down. Kellerman has a way to drag out a plot of nothing. I continued to read this book hoping to find something exciting in it only to get to the end and read a rather "blah" ending. The old mother-daughter, 1/2 sister plot. Listen to the other reviewers and read something with a little more pizazz.

Rina and Peter Decker are back and continue to resemble the Lockhorns in the amount of squabbles they have. This time, Rina gives birth to their daughter, but in doing so, complications force a hysterectomy on her. Decker gets involved in the kidnapping of an newborn infant who is sharing the nursery with his new daughter. Cindy Decker is along with them this time, and decides to play detective, against her father's stern and chauvinistic wishes. Marge Dunn continues her slide into more adamant cynicism, and that's just for starters.
While this one is not one of Kellerman's best, it maintains some interest due to the complexity of the mystery and the discovery of key facts. The character of Tandy stretches the imagination a bit, and her fate at the end, along with nurse Marie Bellson is not one of comfort or resolution.
Still, I find myself initrigued with the series and even with their faults, Rina and Pete are a strong couple.

Peter and Rina Decker are thrilled at the birth of their daughter, despite the fact that Rina suffers complications and goes through a dangerous period after the birth. Their joy turns to concern when a little baby who is born at the same time, disappears from the nursery. Peter takes this case personally because he knows that it could have been his little daughter Hannah who was kidnapped. One of the nurses is a chief suspect and when a dead body is discovered in a burned car, police feel that it might be the nurse. Homey, domestic scenes of the Deckers and their new baby are interspersed with the cold reality of Peter's pursuit of a kidnapper and murderer. He and his partner discover bits of truth along the way, but the final secrets are hidden up to the very end.

the dialogue was very wooden -- almost comic book. The plot involves a newborn who is kidnapped out of the nursery at the same time that a trusted nurse disappears. Is the nurse the kidnapper or a victim of the kidnapper? Detective Decker gets involved because his newborn daughter is in the same nursery, and his teenage daughter has been spending time in the nursery. This is basically a "procedural" showing how Decker and others go about solving the crime/crimes. A lot of colorful characters may be involved, particularly some involved in bodybuilding and the staff at a home for the elderly.

I think the author would do well to learn more about Christianity if she is going to talk about it in her books. I thought her understanding was poor (for example, she talks about the parable of the prodigal son but doesn't seem to understand what the point of this parable was). I also think she doesn't create a credible portrait of Christians. For example, she mentions that Decker's Baptist parents were upset that he had converted to Judaism and abandoned the Savior -- well, that's not the way Baptists talk -- they would probably not refer to Jesus as the Savior, but rather would simply call him "Jesus" or "our Lord." And they would probably use the word "saved" or "salvation" in expressing their concerns, but not the word "savior" -- it just didn't ring true. Kellerman also goes to great lengths to show Judaism in a positive light but makes Christians look like a bunch of half-wits.

Stick to writing mysteries, Ms. Kellerman, and leave Christianity out of your books. I would have liked to learn more about Orthodox Judaism but too little time was spent on this (in my opinion).

Joe had such a dreary life with Minnie and Little Joe that he builds his whole pleasure in reinactments of Civil War events. Each June 3, (Jefferson Davis' birthday), the whole gang gathers on Fort Dickerson, that one with a huge underground bunker to play soldier. They dress in costumes portraying his part in this particular War in 1892. His hero, the general Robert E. Lee called his best and bravest, Nathan Bedford Forrest, is plastered on both sides of his pickup truck with portraits of young Forrest in different stances depicting himself as the bravest, most ferocious man at the re-enactment of a famous scene in Joe's locality.

Abrahams' library varies, with many subjects and plots within sub-plots to show the brilliance he has in remembering what hahppened those four long years. So much like his deteriorating marriage with Minnie Hill. She was a cruel and ferocious (like a tiger) fighter and inimable so much like one of my relatives whose name was Minnie Hill. What a coincidence.

This is certainly not a typical Abrahams suspense novel. I feel it is more of a mainsteam novel with strong satirical and historical overtones. It addresses rifts in our country that have never healed, and how gaming gets out of hand. I found the novel highly charged and highly symbolic, and quite underrated. If you're looking for suspense, read another of Abraham's novels; if you're looking for a a thoughtful and subtle read which works through suggestion, this just might be your cup of campfire coffee.

On the front of the book it said "A Novel of Suspense". I kept reading and reading waiting for the suspense to happen, even in the last 50 pages I still held out hope, but NOOO... This book reminded me of a bad made-for-TV movie. The epilogue-like ending (don't read further if you don't want it spoiled), was ludicrously unbelievable as the main character shoots the antagonist between the eyes then gets a $250 dollar fine for disturbing the peace. What a waste of time. This was my first Abrahams novel, read because Stephen King had recommend four of his books in "On Writing" (not this one). I'll give him another try - hope he has something better to offer than this wretched scribbling that would never have gotten published by a no-name author. Simply awful!

In the praise for this book (on the back cover) it makes this book sound like a "crime story". To me it was more fantasy...sort of trying to see if history will repeat itself.

The first part of the book is somewhat gripping...a man down on his luck, having his life unravel before your eyes. Yes, Roy Hill's life slipped out of control, but to then have him reborn as a Confederate War Hero was a bit of a stretch.
I enjoyed reading the parts of the book dealing with Civil War Reenactments. Up until the end of the book, some of it was believable. The last few chapters were pretty bad. I think most people are annoyed at this book for unravelling in the same way the main character did.
I expected more. I hate books that wrap everything up neatly on the last page...that just isn't real life.

Warning: Spoilers Galore

As a Civil War re-enactor, I can honestly tell you that Abrahams does an abhorrent job of showing who re-enactors are and what goes on at re-enactments. It leads me to wonder whether or not he has actually attended or participated in a Civil War re-enactment.

The main character is a complete moron, despite the seeming attempts by the author to make him appear as very "deep". Characters are poorly developed and the whole plot line is, well, retarded.

Abrahams paints the picture that all re-enactors are crazy die-hards that often take things too far. The development of the hardcore re-enactors as being violent at events and gatherings is waaaay off. The whole ending scene where the Northern re-enactors kidnap Roy's son and then ends with a mini gun battle and thriller on Lookout Mountain was awful. The thought of the ending scene happening in real life is an insane thought.

I'm tempted to burn my copy of it.

Whatever you do, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!! This really makes me think if this book was sent to an editor at all, it was that bad. So again, I tell you, whatever you do, DO NOT BUT THIS BOOK! If you must read it, check it out at your local library, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS!

I'm an EE undergrad student and I have to struggle to use this book on a weekly basis. This book lacks sufficient examples, doesn't clearly derive the equations it uses, and worst of all uses TERRIBLE wording in explaining concepts, typically making them more complicated than they already are.

DO NOT PURCHASE THIS BOOK! "Oh well I have to, for my class." No, you don't. Get the homework problems from a friend or Google Books. Then do yourself a favor and buy the book by Ida, that book is fantastic. It explains things clearly, telling you why certain methods are preferred, and it has examples that cover different parts of each concept.

Worst book ever.

There are lot of books on undergraduate electromagnetics. This would be in my list.The books I have and recommend are
1) D.K Cheng
2) Hayt and Buck
3) Ulaby
4) Edminister - Schaum's outline electromagnetics.
5) Spiegel - Schaum's outline vector calculus.
6) You should use Finney and George - calculus along with these books.

The book you should avoid is one by Kraus!!.
If you want to master undergraduate electromagnetics, you should have the 6 books!. There are people who complain about (1), (2) and (3). This is because their mathematical background is not strong. So I recommend (4), (5) and (6) to be used along with (1), (2) and (3).
You simply cannot write books better than (1),(2) and (3).
Those who complain ahout this book, should increase their mathematical background.

I ordered this book believing like many that I am getting a brand new book, shrink-wrapped and all. I WAS WRONG! I opened the box and there was no shrink wrap, the front and back covers had wear, scratches, and nicks. If I pay full price for a new book, I want a NEW book. (Opinion may change if the second, free order is in better condition). Also spent over 30 minutes trying to contact amazon on the phone before I could get someone that spoke any form of english I understood or someone that didnt ask me to repeat myself 5 times, took 3 tries. STOP THE OUTSOURCING!!!

Received the book in the promised time. Will buy from this seller again.

well just take my word . if u plan is to hate E&M field and T lines ,this book will do the job . i suffer for 2 semester with this book , not just me but at least a dozen of students with me and i m glade its over and done with .
i don t want to scare u but field theory and transmission lines are not that easy and with such a text book the semester will be very long for u

Going Buck Wild is a novel about a 30-year old woman named Claudia Barrett, she is a successful women with a great job. She has been engaged for 5 years and yet there is no set date for a wedding. They both seem fed up with each other yet Claudia seems hesitant to call it off. But to her dismay her fiance breaks it off before she can get around to it. While she is upset, she is also excited about a new man that comes into her life. He is Cody, a man that works in the same building as her. He actually seems like a stalker more than a man that is in lust. Claudia accepts to go out with, but what she doesn't know is that he has a very interesting past to him. The end has a very interesting twist
This novel really disappointed me, although it was some what interesting it wasn't what I expected. The tittle led me to believe that there was going to be more interesting action. Yet the "wildest" thing that happened was a make over. The relationship between Claudia and Cody was a bit strange and paranormal. Although most of the book was monotonous there was a end full of twists. I would only recommend this book if you are looking for something easy to read since there wasn't much context behind it.

This book was so boring....when I first start reading I was like ok it's just starting off very slow....but as I kept reading it appear to get slower and slower....If I could I would give this book no stars...there's nothing in the characters that you can grab onto...the Cody seem to me like a stalker and Claudia just get on my nerves...I got a headache just reading this nonsense...

This was easy reading to say the least. When you think of a title like going buck wild you think it's going to be filled with characters going buck wild. This does nothing. I was somewhat dissapointed. I was able to finish it because the was "just" enough to hold your interest.
Don't let the title mislead you!

and please take this advice! I was waiting for some good story over here and that's what i get. The only only mistake i did was not returning the book...which i should of done when i skipped about 15 chapters to get to the end of the book. So people if you want to waste your money go ahead but i would not recommend it to anyone!!!

Claudia Barrett, a young, up and coming professional, has been engaged to Jackson Baxter for five years. Although she claims she loves him and does want to marry him, she has been hesitant about setting the date. After five years, Jackson finally gets fed up and calls off the engagement, much to Claudia's dismay.

Cody, a young man who works in the same office building as Claudia, has been attracted to her since he first laid eyes on her. When he hears that Claudia is no longer engaged, he makes known his interest in her. Claudia is a little leery of going out with him at first, but eventually decides to take him up on his offer. All seems well until Cody's past comes back to haunt him.

GOING BUCK WILD...a racy title for a not so racy book. I'm not sure what happened between the conception and final copy of this book, but the title is very misleading. There is one part of the story where Claudia steps out of her comfort zone and becomes a little more daring, but nothing to the extent that the title and synopsis lead us to believe. All in all, this was a good read, with enough twists and turn to keep the readers attention.

Reviewed by Renee Williams
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

This book is just terrible. No examples, unrelated problems, and poorly written text is all you will find.

Example: One question asks you to refer to you 'basic vibration textbook' to find out how to do the problem (as they do not explain in the book). What is the point of questions like this?

Also many times you will find yourself staring in awe at the wording in this book. There are many sentences written so poorly that they simply have no meaning.

This book is absolutely useless for college level students. It DOES NOT explains problems in detail and you would have to spend hours in understanding what they are trying to do.
Absolutely CRAPY book. I WONT recomment this to anyone

The authors, in their new 6th edition of Mechanical Measurements, have overhauled most of the book. The new edition is much improved and makes great reference book for various measurement techniques. Very well-indexed.

This text provides a good, basic overview of methods for measuring several physical phenomena. The treatment of most of these is average. However, thermal measurement is given an improved, more thorough coverage. Personally, I have primarily used this text as a reference and guide for Chapter 3: Assessing and Presenting Experimental Data. I have found the sections on Error and, especially, Uncertainty to be very instructive and practical for use during college and post-graduation (as a mechanical engineer in research and development).

This book was assigned to me as part of a college mechanical engineering course. This book was hard to follow and strayed from the course description. It contains aspects of electronics and mechanical design where the math problems are not fully explained and worked out and the machine descriptions are extremely brief. It is possible to get an education out this book, but a person would really have to strain. If you buy this book, I recommend that you get a generic study guide to accompany it.

If you read the definition of the Regency Romance, it will say that the book tells the story of a young girl's introduction into society which ends in marriage. Every now and then, I come across a Regency Romance which is just that.

This romance has no dastardly villians, no spies, no magic or time travel, no murders or thefts, and not even an elopement. The hero and heroine are utterly conventional, well bred, and not witty. That being said, I have to admire Ms. Buck for taking on such a task as writing a book in which so little happens and making it pleasing and a least somewhat plausible.

This book is the sequel to one called Cassandra's Deception and, while it might be helpful to have read that before this one, I had no trouble working out the plot of the earlier book. It's summarised several times before the half-way mark of Belle's Beau.

Belle and Cassandra are identical twins who were separated as infants (in what seems to be quite an incredible set of circumstances). Belle was brought up by her reclusive grandfather, and Cassandra by an aunt and uncle who live mainly in London. On meeting again, the twins performed a switch, which eventually resulted in Belle's being invited to London to be launched for a Season. And this is the story of this book.

At the same time as Belle arrives in London, Lord Ashton (*not* Lord Adam Ashton!), a viscount, arrives home from the wars determined to marry. He remembers a young lady whom he talked to while recuperating in Bath the previous year, and he wants to meet her again with a view to marrying her. Unfortunately for him, that was Cassandra. And when he sees Belle, of course he thinks that she is that lady...

So he pursues Belle in the belief that she's the one he spent hours with the previous year and should have proposed to. And the big misunderstanding of the story is based around the fact that, since Belle never refers to Bath and looks bemused when he mentions the city, Ashton must have meant nothing to her.

There is an unsatisfactory sub-plot based around Belle feeling that she never quite manages to match up to Cassandra, but this is never resolved; in fact, a pivotal scene is broken off part-way through and we are never shown the resolution.

And even when all the mistaken identity stuff is finally sorted out and it looks as if all is well, Buck throws another very silly spanner in the works. By that stage, I was rolling my eyes in disbelief.

The other question is: just which twin is Ashton in love with? Cassandra is the one he really knows, and for most of their courtship he thinks that Belle is Cassandra. They may both enjoy riding, but I never got the impression that they had much in common otherwise.

Irritating elements: Buck's continual use of `misses' when `young lady' would be the appropriate term, and her very, very repetitive prose, telling us again and again things we already know. She mentions something in narrative, then says it again, and then - in case we still haven't got the message - a character says it in dialogue. That just got tedious.

A one-time skim-read only.

wmr-uk

Belle'e Beau is a sequel to the equally dull Cassandra's deception. The main plot of both books is the mistaken identity that can take place with identical twins. Trouble ensues when our hero (Lord Ashdon) doesn't realize he is not courting the woman he met before going to fight Napoleon (Cassandra), but her twin sister (Belle). Half way through the book he decides to discuss old times and is miffed that Belle doesn't remember their past history. Why would he wait so long? I didn't buy it. Another subplot is the inferiority Belle feels in regards to Cassandra, but other than bringing it up every once in awhile, that plot line never goes anywhere.

Suitable for young readers.

I found it very difficult to loose myself in this book -- this novel just never took off.

The book is a sequel to "Cassandra's Deception", and center's around Belle's (Cassandra's twin sister) debut into the London scene. Belle, because of her beauty and vivacity is an instant hit, and is enjoying herself enormously even if she does feel a little hemmed in because of all the rules about 'proper ladylike behaviour'. Lord Adam Ashdon has returned from the wars temporarily in order to find a wife and father (he hopes) an heir before he returns to the fighting. In his heart, however, he carries a memory of Cassandra whom he met while he was convalescing in Bath. And when he first catches sight of Belle, he mistakes her for Cassandra. So heartened is he by his 'find' that he immediately begins his courtship. And so begins the mixup: why is the woman he is courting so different from the woman of his dreams? Belle in the meantime is over the moon with her beau, but how will she feel when she discovers that he has mistaken her for her twin?

The whole premise of this novel seemed a little too farfetched to me. How can a man court a woman and yet not really talk to her. Surely at some point, either Belle or Ashdon should have realised his mistake before all the misunderstandings got so out of hand? Also, I didn't buy the romance between the two: Belle comes across as being very young indeed, and in need of more maturity. It seemed to me as if she was more enamoured with the idea of having a much sought after and dashing beau than with Ashdon himself. As for Ashdon, he is in love with the idea of Cassandra for much of the book, and I didn't see how discovering that Belle was Cassandra could change his feelings all that much.

Perhaps I'm being unduly harsh, and perhaps it is because I've been reading some really good regency romances lately, but I really had the feeling that I was reading a disaster in the making rather than a 'happily-ever-after' romance. Belle and Ashdon should never have married or at least not so soon. Afterall a shared love of riding does not a marriage make!

This is the sequel to "Cassandra's Deception", the story of twins who, upon discovering each other's existence, switch places. In that book Cassandra finds love, in this one Miss Annabelle Weatherstone travels to London to enjoy the season that her twin has decided to forego in light of her recent engagement.

Adam Ashdon, conscious that he is the last of his line, has returned to London to find a bride before war breaks out again on the continent. On convalescent leave a year ago in Bath he met a young lady whose image has stayed before him in the intervening months. He intends to leave London for Bath to meet her again and further his suit. To his surprise, he finds her galloping her gelding across Hyde Park one morning. Delighted to renew the acquaintance, he begins to court her, much to her delight. He never imagines, of course, that it was her twin sister Cassandra he conversed with in Bath, and Belle, our heroine, never dreams that he does not know she has a twin.

Such is the big misunderstanding that drives the plot. As misunderstandings go, it is a realistic one, and is quite well handled by the author - there is never a point at which the characters appear stupid for not realising what is going on, but rather the misunderstanding continues because all parties believe the obvious rather than searching for explanations. One does wish that the hero would make more inquiries when he finds himself puzzled by Belle's seeming memory lapse of their time in Bath, but that he doesn't is quite understandable.

Ms Buck's style is clear and competent, though there are patches where the reader feels she is treading water to fill space. Belle's inferiority complex, which is based on her perception of her sister's perfection and her treatment by their aunt and uncle, is never resolved or even confronted, which is a disturbing factor in the book, realistic though it might be. Overall, Ms Buck has created a very young, very insecure heroine here, which is refreshing in light of all the feisty bluestockings Regency readers have had of late. Our hero is less well-developed - the plot causes him to disappear from the narrative for some pages, which hampers our understanding of his character.

"Belle's Beau" is very much a 3 star book - well worth reading if you like Ms Buck's work, but by no means her best effort. It is a lighter Regency, and a very good sequel to "Cassandra's Deception".

I think this book would be great for a classroom but I am just using it to study for the exam on my own. I emailed the company for the answers to the questions in the book and they said they could not give them to me. I don't recommend this book if you are not in a classroom with it.

I agree with the above reviews. I score in the negatives and can't learn from my mistakes? I don't understand the reasoning behind that.

Even though I have not yet taken the exam, I have found the book to be an excellent resource before the exam, and will continue to use the book as a reference book after I take the exam. Very user friendly.

The book is very complete as information with many details that one would need refreshing every so often. Each chapter has a test, a very good test I can say. The downfall is the CD; there is no feed back to your answers, only the percentage you achieved. That may not be enough for someone who is trying to learn. We do learn from our mistakes, so no feed back, how would one know what did wrong?
The CD is the downfall for this book.

I bought three CCS review guides to prepare for the CCS exam. This one was NO help whatsoever. I had been studying with my other two books (AHIMA's and Thompson's) and picked this one up the weekend before the test. I liked that it had CCS-like exams to take on a CD. I was studying with a friend of mine so we both decided to take the pre-test. This was the day before we took the exam. I scored -103, yes negative 103 and she scored 30, meaning we both flunked. We were so discouraged. so threw that book aside and called it a day. The CD and the book gave us no hint as to what we did wrong with the test, what we needed to study further. No help whatsoever.
We both took the CCS the next day and passed with flying colors. If we had let this book discourage us we would not now be both CCS certified.

If I could give it no stars I would

This is probably one of the most abysmally bad science fiction books I've ever read in my life.

I can't figure out if Caidin was trying to be nostalgic and write in a 1930's pulp-fiction style, or if he thought he was trying to update '30's style writing to the present day, but in either case, the book is an astonishing failure, like trying to build a nuclear reactor out of styrofoam, wood chips and Elmer's glue.

The book is quite frankly racist, to begin with. It's embarrassingly racist. No racial stereotype is left unmolested. You would think that someone at the publishing house would have spotted this gigantic faux pas, but apparently they were blithely blind to it. Secondly, the author is frighteningly enamoured of technology in general, and rhapsodizes for literally paragraph upon paragraph about things like polished mirrors, laser beams, and obscure parts and pieces of World War II aircraft. His techno-fetishism finally becomes hilarious. "Oh look, a bolt! Wonder how many pages he could write about it?"

Third, the plot is a huge mess with no point. Fourth, the characters have about as much depth as your average business card. Fifth, the book is sexist as well as racist.

But let me be positive. What good things can I find to say about this book?

Well, it's easy to read, except for the parts where Caidin starts going on and on about technical details of Messerschmitt ME 109 aircraft. And, um...it's funny, although inadvertently so. And the hardback copy I found, had a copy of Phil Nowlan's original 1933 "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" novelette bound in the back.

The sad thing was that Nowlan's novelette, which was originally offered as a prize for mailing in your cereal boxtops, was far more interesting at 31 pages than Caidin's entire novel. And since Nowlan's "Buck Rogers" is being sold here at Amazon without the dead weight of Caidin's book attached to it, you now have no reason to buy Martin Caidin's "Buck Rogers: A Life In The Future."

Thank whatever gods you believe in that this enormous mess of a book is out of print. And if you see it in a used book sale at a library, like I did, LEAVE IT THERE! I wish I had...

As a long-time fan of Mr. Caidin's, who literally grew to love reading as a child b/c of "Thunderbolt!", "Flying Forts", and "P-38: The Fork-Tailed Devil", I was ecstatic when I saw this book in the bargain bin. Unfortunatey, this book seems to have been written in about 2 hours; the parts with the most potential are over before you know it, and the "suspensions of disbelief" that are required are inconsistent and way too extreme. This book might be enjoyable for someone who is easily entertained and very uncritical (is that a word?), but it will harshly disappoint anyone who expects Mr. Caidin's usual brilliance.

When I first saw the title of this book, I thought 'No way! Someone has tried to recapture the Buck Roger's space opera epic.' then I saw the author and took interest. Mr. Caidin has done a great job at updating this tale. Agreed, it is not a major work in terms of the brilliant work he's done in the past, but it is still a wonderful read. If you are a techie that enjoys a formula space opera, then this is a good, and fun read. Nicely done.

The original Buck Rogers wasn't "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and wasn't written in the 1930s. It was "Armageddon 2419 A.D." and was written in 1919. It _WAS_ a profoundly racist and anti-Asian book by modern standards. With that in mind, Caidin's tale is actually rather well done. He kept much of the flavor of a dated book, while bringing it closer to the present day reader.

If there's any blame here, it's on the publisher for trying to drag what should remain a period piece in literature into the contemporary. I assume, since TSR-now-WotC was the publisher, that it ties into a game somewhere.

As a writer myself it always makes my teeth itch when reviewers, who should know better, attempt to drape the author in his characters. A good writer's characters may resemble himself in any detail or none. This is clearly the latter.

I am not sure of the caliber of Mr. Caidin's (the author) other works, but this one was a definite let down. He has taken one of the best loved space opera sagas and turned it into hectically paced, disjointed work with carbon copy characters and a theme that degrades all the principles that Buck Rogers stands for.

The story is based on the classic 1930s Space Opera about a man from the 20th century who pulls a Rip Van Winkle and winds up in the 25th century in the midst of a war between the East and the West. Mr. Caidin tries to put an updated spin on the story by creating a fantastic autobiographical representation of himself as the hero Anthony "Buck" Rogers. Buck exists as the epitome of all pilots, with training in every aircraft and a history with both the military and a civilian pilot. He is a veteran flyer working as an airline pilot who moonlights as an air show performer. He gets injured in 1996 and to save his life, scientists put him into stasis for 400 years. ..Unfortunately Buck seems to have as yet unseen abilities added to his resume as the book progresses but in such a way as to make them seem as afterthoughts. I have seen "made for TV" movie scripts that have more well defined plot and characters.

I am not being overly critical either. The book is a collection of disjointed scenes, with poorly devised transitions and weak, trite dialog. The pace of the "action" is so thinly described that it is not believable or even understood how the hero Buck, goes from a relative stranger in America of the 25th century, to a Brigadier in the military in a matter of months. The author "forgets" about character development as he proceeds through the novel and leaves many of the primary characters sitting at the roadside with little discussion as the book leaps and skips forward. Even more unbelievable is that Mr. Caidin has the motivations of the nations of Earth in the 25th century revolve around activities that took place in the 20th century and earlier. He includes no social development for the past 400 years from the time that Buck was born and lived to the time when he joins the remains of the American state in the 25th century. The appearance of alien life influencing earth is more believable than the actions of the countries involved in this future space war.

It would be acceptable if the book had a "campy" nostalgic feeling like the Dick Tracey or the Rocketeer movies. Unfortunately it tries to take its self too seriously and it comes off very heavy with a depressing message of hate and distrust.

The "Social Racism" wound into the plot about distrust of foreign powers based on activities from centuries ago make the book a target for ridicule and unless it is a vehicle for the authors plot development, .... It is this kind or continuation of hate that causes children today to be brought up to think of Blacks, Asians or even Women as second class citizens, or the Jews or Moslems as being universally evil.

The author details how the Chinese and Mongols returned to their Horde roots and conquered the world in the beginning of the 21st century and that the US and its allies have been fighting them ever since. It likens the modern Asian races as a bunch of saber rattling warlords that are less than a stones throw away from their horse riding ancestors.

Caidin labels the Japanese as a sneaky race that is willing to do anything to become a dominant force on Earth is underscored in the closing chapter of the book when Buck rationalizes his distrust of a Japanese ally by bringing up the Pearl Harbor attack as an example of the deviousness of the Japanese, 400 years after the event!! I would be like the English labeling the United States as terrorists because of the Boston Tea Party.

All in all, I think that Mr. Caidin took a good foundation and a creatively original plot and ruined it by his mishandled treatment of the material and his desire to make a racism fueled society of tomorrow. He had the chance to make a wonderful story and he failed at his attempt. I would not recommend this book to anyone with out the caveat that is might have been an exceptional book with a bit more effort.