Well, this is a good book on how to conduct a "Raid". All you need to know from planning to execution, entry tactics and more. I think this is a good book for police officers (especially for the planning section).
If you never have done this kind of work it could sometimes be hard too understand everything , but Mr Londsdale also write in the foreward that he will not explain everything. But if you buy this book togheter with "Advanced weapons training for HRT" you got most of it covered. I recommend these 2 books. I also recommend "Tactical Advantage" by Gabriel Suarez.

This is a must have book for any tactical officer. Author Lonsdale presents a comprehensive look at the training and tactics involved in high risk warrant service. More than just a SERT manual however, this book should also be standard training for every police officer. I started my tactical training under Lonsdale and after 6 schools, I would have to say his was the best. I use the tactics I learned from Mark when performing ordinary police work. Regardless of your experience, I believe you'll find the book informative.

Ted Weimann, author of Warrior Speed.

This small text is crammed with solid information that is useful to officers involved in all areas of high-risk police work.

Even without SQUADRON SUPREME, his excellent runs on CAPTAIN AMERICA and QUASAR speak for themselves. But this is one of his finest hours.

This limited series is not the first appearance of the Squadron Supreme; they had shown up in several issues of THE AVENGERS, parodying DC's trademark heroes and "proving" that the Avengers would beat them.

But it was the late, great Mr. Gruenwald who took them and placed them in a superb mini-series that combined comedy, drama, and action with moral arguments.

Even to this day, the questions remain. Who was right--Hyperion or Nighthawk? Where EITHER of them right? And so forth.

Rest in peace, Mr. Gruenwald. After writing this, you've earned it.

Other reviews have mostly summed it up. This story is superb. Mr. Gruenwald is underappreciated genuis. It's unfortunate he, and the Squadron, haven't been appreciated sooner. And, that Mr. Gruenwald didn't get to see his most cherished creation enjoy the recognition and popularity it deserves. The exciting and innovative concepts and ground-breaking devices aside, I enjoyed the heck out of the Hyperion character. With Superman being one of the premier characters of the superhero genre, and practically a pop-culture institution today, it seems odd that unlike other hit characters, he has never seriously been emulated. But it is that very popularity that prevented it. He is so recognizable, writers were just too afraid of being "copycats". Leave it to Gruenwald to have the courage to create his own version of a classic(as well as the rest of JLA), and instill it with it's own identity, and his own unique vision. Not unlike an "ElseWorlds" story, there is much familiar, and much strikingly different. Powers and origin parallel. But Hyperion, like the other Squadron characters, has his own unique quirks, hang-ups, dreams, and ambitions. The story takes the "What-If?" concept to extremes, as Hyperion and the Squadron say and do the things their "original" counterparts wouldn't even think. Fans of Superman and/or JLA should love this, as will any fans of good comic story telling. Don't pass on this one, if you miss it the second time, you may regret it.

I recently bought and read the collection after having read the original limited series back in the 1980s. The late Mr. Gruenwald's storytelling skills and love for the old JLA series continue to shine. I loved some of MG's takes on the classic heroes. How would Superman change his outlook if he abandoned his Clark Kent persona? How would the Golden Age Wonder Woman act if she outlived Steve Trevor and lost her Amazon homeland? Would Batman be more effective on the streets or the White House? We see all kinds of fantastic technology in comics, but what would happen if it was unleashed on the real world? Before Kingdom Come, he had the courage to present the ramifications of great power taking on greater responsibility at the expense of free will. Unlike KC, SS does not get bogged down in dark tones and endless fights, while it still allows the reader to empathize, as well as root for, the Squadron even though they have gone beyond their lawful duty. One wonders what comics would have looked like today if Squadron Supreme had been the big influence instead of Watchmen.

....I was disappointed. The "Unholy Sonnets" are excellent, quiet and low-keyed explorations of God and the human relationship to God. The poet rightly trusts his voice and skill. There are wonderful images that Jarman makes work well: " A useful God will roost in a bird-box, / Wedge-head thrust out, red-feathered in the sun." As a member of the new formalism school of poetry, Jarman succeeds in using form in a way that seems natural not forced. In an odd way, his skill with forms reminds me of Robert Frost.

Jarman is not limited by form - the title poem is a prose poem exploring the proper roles of parents and a stranger (preacher)sent to comfort them after their teenage daughter committed suicide. What would happen if the preacher "comforted" them with the theology of Ecclesiastes? Like the sonnets, this is an honest exploration of the tensions of faith in the modern world.

Unfortunately, while most of the remainder of the book shows the same skill, honesty and faith of these poems, the poems never "speak" to me - there is a formal distance in the writing that never pulls me into the world of the poetry nor resonates with my own world of humanity, poetry and faith. I was uninvolced even by beautiful poetry such as the fourth section of "The Past From the Air" which includes inspired lines: "And what God sees, if God sees anything, / Looks like the crawling colors on a bubble / ... / He sees a woman asking him to read / Her mind. He pities her. He cannot read."

I am a huge fan of Mark Jarman's work; and this book is incredible. I like the new and fresh ideas on how he sees God. He came to read at SMSU, and when he read the poem "Ground Swell" it was thrilling, b/c it's my favorite poem. Go get this book if you want a good read.

These are wonderful poems, which ask questions of God, questions about faith, questions about the workings of grace and what it means to be holy. Jarman manages to probe the paradoxes of faith in a deep but respectful way, without veering into either hostility, on the one hand, or an easy piety on the other. "Tranfiguration" is a superb exploration of what it means for Christ -- for anyone -- to be subject to the law and to suffering, and how one can be transfigured by resistance to that fate. "Questions for Ecclesiastes" is a devastating comment on how little consolation is provided by the Bible's "wisdom" in the face of real tragedy, in this case the suicide of a young girl. "And God . . . who could have shared what he knew with people who needed urgently to hear it, God kept a secret." Jarman uses the English language beautifully, incorporating the rhythms and cadences of the King James even when not overtly using the language. These are poems to savor and come back to again and again.

...It has everything I want, death, murder, destruction, mayhem and the Olson Twins... I loved the pace and the action, I just wish that Al Roaker was in the book, cause I think it would have given it, just the right flavor. I think Mr. Kulik should continue to write books, but make them more bloody...

Stalking down the side streets, just of Division Street in Chicago, late at night with a hunting knife clenched tight in his hand, Rudy Jelasko was hoping to see just one lit-up cell phone display in the distance, so he could liberate its user from this mortal coil. The knife had not seen enough action that day, while the cell phone user may have seen too much. It was time to level out the playing field. Rudy was fed up with the pretending, with the fakers, with the phonies, and he knew it was time to take them all on. Even if, deep down, he knew he was pretending, too. Read the book and find out the rest.

J Mark Kulik, whose work I am somewhat familiar with, represents the birth of a new wave of raw, unpolished, non-commercialized talent. This book could be the beginning of an entire new movement towards gritty realism, mind-bending symbolism, and an uncompromising will to tell the truth. Or maybe its just some regular old bus station paperback. It's a tough call. I'm going to go with the mind-bending, gritty, raw, uncompromising thing, though.

Real good story,excellent plot, awesome characters and kind of left a good message.One of the best mini series turned book in Marvels history.

I think that anyone who would give this crossover a bad reveiw was not paying attention. It was entertaing and the art was exceptional. I think that if you're a Spider-man Fan you will love this title.

This book mainly focuses on the impact of having Venom, a raving man, near lunacy, looking for the only true source of justice in his eyes. Vengeance. Then there's Spider-man, although every person in the world is going to bad-mouth me for this, SPIDER-MAN DOESN'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A HERO!!!! He just doesn't, he is always going "do I have to?" Can't someone else do this?" "Why is it always me that has to face every psycho that comes along?" All i can say is, "Hey spidey! You made the right decision becoming a hero, now live up to it! That's Why I rallied behind Venom all the way through this book, he knew he was going into something that was going to test his every ability, yes, including bloodthristiness.

I purchased a copy of "Success Briefs For Lawyers" hoping that it could provide a roadmap -- or at least some specific ideas -- for how to combine a successful law practice with a rewarding and fulfilling life and lifestyle. Athough a few of the essays are worth reading, as a younger attorney in a large corporate firm, I personally had a hard time connecting with many of the people who wrote the majority of the essays. The essayists are mostly successful and established practioners or retired attorneys who provide the reader with their own personal philosophical views of life and the law. If your looking for "Chicken Soup For Lawyers," this may be your book; if your looking for practical advice, I'd look somewhere else.

I have given this book out as a gift to some of my colleagues and they've all said that it had the same effect on them: It made them stop to think about what they are doing with their lives and why, whether the kind of practices and clients that they have are ones they want to continue having and why, and so on... Lawyers like concrete cookbook-like prescriptions for what to do, but this isn't one of those kinds of books. It's effect is subtle, yet profound. It is easy to read - a couple of chapters are really funny, but most of them are filled with interesting personal stories about lawyers that just make you think about what it is all about. If you don't have time to stop and think about such matters, that's how you know that what's in this book is exactly what you need.

The key to this book is embedded in the one of its title words, "Success." The authors of this book believe that the key to whether you are successful comes down to a real simple test question: Are you happy? If you are not happy, you can't call yourself successful, no matter how many professional accolades you have received, how many cases you have won, how many billable hours you had last year, or what your hourly rate is. By the end of this book, I got the message in a variety of ways that the key to professional and personal happiness is whether you are being true to your own individual values. That is the book's underlying message. Each of the personal stories explains how different people have achieved this goal.

This is not another one of those books that just lists all that is wrong with the legal profession. It's also not preachy or boring. The authors are successful attorneys and judges who love the law and have stuck with it. Their personal stories are uncharacteristically revealing and entertaining for lawyers- it's a quick and painless read. Will it change your life? Of course not. Will it make you rethink what you are doing and possibly influence you to do better? Yes! I definitely recommend it.

This is not my normal type of book. I normally go for the "Bridget Jones"-style of books...so the first couple of chapters were difficult. But WOW - once I got in that far - I couldn't stop. It's amazing how much the author knows and how descriptive he is. The book is exciting, disgusting, thrilling, dangerous and just plain creepy all at once. I highly recommend this book to anybody. Wow! Love Love Love It!

Kept me coming back for more. I was even more impressed by the books ability to make me think. I would definitely recommend this book to others. While some may find the book's plot hard to follow, I found the vast array of characters and stories intriguing and the many plot twists thought provoking. The detail provided on the various locals and people was extraordinary as well. Great read.

A very fast paced read that kept me engaged. Not what I expected from a first time author. While the book was a little hard to follow in parts, it kept me coming back for more. Perhaps most interesting, is the author's ability to meld the world of the fantastic with our own rather seamlessly. I would definitely recommend this book to others!

Despite my quibbles with this package, I learned a lot of French from it! I think Mr. Frobose has a very good system for learning, although a bit repetitive. His French speaker is charming and very easy to understand, but Mr. Frobose's French accent is bizarre. Fortunately, he lets his native speaker do the demonstrating. I was irritated by the errors in the tapes (you can't rewind and re-record?) and by the wasted space on them, and by the frequent references to a text that doesn't accompany this package. A far better cassette course, smooth, polished, and even entertaining, is the Pimsleur course put out by Sybervision, but it's also much more expensive.

I love the way Language Dynamics teaches you French the easy way with 'Speaking Pain Free French'. They removed all the hassle and pain from this lovely language.
I started speaking French immediately with the first tape, and what's more, I understood while I learned.

They say that there is no 'gain without pain'. In most cases I will agree but in the case of 'Speaking Pain Free French' I will differ.
The method used here is quite original. I appears to be a mixture of the direct method along with a good deal of original material.
This approach is so effective that even a small bit of vocabulary can be used to produce an enormous amount of French conversation with very little effort.
It is also my opinion that this particular method would be efficient without the tapes. Just reading (from the enclosed learning guide) should be sufficient to teach even a reluctant learner how to speak a lot of French.
I'm glad I mentioned the tapes. They are wonderful. Both voices sound native when speaking French, but in reality there is an American instructor speaking accentless English along with a native French speaker.
The content is too vast and complete to mention here. Suffice it to say that this course is a real bargain if you really want to speak French quickly and easily.

I did like this book for its ambition to touch all the bases of risk management, and it does well on that score. It doesn't cover all the bases well, however. Once again, the kick-off is VAR, but the limitations of VAR aren't spelled out as well as they should be. Current products and their risks are not explained. There are virtually no practical examples of the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches, and that is a significant flaw for a risk book, albeit it is true of most of them.

Risks of many products such as credit derivatives cannot be adequatley measured by conventional methodology.

The subject of practical examples of risk (and hdeges) introduced by credit derivatives is comprehensively - and well- covered in "Credit Derivatives and Synthetic Securitization" by Tavakoli. Highly recommended for this subject and the treatment of ambiguity of conventional methods in general.

I hired one of the authors, so I must have liked what I read.

I certainly believe that the subject matter is of very great importance.

This book is the most comprehensive treatment I've seen of financial risk management, particularly from a banking perspective. It covers both the regulatory and practitioner perspectives of modern risk management -- it's a veritable encyclopedia.

It's drawn from the wealth of experience of the authors, who are well known in both the academic world and on Wall St.

I guess what I like most about the book is the inside look it provides at the various aspects of financial risks -- no other book does it better, and I found the discussion enthralling.

While mainly geared toward banks, the book also includes a fascinating chapter on risk management in regular corporations. I think the book would serve equally well as a textbook for a risk management course or a handbook for the risk management practitioner.

The idea of a dog venturing forth from humble beginnings (about as humble as they come) into the spotlight - who doesn't love a rags to riches story? The illustrations are as charming as the story she tells; Sweetie's insights into the fashion world are original (a dog's point of view, of course!) - as are many of her beauty tips. A very entertaining and enjoyable read.

From pet-lovers to fashion-lovers to anyone who loves a good laugh, Sweetie charms them all. Her voice is brought to life by Mark Welsh's wonderfully witty and insightful writing, while Rubin Toledo's drawings sing with color and pizzazz!
I read the book with my daughter first, and then had to keep picking it up in the evenings for more. (When do we get to see "Sweetie...The Movie?!")
Sweetie is a truly engaging character. I, for one, will be buying a copy for everyone on my gift list this holiday!

Very clever ,very New York. Wonderful little snippets of wisdom from our little sister...Of a girl we can all relate to...a sweet little broad navigating the perils of the beyond, beyond NY glam scene..A little bottom line for all us nervous femmes in these terrible times...good giggle is what we all can do with. Universally humorous..Some calssic lines I intend to steal..My French friends love her..