Elliott Books

I'm not sure what Mr. Neely should best call his analysis technique, but it is most definitely not Elliott Wave...this book would have to be the Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha to the Precter and Frost canon.

This is a good book if you want to expand on Elliott Wave analysis. I would not recommend it to the beginner. For a person familiar with the basics of Elliott Waves this book is gold. It shows you how to think outside of the square as far as how patterns should and can look. It made me realise that most of my wave analysis was flawed.
Some of the book is overkill, and i did not read some parts as they seemed to be overcomplicating things, especially the Neely system of labeling. Why reinvent the wheel.
This guy has obviously been very thorough in his work. He is obviously a very methodical thinker and objective observer.
I am very glad I bought this book, it has helped the unexplainable to become clear.

If you want to use Elliott Waves in practical real trading there is nothing else, period. Prechter's book is a very distant second. I emphasize - FOR PRACTICAL TRADING. Otherwise Prechter's book is excellent and is a true classic.

But prepare yourself to read Neely's book many, and I mean MANY times before you start to feel that you GET IT. 9-10 times at least. And that is with paper and pen. But after you GET IT, you feel like you have wings when you look at the price charts.

I read this book a couple of years ago, and found it fascinating and highly detailed. I imagine that for some very technically minded people this is something they can really get their teeth into and enjoy. But for simple folk like me, it was just too much, and I found much simpler methods to interpret Elliott waves that didn't take half as much time or knowledge. So, I give it a 3 star rating as its brilliance is somewhat dampened by its complexity.

This book is very complictated. One might have a chance if this book was treated as textbook and offered in a university over a semester long class, taking each chapter apart with live examples.
Other reviews mention that it takes years to master this method.I somewhat agree. The rules of logic are not clear and that is mainly because if the autor wanted to go to great lenght to explain everything this book would be around 2000 to 3000 pages. So, you gonna have to figure it out on your own and that will take you a lot of time!
Get an Elliot Wave Charting software you'll save yourself a lot of headache and time.

Notice that he lists Gen.32:3- 12 as Gen.32:4-13. I wonder how many points he takes off for that kind of mistake in his classroom?

The foremost scholar of the JEPD textual theory of the Torah, Friedman presents his scholarly notes and backgrounds, and the reconstructed text of what he understands to be the original story of the J text, thought to be the oldest narrative of the Torah, which uses Yahweh as the name of God.

Freidman's analytical reconstruction differs from that of Harold Bloom, in "The Book of J." Friedman find the J Writer in much of the material up through the Davidic monarchy of united Israel. Bloom follows the more conservative traditonal view that restricts the J document primarily to Genesis. Friedman interacts with Bloom and other textual critics and their theories.

Friedman presents strong stylistic, linguistic and thematic arguments that this original document goes from Genesis through the establishment of Solomon's reign. He further presents arguments confirming the antiquity of this deep strata of biblical material, proving that this is the oldest known example of prose in any language, as well as the first history (though all ancient "histories" are different in style from the modern western concept of history).

The author further deals critically with its relationship to the early material from the northern kingdom, commonly referred to as E, showing that they both were in final form and already being combined into a single document in Judah.

Together these constitute the two oldest examples of human prose, predating even Greek histories, previously claimed to be the earliest histories. Friedman closes with a devastating detailed argument against recent lines of argument claiming all the biblical texts were written in or after the Babylonian Exile.

If you read Harold Bloom's "The Book Of J", you need to buy this.
The scholarly consensus over most of the past century was that the oldest Biblical stories were from the Yahwist (or "J") source. However, Friedman makes a pretty convincing argument that the J source and another Biblical source, the "Court History of David" were written by the same person. Of course, this means that J is much more recent than previously thought, since it could not pre-date the reign of Solomon (with whom the Court History ends).

Richard Friedman could probably be called the Julius Wellhausen of modern biblical studies. Like Wellhausen did a century ago, Friedman has essentially updated, expanded, and clarified the Documentary Hypothesis so as to make a book on this subject from just 30 years ago seem hopelessly outdated. P in the postexilic period? Psssshaw...

While I had heard of this book before, I was naturally skeptical of its rather large claims, but after seeing the evidence for myself I agree with Friedman's conclusion- J and the Court History, as well as several texts in between, were written by the same author as part of a single narrative (perhaps initially "published" in two volumes), that covered the Hebrews' traditional history from creation to the accession of Solomon.

My only problem is with Friedman's translation of the work- I understand that it was his intention to translate the work as literally as possible, in order for the readers to get a feel of what it may have read like in Hebrew; nonetheless, this really made for awkward reading; I had to put the book down a couple times because the tedious vocabulary was giving me a headache. That may be what it's supposed to sound like in Hebrew, but in English it doesn't necessarily work.

However, the story and commentary are very well-written, the evidence is convincingly-presented, and, underneath the awkward translation, a genius of an author is remembered for the first time in over 2800 years. Worth it in my book.

This remarkable book identifies the earliest work of prose literature heretofore hidden in the Old Testament. It was extracted from Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, I & II Samuel and I Kings. Restored, translated and introduced by Friedman, the narrative does seem to be the work of one author and was probably written in the time of King Solomon. Originally a united story, it was cut up by the Bible's editors so that other narratives, laws and poetry were inserted into and around it.

In the Introduction, Friedman relates how he discovered this story, the reasons for considering it one unified work and where it is found in the Bible. He deals with the different sources called J (this work), E, D and P as used by biblical scholars plus words, phrases, images and themes that appear in J and nowhere else in the Bible. In essence it is a tapestry of interactions between God and mankind. He speculates on the identity of the author, asserting that she/he lived in the Kingdom of Judah most likely in the latter 9th century BC, was probably a lay person and may have been female.

Friedman explains his approached to the translation; he stuck close to the original Hebrew, opting for consistency in the English, retaining idioms when their meaning is clear and using the Tetragrammaton instead of its substitutes. Some of the intricacies will be of interest only to the linguist but I found them fascinating. Footnotes have been kept to a minimum whilst difficult words and passages are explained elsewhere so that the reader is not distracted.

The narrative itself flows with a remarkable rhythm. It is titled "In The Day" from its opening words and consists of approximately three thousand sentences. I am pleased that Friedman keeps it simple in English; reading the text is quite refreshing compared to the Bible translations one is familiar with. Critics of the Bible are often confused as to what the Bible reports and what the Bible teaches. This story is almost pure reportage although in the telling of the story some interesting lessons come to light. It starts with creation and ends with the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel.

In the Afterword, Friedman explores the themes and points out how key elements introduced in the first chapters are resolved in the last two. Themes include the relationship between the sexes and between fathers and sons, fratricide, and the positions of king, priest, prophet and military leader. It is about families in particular and the tension between divine direction and the human desire for independence. It is both history and a novel. Around it, other accounts were added, as well as wisdom literature, poetry and the visions of the prophets in order to assemble the Good Book.

The Textual Notes provide further explanation with reference to verses from Genesis to Kings, whilst the Appendix gives a more detailed treatment of the evidence for the antiquity and unity of the work. It consists of 4 parts: (a) evidence for the unity of the work (b) evidence for its antiquity (c) response to criticism of recent scholarship that claims a late date of composition for these texts (d) a chart demonstrating the distribution of terminology that characterizes In The Day.

Under (a), Friedman presents proof in the form of terminology, narrative continuity, allusion, similarity of whole accounts, repeated prose images and theme, plus a consideration of the implications if this analysis is correct. Under (b) he returns to a discussion of the aforementioned sources like J, P and E and the views of biblical scholars on their antiquity. An interesting fact: the historical referents in this work (J) overwhelmingly relate to Judah, and those of E to Israel (the Northern Kingdom). The linguistic-historical research on the Hebrew language is also considered here.

(D) is introduced by a lengthy analysis of the work of scholars Blum and Van Seters with reference to Hurvitz, Polzin, Rendsburg, Zevit, Halpern, Kaufmann and others. A table titled Distribution Of Terms In Prose Narrative provides comparisons of Hebrew words and expressions in Genesis to Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, I Samuel and II Samuel with the rest of the Old Testament. The book concludes with 10 pages of bibliographic notes on the Introduction, Afterword and Appendix.

A thought-provoking theme of In The Day is the boomerang effect of human actions and the cyclical or echo-effect of mankind's behavior. There are repeating patterns from the earliest times. Also the irony in what I would call the "karmic" nature of this process which applies to good, bad and neutral actions. It is something like a template built into cosmic law and is humorous in some instances.

But by far the most important insight that it provided to this reader is about the nature of God. For better or worse, the God of the Old Testament is often perceived as vengeful and uncompromising. This core text paints a different picture, one of a Deity often torn between justice and mercy. In other words, God gets angry but does not stay angry and forgives upon repentance. This is just my opinion, but it seems that God gets angry about the evil that mankind brings upon itself and does intercede when asked, in order to alleviate it.

Reading this work has greatly piqued my interest in the process of redaction of the Bible. Who were the editors and when was it done? I say this in light of having recently read the equally absorbing book by Jeffrey Satinover titled Cracking the Bible Code, a scholarly work that explores layers of meaning encrypted in the language and Hebrew letters of the five books of Moses. I assume that these hidden codes occur right across In The Day (J) as well as the other aforementioned sources, in other words, cohesively through the final text. This is most intriguing and a matter that really ought to be investigated further.

I really liked the twist in this book because, I think, there are too many Cinderella stories now days. To give the book a twist made it more interesting, not to mention more fun, to read. You couldn't predict as much. Even more than the twist was the humor. When Cinderellis couldn't take his helmet off to know what the princess was saying I laughed really hard. The only thing I didn't like about this book was how short it was. Levine could have gone on another ten chapters, yet she didn't.

Well,there is humor in it,overall. Gail Carson Levine does put wit into her stories, but something fell apart in this book. Chapter eight is a perfect example of where an entertaining story went bad. At first, we look through Marigold's point of view, then we look through Cinderellis's. After that, the chapter is just confusing. It goes back and forth between both of their minds that I don't know whose I am in. I think Miss Levine could have done a better job in writing this story. I think the humor was the only thing good about it.

Part of Gail Carson Levine's new "Princess Tales" series, this title in the series is just as much about the prince. Cinderellis, boy inventor, is lonely because his brothers have bonded and exclude and discredit him at every turn, while Princess Marigold confides to her cat how lonely she is, because her father is always off on quests. Their stories are told in alternating chapters as the years pass. On the year the king is determined to quest for a son-in-law, he is cursed by an imp and the suitors must come to the palace. Cinderellis, who has captured 3 magnificent horses that conveniently come with a suit of armor, enters the contest to climb a glass hill to get to get the Princess.
The story is charming, and Levine's unique blend of humor (in one scene, the king quests for a goose that lays golden eggs, but returns with a turkey that lays tin ones) and practicality (Cinderellis' horse treats contain horse chestnuts, among other things) make a powerful invention.
The volume is attractively packaged in a slim petite butter yellow library bound book, with delicate scrollwork decorating the cover. The cover picture looks too "Disney" for my taste, and the prince inside is a Leonardo DiCaprio look alike.
Readers familiar with fairy tales will get the most out of Levine's twisting of common fairy tale elements. Although not as stellar as her awarding-winning Ella Enchanted, this is a fun book that will find an audience in fans of fractured fairy tales.

Cinderellis is an AWSOME book! It's full of Magic and confusion. My personal favorite characttor is Princess Marigold.The charactors are Cinderellis, Princess Marigold, King Humphrey, Three Horses, and Cinderellis's Stupid Twin Brothers.Gail Carson Levine, YOU ROCK MY WORLD!!

I really liked the twist in this book because, I think, there are too many Cinderella stories now days. To give the book a twist made it more interesting, not to mention more fun, to read. You couldn't predict as much. Even more than the twist was the humor. When Cinderellis couldn't take his helmet off to know what the princess was saying I laughed really hard. The only thing I didn't like about this book was how short it was. Levine could have gone on another ten chapters, yet she didn't.

I went back to school after a 8 year break, and was very worried that my calculus would be a long forgotten skill. Between this book and forgotten calculus, I returned to school confident that I was not going to be blindsided by applied calculus.

I purchased this for a Calculus II course because the book I had had some rather challenging problems. I bought it because I thought it was going to be exhaustive in its solutions. Unfortunately this was not the case. Some problems in calculus require less explanation that others. For this book however essentially all are given the same weight. Because of this you are left with a "how in the world did they come up with that?" type of feeling at the end of the problem. It is a good book however and the sheer number of problems solved is helpful when you have very specific things in your homework you need to see. Also there are general lessons on the topic before each chapter. This is a good resource but should be used in conjunction with other calculus books.

If you want a reference book, this ain't it. Nor a textbook. You must understand the concepts before you even open the volume. It would then be a great help in applying your knowledge to real-world problems.

I say, "would" because the numerous typos and mistakes make it a dangerous tool to use. Some errors are obvious (if annoying), some will mislead and puzzle you and some, well... just pray.

I give it a three because it may still be useful. Just be careful how you use it!

Every year a new class of desperate students buy into the Schaum no-help books. Save your money or try Michael Kelley.
Sincerely, Bert-Chapel Hill, North Carolina

I bought this book and several others to help my daughter with her AP calculus. Along those lines, this book is not very useful as the AP examiners have gone off and deviated from the traditional bread and butter calculus topics (volumes of revolution, techniques of integration, related rates, max/min/inflection points, etc.). They have fallen in love with calculating averages, the fundmaental theorem of calculus, and their calculators (see my other reviews). So if your buying this book for that purpose, it won't really help as this book covers only traditional techniques and topics without the need of a calculator.

HOWEVER, for a supplement to traditional class material, this is a great book. I agree with the prior reviewers that this is not a book that will teach you calculus from the start - you need to already know how to take a derivative and integrate, what is meant by a volume of revolution, related rate, and so forth. However, if you want EXCELLENT scores, practice is the key and this book gives you a lot of practice. After a while, you will realize that there are only so many variations on a particular topic that can be tested and they keep coming up over and over again (I orginally took calculus in the 1980's and ran across the same problems).

In summary, if you need to first learn the basics of the material, this book is not for you. If you already know the basics and want practice on the bread and butter topics, this is an excellent way to do so. I doubt that your instructor will give you problems not covered in some fashion in this book.

Discovered this book in a used book store, I thought the plot was very good, an unexpected villain towards the end made it more intriging, felt for sure that the author would write a sequel to it, covering secondary characters Robert & Sophia's story, perhaps with an update on Lily & Miles, as they all seem to be in the same line of work. It was a most enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading more of the books by Elizabeth Elliott.

Elizabeth Elliott's book, "Scoundrel" is misnamed because the hero, the dashing Miles, Duke of Remmington is the tamest scoundrel I've encountered in several hundred romance novels. However, title aside the story is engaging and Lady Lily Walters is a heroine who is easy to relate to. Unlike some stories, I was quite happy to root for these two getting together. Others have provided good summaries of the plot, so I'll just briefly recap. Lily has been secretly in love with Miles for a long time, but an encounter in a London ballroom has dashed her hopes. Late that evening she is attacked in her home and runs into the night to find her father. Instead Miles finds her and ends up providing her a place to hide out, without knowing that instead of the empty headed miss he thinks she is that Lily is really a cryptologist for the war department. And Lily doesn't know that Miles also works for the war department. Passion ensues, misunderstandings happen, but unlike a lot of romance novels the misunderstandings are quickly cleared up. After a midnight rendezvous at a house party, Lily and Miles are married, an unexpected bad guy pops up and is disposed of, and just when things seem wrapped up the true threat to Lily shows up. All's well that ends well. I was very entertained by this story and enjoyed reading it. I'm disappointed that Elizabeth Elliott doesn't seem to have written anything else--I expected a follow-up with Sophie, Lily's best friend, and Robert, Lily's brother. If she ever writes more I will definitely buy it. Her writing style is engaging and her characters are charming.

Lady Lily Waters is one of England's top code breakers...and her identity has just been revealed to the enemy. France dispatches a spy to murder her but the plan fails. She is able to escape and flees her house to the London streets and right into the arms of the Duke of Remmington. The Duke, betrayed by his first love long ago, decides to protect Lily, but discovers he also has to fight his growing desire for her as he unravels the mystery of who wants Lily dead.

Elizabeth Elliott has done it again. This was such a pleasurable book to read. Not only was I entertained by a touching love story but also a cloak-and-dagger plot line that kept me riveted to the last page.

My only complaints are these: The book cover. Pleeez! Can they not come up with a better one? And what's with the title? The book title is totally misleading from what the story is really about. Remmington is far from being a scoundrel.

the book caught my interest right at the begining and rarly let it slip, I love that in books, but I really want to know why there isn't more out there from this wonderful author. PLEASE, give this book a chance, I doubt you will be dissapointed.

The main character wasn't a scoundrel. He was a sort of stuffy British duke who had difficulty expressing his feelings.

The heroine was pretty good. She cried a lot, but she had a good reason. She got attacked a lot. The good thing about her was she was intelligent, but she played dumb in public.

The villain was not revealed until the very end, and it was sort of disappointing. I would have liked a little more insight into his character.

Overall, a slightly better than average romance.

Great book for those looking for real-world Elliott Wave education. It is a must have for those preparing for the CMT exams.

but what the author is repeating again and again and again in his book are those most important concepts that introduced by Elliot. It's perfect for beginners who just finish reading the Principle book and find some problem in this practical book, then go back to principle again.

i bought the principle and this book, and have been switching between these two for quite a while. Every time, I can find myself some thing to remember.

Its an OK book without much appeal for a serious student of Elliott Waves.
This is one of these books that feel like an author wanted to have a right to say "I wrote a book on the subject".
If you read Neely 15 times and actually GET it (that is usually how long it takes :) , you do not need this book. If not, this book won't make much difference.
Not to say anything negative about author's knowledge or experience, G-d forbid. He seem like a very knowledgable person. But knowing something and teaching it - are two different things.

I am a CMT (Chartered Market Technician) -- for the exam process of the CMT, which is a professional exam for technical analysis that demands a significant amount of knowledge on Elliott Wave analysis, I had to read many books on this subject and it was difficult to ascertain a useful book on this subject; this book undeniably gives you a credible approach to Elliott Wave analysis. Indeed, in terms giving the reader an approach to any market (e.g. bonds, equities, commodities or currencies) this book is written in the most useful manner that I have read on this subject. In particular, it gives the reader a practicle methodology in approaching the markets so as to enable you, the practitioner, to break the market down within this type of analysis on a step by step basis, if you will, that is logical. I recommend this book without reservation!

I recently completed the CMT (Chartered Market Technician) exam process- this is a professional exam for technical analysis, consists of three levels. The third level has a substantial section on Elliott Wave. I have read other books on Elliott, but this book was in my opinion the best written. Mr. Poser made a difficult subject much easier to digest. The real strength here is in discussing what NOT to do when using Elliott Wave- by keeping these tips in mind you will find you can readily apply the techniques to charts from various financial markets.

I highly recommend this book to anyone taking the CMT exam, especially those who don't use Elliott Wave in their trading and/or analysis.

Raymond Chandler is that rare sort of novelist who creates a world that sings with individuality while inviting others to join the fun. That, perhaps, is Chandler's greatest talent--he makes his world inviting while never pandering to prurient or common tastes. In A High Window, Philip Marlowe, Chandler's famous American icon of cynicism and subtle honor, is tasked with finding a rare coin and the person who stole it. His client is a bossy, asthmatic, hulk of a woman who downs glass after glass of port and who doesn't mind telling Marlowe her low opinion of his character and skills. Of course, she's wrong. And she's hiding all sorts of secrets of her own. As in all Philip Marlowe adventures, the ride is always more fun than the destination. When you read Raymond Chandler, you're lovingly dumped into a landscape filled with bums, dames, rich psychotics, corrupt cops, and sleazy hotel managers. And those are the ordinary people in his novels. Read A High Window. Get out your trenchcoat. Be sure to pack a .45. You're going to "noir" town.

Donald Gallinger is the author ofThe Master Planets

I love Raymond Chandler. And Marlowe, the joke cracking private eye who's tough on the outside and golden on the inside and who would be cliched except he's the original everyone else copied...it's vintage noir, hard-boiled action, the world without frills, a trail of murders and blackmail and robbery. It's flawed the way America's underbelly is flawed but it's always clear where Marlowe's sympathies lie...with the poor, the lost, the wicked, the desperate doing all they can to get out of poverty's trap. But he takes everyone as he finds them and gives them their due. It's a fast-paced quick read with suspenseful twists and turns that spin you through an L.A. that is still recognizable, and definitely the L.A. that I love.

Phillip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler's classic noir hard-boiled private detective forever literarily associated with Los Angeles and its means streets is right at home here in his search for a missing family heirloom thought to have been 'taken' by an errrant family member. As always there are plots within plots and it is many a false lead and bump on the noggin' before the intrepid Marlowe puts this one to rest. As usual there is plenty of sparse but functional dialogue, physical action and a couple of plot twists, particularly around the motives of the parties involved. And where does this novel stand in relationship to the other Marlowe epics? Give me those background oil derricks churning out the wealth while looking for Rusty Regan in Big Sleep or the run down stucco flats in pursue of Moose's Velma in Farewell, My Lovely any day. Nevertheless, as always with Chandler, you get high literature in a plebian package. Read on.

Wealthy widow Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock hired Philip Marlowe [These scenes show the literary flourishes necessarily absent from his short stories.] Mrs. Murdock wants Marlowe to retrieve a valuable item that was stolen by a member of her family; nobody is to be arrested (Chapter 2). This is a rare gold coin: the Brasher Doubloon. Mrs. Murdock believes her daughter-in-law took it when she left her son; she had been a night club singer. Marlowe begins to investigate the leads, and meets various people. Chandler's literary descriptions of the people provide background on the individuals. Complications arise from his interview with these various people. Soon a dead body is found (another private investigator). A package arrives for Marlowe - it has one gold coin (Chapter 12). But Mrs. Murdock no longer wants the coin (Chapter 13). The coin dealer is found dead (Chapter 14). The police think Marlowe is holding out on information on that private investigator (Chapter 16).

Chandler shows his skill at dialogue at the Idle Valley Patrol (Chapter 17). Linda returned to her old job. She said she didn't take the rare coin. Marlowe warns Mrs. Murdock about the police investigation and learns how the coin was returned (Chapter 20). There is a surprising confession to a murder (Chapter 23). [In those days you could park a car in the street and leave the keys in the lock (Chapter 28)!] Marlowe overhears a conversation about Louis Vannier (Chapter 30). Marlowe surmises what happened (Chapter 33). And there is another surprise (Chapter 34)! The last chapters tie up the loose ends.
This is a good story but I thought the ending was weak. Chandler uses the language of those days. The dollar figures date this novel.

We're catching up on Chandler's private-eye Philip Marlowe novels published in the 1940's, having read "Poodle Springs" (his last work, actually finished by Robert Parker) and "The Big Sleep", his first and perhaps most well-known entry in the set, possibly due to the movie with Humphrey Bogart. The book is classic Chandler: beautifully descriptive prose almost wasted on the seedy characters that populate the storyline. The plot kicks off with a wealthy but crotchety old woman hiring Marlowe to recover a valuable gold coin she is sure was stolen by her now missing daughter-in-law. As Marlowe learns more about the matter, a young guy starts tailing him, then admits to being a fellow private dick who might need Marlowe's help with a case. Soon that guy turns up dead; in fact, throughout the tale Marlowe has a nasty habit of finding dead bodies, which only serves to exasperate the police, whom our leading man tends to frustrate by refusing to part with what he knows about whom.

In the end, of course Marlowe figures it all out, but not before some surprises bend the plot this way and that. [We won't spoil what the novel's title implies...] One would not suspect this novel is some 60 years old; that it so readily entertains is certain testimony to its withstanding the aging process. Chandler's fine writing skills, bordering on literature, as usual tend to create a screenplay in our heads for us, which adds to the enjoyment. Despite all the drinking, smoking, and "easy" women at hand, this easy read is another fine mystery by this famous author of nearly a century ago.

What makes Red Cat so enjoyable to read is that Spiegelman's plotting is just so well done. As you follow March, a private eye, and as he slowly uncovers depths of a mystery, you really get dragged into the story. Primarily, in my opinion, this is because the evidence uncovered by March comes forth through such great effort. I really enjoyed this aspect because in most books the clues fall into protagonists laps. Here however small bits of evidence are brutally carved from New Yorks city streets. This is a meaty gritty novel.

Some things I found annoying were small, but I wanted to air them out anyways. Perhaps most grating in my mind was Spiegelman's need to start a chapter at one point in time, write a few sentences, and then jump back and fill in how March got to there. He does this over and over again. In my mind this is just a cute narrative trick and it took away something from the linear progression of a novel. Secondly, Spiegelman is not yet a master of the pen. His writing is sort of empty. I felt like I was reading one of those very slow English detective novels and thus the suspense was often non-existent. I guess I have a few more items, but they are like the above and thus are rather slight.

I would recommend this book to fellow mystery lovers. It is a joy to have someone searching out and tracking down actual clues for a change. Dont see that too often any more. I totally am looking forwards to reading more of this authors work.

I enjoyed the first John March book, Black Maps, very much. I don't think I finished the second. This one has a very good plot and good detective work by March, which kept me reading.

However, his "tics" are getting to be a drag. He doesn't drink, enjoy food, have interesting hobbies or have any close relationships. A woman, Clare, semi-lives with him in this book, but I can't imagine that anyone would put up with him even for world class sex, and I can't imagine how someone as depressed as March could offer any but perfunctory sex. In the end she leaves. She was a very poorly developed character, to say the lease.

So, Mr. Spiegelman, please lighten up a bit, give March a life or at least a taste for steak.

Peter Spiegelman is a fine writer and this is another fine effort. But it is critical to "getting it" that the reader/listener start reading Spiegleman from his first John March novel, Black Maps and follow with the 2nd, Death's Little Helpers. Otherwise, March's own history will be murky and his family story will be unbelievable, and it will all sound crazy. Read in order, Spiegelman's stories are amazingly creative and instructive.
Elliot Gould is a fine actor, but there are pauses while he turns the page (it seems), and he's unfamiliar with words like "syrah". But otherwise, he's OK.

I didn't give this story quite five stars because of the slow and uneventful pace of most of the book (a lot of the described action is mostly what transpires between John March and his live-in girlfriend). Don't get me wrong, it is still a decent whodunnit book.

March is asked by his brother David to find all he can about Wren, a woman he met on the Internet, had a subsequent affair with and is now being hounded by her (like the woman in Fatal Attraction). When John starts investigating, Wren turns up dead. John must then step-up his almost impossible search before David is tied to Wren by the police. John and David's lawyer (Mike) reason that David will be the likely suspect and the police will just focus on him.

The more John investigates we find that Wren may not have really been a "fatal attraction" type personality at all and her motives were for a different reason. There are a slew of possible suspects, including two of Wren's boyfriends, some of her artistic "subjects" and possibly even David or David's wife.

What makes this book interesting is the difficulty and the time constraint that John is working under (especially because David is mostly uncooperative and obnoxious)and that the author gives virtually nothing away until John finds things.

The writing style is very good, though I wish it had a little more action.

PI John March gets an unexpected phone call from his brother, he sounds quite desperate asking for a secret meet, very unusual to hear from any of his siblings John agrees. David March lays it down straight or as straight as he believes he can be, prim in his every day life and very judgmental of others in public he suddenly drops the bomb shell, his been having sexual encounters with women arranged anonymously over the internet, but this time the contact has turned nasty she's got hold of all David's private numbers and has been leaving messages at work and on his mobile phone, of course these messages could now cost him his marriage if this woman tries to reach his home.

David informs his brother to track down this woman and put a stop to his harassment. All John has to go on is the internet codename Wren, he starts to dig around very quietly but stumbles straight into one of the underbelly's darkest world's. How was he going to be able to find and reason with this women but that problem just got solved, Wren turns up dead in New York's East River. John's race now is to find the killer before his brother and him are traced and arrested for a murder they didn't commit.

Thoroughly enjoyed this, it's dark, smart, modern and the writing keeps the pages turning. I loved the way the author Peter Spiegelman has used this novel to explore the relationship between siblings, husband and wives, parents and children, using emotional baggage that one family the dysfunctional March family carry around and it's shown in past and present with misplaced loyalties and simmering resentment.

The dialogue is straight talking, something I happen to love. Characters are nicely drawn out revealing themselves slowly and just when you thought you knew them another complex moment could throw your ideas of that person in a different direction, even makes you asks yourself the question, how well do you think you know you're nearest and dearest?

The Wren character is a complicated twisted piece of work, fantastic in this piece of writing. This book also looks at the Art world and that blurry line between certain kinds of transgressive art and pornography giving you strong psychology that offers up different theories and thought provoking ideas that could deliver more than one outcome.

Fast, sharp, shocking, great reading and Highly Recommended.

Andrea Bowhill

I LOVE THIS BOOK 50 & K.ELLIOT KNOW HOW TO GET YOUR ATTENTION WITH THIS BOOK.......A PAGE TURNER IT IS...YOU MUST READ THIS YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED.............ONE PAGE AND B4 YOU KNOW IT YOU FINISH I JUST HAD TO FINISH IT AND IT'S ALL THAT. SEVEN DOES THE DAYUM THING.......WANT TO KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING BOUT COP THE BOOK~

There are not alot of authors who are able to both inform and entertain. K. Elliott has been able to do both and do it better than most authors who have been on the literary scene long than he. They just keep getting better and better.

I am a 44 year old white woman from Detroit and I have read a lot of books but I never read one as good as this. I never set the book down. I've got everybody reading it now. It was the most thrilling book, it had me on the edge of my seat. You won't be disappointed. I went out the next day and bought the other (2) 50 cent books they were all excellent especially The Ski Mask. Thanks, Mr. Elliot

Mr. Elliott done a good job with this book, I like his style of writing and he keeps you wanting more. Taking a walk with Elliott in to the world of Seven I got to see just how he got down for his, showing you his highs and lows all while tring to make away for his son. I enjoyed it, it was on point and stayed there. 50 did it again!

I think it's really cool that 50 is getting into writing (or co-writing) street fiction. The story line was written well & was a smooth & easy read. I read this book in one sitting! I look forward to more G-Unit books. Right before reading this one, I picked up and finished the Death Before Dishonor. I was not disappointed by either. Although Death before Dishonor was a better read,I enjoyed the Ski Mask way as well. I think there should be a sequel! After reading this book, I may start reading books by K. Elliott from here on out.

grace dalrymple elliot,was the real paris hilton of georgian era.she married young ,divorce faster for adultery.slept her way to the top.her only child may had been fathered by prince of wales.she also had a romance with french royality during french revolution that almost cost her ,her head.this is a fun read.like reading scandel sheets of today.

This is a thoroughly well-researched and well-written biography of a fascinating personality who lived at one of the most interesting historical periods: England and France during the time of the American and French Revolutions. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves biographies or has a fascination with this period of history.

I have recently read several biographies of famous/infamous British women, from Nell Gwynn to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Due to my great interest in the Regency period, I ordered "My Lady Scandalous". I'm sorry to say I cannot recommend this book.

There was much more content about Grace Dalrymple's family and the Regency period than there ever was about Grace, and the information was very helter-skelter. The book seemed to be mostly "sidebar" articles about topics the author had researched, like condoms, hot air balloons, and so forth.

I took it along on a trip and left it behind, unfinished. I hope the author is blessed with a better editor, in future.

But, it was an enjoyable read that had me laughing out loud on more than one occaision. It's definitely packed with lots of information that you'd never read in a "proper" history book.

It was exhaustively and lovingly researched and, contrary to an earlier review, I could definitely see how current events and social mores could easily be connected to the wild times of Daly the Tall.

I passed this one on to my dear friend MarJane who has informed me that should she get reincarnated, she wants to come back as a Courtesan just like Grace! She could definitely do worse and come back as Savonarola...

Hmmmm....now THAT would have been an interesting meeting - Grace and Savonarola...how the world could have turned out differently...

This book has little to do with the woman in the title. The writing style reminds me of sixties free flow writing that people did after they were stoned. The author dashes off on one tangent after another that is difficult to follow and you forget what the chapter was supposed to be about to begin with. Not even worth checking out of the library much less owning.