Mexico Books

My husband drives a big rig this atlas give all the scales and most up to
date changes in roads.

We just Drove for Orange Co Ca to Baltimore, Maryland and this was a very helpful guide and help us to do find many place along the way

We are extremely satisfied with our Rand McNally Motor Carriers' Road Atlas.

Our son drives over the road, and this is what he uses also.

Again, we are extremely satisfied with our purchase from Amazon.com.

Sincerely.
Henley H Bennett

We are retired full time RVrs traveling across the USA. This Road Atlas is great because it reveals (normally for truckers usage) all the routes and locations that will accomodate large vehicles and with warnings for those that won't.

this atlas is great it just needs minor tweaks and itll be even better like detail to the exits you have to take and where they lead but i guess you can purchase the next exit book

D.W. Linden's Sand Creek is a mystery set in southeastern Colorado with an unlikely sleuth, a broken down cowboy, hunting down Native American history to unearth a serial killer and save his friend from murder allegations. Sand Creek is a mystery with an intriguing romance subplot. Superb characterization and themes make this a 5+ mystery read. Ex-rodeo man and now laid back sheriff Johnny Hart's life is fairly much lost down the bottle. He hasn't been to a rodeo in a while, his wife has left him and his superiors are always warning him. He is even finding it difficult to track down the cattle rustlers. It could not get much worse, but of course, it does. His friend and rodeo buddy Char Sixkiller has been pegged by the FBI as the serial killer mutilating blond white women and dumping them on historic sites of Native American massacres. Can broken down cowboy Johnny save himself, his friend and Sandy?

This mystery focuses mostly on the friendship between two men and the hunt for a killer. Johnny and Char have a long history fro their rodeo past. Both are broken cowboys from past scars but loyal friends. In searching for the identity of the serial killer, Johnny and Char must face their past and rely on their friendship. Can the present hunt also heal their past and teach them how to forgive? Although the mystery focuses on the friendship between Char and Johnny, two important women in this mystery make Sand Creek a 5 star+ read and more than a mystery. Barbara, Johnny's ex-wife, is a divorcee with a career and independent. Sandy Cross is an independent unmarried woman, running her cattle ranch mostly alone since Mr. Cross is just too old. She is a Christian but she is spending a lot of time with a man with different spiritual beliefs and a Native American when Native Americans are seen with suspicion in this part of the country. Will she calmly break the law when push comes to shove? Sometimes a girl has to do what she has to do! Sandy is blond and smart and breaks all stereotypes. When the going gets tough, she doesn't reach for the hair dye or the comfort of the big city. Sandy in this book can be described with one word --- fortitude. She may seem preachy for one small moment or two but circumstances have to mellow out her fortitude and make it less rigid. The Christian element is balanced by the Native American massacre reality and the character of Char who also sees more than beyond his viewpoint. Actually, all the characters in this novel are written without rigid good and evil traits.

Linden's description of the locale draws the reader into the culture and landscape of Southeastern Colorado. A slightly melancholic tone in the beginning was a nice reading change from the typical mystery read. Readers will enjoy hearing about the history of the Native Americans and the massacres. Sand Creek has some nice twists and turns mystery-wise. The first third of this book is more about the rodeo life, the area, and the building of the friendship between Johnny and Char and the life of Sandy.

This was not a romance per se but readers may particularly enjoy its multi-faceted take on love: friendship, love and understanding that divorced people might still have, love emerging, the love of a father for a child, a Christian understanding of love, a Native American approach to spirituality and love/friendship. Sand Creek offers an intriguing insight into history and the massacres. A very nice read...a mystery but also a view more expansive and some insights readers may remember and ponder even after finishing the last page.

I thoroughtly enjoyed reading this book. The characters were interesting and multi-dimensional. The plot was interesting and the writing style made it easy to read. Very well done.

This book was similar to Tony Hillerman books, but even better! It is more contemporary, and very nicely written. I liked the comfortable chapter development, so that I could set it down, and yet still finish it in a few days. Linden really turns out some interesting ideas and phrases, and he uses intriguing imagery of the Southwest. Also, it is very culturally revealing - I mean, haven't you just wondered what modern rodeo cowboys might be like? Or how the Native American peoples might live today -- their personalities, their unique traditions? If you live in the southwest, and you know some cowboys and indigenous people, then can you imagine how these people interact? With cleverness and humor, by Lindens account! I'm not really much of a reader, but this book I just loved! I plan to read the continuing series, as it comes out, because the quality appears certain to me. It has what I like in a book --no wasted words, no repetition -- it was just right.

D.W. Linden's Sand Creek is a mystery set in southeastern Colorado with an unlikely sleuth, a broken down cowboy, hunting down Native American history to unearth a serial killer and save his friend from murder allegations. Sand Creek is a mystery with an intriguing romance subplot. Superb characterization and themes make this a 5+ mystery read. Ex-rodeo man and now laid back sheriff Johnny Hart's life is fairly much lost down the bottle. He hasn't been to a rodeo in a while, his wife has left him and his superiors are always warning him. He is even finding it difficult to track down the cattle rustlers. It could not get much worse, but of course, it does. His friend and rodeo buddy Char Sixkiller has been pegged by the FBI as the serial killer mutilating blond white women and dumping them on historic sites of Native American massacres. Can broken down cowboy Johnny save himself, his friend and Sandy?

This mystery focuses mostly on the friendship between two men and the hunt for a killer. Johnny and Char have a long history fro their rodeo past. Both are broken cowboys from past scars but loyal friends. In searching for the identity of the serial killer, Johnny and Char must face their past and rely on their friendship. Can the present hunt also heal their past and teach them how to forgive? Although the mystery focuses on the friendship between Char and Johnny, two important women in this mystery make Sand Creek a 5 star+ read and more than a mystery. Barbara, Johnny's ex-wife, is a divorcee with a career and independent. Sandy Cross is an independent unmarried woman, running her cattle ranch mostly alone since Mr. Cross is just too old. She is a Christian but she is spending a lot of time with a man with different spiritual beliefs and a Native American when Native Americans are seen with suspicion in this part of the country. Will she calmly break the law when push comes to shove? Sometimes a girl has to do what she has to do! Sandy is blond and smart and breaks all stereotypes. When the going gets tough, she doesn't reach for the hair dye or the comfort of the big city. Sandy in this book can be described with one word --- fortitude. She may seem preachy for one small moment or two but circumstances have to mellow out her fortitude and make it less rigid. The Christian element is balanced by the Native American massacre reality and the character of Char who also sees more than beyond his viewpoint. Actually, all the characters in this novel are written without rigid good and evil traits.

Linden's description of the locale draws the reader into the culture and landscape of Southeastern Colorado. A slightly melancholic tone in the beginning was a nice reading change from the typical mystery read. Readers will enjoy hearing about the history of the Native Americans and the massacres. Sand Creek has some nice twists and turns mystery-wise. The first third of this book is more about the rodeo life, the area, and the building of the friendship between Johnny and Char and the life of Sandy.

This was not a romance per se but readers may particularly enjoy its multi-faceted take on love: friendship, love and understanding that divorced people might still have, love emerging, the love of a father for a child, a Christian understanding of love, a Native American approach to spirituality and love/friendship. Sand Creek offers an intriguing insight into history and the massacres. A very nice read...a mystery but also a view more expansive and some insights readers may remember and ponder even after finishing the last page.

A serial killer is dumping the dismembered bodies of women at historical Native American massacre sites. The killer knows his history. With each body he leaves a token recalling the butchery of the past. The shame of America's nineteenth century western expansion has returned as a twenty-first century nightmare. Deputy Johnny Hart, a flawed and charming lawman, is stumbling through his life in middle-of-nowhere Kiowa County, Colorado. A "stove-in" rodeo rider, a man clinging to the last threads of connection to his wife and children, a beer-for-breakfast alcoholic, Johnny Hart is caving in under the debris of his misspent youth. An old buddy, Char Sixkiller, fits the description of the murderer and a lovely woman whose struggling ranch includes the site of the Sand Creek massacre is the likely next victim. It falls to Johnny Hart to save the people he loves, the few people who still love and care for him, and in this perhaps to save himself.

D.W. Linden's suspenseful new mystery of the contemporary west has everything we want in a good read. He gives us characters we can care about, suspense that never stops, and a climax that surprises and satisfies. Along the way, we meet the upright and the low-down, the crazy and the big hearted, the cowboys, the Native Americans, the FBI agents, and the ranchers. The "Sand Creek" story is rooted in the history of the Southwest and Native American culture, giving us a story of contemporary lives freighted with a very particular past. D.W. Linden's characters are gritty, real and memorable, struggling with the shadows of death and loss, looking for life.

"Sand Creek" is a great read and I look forward to the next installment in the Johnny Hart Mystery Series. This promises to be an exciting ride.

R.C. Knight

My heart soared when I saw the cover of this book. Yes, I was drawn to communal life in Taos back in the late sixties and early seventies. I lived with the Family. I still dream of going home to the Family. Yes, this book is true and accurate - as much as a memory can be. There is always more, like the night the Indians turned the hot springs cold. This book is wonderful archive of this time and place. Thanks Iris for helping me remember a time when belonging was more important than haveing.

As a veteran of communal life in the 60's, I truly appreciate the authenticity--and pure fun--of Iris Keltz's book. The photos, articles, memoirs, and hippie artwork take you right to the spirit of the times. What a great trip!!

About half way through this book, I got the bright idea of listing all the people mentioned in it that I knew personally, had met, or knew of. When the number reached 50, I stopped counting. It's easier to count the people in it that I DON'T know - on the fingers of one hand. Three of my oldest and dearest friends are featured here, one pictured on the cover. So I can't be unbiased and objective about these "tribal tales from the heart of a cultural revolution." I've lived them and loved them, so for me, it's a manifesto.

It enters you into a movie of life in those days around Taos. A rainbow of different voices speak. And the voiceover of the narrator is sure and true. Most delightful to me was remembering things I'd all but forgotten - like the Oriental Blue Streaks (a band), Da Nahazli (a hip school), Old Martinez Hall (a place, and the summer solstice at New Buffalo (a happening). Here in these pages, I've found people and places I haven't thought about for a long time - Feather, Preacher, Pabla, Teddy the Juggler, Hotsy Totsy, the Stragecoach Hot Springs, the General Store, peyote meetings on the mesa, Little Joe and Henry Gomez. It all comes back in color and glory and story and song, and it's food for the heart.

"I was always on the hunt for a mythological explanation of the world," says Keltz. "We were reverting to an old form - tribalism - but in a very new way. We would not be a tribe because of lineage, race, language, or tradition. We were a rainbow of people becoming a tribe because we had a collective belief in an alternative to materialism, greed, military power and an unpopular war fought using our brothers, schoolmates and boyfriends."

Not that there weren't some down times, hard times, foolish mistakes and even dangerous blunders. The author makes that clear. We were feeling our way, making it up as we went along. It was colored funny and fun and scary and serious. We knew that the only way to change the world was to change ourselves first. And we did that. None of us who lived through those times are the same people today.

I did catch some inaccuracies - but those are all in the memories of individual voices here. None of them are egregious errors or deliberate slights or misrepresentations as those often found in other chronicles of this time. Somebody said, "If you remember the '60s, you weren't there."

When you're living the life from day to day, it can seem ordinary. You chop wood and haul water, you cook oatmeal for the kids, you gather watercress and rose hips by the rio, but when you step into the world of this book, and the author does her magic for you, the patina of years transforms it into a whole round thing - like a soap bubble in the sun.

I learned a lot about what I'd missed - the hippie New Mexico oracle, "Fountain of Light" and the hippie-made Bicentennial silver and gold concha belt that was worth many thousands (but priceless really) and destined for the Bicentennial 1978 exhibit at the Smithsonian - but was stolen. I slept through all that but sure am glad to know about it now.

There's no index in this, so you can't look up any nouns, but after reading the whole thing, I think I understand why Iris didn't do an index. The story, the saga, is greater than its individual parts and greater than the sum of its parts.

Says Keltz, "We were the critical mass that could change the direction of our capitalistic society" and, "...we were unafraid of our inconsistencies, a people who embraced paradox as the slippery road to a glorious future."

Friends who have this scrapbook have told me that they skipped around, reading only about themselves and their friends, but I recommend doing as the White King advises. "Begin at the beginning; go right on until you come to the end; then stop." That way, you know what to go back to and look at again - photos, drawings, dialogue - whatever. Even if you don't know a single person, place or idea in this book, I believe the work stands on its own merits as a valuable historical chronicle. Sounds like marbles rolling, doesn't it? Rolling through this scrapbook, this album, this experience. Splendid stuff.

pamhan99@aol.com

I bought this book to understand where my mum is coming from when she speaks, acts and walks five dogs down the road. I picked it up in Taos New Mexico on a pilgramage there. It is a wonderful book with lots of different views throughout in the form of interviews/essays. The pictures are great and the author even includes old menus and health posters from the time. She tells it like it is and includes the flaws of the movement as well as the beauty that was there. Buy it for the coffee table.

Scrapbook Of A Taos Hippie is a biographical narrative of the some of the agrarian hippies of the 60's who attempted to live the Aquarian Age in Taos. The author's memoirs contain 3 years of colorful experiences. How did the dream play out? In the end, did practicality supersede idealism? What were the chief obstacles? Why was Taos important? You will be left with more questions after you arrive at the author's answers to these. Many black and white photos and topical news sources' stories decorate this album-like book. The author says she wrote it in response to her children's request to tell them about her hippie days. Scrapbook Of A Taos Hippie is more than a nostalgic look at a time and life now past. It captures the bitter poignancy of the day. It will appeal to specialized interests audiences.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

I have read this novel three times & will read it again.
All of John Cassell's novels are superbly written. The stories
are gripping & sure to please readers of all ages.
If it were possible to earn a ten star rating this Novel deserves it!
>
Soldiers of Aquarius 1969-1970 was a return to a wonderful, yet painful era in American history. Cassell takes you back to the days of "Make Love Not War","Peace" and "Hell No We Won't Go!" You get to travel with him from Atlantic City, New Jersey to Albuerque, New Mexico, then on to California and back. Many times with little or no money, through hot desert country and freezing cold. He lets you taste starvation,arrest, torture,loneliness and the confusion of youths living in those wonderful, stormy and often frightening days.

One day, when the cultural wars are done and the human soul is freed, I'll be able to say with full conviction, "This is a great Day to live."

SOLDIER OF AQUARIUS is a great place to step out into a new way of life, with a fascinating literary hero.

As is obvious from my discussion topic (in the Amazon Shorts forum) toasting John Cassell's HELL'S QUEST: 1971, I've been reading this author's collection of novels for the past few months, following a surge in literary exploration which has caused that forum to evolve into a commentary on each of those novels, as well as into a seminar on novelists talking about their work and writing techniques, including how ghosts, poltergeists, and possession of an author by a quickened character are related concepts.

For the past several years I've been reading mostly mystery novel series as I enjoy the literary depth and continuity there. I escape into novels so thoroughly that I go through a minor grieving process when I finish a good one. Being able to follow a character through several books is a boon to that type of psyche, and to an author like me who also writes books in series.

Prior to becoming addicted to the unique voice of Cassell, I had made a study of Robert B. Parker's Spenser series, reviewing each novel in that series, then moving into his two other mystery series. Through Spenser I enjoyed comparing the 70's to present day, and following various details of the evolution of cultural change beginning in the 70's then pushing heatedly through the 80's, 90's, and 00's.

That craving led naturally, almost uncannily into Cassel's novels, which focus on the 1967-1973 seeding pivotal point of the huge number of philosophical, psychological, sociological changes which we're still sorting through today.

My problem with some of The Literary Classics has always been that reading them depressed me. I was usually left at the end of a read feeling that the best next course of action would be to leap off a cliff. I was always disgusted that such amazing literary skill, such exquisite syntax, such blood-rich character development, such balsamic plot complexity was used to elevate either the artistry of ennui or of horrifying tragedy... concluding with, "Is that all there is?" or "Life is NOT a bowl full of cherries; it is The Pits of Terror and Torture." The GREAT GATSBY was one such. The wordsmithing and storytelling ability in that novel are almost insurpassable. Yet, I feel nothing but an empty, horrible depression when I get into that book or movie. Even so, Gatsby is one of my favorite examples of a truly good novel.

Too many of the Classics, for me, are the perfect promotions for Prozac. Given a choice, I'd rather read Parker or Cassell and keep my natural chemistry intact.

What I like about that pair is that both authors provide engrossing entertainment, then leave me as a reader with a feeling of being well grounded into reality, including the dark sides, yet ready to work even harder to get what I want out of life and to spark others to do the same with their lives, through my writing.

When I read I seek a spirit lift. I get enough daily drains on my life force from reality. I can't see welcoming them into my mind when I'm wanting the regenerating factor of an escape into an enthralling world created in my mind by another healthy mind.

Somewhat in contrast to all the above, I've been thoroughly drawn into the benefits of the Amazon Shorts program as a way to develop my readership, and to find additional authors I might want to explore. Through reading the short stories and nonfiction essays in the Shorts program, I've discovered that I can sometimes enjoy a "short" break from my usual diet of novels and series. The authors in the Amazon Shorts program are indeed impressive. If not for Amazon Shorts, I might not have discovered the author who has become my favorite, rivaling Ayn Rand's ATLAS SHRUGGED.

Who is John W. Cassell?

I hope to find other authors whose books possess anywhere near that level of ability to enhance the soul. It'll be a while yet, before I've come to the conclusion of indulging this wallow into the works of a great author stepping out.

I'm honored to say that my blurb has been included in this novel's publication, in good company with other authors raving SOLDIER OF AQUARIUS.

Soon, I hope to be able to compose and post separate reviews on each of Cassell's novels available here on Amazon. Until then, I'll post this overview to stand in admiration of literature worth reading and rereading.

Linda Shelnutt

Morning Comes: the Pre Dawn Blues - Part 1
I'm rereading my own novel available in a 10 part series of Amazon Shorts, MORNING COMES, which holds uncanny thematic parallels to some of John's books, especially AN AQUARIAN TRAGEDY, which I'm now reading, having now read all of the current Cassell collection.

One needn't read far along in this action-filled dramatisation of coming of age in America's counterculture of 1969-1970 before realising they are holding a soon-to-be classic in their hands.

Written a scant six years after the fact, this book places the reader at the very centre of the action in 1969-1970,when the protagonist faces the end of a highly successful four years at university and now must decide what next.

Whilst working through this decision, the young protagonist finds himself at the very knife edge of the war then afoot between old and young: the expectations of the older generation; the yearnings of the younger. What follows is a tempestuous two years of life in the counterculture. This is the counterculture of drugs, free love, war protests and anarchy that had this country as close to revolution as it would ever get.

Within those two years are packed all the triumph and defeat one could ever hope to find as the young man's saga touches three continents and just about every emotion one couldst label. These two years are re-experienced as a flashback on an airline trip to Albuquerque in April of 1977. A trip with a very special, emotion-laden purpose...a purpose from which there is no going back. Indeed, the young man has only purchased a one-way ticket.

Those days are long gone as a matter of history, but they come alive once more through the riveting writing ability of Mr. Cassell, a man whose talents as one of America's best storytellers are just beginning to achieve the recognition they have long deserved. Five Stars awarded by Perry Carver

SOLDIER OF AQUARIUS is a great place to step out into a new way of life, with a fascinating literary hero.

As is obvious from my discussion topic (in the Amazon Shorts forum on the USA Amazon site) toasting John Cassell's HELL'S QUEST: 1971, I've been reading this author's collection of novels for several months, following a surge in literary exploration which has caused that forum to evolve into a commentary on each of those novels, as well as into a seminar on novelists talking about their work and writing techniques, including how ghosts, poltergeists, and possession of an author by a quickened character are related concepts.

For the past several years I've been reading mostly mystery novel series as I enjoy the literary depth and continuity there. I escape into novels so thoroughly that I go through a minor grieving process when I finish a good one. Being able to follow a character through several books is a boon to that type of psyche, and to an author like me who also writes books in series.

Prior to becoming addicted to the unique voice of Cassell, I had made a study of Robert B. Parker's Spenser series, reviewing each novel in that series, then moving into his two other mystery series. Through Spenser I enjoyed comparing the 70's to present day, and following various details of the evolution of cultural change beginning in the 70's then pushing heatedly through the 80's, 90's, and 00's.

That craving led naturally, almost uncannily into Cassel's novels, which focus on the 1967-1973 seeding pivotal point of the huge number of philosophical, psychological, sociological changes which we're still sorting through today.

My problem with some of The Literary Classics has always been that reading them depressed me. I was usually left at the end of a read feeling that the best next course of action would be to leap off a cliff. I was always disgusted that such amazing literary skill, such exquisite syntax, such blood-rich character development, such balsamic plot complexity was used to elevate either the artistry of ennui or of horrifying tragedy... concluding with, "Is that all there is?" or "Life is NOT a bowl full of cherries; it is The Pits of Terror and Torture." The GREAT GATSBY was one such. The wordsmithing and storytelling ability in that novel are almost insurpassable. Yet, I feel nothing but an empty, horrible depression when I get into that book or movie. Even so, Gatsby is one of my favorite examples of a truly good novel.

Too many of the Classics, for me, are the perfect promotions for Prozac. Given a choice, I'd rather read Cassell, Parker, and Jack Engelhard (THE BATHSHEBA DEADLINE, see my review) and keep my natural chemistry intact.

What I like about those guys is that they provide engrossing entertainment, then leave me as a reader with a feeling of being well grounded into reality, including the dark sides, yet ready to work even harder to get what I want out of life and to spark others to do the same with their lives, through my writing.

When I read I seek a spirit lift. I get enough daily drains on my life force from reality. I can't see welcoming them into my mind when I'm wanting the regenerating factor of an escape into an enthralling world created in my mind by another healthy mind.

It'll be a while yet, before I've come to the conclusion of indulging this wallow into the works of a great author stepping out.

I'm honored to say that my blurb has been included in this novel's publication, in good company with other authors raving SOLDIER OF AQUARIUS.

Linda Shelnutt

Shelnutt is the author of several Amazon Kindle books and Amazon Shorts, including Myrtle's Ultimate Mystery, Full Moon Rising (The Books of Gem), and Molasses Moon. Her trade paperback, The Rose and the Pyramid has become a collector's item, and is now available on Kindle The Rose and the Pyramid (The Books of Gem).

One needn't read far along in this action-filled dramatisation of coming of age in America's counterculture of 1969-1970 before realising they are holding a soon-to-be classic in their hands.

Written a scant six years after the fact, this book places the reader at the very centre of the action in 1969-1970,when the protagonist faces the end of a highly successful four years at university and now must decide what next.

Whilst working through this decision, the young protagonist finds himself at the very knife edge of the war then afoot between old and young: the expectations of the older generation; the yearnings of the younger. What follows is a tempestuous two years of life in the counterculture. This is the counterculture of drugs, free love, war protests and anarchy that had this country as close to revolution as it would ever get.

Within those two years are packed all the triumph and defeat one could ever hope to find as the young man's saga touches three continents and just about every emotion one couldst label. These two years are re-experienced as a flashback on an airline trip to Albuquerque in April of 1977. A trip with a very special, emotion-laden purpose...a purpose from which there is no going back. Indeed, the young man has only purchased a one-way ticket.

Those days are long gone as a matter of history, but they come alive once more through the riveting writing ability of Mr. Cassell, a man whose talents as one of America's best storytellers are just beginning to achieve the recognition they have long deserved. Five Stars awarded by Perry Carver

"Old Cowboys never die. They just ride off into the sunset." That adage could be the theme of this funny, yet thoughtful book about dreams and destinies and how sometimes they aren't the same thing.

Buck, who used to be a cowboy, has settled down with a wife and kids and a job in the city. He thinks he's happy. In fact, he says he is happy with this incredible woman to wake up to every morning and someone to call him "Pop." Then his old friend, Smokey, shows up and asks him to go on one last run at the wild horses.

It's taken Buck twenty years and more than one attempt at domesticity to try to get it right, so he is not eager to risk losing Jan and the kids for some adventure, but Smokey ups the ante. He's been diagnosed with cancer and really wants to do this one last thing before he dies. What can a friend say to that?

So the two friends go to the desolate desert country of the Sierra Nevada's Coso Range in California where they first met as young cowboys. They borrow roping horses from another friend and go out to find the mustangs. While the story centers on this last adventure, it is as much about relationships and choices and finding balance between dreams and reality.

Randles is the author of six books, including Ol Max Evans: The First Thousand Years, and a columnist for New Mexico Magazine. He incorporates much of the humor of his syndicated column Home Country into this novel, along with some narrative that borders on poetry. "But people haven't been there; haven't seen the frosty breath of wild horses rise like fog on a sagebrush flat on the desert mountain ranges."

And any reader who has ever sat a horse will relate to: "People haven't sat there, holding a big roping horse quiet; both of you with muscles clenched as you reach for that rope and build a loop - just the right sized loop - praying the horses won't see the movement or sense your position behind the hill."

While the humor is a bit too childish in a couple of places, and there are a few tired phrases that are too predictable, the rest of the narrative is strong and well-crafted. In places it is so unique, it will leave lasting impressions. In describing the sounds of the desert, Randles compares it to music, "Debussy in the desert. Ravel in the ravines. It was a haunting song born of the earth and the mountain and the wild things..."

Treasures like that describe the deep connection of man to nature so well that the reader is tempted to ride into the desert with these two old cowboys.

Once a cowboy, Buck's now a magazine editor living in Los Angeles. He's married to Jan, a woman with two children and settled into the life of a grownup, though he remembers his carefree cowboy youth with pleasure, especially early in the morning when he's waking up. At that point, he dreams he's on a horse thundering over the range. In fact Slim Randles' SUN DOG DAYS opens with Buck's dream. Each time he wakes up, Buck shrugs off the vision and heads for the office, where he thinks he's happy. Then things go haywire. A freelancer misses a deadline and Buck must must write the article to fill the space, though he knows little about the subject he needs to cover. If it weren't for Jan and the kids, he'd "take this job and shove it," he decides. Suddenly, the phone rings. When he answers, his old partner, Smokey's voice invites him to go for a beer. Twenty-four hours and many beers later, Buck finds himself fired, tossed out of the house by his wife, and off to illegally round up some horses with Smokey. The choice leads to Buck making some critical decisions about the life he wants to lead.

In SUN DOG DAYS, Slim Randles paints a vivid picture of the range, and the processes by which cowboys do their jobs. He also offrers a good look at the psyches of these tough men. But Randles also does something more. SUN DOG DAYS is the story of a man going through a mid-life crisis and coming to terms with who he is. In the process, the man learns something important about making and accepting choices and their consequences. This universal theme makes SUN DOG DAYS accessible to everybody, not just cowboys. In fact for the non-cowboy, SUN DOG DAYS tells its story in a refreshing way. For cowboys or cowboy wannabes, it catches the spirit of why they want to be cowboys. With warmth and humor Slim Randles presents fleshed out characters that are very human. His style is simple and direct, but never simplistic. SUN DOG DAYS is both a fun and gently thought provoking read.

A true masterpiece by a true cowboy! Ever since I met slim, i've been impressed by his work. This piece is prehaps his best yet! Worth reading twice!

One of the most beautifully written books of our time. The first chapter will have you riveted to your chair with your eyes misting up. After the first three lines, I could see and hearthe horses; I could feel the melancoly mood. I could see Buck's eyes with a distant, almost vacant stare fixed upon his face. I was blown away. Several times during the book I had to stop and digest what I had just read. When I was finished, my eyes were stinging with tears and I felt like the old west was really still alive--at least in the eyes of real cowboys. I am still in awe of the beauty of this story. I can't recommend it highly enough. If there were 10 stars, I would rate it 10. CONGRATULATIONS TO SLIM RANDLES. I sure hope he keeps on telling his stories.

Sun Dog Days might appear as just a story about two over-the-hill cowboys, but it's much more than that. It's everyone's story. It's about what we fear as we crest the mountain that separates us from our youth. It doesn't matter whether we wrangle mustangs, wear a fireman's turnout, or climb a corporate ladder, there's still a part of us that wants one more feel of the reins of that thing that satisfied us most when we were in our prime. Sun Dog Days combines the thrill and the rhythm of one last great ride with the pathos of two ol' pards watching the sun set on what once was and will never be again. Buck and Smokey did what most of us only dream of doing, and in writing the story, Slim Randles' pen and easy-flowing dialogue proves there are still a few who can ride the crest for a long time. This may well be his best work. Wayne Winterton, author of "Whistler's Gold."

For the tequila lover, this book is worth checking out simply for the explanation of the different ways that tequila is produced, from archaic to ultra modern. The information on the different types of tequila, the different nuances of types, basic information about traveling in the region, and the food of the region are a huge plus.

A well written and entertaining book on tequila, with the inside scoop on the various distilleries and the house "style". Some serious taste testing was done, with detailed descriptions. The only minor disappointment is that he does not actually rate the tequilas.

Not only is the writing great, and the information complete, but there is a tasting pyramid that breaks down the tasting of tequila into all its difference nuances, and it is amazingly exact. The travel info about Mexico is very good, and the discussion of the process of making tequila is clear and informative. A good read and a great reference.

This book captures the essence of Tequila from the perspective of making it and drinking it. I found it especially interesting in giving the reader a glimpse into the day to day activities of the tequila business.

Lance and Sandys adventure in the land of Tequila is not only entertaining but a highly informative read on the growing world of tequila. A must-have reference guide to take you thru the various types available, written by someone who obviously has had a few! I like the tasting pyramid too.

A fresh,bold book focusing on the sensual appeal of the mythic latin symbol of machismo: The Bull Fighter, starring actual pros and amateurs of the bullring.
It's wonderful how despite the bright, feminine colors and extraordinarily ornamented uniforms, they never once compromise the sex appeal of these exceptionally handsome young men, who are all inspired by the legendary (and controversial) blood sport.
A book of professional male models pouting and posing in bullfighters'costumes would have been a silly, easily forgotten cliche.
There's a lot of Helmut Newton's influence in the photography and considering Newton's obsession with women, it's funny to see men being eroticised in his famous pictorial style. In a perfect world, there would be lots of books of this artistic quality celebrating the heroic beauty of other actual professional sportsmen.

The photographs are beautiful and erotic. I recommend this book to anyone who appreciates male Hispanic beauty.

A truly stunning collection of photographs concentrating on the erotic appeal of the torero - an aspect that has probably struck most honest aficiandos at one time or another. Quite apart from beautiful boys in (and out) of their trajes de luces, the collection is interesting for concentrating on very young toreros from South America - notably Colombia and Peru, though Madrid features strongly - and the less well-known names too. Miguel Angel Gomez and the brothers Pardo are especially notable: congratulations and thanks are due to Noel Pardo especially for his bravery in posing for some very fine nude shots. The additional frisson of the eroticism is the extreme danger the boys face, and here also is graphic photographic evidence of beauty marred in the corrida. There is nothing pornographic here, which is good, and the entire book is faultless in production. It should be on the shelves not only of every aficianado of young male beauty - but of every aficianado of the corrida also!

Ruven Afanador seems to be the spiritual heir of the little boy in the story of the emperor's new clothes. He insists on seeing--and proclaiming through his work--exactly those visual elements of the bullfight that everyone else sees but adamantly ignores. One of his major themes, perhaps the major one, is clearly announced on the dust jacket by the image of a semi-tumescent lad wearing only his taleguilla and grasping a pair of bull's horns (which may be why Amazon shows no cover illustration above). Afanador's style might be described as a cross between the baron von Gloeden and Helmut Newton, or maybe Diane Arbus with more than a dash of Robert Mapplethorpe. Like Mapplethorpe he finds morbidly erotic beauty in places where some would not care to venture, but beauty it is. And like all the above-mentioned photographers, he is an absolute master of his craft. Whatever you might think of the subject matter, the photos are technical marvels--one wants constantly to reach out and touch all those rich textures! The prospective buyer should also be aware that the range of subject matter goes beyond toreros in--and out of--their tight pants, and I would be doing Afanador an injustice to leave the impression that his work is merely pornographic. (One of the most striking images in the collection is a shot of four matadors' jackets hanging from meat hooks in the abattoir). And beyond all the possible influences I've mentioned, his is a style--rather, an inseparable combination of style and subject--that's very much his own.

I suppose that the few poems sprinkled throughout the volume are appropriate accompaniments to the photos, though they could easily have been dispensed with. The introduction is quite helpful, as is the thumbnail index at the end which identifies models and locations. The volume itself is richly produced and beautifully printed, with a sewn-in ribbon bookmark. ...

Even Hemingway, through Lady Brett, couldn't help remarking on "those tight green trousers," but for too long the majority of people (especially artists) associated with bullfighting have pretended to ignore all those lurid paquetes y nalgas. Afanador's stunning collection goes a long way toward remedying that ignor-ance. Overall, a long-needed addition to the body of art and photography associated with toreo.

In this bold and beautifully designed book, the bullfighter or "Torero" finally gets the attention he deserves, not as an object of the bull's attention, but as an object of desire, in a very sensual, yet masculine way. This is not to say these images by this talented photographer are of torero's just showing off their erotic appeal in tight costumes. There are many other photos of the rooms, equipment and costumes in settings by themselves that are very artistically photographed. The erotic appeal of the bullfighter is no longer censored and relegated to the background. These black and white photographs display many nude and semi-nude poses of very handsome, young, and athletic men in their tight fitting torero costumes, where little is left to the imagination. Afanador's admiration of male beauty is very apparent in this book of images. He has an eye for capturing the attitude, machismo, and inherent beauty and vulnerability of these brave men. I thought it was pleasing that Afanador features some of the torero's in their costumes on one page and nude on the opposite page in the same pose.

The poems by Gloria Marie Pardo Vargas, interspersed throughout the book, add to the enjoyment. This is a large over-sized book that is beautifully designed and bound (included is a red ribbon marker) that is a must for any collector of male erotica or for anyone who has always had a fascination with torero's and their beautiful costumes. I have only one regret, I would love to see a book of these same images in color showcasing the beautiful colors and patterns of the torero's costumes. This is a book that I will enjoy over and over again. As a collector, this is at the top of my list.

Joe Hanssen

This book has wonderful stories of the rich history of communities of the Sandia Mountains. The photos are wonderful, and really add to the stories. The geographic orientation, beginning with Carnuel, and working around the mountain to Placitas emphasizes the rich variety of the area. I highly recommend it.

Out of all the Images of America books by Arcadia I have looked at over the past few months this one is by far the best. The book was written with love and care by someone who obviously loves the area and knows it very well. It is also the most imaginatavely layed out Arcadia book out all of them that I own. The book has many great photos as well as vintage postcards, maps, and advertisements. Needless to say its a must have for anyone living in the Sandia Mountains but also a wonderful addition to any New Mexico library.

It's hard to stop reading, engrossing, hard to stop reading!

My wife and are enjoying this book immensely, well written and the details of the areas of the places around us here in Tijeras are fantastic. This book brings the rich history to light in an enjoyable read. The photographs are amazing, to see the places as they were and are now.

Mike Smith, the author is extremely accessible for any questions or comments about his book, the region and the history.

Definitely a five star book, run now to get yours!

Growing up in one of the towns of the Sandia Mountains, I can ashamedly say that I really didn't do much digging into the history of the place. I don't know why really, I guess I figured it was just there and left it at that. Then comes along this little dandy of a history book wherein the unique history of the place I grew up in is laid before you through non-run of the mill descriptions, quirky photos, and some fantastic quotes from the people who have made up and make these towns.
This book is published through Arcadia, which has about, I don't know how many, of these history/photo style books. I have read a few books from Arcadia and maybe it's because this is one that specifically talks about the place I grew up in, but Towns of the Sandia Mountains seems to sit a few levels above the others Arcadia has out there.
This book reads like a dreamy ride through the past on an old desert road. Starting on Route 66 in Albuquerque and lazily winding it's way up into the mountain towns, past the towns, higher into the mountian, down a back pass, to the front of mountian and back into Albuquerque, picking up the towns of Carnuel, Tijeras, Hobbies, San Antonio, Cedar Crest, Canoncito, San Antonito, Sandia Park, and Placitas along the way, as well as a brief concluding chapter on Albuquerque touching on its growth into the mountain. Some of the pictures in this book are completely astounding to see. There are amazing photos of areas with just a few cattle grazing around that now have freeways and strip malls running through them. Pictures of places, if you know that area, you would never recognize. Pictures of Hippies and TB patients alike escaping into the mountains. People who made this town that you never knew who now you can know.
This book does away with the dull page after page of random portraits of people with boring captions style of history writing and brings new life to history.
If you live in the Sandia, used to, or are just interested in a unique area then I would say this is a good little read for you. Eight thumbs up!

New Jersey authors have contributed over 75 titles to Arcadia's Images of America series, some excellent, some not so good, depending on the knowledge and research strengths of the authors. New Jersey leads with 75 communities in the Images series, the most of any state. Massachusetts is second, with 67. New York has 30, Connecticut 16.

Arcadia's formula: "use local writers or historians to write about their community using 180 to 240 black-and-white photographs with captions and introductory paragraphs in a 128 page book." (I've included a description of how the Steubenville, Ohio volume was created in the first Comment.)

There are now apparently six volumes for New Mexico, and Towns of the Sandia Mountains by Mike Smith is an outstanding effort for the entire series, based on the dozens I've read through or glanced at in local bookstores. Smith expresses a real love for the area, and we've really enjoyed consulting his book on our drives between the Albuquerque Airport and Santa Fe over the past several months.

Smith maintains at least two blogs, one here on Amazon and a personal blog called "My Strange New Mexico". "'My Strange New Mexico' is a unique column of strange New Mexico history and lore. The column currently appears every month in Local iQ, 'Albuquerque's Intelligent Alternative.'"

Smith writes in his biography: "For most of my life, I have lived in New Mexico, loved New Mexico, loved history, loved the West, and loved to write. As a teenager I moved alone to Alaska where I spent a year-and-a-half hitchhiking all around the state, worked as a commercial fisherman, and lived in a tent in the woods before hitchhiking back down to the lower forty-eight states. In 1999 and 2000 I spent almost seven months becoming the only person so far to circumnavigate the entire 1,960-mile shoreline of Lake Powell, in Utah and Arizona, in a canoe. In 2001, my younger brother, four other friends, and I walked over 3,500 miles from Key West, Florida to Cape Gaspé, Quebec, to raise money for charity. ..."

Smith's love for New Mexico shines through this volume, and his writing and research are both outstanding. See his Listmania! of over 30 titles related to the Sandia Mountains entitled "Books about the towns of the Sandia Mountains."

I've always enjoyed this "Images of America books -- it can be great fun to ask local residents about some of the entries. Some day I plan to track down Mike Smith and listen to some of the stories that didn't make it into this fine book.

Robert C. Ross 2008

I first heard the story of Marina on a Discovery special about the Spanish conquests and was hooked and thirsty for more.
After searching I found this book and ordered it.
What a great read! Rarely do historical charactors come alive and inspire us as much as this one did for me.
I suspected Marina was a facinating woman but thanks to Helen Gordon I know.
How this story of an 18 year old Indian slave girl who was almost certainly singularly responsible for Cortes' success escaped attention I don't know.
Marina had to be one of the most intelligent and clever people who ever lived to pull off her feats.
Get this book and enjoy a story you'll never forget.

As I have learned more over the years about Mexico's tragic history, I have wondered how Cortez was able to pull off his arrogant, audacious conquest and felt without Marina, he would have been dead in the water. Then the question - what motivated Marina/Mallinali? H. Gordon using painstaking research and imaginative writing, puts a face and a personality to this remarkable women and gives us helpful insights and understanding into this tumultuous period of world history. Since, unfortunately, video cameras and audio taped interviews were not available in 1519, we will have to rely on works such as, "Voice of the Vanquished" to help us appreciate these pivotal events.

Author Helen Gordon skillfully inserts us into the pre-conquest days when the Aztecs ruled many subdued tribes in the Valley of Mexico. For me, VOICE OF THE VANQUISHED provided an eye-opening reinterpretation of the conquest of Mexico by Hernan Cortes and his small band. Customs, religion, social order of the indigenous peoples are vividly re-created in the lives of fictional villagers who must endure the arrogant demands of the Aztec priests for human sacrifice and tribute. Gordon's portrait of the historical character Malinalli/Marina, drawn from 16th Century Spanish sources and codices of Aztec artists, shows her to be a young woman of intelligence, beauty and ourage. Following her wise father's admonition: "Never yearn for something you cannot have," Marina grasps at what few options she does have. The astonishing result is that she becomes an interpreter and major advisor for Cortes, helping him to form alliances with enemies of Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II. The portrait of Hernan Cortes, drawn from historical documents including his own reports, reveals him to be much more complex than just a cruel and insensitive conqueror. He becomes an understandable and admirable -- though flawed -- man of his time. I felt a fresh breeze of truth and the warm sun of added knowledge in this history in fiction form.

I got interested in Marina from a Discovery special on the Spanish Conquisitors and sought more information. Voice of the Vanquished by Helen Gordon was one of the few books I found but I'm glad I did. She brings this amazing story to life in such a vivid manner despite so little historical information.
Many times I couldn't put this book down, as often it brought tears to my eyes pondering these people and events. Marina certainly was one of the most facinating and misunderstood women in all of history. If more people heard her story it would certainly be the subject of a grand Hollywood production it is that amazing. I honestly don't know how she has escaped attention for so long.
Read this book and you'll understand.

This is a must book for historical buffs seeking an understanding of how a few hundred Spaniards conquered tens of thousands in Mexico. Based on carefully researched historical fact, Helen Gordon develops a plausible story of what motivated a remarkable young Indian woman, Marina/Mallinali, to help Cortez conquer the ruling Aztecs. Gordon provides the reader with a clear picture of how Cortez, with the translating skills of Marina, was able to turn Indian groups under Aztec domination against the Aztecs, resulting in the end of Aztec rule in Mexico and the beginning of the Spanish empire in the Americas. In this epic worthy of Homer, Gordon shows how the skills of these two remarkable people, Cortes and Marina, blended to forever change the course of history in the Americas. Gordon set out to show that women too play a major role in shaping human destiny. In my opinion, she succeeded well. I rate this book 5 stars and highly recommend it to those interested in both Spanish and Mexican history.

I have been extremely pleased with the content of this book and the way the information is presented. Little attention has been given to North American historians to the "plains wagon", the mode of transport for thousands and thousands of pioneers, as well as hundreds of tons of goods, across the wide, forboding western frontier of north American in from the 1820s thru the 1880s. The fact that not a single Murphy wagon is still in existance anywhere, when so many were made and it is such a famed wagon, points to the disregard the public and historians have shown for this important implement of the American west. The author does a great job, given the sparce available resources, of reconstructing both the history and the virtual views of these varied wagons. Many companies made the wagons, from different towns across the east, from Missouri to Illinois and beyond, and it was a monumental task to assemble information on such a little known subject, but the author excelled in his history, and presentation. His writing is clear and precise, and a pleasure to read. This volume will stay in my reference library for the remainder of my life, as it is priceless, and enjoyable. I am sure I will go back to it and refer to it many times in years to come.

This is an excellent, well researched work, a great companion to Dary's The Santa Fe Trail. It provides detailed drawings of the wagons, their construction and how they were used. There is even a chapter on Wind Wagon Thomas.

"Mark Gardner, who is one of the foremost trail historians of our day, an eminent researcher, and an excellent writer, has now entered the ranks of vehicle historians trying to make some sense out of transport history and the vehicles involved therein. This contribution to both historical trail documentation and the vehicle bibliography as well is superb. No serious scholar involved in either discipline can ignore this book." -- from The Carriage Journal

Among the abundance of literature on various aspects of Santa Fe Trail history, Mark Gardner's _Wagons for the Santa Fe Trade_ begins a new dialog about the development and variance of Trade-related wagon technology. The book documents advances in wagon building techniques as the Trade became more complex and sophisticated. The story of Santa Fe Trail wagon making is the story of the growth and changes in the development of wheeled vehicles designed for heavy-duty long range freighting. The Santa Fe Trade was a primary proving ground for freight wagon building and adaptability. This book grew out of a National Park Service report Gardner prepared on Santa Fe Trail wagons intended for use as a resource for the Santa Fe National Historic Trail project. This version is greatly expanded from the original. From the outset it will become obvious to readers how much painstaking work and time went into its production. During the course of his research he discovered a personal side to the story. His chapter "From Shop to Factory" allowed him to connect with the wagon building business through four generations of his own ancestors, some of whom had worked in the Missouri sawmill industry, and had probably cut lumber intended for the construction of the very freight wagons he now writes about. Gardner has a reputation in the profession for sifting through mounds of paper and microfilm, uncovering lost treasures of material. This reviewer has respectfully nicknamed him "The Mole" because of his research skills. His ability to dig and root through archive and manuscript collections and find the most obscure and previously unknown, yet meaningful bits of information has earned him a place among the great names in today's western historiography. With many books and articles to his credit, Mark Gardner is arguably one of the foremost authorities on the Santa Fe Trade. This latest effort guarantees Gardner's place as heir apparent to the title of Dean of Santa Fe Trail historians. _Wagons for the Santa Fe Trade_ is a detailed, yet coherent guide to nineteenth century freight vehicles. It is a highly beneficial research tool, as well as a pleasant recreational read.

Henry B. Crawford, Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

Perhaps the trade in wagons on the Santa Fe Trail is best summarized in one breathtaking quote from a newspaper in 1841:

"Six horse wagons are constructed in Pittsburg, loaded with assorted goods from New York and Philadelphia, transported to Independence in Missouri, and there driven across the country to Mexico . . ."

The great wagons of trade were the means by which the Far West was opened. Mark L. Gardner's "Wagons for the Santa Fe Trade," tells who built these wagons, how they were built and the changes in design as the years passed. Perhaps what comes through most clearly is that the great freight wagons were complex pieces of technology, best constructed by a factory system, not unlike how automobiles are assembled today. By means of these wagons, the South West was brought into contact with the United States, and, eventually, absorbed into the Union. An important and vital chapter of American history well told and well documented.

The final chapter deals with the adventure of the Wind Wagon. In these days of high gas prices it is charming to consider that an attempt was made to avoid high mule prices. A sailed wagon was actually patented (the patent drawings are in the book) and launched. Sometimes the stuff of legend is the truth.