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Book reviews for "Flanagan,_Mike" sorted by average review score:
Final Ride
Published in Paperback by Wheeler Pub (2002)
Author: Mike Flanagan
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Pretty good
I have read both the 2 other books in the series and they are all wonderful in their own respects. Each very different but very grabbing, I have about 30 more pages left but I LOVE how it ends. Kinda tear jerking :-)

What a series!
You know, it is not often that I read a series of books that draws my interest like this one has. Mike Flanagan brings a fresh, clean aspect to both the world of writing and of rodeos. The story line throughout the entire series is superbly written. Mike Flanagan brings out the personalities and emotions so well and you read each book as if you were there or wanted to be. The ending to this book is wonderful. I highly recommend it to everyone, regardless of what type book you enjoy. You will find it a rewarding experience. Congratulations, Mike, for another great book! I hope you continue the excellence.

keep the the books comming
Good rodeo books are hard to find. I have had a hard time putting this book down as I did with the first two in this series. Each book starts where the last one left off and I like that and I hope it means there will be many more books to come in this series. Getting the best of all the events and feeling like your on the road with Clay, Jack,Tamara, and the rest of the gang. You'll love this book if you have the passion for rodeo in your blood.

Fay: A Novel
Published in Hardcover by Algonquin Books (31 March, 2000)
Author: Larry Brown
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Realistic Rodeo
As a participant in various rodeo events and activities, as well as a avid reader of Western contemporary novels, I am use to plain, dull novels in which the author rambles about a topic he or she has no knowledge about. However, this novel captures the reality in every detail no matter how stark it may be to create a remarkable series of events producing the images in one's mind with every fluid word. The author's use of desciptive adjectives provides fuel for a reader aware of the rodeo atmosphere, while also providing ample definative sentences, hindering a unknowledgable reader from making conjectures as to the meaning of various Western and rodeo lingo. The novel accounts the struggles between a lonesome rancher carrying a heavy burden, and a troubled teenager who is a up and coming rodeo legend. They need each other in their own ways, and throughout the novel their triumphs and pitfalls are emphasized in glorious detail, absolving the rancher's heavy burden in the conclusion. Anyone who enjoys the Western contemporary novels would benefit themselves by reading this novel. All to often the author of such novels have no bearing on the subject, and hence loses the reader in the muddle. This novel is crystal clear to all providing knowledge,and compelling the reader to continue on in the exquisative adventure that evolves throughout. It causes the reader to cheer in the triumphs, and fall in silence with the pitfalls. The author always keeps the reader's interest and attention, and causes wonderment as to what will evolve next. The novel engrosses everything that makes up the West and rodeo capturing the tradition that rodeo emphasizes. Warning, this book may entrall the reader preventing the reader from laying in down.

Cowboy Up!
This was an excellent book! If your interested in something light and easy to read this is the book for you. It was very entertaining and enjoyable, especially since I know a little about rodeoing.

Great books for all Ages
I really liked this book. The story was so great that I couldn't put the book down. This is a book that mom's can recommend to their children. The language was not offensive and their was no sex in the book. This fact along makes it a great book for teens.

Rigged to Ride (Rodeo Riders)
Published in Paperback by Signet (12 June, 2000)
Author: Mike Flanagan
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Another great rodeo adventure!
Clay Tory has turned pro in the rodeo circuit, riding saddle bronc, bareback and bull. He is working his way up the PRCA standings, traveling with good friend and surrogate father, Jack Lomas. Clay even has a girlfriend, barrel racer Tamara Allen. Everything should be perfect, but the top rodeo contenders are suddenly the victims of pranks, keeping them from competing. Clay and Jack are suspicious, but it isn't until Clay is viciously attacked, his riding hand mangled, that serious investigations begin. The trail leads to a group of wealthy gamblers betting on the standings, but which of them is organizing the escalating attacks?

Wow, Flanagan's done it again. This is number 2 in the Rodeo Riders series, one that I hope has a long and healthy life. I was instantly drawn into Jack and Clay's lives, on and off the rodeo circuit. And Tamara is a fine addition to the growing family of friends and associates. Cowboy up and get this book. You won't regret it!

A wonderful series by Mike Flanagan
When I started reading "Cowboy Up!", the first in a Rodeo Riders series by Mike Flanagan, it was the first I had been exposed to his writings. I read the book and was amazed at his style of writing and smooth flow. I am now a fan of Mike Flanagan's books. His understanding of human nature is expressed in a great way in the way that he writes and his characters come alive and you wish that you were there, living it along with them. In "Rigged to Ride", his next installment, it even gets better. Mike continues with his principal characters, Jack and Clay, but now adds Tamara. He uses no curse words, uses no foul behavior associated with drinking or carousing, and just does a splendid job! I would say that he has my interest and I will purchase all of his books. In this story, there is a gambling syndicate involved with rodeoing and it intensifies as the book goes on. But also, in the midst of all the troubles, Jack and Clay and Tamara, and a host of other noteable characters, do not respond with violence or hatred, but rather with composure. This is what really marks the book and Mike Flanagan's writing style. He has not bowed to the typical 90's style of writing, which includes cursing, violence and hatred, but rather a smooth flow of human love of the characters involved. Justice still gets served, but in a whole new way, which may be unfamiliar to us today. You will absolutely love this book. Well done, Mike Flanagan!

The Void Captain's Tale
Published in Paperback by St. Martin's Press (2001)
Author: Norman Spinrad
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For Budding Wild West Fans
I love the format of this along with other of the "Complete Idiot's" books. The publisher has come up with a formula that works. This is especially true with "The Old West" one. For those with a beginning interest in the Wild West, this is as good a book as you're going to find. It touches on the major figures in old west history and provides eye-catching sidebars that both interest and enlighten the reader. When I first looked at the book I felt it might have picked too wide a span of history to cover rather than focusing on the 19th century only. How do you explain American West history of 50,000 years ago? But it only spent a short time there so no harm done. What I liked about the entire book was Flanagan's writing style: informal but not flippant. The book's only flaw, which may be too strong a word, would be its "Further Reading" list. I found no entries for Glenn Shirley's books (Belle Starr, Law West of Ft. Smith, etc.; none for David Dary (perhaps the best one on cowboy culture); and none for Robert Utley (perhaps the best book on Billy the Kid). But then others might disagree. He did include many essentials such as Lamar's encyclopedia, O'Neal's encyclopedia, Rosa on Wild Bill, and Wellman's dynasty book. All in all there's no doubt this book is well worth reading.

Lots of fun and packed with information
Really informative material and easy-to-master idiot format make this a fun way to learn about the American West. The author's ease with the language and obvious expertise make me feel like I now know a lot, too.

A Overview of the West and it's Development: Great Detail
If you are looking for an extensive overview of the west then this is your book. The surprise is that the book starts with the Bering Strait theory and the early Indian civilizations in North America. The book does not just start in the west but also the east since what occurred in the east affected the Indians all across our nation. Indian tribes moved from the east either through self migration to the west or forceful removal under Jackson's presidency. This forced move crowded other tribes such as the Sioux and Cheyenne into the plains plus created further tribal conflicts as land and game became competitive. Covers conflicts with the Indians from Cortez and Coronado's heavy and violent domination of the Indian tribes to Grant, Sheridan and Sherman's plan to subjugate the Plains Indians, the Apache, Nez Perce and northwestern tribes. Covers everything from the early mountain men, explorers, trails west, Indian conflicts, telegraph, stagecoaches, miners, gold, conquest of the black hills, James Gang, Quantrill, Tombstone and right up to the turn of the century.

The best part of the book are the detail of occurrences that may not be well known to many but are fascinating such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre of a wagon train by Indians with Brigham Young's Mormons orchestrating and actually participating in the horrible event. Jackson's forced removal of Native Americans is very sad particularly the civilized tribes who suffered great adversity and death.

Its very well laid out and covers it all and it's written with some cheeky comments. It's quite a history that includes all that happened in the west and events that impacted it. This so called Idiot's Guide is 400 pages of facts with excellent straightforward readable descriptions. Written with a sense of humor but with respect for tragedy. Love the western expression "Dunks sober up. Fools remain fools."

The Newest Explosions of Terrorism: Latest Sites of Terrorism in the 1990s and Beyond
Published in Paperback by New Horizon Press (1998)
Author: Beau Ph.D. Grosscup
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Hard core Javascript theory.....at last.
After trying to learn javascript from the visual series "javascript for the world wide web, 3rd ed" (and being thoroughly disappointed), I finally have found a book that describes the fundamentals of the javascript language in detail. This book explains from an academic perspective the rules, usage, and syntax of javascript. It leads the reader into the depths of how javascript implements an object-oriented paradigm without getting too esoteric. It can be difficult reading at times, but the true nature of javascript programming is not that of a simple little scripting language as some would have you believe. The coding examples could have been better, with more full-sized scripts showing the language in action instead of the numerous 1-4 line code snipets. The one big distraction I noticed was the seemingly constant references to netscape navigator, and all the bugs present in older versions of that browser. Unfortunately, this dated the book and tended to highlight a bias when the author would have been better off staying with the academic focus. Even still, the majority of the theory is unaffected by nav or ie, and the reference section is essential for any serious javascript developer. It is noted that this book was copyright 1998, so "cutting edge" javascript extensions will not be included, but the fundamental theory behind the language remains intact. With the combination of this book (theory and reference) and the visual series book (cutesy web page tricks), I can finally get on with the task of finishing my web site.

Superb Reference
This is a wonderful reference book. Not for the beginner but the quality examples and the entire demonstrate concept is truly wonderful. This is done without being to fundamental or dry. It covers the basic important appearance of JavaScript that you would expect in any book covering a progress language. The explanation of questions you may have are already answered. The reading goes by quickly and you just seem to understand what the author is saying.
I highly recommend this book to all programers.

THE Javascript Reference!
I can't imagine any serious Javascript developer not having this book in his or her collection. It is the most complete reference I have seen on Javascript, and one of the most professionally written books period.

Where I work, the book is near ubiquitous among our web developers and has proven to be a valuable desk-side resource. I recently bought the 4th edition, after some of my coworkers commented on how worn my 3rd edition had become. No surprise, really, considering that I had to share the 3rd edition among six developers, all of whom were learning Javascript for the first time. I'm glad to once again have a nice, fresh copy of this book, and even more so, glad to have an updated reference with coverage of the new features in Javascript 1.5.

I'm pleased to say that the 4th edition lives up to the reputation of its predecessor. Reading is easy and informative, and the reference section provides answers to just about any question you'd have regarding the language syntax and object model.

If you're a web developer and have no other books in your collection, make sure you have this one.

Java in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (The Java Series)
Published in Paperback by (1997)
Authors: David Flanagan and Mike Loukides
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A fantasic update to a great reference book.

If you liked the first version of this book, you'll love the update!

As in the first ediiton, they have most of the Java package API's (see the end of the review) listed in the back along with an object model for each package.

The real value of the book lies in the front half, offering complete and consise descriptions of the changes in the JDK 1.1, so you can quickly glean what is new to the language.

Additionally, it offers sections on some of the newer features/API's such as JavaBeans, Reflection, Serialization, and so forth, even a quick comparison of the old and new event models with the return of the Scribble applet. Older sections on Applets, Java Syntax, and other categories are back and have been updated as well.

This book is a great Java 1.1 reference - it offers just enough depth beyond the online HTML documentation to make it an excellent source for a quick overview or refresher. It's not a book to learn Java from - but it should be the second book you buy. I can think of no better book to help in the migration from JDK 1.02 to JDK 1.1 development.

The only downside is a lack of JDBC, RMI, and security overviews (or package API's in the back!), which the book said would be covered in "Java Enterprise in a Nutshell".

A good introduction for the experienced developer
I approached this book from the perspective of an experienced software developer who is already expert in several programming languages, including C++, and familiar with object oriented design and development concepts. I wanted a book that would provide me with a quick start with the Java programming language and the class libraries. I wasn't disappointed.

The most serious omission is a discussion of the AWT (abstract window toolkit) and/or Swing libraries which provide capability for programming a user interface.

This book provides a good companion to Sun's on-line documentation. Judging by some of the other reviews, it's probably not appropriate for a complete novice, who perhaps would be better off with Learn Java in 21 days, Java for Complete Idiots, or some other such title.

Great introduction, but the reference section is weak
This book does a great job of getting a C/C++ programmer into doing Java programming. In addition, it has some really useful information about the Java 1.1 enhancements. For the most part, I really enjoyed it (although it would not be good for a beginning programmer).

On the other hand, the desktop reference is weak. For each method of a class, it is unclear 1) exactly what the purpose of the method is and 2) exactly what the arguments are for. This makes the reference less than wonderful. If you have the Sun references readily available on-line, this isn't too big a limitation, and it's nice to be able to find each class listed in a very concise manner. The information about what's new and what's deprecated (obsolete) in 1.1 is also very useful.

In general, I like this book a lot, and I keep it near me when I'm doing Java coding, but I find that I also need another reference nearby. I don't do enough Java coding to be able to get away with just the brief descriptions in the reference section. On the other hand, it's the best place to go for an overview of what methods and variables are available in a class.

The Broncbuster (Flanagan, Mike. American Rodeo Series.)
Published in Paperback by Cumberland House (1996)
Author: Mike Flanagan
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The beginnings of rodeo
This look back at the early days of rodeo (going from ranch to ranch and betting on who can ride an unbreakable horse) was very interesting. The characterization between the veteran cowboy and the young wannabe was well done. You can see the beginnings of Flanagan's new rodeo series in this book. I would recommend it, but be aware that it is set in a much earlier time. It is not a contemporary. If you love westerns that focus on relationships, buy this book.

Days of the West
Published in Paperback by Renaissance House Pub (1987)
Author: Mike Flanagan
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Dress Code Mess (Ghostwriter)
Published in Turtleback by Demco Media (1992)
Authors: Sara St. Antoine and S. Sara
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Windows® Server 2003: A Beginner's Guide
Published in Paperback by McGraw-Hill Osborne Media (11 April, 2003)
Authors: Marty Matthews and Martin S. Matthews
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