As some reviewers have mentioned, this book presupposes you know a lot about Augustine before you read this. This assessment is correct--you do. Wills freqently stops in mid-discusssion to get into arguing with other translaters about whether a given word should be translated one way or the other. And if you don't know about Augustine's life (presumably true, if you're reading a biography), you have no idea why the author is making a big deal about each translation point. And they are numerous.

In addition, key facts that most biographers would introduce for the reader are skipped. For example, he refers to the Maximus the Usurper in his pages as if you should know who he is. Who Maximus is or why he is important is never explained. Other references to key players are left similarly unexplained.

Other parts that are suspicious. After a long explanation of the origins of the word 'confession' and its use in Augustine's time, Wills decides to call Augustine's most famous work not by its universal title "The Confessions" but "The Testimony." What is the point of renaming a book that is known by everyone under one name? Everytime he refers to the Testimony, you mentally correct it to the Confessions. This is a pointless distraction and it makes you suspicious of what other titles have been intenetionally retranslated to something no one would recognize.

Likewise, he gives the name Una to Augustine's mistress, even though there is no record this was her name.

Personally, I don't like this kind of self-created biography. I was expecting a book that would lay out Augustine's life, and at various points dip deeply into the theological debates and explain Augustine's views in the context of his times and also detail how they affected Catholic/Christian thinking after him. This is not that book. This is a treatise arguing for a different translation of Augustine; it's not a biography.

I wanted very much to like this book, and I did by the time Ifinished and reflected on it. A short biography of Augustine, aninfluential but little-known (to modern Americans) figure in Western history, was a great idea. Writing a biography of someone like Augustine is difficult -- little information is available other than Augustine's surviving writings. The successful biographer needs to ground the available information, and a critical rereading of previous biographies, in our current understanding of the state of society at that time. Garry Wills has pulled that off nicely.

Augustine lived in interesting times: Church doctrine was evolving and identifying heretical docrines (e.g., Donatists); the Roman Empire was effectively split in two, with the Western capital moved from Rome to Ravenna; and (mainly) Christianized "barbarian" groups were taking over large sections of the Western Empire (Alaric's Goths captured Rome during Augustine's lifetime, and Augustine died near the end of the Vandal conquest of Roman Africa). Wills successfully places Augustine's life in context of these important events.

Other Amazon reviewers have noted that this is not a good introductory volume. I disagree, as long as the reader has some knowledge of the historical period. Even in that case, however, the early sections of the book can drag -- e.g., with lengthy reinterpretations of specific Augustinian phrases. But how can one complain about an Augustine biography that (in the final pages, anyhow) manages to incorporate discussions of both Roth's "Portnoy's Complaint" and Chesterton's "Secrets of Father Brown"?

I was prompted to read this book after reading E.L. Doctorow's novel, City of God. I wanted to learn more about Augustine to think further about the obvious allusion in Doctorow's title, and throughout his book. I had read Augustine before, and was not a total newcomer to his thought. But I need a refresher and something that would expand my limited understanding.

Wills's book is short, clearly written, and presents in an accessible form something of the nature of this complex person, thinker, and theologian. But the book is no mere introduction. It in many ways takes issue with other accounts of Augustine and presents him in a manner that shows why he is worthy of the attention of the modern reader, as he has been of readers throughout the ages.

Wills spends a lot of time arguing that the title "Confessions" for Augustine's most famous work is inappropriate and retitles it "Testimony". This point has been made many times before, but in the process Wills does teach us something about the book. The process is not merely a pedantic exercise. Wills also argues that Augustine was not a sexual libertine in his youth and, actually more importantly for the modern reader, that he was not anti-sexual in his old age. He presents a Christianity that does not despise the body (making the simple point that in Christianity God came to the earth in a body) and that seeks to use the body for God's purpose in humility and love. In fact, Wills presents Augustine as correcting the anti-physical bias of pagan ascetics of his day.

The texts I was interested in for my purposes were the Confessions("Testimony") and City of God. The first text is referred to repeatedly in the first half or so of the book and forms the basis for Wills' discussion of Augustine's life, conversion, and theology. The second book is summarized briefly late in the book, and I found it useful. Again, Wills argues agains an other-worldy interpretation of the City of God and finds Augustine willing to bring the City to earth in a world believers share with nonbelievers through an early form of toleration, through love, and through common purpose.

There is a good, if necesarily brief, description in the book of the closing days of the Roman Empire. This is in itself worth reading and I had known little about it.

I think somebody coming to Augustine for the first time could benefit from the book and be encouraged to think and learn more. I found it useful. I think Penguin is to be commended for its biographical series, making important lives accessible to modern readers in brief, but not superficial texts.

In general, the book is fairly well-written, although the fact that its authors are journalists is painfully obvious. I did not expect too much from this book, considering the reviews it received in the Wall St. Journal and NY Times, but gave it a try anyway. First, the story skips around too much. It is difficult at times to figure out what has happened and what temporal relation it has to what is going on in the text at that time. The authors were too busy trying to get across their points about Daley the political figure and neglected to really look at Daley the person. Granted, information about Daley was hard to get, but given the number and breadth of quotes from his son William and others, it should not have been that hard to flesh-out a better portrait of the man himself. Other biographies about figures just as large (if not larger) in importance are able to get their arms around their subject; these authors seemingly wanted to use the book just to get into print some comments about the failed CHA public housing program before Mayor Daley the Younger erases them from the face of the earth. I cannot recommend this book for anyone unfamiliar with Chicago politics or local issues; while this city is racially polarized and was even worse in the past, this is not the most important part of the story to why Richard J. Daley looms so large in the pantheon of American mayors. One cannot ignore the civil rights movement and what happened when it moved North; however, that is the fitting subject for a different book than one ostensibly about the life of Richard J. Daley. Overall, a C+.

I am a Chicago resident, but I have no ties to the authors or any members of the Daley family.

This book was extremely well researched. I learned a great deal about the city's history from 1920 to 1975. The authors do a good job in depicting the racial issues that confronted Chicago politicians during that period. They interviewed people on all sides of the debate, including Daley insiders and some people who protested against Daley. Their comments about the mayor's efforts to balance the power of various racial and ethnic voting blocks are right on the money.

Some reviewers have criticized this book for being too cynical about Daley. My experiences here suggest the authors are correct.

the authors also have a sense of humor about some of the machine's antics. The book has a sense of fun about it that is helpful.

It is difficult for me to think of any other biography that I have ever read which I have found to be more perfect, and I read a lot of biographies. I have to say that I'm not quite sure whether this book would be as appealing to someone who has never been or, preferably, lived in Chicago, because the authors evoke the geography of the city very, very often, and if I, who grew up in Chicago, can visualize all of the process, I'm not certain that others could. The book could certainly have used a map to show the various areas to which reference was being made. That's a minor quibble, though. The authors have done an astonishing amount of research in providing us with a portrait of a basically decent man who ruled with great authoritarianism over an immensely corrupt system. The Chicago political machine was unrivaled in its stranglehold over any municipal system in America, and the authors provide brilliant examples of the way in which it worked. I was born in 1960, when Richard Daley had already been mayor for five years, and I was 15 when he died, but I was well aware of the machine and its enormous clout. Now, 25 years on, this book not only helps me to remember, but it also tells me a vast amount of things that I did not know. Political science students will certainly benefit from this book, and fans of biographies will not find many that are better written and referenced. I can recommend this book with everything I've got.

I just finished the 9-week program, which the authors wisely emphasize is just meant to get you started. I complied with the diet about 80 percent of the time, and the workouts about the same. I have gained a small but noticeable amount of muscle definition in my shoulders and arms, but I lost only about six or seven pounds ... roughly half of what I had expected based on the testimonials in the book. I'm pulling my belt in one more notch, but still wearing the same size pants, so I didn't lose the four or five inches their test subjects claim to have.

The diet is easy enough to follow, and includes enough recipes to not be too monotonous, especially if you use the principles to find additional meals. But at this rate, it will take me a year to reach my goal weight, and I know I won't follow it that long unless I get some significant success much sooner than that.

This book makes more sense than most. The macro-nutrients are not radically unbalanced in their meals. And the meals are one of the easiest to follow since they basically borrowed the Mediterranean diet (one of the best out there, IMO), and made some slight adjustments to it, which I think were improvements. And I think they make a strong case against the low-fat diet. Nor are the authors taken in with all of the supplemental junk that health magazines try to push over on you. These authors are more savvy than most. And they explain and make a very good case at why weight-lifting has a much better metabolic effect than aerobics alone. Over half of the book covers its exercise program, and it is filled with hundreds of pictures, but this wasn't as much of an interest for me, but it might be for others. I found the book to have many interesting facts and case studies, many I haven't read about before. But the debate over what are the optimum protein levels is far from over. There are some respected nutritionists and scientists out there that think athletes need more protein than the USDA recommends; one the author quotes from is Professor Peter Lemon who is well respected. But there are also other well respected scientists still in the same camp that the USDA protein levels are all you need, and this includes for athletes and body-builders too. E.g., take Professor Ellington Darden. The latter used to be on the high protein bandwagon for ten years of his life until he obtained his P.H.D., and when he did one of his tests on himself, he noticed anytime he went over whatever the USDA recommended for his weight, he was urinating the excess down the toilet. But at least the amounts of protein the author is recommending isn't overly excessive.

The book was under-funded, as most health books are. Despite its title, not once was a single testosterone test done for any of the participants. They mentioned that testosterone tests are very difficult to get good readings on, and they would have had to take all the participants in as boarders to be able to do that. Nevertheless, they still make a good case of it by relying heavily on studies which showed that those who ate more fat, had more testosterone. Some of the other studies were of those taking testosterone supplements.

Not one single participant was thin to test their weight muscle gain program out on. So if you're one of these guys, you'll need to be the first guinea pig. All of the pictures I seen were of heavyweights. They started with 30 volunteers, and ended up with 16. And of that 16 remaining, I only counted 6 before and after pictures of the participants. Even when you look at the final 6 that are left that they choose to be their prime examples of what their plan could do for you; you'll notice the typical before pictures of the person just standing their looking sullen without his shirt on, and making no effort to suck in his gut. With the after pictures, they put on their happy face and half of them have their shirts on for the picture! And only one set of pictures even comes close to having the same before and after pose. Several have their arms up, and it's really amazing what sucking in your gut can do. Despite all of my criticism, you can still see a change, and I think the authors give us accurate measurements. But even when they are giving you personal statistics about the final 6 participants that are left, you'll notice the information is scant. Some left in their before and after bench press numbers; some choose to leave in their before and after chin-ups; nothing is consistent. They choose to pick what they want you to see, and disregard the rest. Now let's see ALL of the pictures and statistics from everyone including the final 10 participants!

I'm 43 and was 265 lbs. I have never lost any weight in my life. I followed the plan in this book fairly closely and did what they said I would do-I lost 20 lbs in 9 weeks. I ended up loosing 30 lbs in 14 weeks, And about 3 inches in my waist. I've have stopped loosing for the past 4 weeks or so and am now looking for "the next step".

I used a Bowflex (major investment) for the lifting and am quite pleased with it as well. Lifting takes about an hour 3 times a week, and the diet is easy to follow. The whole process was really easy, and I really recommend it!

This book is NOT for you if you are scoring higher than 1300 in your SATs. First, all the questions will be WAY too easy for you, especially the verbal section. I have this book and the Barrons, and the KAPLAN. I took practice tests from Barrons/Kaplan, and I scored about 1340. I did the practice tests from Princeton's Review and it's up by almost 80 points.(70 points coming from the verbal section!) Because it's easier, it will give you confidence about the SATs. But you must also realize that the REAL SATs are not THAT easy.(just a note: I scored 1350 in the REAL SATs, which is close to the BARRON/KAPLAN score but much lower than the Princeton Review) If you're buying this to build vocabulary, buy WORDSMART, or BARRONS SAT. They have much more words for you than this easy book. BUT!! I HAVE TO ADD that this WILL be helpful to those who score in the range of 1000's. I have seen people with those scores who got 100-point boost after studying this book, one aspect being self-confidence and some humorous material.

Without a doubt, this is the best test preparation book I have ever read, and I have read no small number of them. As others have pointed out, some of the strategies the authors describe border on the obvious, but these are sufficiently important, few, and entertainingly presented that this small lapse is quite acceptable. The book's practice tests are refreshingly indistinguishable from real SATs; they are certainly the best available, though those in Kaplan's SAT book are quite good as well.

Many reviewers have declared this book to be insufficient for those who seek high scores. I disagree strongly. Good advice is good advice, even if presented in a manner less than ceremonial. Pedantic word lists assembled without attention given to what words will likely appear on the SAT, though impressive and temptingly concrete, are not the best use of any preparer's time. Of greater importance than a presentation of all the math and English needed for the SAT is a thorough, insightful walking through of SAT questions, and that's where this book shines.

This book, the College Board's book of ten real SATs, and a functioning noggin are all anyone needs to succeed on the SAT. But if you've got money to spare, you might try the Kaplan book, too -- another look at strategy and a few more realistic practice tests can only help.

I have not yet taken the SAT. On practice tests, my scores started as low as 1440 but have since climbed well into the 1500's -- even to the point of a 1590 most recently. More than to any strategy, I attribute the improvement to increased familiarity with the test, and I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the contribution this book has made.

I've not read this year's edition, but I'm familiar with the editions of previous years. Without a doubt, this is the best test preparation book I have ever read, and I have read no small number of them. As others have pointed out, some of the strategies the authors describe border on the obvious, but these are sufficiently important, few, and entertainingly presented that this small lapse is quite acceptable. The book's practice tests are refreshingly indistinguishable from real SATs; they are certainly the best available, though those in Kaplan's SAT book are quite good as well.

Many reviewers have declared this book to be insufficient for those who seek high scores. I disagree strongly. Good advice is good advice, even if presented in a manner less than ceremonial. Pedantic word lists assembled without attention given to what words will likely appear on the SAT, though impressive and temptingly concrete, are not the best use of any preparer's time. Of greater importance than a presentation of all the math and English needed for the SAT is a thorough, insightful walking through of SAT questions, and that's where this book shines.

This book, the College Board's book of ten real SATs, and a functioning noggin are all anyone needs to succeed on the SAT. But if you've got money to spare, you might try the Kaplan book, too -- another look at strategy and a few more realistic practice tests can only help.

I have not yet taken the SAT. On practice tests, my scores started as low as 1440 but have since climbed well into the 1500's -- even to the point of a 1590 most recently. More than to any strategy, I attribute the improvement to increased familiarity with the test, and I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the contribution this book has made.

This book has good coverage of ISDN, Frame Relay, and PPP. I find the material here is well presented, especially the step by step instructions on how to configure ISDN PRIs. The test questions are sometimes very difficult, too difficult for the BCRAN. They do make you think about the topic so that you can really understand what is going on. For those who have left negative comments, I can only guess they don't "get it" and would have difficulties with any of the books describing this topics. I also liked Cisco's BCRAN book by Catherine Paquet and Todd Lammale's book. Unlike the other BCRAN books this book describes other topics that are relevant to the topic, but not the exam, like configuring IPX over PPP. Good information, keep it up!

I use this book as a main reference book for Remote Access network setup/maintenance in my daily work. And this was the only book I read throughly during preparing my BCRAN test ( I took test the first time last week and passed with a score of 853). I did NOT read Graig Dennis' Cream book but I did all practice questions. I spent one day read briefly on Catherine Paquet's BCRAN book and did all questions on each chapter(Very good questions). I believe ANY single one of those books contains ALL the information you will need to pass the test. The question is how much you can understand the technology only based on the reading. I have to say, I work on the remote access on the daily basis, but still there were a couple of questions on the test I was clueless (the solutions are on Catherine's book but I doubt if I would pay attention on them even I read). So the best bet is get your hands on. At least do all the Case Study on each chapter of this book. Good Luck!

This book is awesome. It goes a step beyond all the other BCRAN study guides out there. It is obvious that the author intended to go beyond the BCRAN objectives and wants you to use it well after you have finished the exam. While many of the other books tell you to how to implement TCP/IP over PPP, none show you how to implement IPX/SPX and NetBEUI over PPP! (For material not related to the exam they make sure to note it before he discusses it). Another example of how the author went the extra mile is the inclusion of an extra chapter on implementing VPDN's (L2F and L2TP). This subject matter can not be found in any other BCRAN book!

I found the approach to the material excellent, because they always start out by discussing the technology without regard to any Cisco product. Once finished, he shows how to implement the concepts using Cisco equipment. Then there are the case studies which give you a chance to do it yourself, and if you are having problems there are step by step instructions showing you not just how to do it, but why you need to use that command. While some of the case studies have some mistakes, if you are CCNA you should easily catch those mistakes (missing subnet mask when setting an IP address, etc.)

I give this book an A+. Oh, if you are wondering, I passed the BCRAN exam easily with a score of over 900!

This is a pretty good book for it's price. Please be advised that it is very specific and it is only on picking up chicks. After you get her number or whatever, what are you going to do? Good luck, this book doesn't tell you! I must say, I followed the advice in this book very religiously and it works like a charm. It is so easy to get numbers, but guess what? Most of the time, the girl is just being courteous or don't have the heart to tell you the truth. Only 1% of the numbers turn out to be dates. And I still have no clue on what to do during the date because I have yet to find a good book on that topic! The book doesn't cost that much, but if you want to save a few bucks, here is the secret to picking up chicks. Ready? (Drumroll)....confidence. One of the points the book makes is that the idea of girls liking jerks is partially true. The fact is, most of the nice guys are weak and not confident enough, that is why they lose out. In case you don't know, girls do like jerks because most jerks are also very attractive guys. But if you act tough and confident, you have a better chance. The other thing the book says is when girls say they want someone more mature, they really mean someone more confident. Once again, it is all about confidence. For those who do not know what this is, it is doing something based on your own free will without any validation from anyone. It is sticking to and hanging to your own judgement when the whole world seems to be against you. I've lost a really special girl because I did not understand this.

This is by far the best book of its kind. I am very happy that I bought it. It is an excellent reference book that I often pick up and read through if I feel a little rusty at talking to girls.

The authors definitely know their stuff. With more than 40 different topics and sub-headings, the book has plenty of information. It is written in a casual, relaxed tone which makes for a fun read.

I am a little disturbed by anyone who would give it a bad review on this Amazon site. It is not an expensive book and you certainly get your $6.95 worth. It appears that some anonymous guy from Chicago keeps putting up a negative review after someone puts up a good one. He mostly likely didn't even read the book since he talks about things that aren't even in it. For example, there is no reference to picking up girls at a sporting event in the book. Did he write a competing book? Why would he keep checking the book's site to make sure that his negative review is the last one? Very strange.

Oh well, Amazon is what it is. Anyway, this book is the real deal. No disappointment for me. Happy hunting all!

This is the perfect Guide I was looking for on how to pick up girls. It is not preachy or didactic. Rather, it is straight to the point, extremely informative and very funny. Hide this book in your house because every one who comes over to visit tries to borrow it. Tell them to buy their own copy.

WARNING: Since these stories take place after Watership Down, you should read the novel first. The background information in some of these stories might spoil the book for you otherwise. Let me be the first to say that I will not be surprised if it is eventually discovered that Mr. Adams did not write these stories himself. I have read Watership Down and a few of his short stories, and all I can say is, he is better than this. El-ahrairah goes from being a trickster to a beggar. The stories either lack subtlety or they lack purpose. I would like to say, however, that it would be difficult to be confused over the timing of the stories. In the Introduction, it states quite clearly that the stories are set after the main action of Watership Down, but before the Epilogue of that book. The second line of the first story clearly states the time relative to the end of Watership Down. I don't regret having read "Tales..."; I had to know for myself.! But I cannot recommend it. Having read it, I now feel compelled to read some of Richard Adams' other books, in order to restore my confidence in him.

As a fifth grader I thought that this was a wonderful book. Yet it was also a challenge to read with many confusing parts. Even though it was challenging. I loved every minute of it, and recommend it to a more advanced audience. In the story there is a group of rabbits who live on a down, and have a lot of adventures but none compare to their big fight with General Woundwart (you can read about that in Watership Down another novel by Richard Adams.) One adventure is when Hyzenthlay (one of the rabbits) goes out to stay with an injured rabbit and then brings her back. My least favorite adventure is when a rabbit named Sandwort who is rebellious and disrespectful falls in a well and two rabbits save him. I think this book is a great book but like all books it has its flaws such as: they have more stories then adventures. The book is not long enough and it needs a little bit more details. But still I gave gave the book 4 stars because it was good. The way it held my interest was by leaving you in suspense. I thought Tales From Watership Down was a great book you will to.

I was really surprised that the edition I had bought was published three years ago, and I did'nt know!But I have read it and its almost as good as the original, even though its written in a different style. This book contains short stories that tell us the of the adventures of El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle. There are more stories that tell us wahat sort of stories they tell each other{Speedweels story}and what happened in the year after they had defeated General Woundwort.You meet a host of new characters, and even though they are in them for only one story, they are incredibly well written and very realistic to read. I was really sad that one of my favourite characters from the original dies{I'm not telling who it is}but it makes a story seem more dramatic and exciting! It really is a book that everyone should own!

Paris-to-the- Moon is insightful, gently self-deprecatory, and right-on for American observers of the often confusing dynamics of Franco-American interaction.

Adam Gopnik is terrifically insightful and delightful as a Parisian companion -- my next trip to the City of Light will be indescribably enriched for the experience of seeing it through his eyes (if only to ensure that I have dinner at the Brasserie Lipp!)

The book lost a half star in my estimation only because it seems (perhaps in the rush to publish the book in time for the holidays of 2000, when the original source material was completed only months earlier?) that perhaps it could have used a bit more editorial attention -- there are several cases of prose that could have been de-tangled and anecdotes that were repeated, rather than referred to thematically.

But read it -- it will be like finding a new lifelong travel companion!

After a slow start, I went to amazon to see what other readers had said about the book. Based on many of the reviews here, I decided I not to finish it. But having already bought it, I gave it another try and I'm very glad I did. With my expectations stripped away I was able to enjoy the book simply for what it offers.

Although no Pat Conroy, Gopnik crafts good sentences and offers thought provoking and entertaining pictures of his rather charmed life in Paris. Unlike some, I wasn't put off by his constant comparison of things French to things American -- well, his NYC version of American -- since he says at the beginning this is why he was sent to Paris. And his yuppiness is more an occasional distraction than a pitfall to enjoyment.

Like others, I found Gopnik's musings on the miracle of his son charming. He nicely side steps the yuppie tendency to act as if he and his mate were the first people ever to have a child, while reminding us that a child really is a thing of unending awe. As of course is Paris.

Adam Gopnik originally published these insightful and funny essays when he wrote from Paris for "The New Yorker." In general, his voice in these essays shows both amusement with the French and great admiration for their everyday culture. Here's a quote that captures the point of view of this wonderful book, as well as Gopnik's direct and elegant style. "Paris is marked by a permanent battle between French civilization, which is the accumulated intelligence and wit of French life, and French official culture, which is the expression of the functionary system in all its pomposity and abstraction...There is hardly a day when you are not wild with gratitude for something that happens in the small shops...And hardly a day when you are not wild with dismay at something that has begun in the big buildings, some abstraction launched on the world in smug and empty confidence." Highly recommended.

Across the River and into the Trees is the story of an ill American colonel in post war Venice. He is "half-a hundred" years old and suffering from an incurable heart condition. He has an 18-year-old girlfriend. She is a wealthy Italian countess who likes to have sex with him in the back of a gondola on freezing cold nights... Yeah, right.

If you can get past the absurdity of this central conceit there are some good points in this novel. There is a lovingly detailed description of Venice. If you've been there you will recognize the places Hemingway describes. There is a long account of duck hunting on a frozen marsh that is quite true to life. The forgotten tense situation in post-war Trieste, with the United States expecting a Soviet invasion at any moment, is convincingly presented. Hemingway also presents his unflinching opinions on some of great figures of World War II in Europe.

Unfortunately the whole is not very good. The dialogue between the dying colonel and the teenage countess is painfully malapropos. His buddy-buddy relationship with the hotel workers at the Gritti Palace seems contrived. Worth reading only if you want to read every word the great man wrote.

I thought this book was well-worth the read, but not as moving and insightful as other books by Hemingway. Despite the lack of "action" in the book, Hemingway writes beautifully constructed sentences with profound meaning. His literary style is unsurpassable. Some say there is no plot to this story, but i disagree. The plot focuses around death, love, and loss. This book is definately worth the read, although read it very slowly.

THough not one of Hemingway's greatest works, this seldolm talked about book of Hemingway is almost a classic, and was 20 times better than i expected it to be. A symbolic tale representing both the ideals of carpe diem and of Hemingway's cries for peace not war. THe story tells the tale of a dying officer, a graduate of VMI, who has lost all of his laurels after a failed attack in which he only followed orders and watched his own men be butchered. THe story, spanning only 24 hours, follows this dying, flawed man as he finds his last and truest love at the moment that it is almost too late. The colonel represents the dying of a kind, but old Ernest instructs us to cease life while we can. THough not Hemingway's absolute best, this is a must read for all serious literary fans.

For years, Patterson has written courtroom dramas that are like Grisham but just a bit deeper and not as region-bound. With Dymo-tape cover designs to boot. He apparently run out of Dymo tape for his dispenser one book back, and maybe he's sensing that the lawyer-book market has peaked. So he's going for political drama, and I have to say he's as good as any of them, and BETTER than Tom Clancy was in "Executive Orders" (which was a bit of a hybrid). What we have here is not an election campaign story, it's a nomination campaign story, so we don't get to see who gets elected. Our hero is Kerry Kilcannon, kid brother of "Private Screening's" James Kilcannon, following in his big brother's footsteps twelve years later. It's too much of a temptation to compare the two brothers to the Kennedys, so please try to resist, okay? You'll deprive yourself of a pretty decent story. There's a bit of lawyer stuff in flashbacks to Kerry's earlier career as a prosecutor crusading for abused children and their mothers. You see, he hadn't originally planned to be a politician, but he's successfully pressured into it by friends. He loses his wife in the process (maybe she's thinking of what happened to her brother-in-law), draws the ire of the far right on gun control, gains the attention of an assassin over the abortion issue, rekindles an old flame with a newscaster whose inability to be objective about him handicaps her reporting (neither of them have totally faced the fact that they still hold feelings for each other). And what's worse, he's got the current Vice President to run against--a guy he'd campaign FOR if it weren't for the fact that the Veep's a bit too politically elastic to be much of a statesman. So not only has Patterson apparently decided to switch genres, he's chosen to write about a different stage of the electoral process--the party nominations. Interesting.

I am mystified by the folks who found No Safe Place dull or slow! I found it a very well-told tale (with a great twist I didn't guess) and a page-turner from the first scene. The characters are multilayered and the protagonist, Kilcannon, has a fascinating backstory, which Patterson skillfully laces into the main storyline. My only complaint, and the reason I didn't give this book five stars, is that the characters occasionally make speeches about their lives. Those monologues don't ring true, and in fact are jarring given how well Patterson usually handles dialogue. But absolutely, I recommend this book, and No Safe Place has made me a Richard North Patterson fan and admirer.

My first RNP. The book made that made me a fan of Richard N Patterson. After No Safe Place, Silent Witness,Escape the Night and Degree of Guilt Richard North Patterson proved to be my most favourite author, even over John Grisham and Steve Martini.The campaign trail is amazing, the romance touching and the way RNP takes us to the past of the protagonist Kerry Kilcannon is just great. His feelings and character are well written. Kerry Kilcannon is a lawyer mostly dealing with cases of domestic violence. He then enters politics and runs for president. His brother James was assasinated in a campaign. Past memories,his love and emotions make a great read; u gotcha read this book, you'll surely get hooked.