Peter Books

Oh wow, am I happy to have read this book.
Do you remember the movie "The Duel," with Dennis Weaver? Terrifying!
"French Creek" had, for me, the same level of intensity. Read this and
you'll never drive by another junkyard in your life without thinking of
this book (and driving quickly past the junkyard). Through all the
terror, however, there is a lovely, well-written story about a man, his
hopes and his dreams. The characters are so well drawn that they'll
live in your mind for a long time. Even the characters you wish would
go away quickly and leave you alone because they are SO evil. Excellent book!

The lesson to be gleaned from Peter Rennebohm's "French Creek" is this: In life, bad things really do happen to good people, more often than we'd like to believe, and I guess the best we can hope for is that we, ourselves, are never selected by the vagaries of life to be one of them. John R. Rule is "good people" and when he ventures out one wintry February day from his Minneapolis office deep into the Minnesota hinterlands, searching for a remote auto salvage yard to find a part for an old truck he's restoring, he soon meets some very bad people doing some very bad things. In tone, mood, and geography this novel reminded me of the movie "Fargo"; which in my opinion is one of the ten best American films ever made. Although the two stories are really nothing alike, the landscape in "French Creek" couldn't be bleaker, the bad guys couldn't be worse, and John Rule's predicament couldn't be more desperate. Besides being an author of crime fiction myself, I am also a full time police officer, and let me tell you, Rennebohm has absolutely nailed his worst evil doer in the book, Ray Steckel, from the shop grease embedded beneath his fingernails, to his foul onion and nicotine breath and his stained, yellow teeth. Rennebohm keeps the story moving at a brisk pace and even though "French Creek" isn't so much a "whodunnit" from a pure mystery standpoint, it is a great suspense novel that positively will not disappoint readers of this genre. This one is definitely in the "two thumbs up" category, and I highly recommend it.

Little Blue Whales: a novel

The main character John Rule goes to a junk yard to buy the truck part he needs. He realizes he should not have gone to such lengths to find the part, as he goes to leave the owners of the junk yard have much different plans for John.

The story takes John through many threatening scenes. John looks at his hopes, his dreams, his failures and his successes and is determined not to give into his feelings of hopelessness.You will experience John's terror as he adventures through everything that is being thrown his way.
French Creek is an excellent novel; I could not put it down. Wonderful character development, unexpected story lines, terror, thrills and suspense are incorporated into the story. The novel jumps off the pages, you can visualize the characters and the action taking place as you read.

Sometimes the simplest step can put a person in big trouble.

Peter Rennebohm uses that premise to build a novel that stokes up tension at a consistent rate and won't let you put French Creek down until the last page.

John L. Rule goes looking for a part for a pickup truck he's restoring. His search takes him to a salvage yard in a desolate rural area of Minnesota where he confronts danger that puts him in a struggle for his life.

Time after time, Rule escapes one threat only to face another. And, each is a logical, realistic possibility of what could happen to a person in such circumstance. The plot is deftly orchestrated and keeps one turning the pages, seeking just a little more of the same.

Intertwined with this central theme, Rennebohm gives us insight into Rule's character and his relationship with his wife and children and the father-in-law who, while not entirely trusting the man, goes to great lengths to rescue him.

The story is an adrenalin rush that will have you begging for more.

The beautiful serene winter scene on the cover of French Creek belies the terror that awaits the reader inside. John L. Rule, Minneapolis salesman, understands the benefit of combining business with pleasure. He books client appointments near the Minnesota-South Dakota state line so he can finish the business day locating a steering wheel for his old pick-up truck. He was told French Creek is the place to go to get exactly what he needs.

He wasn't told it was also the place to go for the fight of his life. Although he thought the rude junkyard owner was a bit odd, Rule had no idea the owner had plans to make sure Rule and his Ford Explorer never left the junkyard.

Rennebohm knows how to keep a reader turning pages. I could see the characters, see the scenes, and hear the different voices he created. He's also good at weaving the various scenes within a chapter so I never had to wonder too long about what was happening in another part of the story.

Armchair Interviews says: If you want a page turner, this is it.

This is an outstanding collection from a legend of the image Lee Friedlander, a massive, massive book that's quite affordable.
There is art, street imagery, nostaglia, a gusher of photos of sheer beauty from a glance that Friedlanders eye is drawn to.
Beginners, collectors or professionals will find this tomb a timeless collection that cannot be ignored.
Look into photographers William Eggleston, Helen Levitt, Saul Leiter, Robert Adams and Garry Winogrand just to mention a few for more visual classics.
Saul Leiter's new book is quite unique relative to style, really a beauty.

I had never heard of Mr. Friedlander when I saw his exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. There is no way to describe his work in words; you just must experience it. Beyond his keen eye for black and white photography, he has a sly sense of humor that permeates his works. Many of these would be suitable for framing and placed in places where you might not normally hang a photo. This book is a great coffee-table book to be savored and enjoyed. Throw some pillows on the floor and flop down with this huge book and turn the pages slowly.

Ok, sorry to say but once you have this big bad boy what more do you need really? The section at the back about the development of Lee's printing over the years is especially interesting for photographers who are about to make a book. It's yellow which goes well with most coffee tables...Frankly they could have trimmed 20 percent of the photos but in this day and age more is more so what the heck...Totally worth it.

by its scope, this book, like the photographer who's work it represents, is unique. not just the amount of photos, but the richness of them, their cool intelligence. it is a major volume, by one of the most influential non-color artists of our time. many people either hate or love friedlander's work, and i love it. if you do, just looking at this book a few times will be a great joy. if you're lucky (and rich) enough to buy or own it - what a treat.

Lee Friedlander is one of the most important photographers within the history of the medium. His uncanny sense of irony merges with a refreshing use of formal design, producing provocative visual metaphors. His use of frames within frames comments on the nature of photography itself. It is hard to look at the american landscape the same after viewing his work, and that is a good thing! If you can afford another Friedlander book besides this one, i highly recommend "Like a One-Eyed Cat"!

It's rare to find an advanced computer science textbook that's both so engaging and so informative. I've only read the first seven chapters so far, but when I sat down to write my first genetic algorithm (for real research use), the book had already prepared me well.

It's hard to imagine a better introductory textbook for this topic.

This book is a great introduction to genetic programming and should be a model for textbook authors in other fields. Knowing little about genetic programming to begin with, this book guides the reader through the various topics and problems associated with genetic programming in a very logical and understandable way. Highly recommended! I wish more technical books were like this!

I skimmed the Koza books (GP: I & II) and this one at the store. Using the layout, chapter names, and the introductory chapters as my guide, I decided to buy this book to introduce me to the current state of the art in GP. The strengths of this book are its textbook format and the informal exercises that are presented for the reader at the end of every chapter. There is also a great deal of compilation from other relevant gp works presented in a localized, intra-chapter basis. The book is thus highly digestable to a newcomer, and is a far less time-consuming way to learn about GP than through the "expert" papers on the web. Having now almost finished the book, I feel that I am ready and able to author and apply GP techniques in a wide variety of applications and languages, having spent less than 20 hours in study time. A terrific achievement by Banzhaf and company, highly recommended.

This book is good for getting a general view of genetic programming. Nevertheless, I think it neglects many details. For example, it is very hard to from the book how a simple selection strategy (tournament selection) works in practice.

I do not think this book is useful for someone intending to code a genetic programming algorithm.

We all know that kind of books where the author likes to show how much he knows making things intentionally complex....well...this is the opposite side of the spectrum.
The book is very complete and detailed yet easy to read, even after a day of work.
The first part of the book contains introductory information on background areas like probability, biology and computer science as a general discipline.
Getting into the topic, it clarifies some of the differences between evolutionary systems and genetic algorithms and shows how all this contributes to the theory of genetic programming and the evolution of computer programs.
It explains how things are done with different types of individuals (tree, linear, graph, etc) and gives valuable insight about the implementation process.
Although you may need other sources for formal treatment of some topics, this book is a very good acquisition.

Berkley and Economy have summarized, in a very simply fashion, how regular people with a vision and sense of purpose can step in and make things happen when others, like the goverment or agency, fail. This is a tale of ordinary people mobilizing others to do extraordinary things. It's both inspirational as well as reassuring that people like Bert, Peter and the others in the book are there to take action. We should all follow their lead.

This book brings to light the real impact a business can have on a community. How can we get this message to more business and corporate leaders. The book will jump start your enthusiasm to give back to the community and become involved.

This is in inspiring book! It made me reflect on how I could elevate the contributions of both myself and those I work with to help others in the community. As a company, we are faithful participants in Kansas City's Day Of Caring, the Susan B. Komen run, and multiple other community activities, but based on what others have done, we can clearly do much more.

I encourage everyone to read this book!

This book provides truly inspirational stories of incredible individuals (certainly including Bert Berkley himself) who are doing great works to make a difference, each in their own way. In addition, the interviews are really helpful getting into the motivations and challenges faced in these endeavours, and there is a very practical, 'how to' sense about it all. A MUST READ!!

The authors know what they're talking about; they have spoken to some of the most visionary leaders in the business world and brought us their stories of why giving back has made extraordinary changes in our communities. The authors hope the book will become a catalyst of change for businesspeople who want to make an impact on the world around them - a blueprint for doing just that is contained in these pages. There is much we can all learn from this book.

As other reviewers have said, this is a terrific dictionary for serious students of German. Words are given detailed definitions together with explanations of how to use them and example sentences. Usually this gives much more precise information than would be possible with a translation, and it is also very nice to think entirely in German. This book is one of my most valued possessions. I had to get a new copy because my previous copy was so tattered.

Now I would like to add a couple of points to what other reviewers have said.

First, there is also a very nice software version (unfortunately using Windows). This makes searching a lot faster. In addition, it has a really cool feature called "Pop-Up Search". When this is enabled, if you are reading any German text on your computer, you can right-click on a word, and the dictionary entry will appear in a bubble.

Second, although this dictionary is pretty big, there are many German words which are not in there. (Indeed, German has more or less infinitely many words, since you can keep sticking words and prefixes together to make bigger and bigger compounds...) So as a backup you might also want to have a really big translation dictionary, such as Collins Unabridged --- or if you are advanced enough to use it, a real German dictionary such as Duden.

Conclusion: I recommend using this dictionary as soon as you know enough German to be able to use it. Look words up in here first, and if you can't obtain the information you need, then try a big translation dictionary.

Langenscheidt's Deutsch als Fremdsprache (German as a foreign language) dictionary is an excellent reference for the student of German. I bought mine during my time at the University of Heidelberg and found it immensely helpful, and still do as an aid to keeping my German in tune.

The dictionary has over 66,000 references. The definitions cover not only the basic meaning of the words, but also situational usage, idiomatic expressions, and all the standard dictionary fare of pronunciation and part of speech. Also included are many illustrations, often used to point out differences between kinds--for example, under the entry "Schusswaffen" or "firearms," is an illustration showing the differnce between rifle, revolver, and pistol, with the appropriate German vocabulary. Browsing the entries and illustrations can actually become addictive, as reading one entry will send you to another, expanding and reinforcing your vocabulary.

Not only is this dictionary more precise than even the best dual-language dictionaries, the detailed definitions will help the speaker understand both how and when the various words are best used.

Highly recommended.

I have found this dictionary to be invaluable to my pursuit of fluency in German. Building a proper vocabulary in German, independent of one's own primary language, is important to being able to fully learn another language. I am now able to read, speak and write German without the labor of translating from English into German and vice versa. I recommend this dictionary coupled with reading simple texts at first such as children's books starting from a young age level up to an adult level with many intermediate levels in-between as one progresses. I lost my first copy that I bought in Germany several years ago and recently I bought a replacement online. I have not looked through a German-English dictionary in the last few years, and I'll never again search through one.

I have found this dictionary to be invaluable to my pursuit of fluency in German. Building a proper vocabulary in German independent of one's own primary language is important to being able to fully learn another language. I am now able to read, speak and write German without the labor of translating from English into German and vice versa. I recommend this dictionary coupled with reading simple texts at first such as children's books starting from a young age level up to an adult level with many intermediate levels in-between as one progresses. I lost my first copy that I bought in Germany several years ago and recently I bought a replacement online. I have not looked through a German-English dictionary in the last few years, and I'll never again search through one.

This dictionary is the perfect supplement to a bilingual German dictionary. It contains explanatory, easy-to-understand definitions for some 66,000 German words. Each entry contains the part of speech (and gender, for nouns), pronunciation where nonstandard, conjugation (verbs) or declination (nouns), a clear definition, and often examples, related phrases, synonyms, antonyms, and other helpful data. This is extremely useful for those speaking German as a foreign language. A word of warning: this dictionary, of course, should only be used by those with at least intermediate proficiency in German, as the dictionary is monolingual-German.

Thoreau's journals ran to two million words and contained survey information and other matter most readers would not find interesting. This smartly edited collection spans Thoreau's writing career and reveals him as he truly was, in dialog with himself and the world.

It has become a cheap fad in some quarters to criticize Thoreau as a would-be outdoorsman when in reality he lived at Walden Pond on his friend Emerson's land and visited Concord almost daily. But Thoreau never claimed to be a John Muir. As this collection makes clear, his talent had to do with focusing on the ordinary but neglected. His mood is one of almost constant celebration of natural images and forces he did not see (as we tend to do) as necessarily in conflict with urban human life. As he says about seeing the beauty in people and things, "If I seek her elsewhere because I do not find her at home, my search will prove a fruitless one."

There is, of course, the less admirable Thoreau. He was prone to moralizing and offering suggestions of the "let a man do such-and-such" variety about how to live one's life. His comments about women generally do him very little credit, and they also explain the lack of an enduring feminine presence in his life. Fortunately, those thoughts are brief and few. Thoreau the activist and lover of freedom is here too, and Thoreau the social critic: "The council of nations may reconsider their votes; the grating of a pebble annuls them."

An entire life cannot be summed up, but this journal entry hints at the shape of his own: "It is not words that I wish to hear or to utter, but relations that I seek to stand in..."

How could this man have read every thought of mine over 100 years before my birth?! Timeless truth in all of his writings...not just this one. This is a most intimate example being his personal journal. Every word, every well thought out phrase speaks to my heart and idea of what truth should look and sound like. It should make you catch your breath and Thoreau absolutely accomplishes this for me.

We all know Walden and some of the other famous essays but the journals are sometimes hard to get through. This book of excerpts provides some of the gems from the journals and shows Thoreau in a new way.

The Heart Of Thoreau's Journals provides readers with an intimate glimpse into the heart and mind of American literature's premier individualist. Consolidated into 218 concise pages by Odell Shepard from the 39 volumes Thoreau left behind upon his death at 45 in 1862, the journals reveal Thoreau as an irreverent and shrewd observer of the human character who was happily fated with the gift of forever seeing the king riding proudly in public without clothes ("The mass never comes up the standard of its best member, but on the contrary degrades itself to the level with the lowest," "After all, the field of battle possesses many advantages over the drawing - room. There is at least no room for pretension or excessive ceremony, no shaking of hands or rubbing of noses, which makes one doubt your sincerity, but hearty as well as hard hand - play. It at least exhibits one of the faces of humanity, the former only a mask," "This lament for a golden age is only a lament for golden men").

Requiring solitude in the manner most require food and shelter, the philosophical, ascetic Thoreau lived most of his life in isolation ("The poet must keep himself unstained and aloof") as an ardent lover and keen observer of the natural world ("All of nature is my bride," "My profession is to be always on the alert to find God in nature, to know his lurking - places, to attend all the oratorios, the operas, in nature"). A comedic misanthrope ("I have lived some thirty - odd years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors," "The society of young women is the most unprofitable I have ever tried"), Thoreau also wrote with sympathy, understanding, and concern about the townspeople whose company he preferred not to keep. Even his plain - spoken contempt for the boorish, the smug, the pretentious and the assertively conformist ("What men call social virtues, good fellowship, is commonly but the virtue of pigs in a litter, which lie close together to keep each other warm") was often tempered with humanity and matter - of - fact acceptance for the inevitable variations of man's psychology. The simple, the genuine, the uncomplicated and the sincere came in for high marks in Thoreau's estimation of people, places, and things.

A Harvard graduate who was born and spent most of his life in New England, bachelor Thoreau set the standard and defined the blueprint for all introverted American artists and thinkers to come. Though Thoreau wrote incessantly and found work as a lecturer, schoolteacher, editor, and tutor at different periods of his life, he typically worked as a gardener, handyman or land surveyor, and spent a particularly frustrating period working in his father's pencil factory. Though he knew himself to be misunderstood by most, Thoreau was uncomplaining ("Ah! How I have thriven on solitude and poverty! I cannot overstate this advantage"), confident, ultimately self - satisfied, and generally unconcerned with what, if anything, future generations would make of him. The respect, acknowledgement, and honor of society meant far less to him than his day - to - day, moment - to - moment freedom to continue to enjoy his perceptions, sensations, and ideas, which he rightfully understood to be his life's work and birthright.

As one of the founders of Transcendentalism, the idealistic Thoreau was a dryly passionate believer in man's capacity to overcome mundane (and often self - imposed) obstacles, identify and focus his attention on the eternal fundamentals of life, and enjoy personal communion with God by utilizing nature as a lens. The journals abound with declarative passages which readers have found enlightening, guiding, and inspirational for generations ("Despair and postponement are cowardice and defeat. Men were born to succeed, and not to fail," "We forever and ever and habitually underrate our fate...ninety - nine and one - hundredths of our lives we are mere hedgers and ditchers, but from time to time we meet with reminders of our destiny"). Thoreau's journals, along with key American text and masterpiece Walden, represent the cream of his work.

I found this book on the shelf at my school's library after I had read a selection of Ralph Waldo Emerson's in which he praised Thoreau for being a particularly clear-seeing individual. I had never read Thoreau and did not know who he was, but this book immediately became my most valued possession after my own journal.

The editor did a wonderful job of selecting from Thoreau's many (often tedious) writings those that offer most in the way of communicating what he felt about life, love, society, government, death, religion, nature, science, beauty and self. The writing is in many ways flawless. Along with Emerson and Whitman, Thoreau embodied the spirit of American Transcendentalism, the philosphy under which one aspired to realize a word beyong the physical and social world. "The Heart of Thoreau's Journals" is the best evidence that Henry David Thoreau realized such a world and lived contently in it many of the days of his life.

This book is probably the best possible choice for anyone looking to read or know Thoreau. It is necessarily as honest as any other work. And unlike "Walden" or other commercially-produced works, it lacks the endless musings and explanations of ideas and events for the audience's information. It is only the bare naked thoughts and feelings of the author. I would suggest it as preliminary reading for anyone who wants to read his other books. It will give you the foundation of an appreciation for Thoreau that puts all other work in proper perspective.

What better way to exprience a nationthan through the lives of it's people. This ultra-connected Canadian and incredibly entertaining writer tells stories that can't be forgotten. A must-read!

Peter Newman is probably Canada's best-known journalist, an editor of MacClean's Magazine and the Toronto Star, and the author of many books about the Canadian establishment. In this autobiography, he tells us how he came to Canada from Czechoslovakia in 1939 as an eleven-year old, and worked his way steadily upward. He has plenty of interesting stories to tell about prominent people in the Canadian establishment that he has personally known in his lifetime, people like Pierre Trudeau and Conrad Black. He is an excellent writer, and I found the book interesting to read.

Peter C. Newman is truly a very remarkable and great Canadian. He is by far the greatest non-fiction writer in Canadian history. Newman is a very remarkable and extraordinary person -- I admire the man !

'Here be Dragons' by Peter C. Newman is without a doubt a very very excellent book -- and that is why it is a Canadian best seller. Mr. Newman has led a very outstanding life and his memoirs speak volumes about the greatness of this man.

As a Canadian I am proud I got a copy of this great book by a great man for Christmas. Peter C. Newman's life life story is one to
admire and at the end of the day I recommend this book because
Mr. Newman is truly a great Canadian !

Peter C. Newman is truly a very remarkable and great Canadian. He is by far the greatest non-fiction writer in Canadian history. Newman is a very remarkable and extraordinary person -- I admire the man !

'Here be Dragons' by Peter C. Newman is without a doubt a very very excellent book -- and that is why it is a Canadian best seller. Mr. Newman has led a very outstanding life and his memoirs speak volumes about the greatness of this man.

As a Canadian I am proud I got a copy of this great book by a great man for Christmas. Peter C. Newman's life life story is one to
admire and at the end of the day I recommend this book because
Mr. Newman is truly a great Canadian !

Biographies are usually dull, because they implicitly brag about the achievements of the rich and powerful and famous and glamorous rather than dealing with a topic that's really important and interesting -- ME !

This book is an exception to the rule.

It's a fascinating story of a once super-privileged Jewish boy whose family escaped pre-war Czechoslovakia because a Roman Catholic priest gave them certificates to slip past the Holocaust. Being Catholics enabled his family to emigrate to Canada, where he became the leading political analyst in newspapers, magazines and books. Like many immigrants, he is more Canadian than most people born in the country; the result is a book written with humour, kindness and a sense of shattering disappointment and disillusion.

Political journalism is a slash-and-burn war in the US, anchored by the pure hatred of right-wing zealots such as Rush Limbaugh and his ilk; or the pompous twits who debate whether dissent to erudite liberal wisdom ranks above or below the grunts of orangutans. In Canada, journalism proves "the emperor has no clothes" by laughing at the foibles, faults, fears and follies of politicians. Newman is a 'Mack the Knife' artist, he doesn't use the blunt force trauma of a California Terminator. Newman wielded the best scalpel in Canadian journalism for decades, and he did so with such skill that his victims never felt obliged to drop him from their Christmas card list. In this book, he provides the delicious details of how it was done,.

But it's much more.

Think of Newman as an intelligent Garrison Keillor, who talks for 20-minutes every week about the inanities of ordinary folks in Lake Woebegone. Newman tells even better stories about the motivations of the rich and powerful leaders of America's largest trading partner (the single largest source of foreign oil, for example). Newman's harshest criticism is of his own shortcomings, not the faults of the unworthy villains writhing on the point of his pen. But he also portrays the absolute perfidy of some Canadian politicians, the devils who make any US president look saintly by comparison. It's the approach many wish they could have used against newman 40 years ago.

A few years ago, Newman visited the Theresienstadt concentration camp where most of his relatives died. He also saw10 names the same as his -- Peta Neumann -- ranging in age from 10 months to 10 years. This is what he escaped in a series of events that would put the film world to shame. But this is not another Holocaust book; it is a story of a life that soared to greatness when nourished by the freedom of Canada. Instead of the "scorched earth" journalism of the US which I favoured, he used humour to puncture the hubris of the high and haughty. In the US, humour is often acerbic. Newman embodies the definition by Stephen Leacock, "the essence of humour is human kindliness", but he accompanies it all with his penetrating analysis of Canadian politics.

To understand the soul of Canada today, this is the prime guidebook.

It's written by a man who knows how to love; a combination of pure exhilaration and crushing despair that creates true passion. Instead of the polls and poltroons of modern politics, Newman's focus is on the feelings and meanings of public service. I've known him since the 1970s, and we've been in the like sport for decades, though I've never worked with or for him (he does quote me briefly in the book). Based on my career, I can honestly say this is the book of a master craftsman gifted with a rare insight, sensitivity and acumen.

It's liable to infuriate many Canadians, who tend to be very sensitive about having their political idols described as emperors without clothes. For that reason, it's probably the best book about Canada written within the last 50 years. Newman reflects the finest principle of honest journalism, "Comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable".

Simply put: This guy talks too much. I want a book that can show me how to do things and move along. This author likes using acronyms in his writings (LOL, FWIW, AFAIC, etc.) without providing a glossary for them. Some I know, but not all. I'm sure there is good information in it, but I just don't have a year to read this. I need to develop now! Does anyone want to buy my copy of this book? I'll be happy to sell it to you!

I have been programming for years and didn't really realize how much I didn't know.

Mr. Vaughn has been building databases and writing code against them since the beginning. His explanations of DB and ADO evolution is something that every webApp/dba should know.

The book is a fast read, imformative with lots of .Net examples.

Thanks for writing such a great book. I am excited to get the next version.

I am very inmpressed with this book! This is one that will be dog earred.

This is truly an outstanding book. Not only is it extremely well written and "readable" (unfortunately many a tech book is not these days), I feel it begins a dialog of sorts between the developer side of the fence and the database side of the fence (were that there were no fences, alas).

I've visited far too many organizations that work in near complete isolation when developing applications. For those types of organizations, no tool like Team System will improve things: if they don't collaborate already, a tool won't get them to do so.

We need more books like this in the market. Today's technology is so complex you simply can not perform your role properly without understanding the larger picture.

I'm a C programmer, new to SQL and Windows programming.

Bill's book has gotten me up to speed on SQL Server and Visual Studio in record time.

I looked at a number of books on these subjects and this one definitely stands out as being the most comprehensive. At the same time, it is easy to follow.

I highly recommend the book.

HUNTING THE KING is a fast-paced story of the search for the remains of Christ. And if not Christ's remains, at least those of his family members. Throughout the complex compilation of characters from academia, religion, the military and the past Iraqi regime, you wonder what will happen to the faithful if Christ's temporal remains should be found. The story is very well written. Clenott keeps the numerous characters and their stories clear and interesting and the dénouement is clever. I highly recommend this book.

Careful! This one takes you by the neck, drags you to the edge, and throws you over.
Featuring a plot with more twists and turns than a Vermont ski trail, Hunting the King is an all-out race to be first to discover the grave of Jesus, who not only rose from the dead after being crucified (the Easter Resurrection) but might actually have thrived for many years afterward, raised a family, and spent his time working to spread the word of God.

...except we don't actually know all this as fact, and as we follow the opposing forces - one seeking to prevent the infidel Christians from claiming the burial site, and Molly Dwyer and her team who are seeking it for precisely that reason, it's not hard to see the reason in the views of both sides. If this is not enough plot for you, Archaeologist Dwyer has her own demons to fight - dreams in which she finds herself alive during those turbulent years, living as the daughter of Jesus. Could it be she's a reincarnation of Hannaniah? She has the red hair, the eye color. Treachery and double dealing combine with shadowy mysticism as others who share the dream begin to find their way to her side. No one can be trusted. No matter which side prevails, the discovery will be huge, world-changing, and everyone knows it.

It's a lot of story to have on just one stage, but Clenott does an amazing job of reining in the half-dozen story lines, always moving things forward, drawing his cast ever closer to the final moments, and at the same time managing to keep the lid on the actual details of the burial site until just the right moment. It's a masterful job from a writer of genuine ability.

After putting Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code" down in mid-read, disgusted with the failure to produce the payoff promised by the opening, I began this read with reservations. I'm happy to say not any more! If you are one who enjoys fast-paced, devil-take-the-hindmost writing, you should be sure to give this one a try.

Art Tirrell is the author of 2007's The Secret Ever Keeps

One of the joys of reading 'first novels' is the pleasure of discovering a mature writer who is able to construct a book with a strong idea, a solid cast of varied and wholly credible characters, and the ability to pull it all together with elegant writing. Peter Clenott seems to have the qualities that define a writer of class - a rich imagination, a commitment to research, a facile way with words, a sense of the arc of a story line that is as smooth throughout the curve, and a style that manages to make a complex story very easy to follow.

Mysteries about the origins of Christianity have been a popular topic for the past decade or so - was Jesus crucified until dead and did he rise from the dead and in resurrection ascend into heaven, or was there more to his important life than tradition and the Church would have us believe - questions that to some casual reader of a book jacket may sound heretical but to others who love historical investigation open new paths of exploring, and even enhancing, our belief systems. Clenott writes with authority and yet with a profound respect for all religions as he traces a mixed group of archeologists, clerics, historians, politicians, Intelligence experts, and military personnel from varied countries in a search for the possible remains of a buried Jesus and his 'earthly family' - all from insights provided by the Book of Hannaniah (the daughter of Jesus and Mary Magdalen) excluded from the Bible. His cast is lead by a fascinating Dr. Molly O'Dwyer who is convinced through her sessions of 'Regression therapy' by a Catholic priest turned professor that she has inhabited the character of Hannaiah and is obsessed with discovering the burial site of Hannaiah and possibly even the grave of Jesus. The book follows the expedition team gathered from various countries to Iraq, a timely current and well-managed proscenium arch for the story. Clenott manages the various aspects of this story by breaking his chapters into fragments that serve to transport the reader to various vantages of the involved and very disparate characters, allowing the story to flow without disruption while at the same time giving the reader a depth of understanding about the forces involved. His knowledge and research is evident on every page as we learn the terrain not only of Afghanistan and Iraq but also of the Vatican and the US and tenets of the world religions. And to keep the novel grounded in credible reality Clenott manages to introduce sidebars of love interest and profound friendships as well as the brutalities of war and conflicts that enhance this story while successfully questioning historical Biblical accuracy.

To offer more of the plot would spoil the adventure for reading Peter Clenott's fascinating tale. HUNTING THE KING is a very fine, very successful work of literature - a book that, once started, is quite impossible to put down. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, May 08

One more book in the "just like Da Vinci Code" genre, but the only difference is, this one is good.

In 2003, as America is invading Iraq, a discovery is made that leads Molly O'Dwyer to believe that Hannaniah, the supposed daughter of Jesus, is there and Molly must find the remains before they are lost forever. Being an observant Catholic, she battles herself over the bigger picture. If she finds and reveals them to the world, what will happen to the Christian faith? With a long list of characters that had me a bit confused at times, Molly and her fellow scientist's race through Iraq and Afghanistan following clues that Hannaniah herself left in her poetry. Climaxing in a battle of good vs evil and who can outwit who, Clenot has you on the edge of your seat until the final pages.

The brutality of the time and place are not lost on the reader, Clenott manages to carry the reader through Abu Ghraib and into the beauty of the country that protects their traditions and will fight to withhold them.

What I respected Clenott for was his implying but not really coming out and saying who the mother of the child was. Mary Magdalene's name had been mentioned in the book as a follower, but it was never said outright that she was the mother of Hannaniah. I'm glad he didn't get caught up in the current hype and let the reader reach their own conclusion. The one thing that did caused me to mark the book down one star was the fact that the lead character was a diabetic, but yet was able to go long days without eating and only needing one insulin shot. I don't know why Clenott included this tidbit about his character since it really wasn't necessary and for me, drew me away from the story. Having lived with my father, a diabetic for years, this didn't make sense to me and kept drawing me away from the story.

Apparently, this is the first in a planned series and I look forward to see more from this writer and Molly O'Dwyer.

Peter Clenott has written a Da Vinci Code for the discerning reader. There's plenty of suspense, action, and more than a few plot twists, but this tale of religious intrigue is a lot less dense and convoluted. To put it another way, I felt Dan Brown stuffed Da Vinci with a little too much padding--Clenott gives you the essential good stuff without any fluff.

The heroine of the piece is Molly O'Dwyer, an American archaeologist who discovers a long-lost burial mound in ancient Babylon on the eve of the American invasion of Iraq. What's particularly refreshing about her is that Molly is a fully-developed character with completely believable personal problems and beliefs that affect her reactions to the situation in which she finds herself. The story hinges on her efforts to discover whose remains are in the tomb and how it relates to the mysterious Gospel of Hannaniah, which is the story of the alleged daughter of Jesus. Since her discovery can undercut the foundations of the church and leave billions of believers with no basis for their faith, Molly's got her work cut out for her.

No tale of international religious intrigue would be complete without a cast of spies, slightly mad scientists, and secretly evil church hierarchy and Clenott doesn't disappoint in that department. To it he adds a setting that couldn't be more contemporary--the Middle East about to plunge into war--and an intriguing plot that holds you through the final riveting revelations.

Hunting The King is an intellectual thriller with overtones of a historical novel and enough action and intrigue to please even the most discerning fan of the genre.

Utterly engaging and one hell of a lot of fun, I found myself genuinely unable to put this book down. I am a fan of Kerouac, Tom Wolfe (both Tom Wolfes, in fact), and Hunter S., and to me this book contained scattered elements that recalled all those writers, yet Weissman's achievement stands distinctly apart from these others in style, subject, and form. I am a very, very slow reader, so I particularly loved how the story is broken up into manageable chapters, each one feeling complete and self-contained, yet fitting in perfectly with the whole book, scene transitioning to scene as 1967 unravels in a staggering rush. The people are real, compelling characters and the imagery is some of the brightest and most vivid I have ever read. A candle can't flicker and a beautiful girl can't blink in this book but that the reader is there also, seeing it happen. A very impressive book, I hope to see more from Weissman!

Having been in the East Village during the last stages of the 60s, I found "I Think Therefore Who Am I" an impressive recollection of what still lives inside me like a dream. But within that dream these memoirs felt like they resurrected real people, real imaginings, real drugs, real doubt and real angst. By turning on and tuning out, the world described here is seemingly more paradoxical than ever before: the author's predilection for capturing the essence of the countercultural revolution of the hippie world is strung alongside the existential mood of the characters who we find are often not that idealistic at all. Descartes' "cogito" started out as a dream that, when he woke, gave him the essential surety of his own self's ability to doubt. That kind of self-reflective keenness, taken into the poignant musings of a good observer and writer like Weissman, takes the question of "who am I" and surrounds it brilliantly with the aura of a particularly intoxicating time.

Somehow, after all these years, Peter Weissman has managed to uncannily capture the texture, the rhythm and the dialogue of stoned young people living in NYC's East Village in 1967. At a time when books on the sixties have become more common as the protagonists reach their sixties, Weissman's work is unusual in depicting the life of an everyday hippie, not a Weatherman or a celebrity.

Anyone coming of age in the late sixties drug culture will recognize the daily characters and settings of Peter's hippie life with a sense of amazement - here they are again! While this is cast as a "coming of age" story, by the time Peter goes to California and returns, the drugs have overwhelmed any sense of growing up. Luckily, Weissman has a sense of humor, and I found myself laughing out loud again and again, which was good because, while the supporting cast goes through every kind of change, Peter himself seems to be heading in one direction, - from "a sorry scene... reminiscent of the thirties" in California to being "frozen in a particular purgatory" back East on his return, despite his recurrent hope that they're all on the brink of a new and more meaningful reality.

While the humor is wonderful, it's the epilogue which makes it work in the end. Since Weissman wrote the book we know he escaped with his brains intact, but it takes the epilogue for us to really believe it. As a sixty year old myself I loved the book and found it provided a rare and gritty assist to looking back and trying to make sense anew of those years. I highly recommend it to my peers and I can't help but suspect there's an audience as well among today's kids in their twenties.

The sixties--1967 is the year revisited in this book--was existential ground zero for the protagonist and his (our) generation. No surprise, then, to relive with him the psychedelic debates about the difference between truth and fact, acceptance and toleration. And for balance, to be reminded that we were no less benighted than any other generation coming of age, absolutely sure of itself; deriding, in this book, a goal-oriented society while striving for nirvana. The author uses these contradictions to undercut the essential, profound seriousness of his memoir, which at times is funniest when it's most sad.

It's been said, too often, that if you remember the sixties, you didn't truly experience them. But then, self-examination has never been a staple of popular culture, which feasts on glib sayings. Clearly, the author has been rethinking that past in order to get it right. And he has succeeded. Like him, the characters in his book turned on and tuned out during a brief, spectacular, and ultimately crushing and elucidating historical moment that they surely remember--if they survived it. A memoir, for them; a heady trip for anyone else.

This lucid memoir captures the hippie era of the sixties, the highs and lows of the psychedelic drug scene in New York City's East Village and San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury during the "Summer of Love."

The author, conveying the shifting fortunes and mental state of his "acid head" narrator, recalls that scene and the young man he was with sardonic humor. His chronological yet nonlinear tale, covering the year 1967, is a pastiche of discrete, titled stories ("In the Realm of Mythunderstanding," "Beelzebub and His Sidekick," "The Eighth Street Commune," "Leo's Hexagram," "In Thought's Caboose"). It starts well and gets even better, as the various pieces mesh and the overall tale of transformation and disintegration moves toward its denouement with mounting dread. But the awareness that suffuses this memoir keeps it sharp and unsentimental, so that even as the protagonist loses his mind, his confusion is rarely solemn, but gritty, or hilarious, and sometimes both at the same time.

Indeed, as someone who experienced that era, I can say it was a roller coaster time when it seemed everyone was higher or lower than they'd ever been, and never one or the other for very long. For the former psychedelic drug user, or pothead, the sense of exhilaration and abject despair and paranoia will seem eerily accurate.

But finally, what most recommends this book to me, a serious reader, is how fluidly it moves, from transition to transition, through the interwoven stories about spiritual and pseudospiritual realities and assumptions, politics and the existential poetry of the moment, sex and sexuality, the grungy details of life and the daily dreams of transcendance. I highly recommend it.