Both books are of the female abduction/submission scenario. 4 Stars first half, ZERO stars for second. Olivia, the heroine of the first novel is actually well written and develops the character as well as a delivers a reasonably well written series of sexual vignettes, numerous bondage/discipline scenes and some real eroticism. The second novel (Lucy) is an execrable piece of trash, again dealing with the female abduction/submission scenario. This portion of the book utilizes the time "honored" scenario of "humiliate, beat, rape" and then the "beat the woman, then humiliate her" followed by the usual violent rapine scenes. This part of the book is trash, written poorly and only worth shredding. Personally, I tossed it in the trash.

This is two novels and some bonus excerpts for the price of one. The first novel--Olivia--rates five stars. It is a hardcore bondage, dominance and discipline novel that does a very good job of marrying the erotic with the literary, making it a very engaging read. Olivia is a suffragette in Victorian England who has pissed off the wrong powerful man, who takes it upon himself to teach Olivia that far from being his equal, she is actually suited only to be his pleasure slave. The capture, training, discipline and play scenes are all at a grippingly intense level, that is both hugely erotic and impossible to put down. Olivia's transition and acceptance, her emotional reactions to the experience and her balance between shame and arousal add a dimension to the novel that is both exciting and engaging.

The short excerpt between the two novels is badly written, unerotic, and unnecessary, but takes up very little space so is hardly worth mentioning.

The second novel, Lucy, is even more of a hardcore, heavy bondage and discipline novel than the first. Lucy is a hapless captive taken to be a love slave by ruthlessly cruel captors. Her emotional turmoil is less developed, and her transitions are disappointingly fake and shallow (particularly after the masterful, pun intended, emotional development we were treated to in Olivia). However, this novel makes up for poor writing with inventive scenes of pain, degradation, and creative bondage.

If bdsm is what you're into, you'll enjoy this double dose.

OpenLinux and StarOffice versions covered by this book are outdated... Don't bother.

Excellent job done by the author. Collett presents the information in an outstanding manner. An excellent book. Highly recommended for those who want to learn more about this field.

The content of this book is good, but I recommend against the MS Reader version of this edition. MS reader is very basic--you can only flip forward/backward by page or chapter--basically ok for reading novels. But this version of Pediatrics PSAAR is straight text w/out links to answers, checkboxes for the practice questions, etc. It is frustrating and time consuming to write your answer for a question on paper, flip to the beginning of the next chapter of answers, and flip page-by-page to your specific answer in the answer chapter. You have to do this all over again backwards and then forwards if you want to remind yourself what the question asked or what your answer said. There is also no way to view more than one location in the book at one time. MS Reader is horrible for a Q&A Review format. Waste of money. If they were to come out with a version containing links to answers, weblike forward and back buttons, checkboxes for your answers, a scoring system, and even a palm version, I would go bonkers over it.

I used this book to help review for Step 3. As a resident in IM, I really needed a Peds refresher. This book was excellent for the job. It was a tough review, but I think it's a necessary task for the Boards. Allow a few days to cover the book (including time to look up the answers in your Peds reference).

This book would have benefited from careful proof reading. The are many examples of incorrect captions and diagrams with crucial information absent. If the publishers are not willing to at least include an errata sheet this book could be a disaster for the novice!

From pinhole cameras to modern autofocus, this is the best learning textbook available that I've seen. Easy to read and written in simple layman's terms, it can improve the pictures you take and simplify the science of light.

After reading a glowing review of this book in Salon Online, I rushed to Amazon to order it. My initial disappointment was the printed hardcover. I attempt to keep my first editions in immpeccable shape, and the lack of a dust jacket puts me off. There is already some wear to the front and back cover, simply from spending a few days on my coffee table. As to the content of the book itself, I found the over-intellectualized text and rather cold presentation off-putting as well. Too be fair, the book is an exhibition catalog, so perhaps the collection of photographs therein manages to find some life in a gallery setting.

A far superior volume, full of life and contradiction is "Death Scenes: A Homicide Detectives Scrapbook" from Feral House. The text in this gritty and strangely beautiful book of photographs is by Katherine Dunn, author of the brilliant novel "Geek Love". The pictures in "Death Scenes" are not at all for the squeamis! h, but have a truth to them that "Police Pictures" lacks. It's true that there are a few plates in "Police Pictures" that are quite wonderful, most of them by WeeGee, the famed photo-journalist. One would be far better served by buying a volume of his work, and letting this one pass.

From Andersonville of the American Civil War to Tuol Sleng of Pol Pot, police have been photographing suspects, convicts, crime scenes, and prisons to collect evidence, record history, and improve techniques to fight crimes and squelch political opposition. This book tries to cover it all: from Che Guevara's fingerprints to James Earl Ray's wanted posters, from the unclaimed bodies of the Communards to the sad souls of Pol Pot's Year Zero campaign, and from murder scenes and execution of murderers.

For good and for evil, photography has recorded who we were and who we are. Photography, as a tool, has been used to support Social Darwinism and eugenics. There are photos of "typical criminal" types as well as a set used to prove that the different races of man are in fact different species. Photography has also been used to solve crimes and put dangerous criminals in jail. All these uses and more are covered in the fine book.

This book was purchased as a prerequisite for a promotional exam. It appears to be a compilation of articles written with the express intent to impress other authors with large words, compound sentences, and the ability to explain things in the most complicated way. The authors don't seem to have any practical experience in the field of which they write about. Looking for a book sure to put you to sleep? This is the one for you!

An interesting collection of articles that provides the reader with a wide variety of interesting readings. Though some articles are difficult to read, most contribute to one's understanding of policing in modern America.

The chapter about the ship, USS Liberty is full of utruths. The authors give no facts, no people to relate back to . The book is based on made up information it is not true.

John Hrankowski USS Liberty Survivor

That some people may find this book objectionable in no way detracts from it. The authors accessed large numbers of official documents and sources which are listed in a lengthy footnote section.

The task that the authors took on was enormous. They investigated highly secretive U.S. government agencies that are the best in the world at what they do. The truth, may in fact, be worse than what appears, due to those secrets that have not been exposed.

It is likely that these unsavory activities continue to this day undiminished. What has transpired since the last edition of this book could provide at least a few more lengthy chapters, possibly another book.

The corporations of the West have turned the governments of Western countries into entities that more resemble ruthless corporate controlled oligarchies than democracies.

This pricy but slim volume (126 actual pages of text and photos), is written like a freshman essay. There are facts, but little that illuminates or gives insight into this unusual personality who founded the silver industry in Taxco. It is neither insightful or clever and a biography must have one of these characteristics. Much research seems to have been done, but with little result.

Don Guillermo, as he was known in Taxco, was an American architect who came upon an impoverished if beautiful Mexican village in the mountains of the state of Guerrero. Stimulated by financial desperation and a challenge from a friend, he hired a silversmith from nearby Iguala and kicked off the renaissance of Mexican silverwork- initially from a table in his house, and ultimately a large workshop turning out exemplary tin, copper, weaving, furniture and, of course, silver. Almost all the smiths who carried out the Taxco tradition were trained in the Spratling workshop.

This eminently readable book tells the tale, though it is certainly not one of those comprehensive 600-page biographies, nor does it become overly speculative about a man who was respected and loved for his creativity and for giving impulse to a craft that made the community relatively wealthy, but also made some mistakes and enemies. (Yep, he was special, and very human!) That is, in my opinion, part of its charm.

This book is a bit topical, yet it manages to convey the excitement of the resurrection of a Mexican village that became an entrepot of artists, writers and would-be revolutionaries, and- for good and for bad- a huge tourist destination. It gives more than a glimmer of the many facets of Don Guillermo / Bill Spratling, a man who intended to find respite and refuge, resuscitated a community and gave many livelihood, and largely withdrew from that same community in his last years.

This is written from a perspective of someone who was privileged to know Taxco, since as a youngster I hung around the talleres- especially of Hector Aguilar and the Castillo family- developing a love of Mexican silver and some rudimentary smithing skills of my own.

esto es lo ultimo, se supone que debes ser tocado por estas historias, casi vomito al leer cosas tan cursis e insipidas y me pongo a pensar en todo el dinero que se estan ganando los que se dedican a recopilar esta clase de cuentecitos para gente debil y sonsa, y pienso como traman uno, dos, tres y creo que ya van por la parte seis y sigo pensando en la estupidez de la gente o es tal vez falta de comunicacion o que se yo. lei la primera copia y lo regale inmediatamente antes de que me vieran con el. es uno de esos libros que me avergonzaria de tener, como las novelitas rosas o las historias de corin tellado. pero que le vamos a hacer mientras haya mundo existira mercado para esta basura ideologica...

LUIS MENDEZ luismendez@codetel.net.do

Y no solo en sus casas, llevenlo al trabajo en la cajuela del coche. Un buen consejero es muy dificil de encontrar en estos dias - sin magnificar-. Es de esos libros que nos invitan a subrayar, y que despues de un tiempo terminan todo subrayado. Algo importante antes de terminar, "sentido comun solo eso, nada mas ni nada menos Sentido Comun".Dificil Nooo!!! leanlo! y despues me cuentan.

Fortunately, the Paul Turner series gets better as does Zubro's crafting of enjoyable cop mystery stories. With this one, the debut of Paul Turner, Zubro tackles an interesting premise: are gay activist orgnizations behind the murder of an anti-gay televangelist's daughter? It's a question Paul Turner, a gay Chicago homicide detective, doesn't like having to look at, but one he realizes he must if he is to solve this case. The reader gets taken in a lot of different directions and one has to wonder if the poor cop will ever solve this case. Maybe Zubro hadn't made up his mind "who done it" until the final chapter because there are no really good clues, but plenty of motive to go around. All in all it was an enjoyable read, but it's not among my top 25 murder mysteries, regardless of genre (gay or straight or whatever)or author.

This is the first of Zubro's many books that I have read, and sorry to say it will be the last also. I love gay mystery as a genre, but this book disappointed on many levels. The plot, about the murder of a bigotted televangelist's daughter, and the gay community's possible involvement as a means of revenge undoubtedly has potential, but isn't developed, with the result that I didn't really care how the book ended. Undoubtedly the biggest let down is the quality of the writing. It's pedestrian and leaden, making the promising idea of the central character, a gay cop and father a crashing bore.