Spend the holidays with Nero and Archie, and quickly discover Wolfe quick thinking as he solves the mysteries faster than you can turn the pages. The last one is particularly good, as Wolfe takes offense to the fool who tries to fool him. In the others, Wolfe himself is cast in the spotlight as the police begin to even suspect his involvement - but naturally, his intellect always bails him out.

Nero Wolfe is constantly getting himself into fixes through three character flaws. Arrogance, Cupidity, and Eccentricity. He must then shake off his indolence and use his intelligence to extricate himself from whatever predicament he stumbles into. Frequently he must extricate himself through the device of an elaborate caper designed to expose a killer while simultaneously burying his embarrassment.

Each of the four stories in this book has as its centerpiece an elaborate caper. In two of the stories Wolfe engineers a caper to extricate himself from danger; in the one the caper places him in danger; in the fourth, he is victimized by a caper and solves the mystery through sheer force of logic and deduction.

In "Christmas Party" Wolfe's fear that Archie is going to marry causes him to masquerade as Santa Claus and become prime suspect in a murder. In "Easter Parade" Wolfe's envy of a rival orchid grower causes him to stoop to petit theft and become embroiled in a murder mystery. In "Fourth of July Picnic" Wolfe discovers a murder at a picnic, attempts to flee without reporting it, and must expose the murderer before he himself gets arrested for obstructing justice. In "Murder is No Joke" Wolfe provides all the usual suspects with an ironclad alibi. How can he break an alibi that he himself provides?

Classic murder mysteries rarely bear any resemblance to reality. I've handled hundreds of homicide cases over the years, and the puzzles presented by real life homicide investigations bear no resemblance whatsoever to the puzzles presented in murder mysteries. You can imagine my pleasure on finding that Wolfe solved one of the mysteries in this book with exactly the same stratagem employed in a case that I prosecuted years ago. I've long since lost track of the investigator who solved that little mystery, but if I ever see him again, I'm certainly going to ask him if he has ever read any Nero Wolfe.

This edition now boasts "As Seen on TV!" on its cover, alluding to the fact that 1 (so far) of the 4 short stories herein has been adapted by A&E. Since 3 of the 4 are set during major holidays, Jane Haddam (author of the Gregor Demarkian holiday mysteries) was selected to write the forward. Apart from her forward and the afterward, the book is pure Stout, set after both _Black Orchids_ and _The Black Mountain_.

All four are murder investigations. The Ingram editorial review incorrectly implies that the killings were committed by 1 person - they're not. The cases are unrelated, and are only grouped in one volume because of a common holiday theme.

"Christmas Party" - The A&E adaptation is faithful to the story. Archie, having arranged for a day off, receives brusque instructions to cancel his plans and drive Wolfe out to Mr. Hewitt's for a special orchid powwow. He whips out a marriage license (!), with the news that he must attend his fiancee's office Christmas party that day. You've _got_ to read this one, if only for Wolfe's reaction to this. :)

"Easter Parade" - Rumor (via his gardener) has it that Millard Bynoe has bred a pink Vanda, but he refuses to admit it or display it before his wife wears a blossom for the Easter parade. Wolfe, giving in to acute orchid envy, has Archie arrange for a petty thief to steal it under cover of parade photographers. Unfortunately, that's the day that someone poisons Mrs. Bynoe, apparently with a dart shot from a fake camera.

When originally published in a magazine, the photos referred to in the text were provided in color as clues. The old hardcover edition of the book provided them in B&W; this edition omits them altogether. It's a pity, but does not detract from the story.

"Fourth of July Picnic" - Wolfe never leaves the brownstone on business; his friend Marko Vukcic (and by extension, his restaurant, Rusterman's) is associated with most of the things that can get him out. He has agreed to give a speech at the annual picnic of the Restaurant Workers of America, if they'll stop harassing Fritz to join their union.

"Murder is No Joke" - A different version of this story appears in _Death Times Three_.

set in 70's Sweden, one of the "Martin Beck" Mysteries (there are 10 of them I think). Although they were Swedish, they made it into mainstream American Paperback print. Racy covers with contradictorily reasonably serious themes and decent writing.

"And just why is it not longer in print?" one of the bureaucrats might ask.

"Ridiculous" Beck might think under his breath.

These books give me the feeling that the authors really had a lot of experience in the world of police detective work. I don't know if they did or not. I think perhaps they were journalists who covered some criminal investigations.

There isn't a gunfight on every other page, and they don't get the guy who did it quite as easily as all that.

The work is methodical and frustrating, but in the end things get done and in the end the book is a satisfying read with small insights into both the work and the lives of the men.

This particular one has a good bit of Gunvald Larsson (not exactly Beck's favorite colleague, but definitely my favorite character) and the brick walls he very nearly runs into in trying to solve this case.

The comic relief, like the more serious moments, is reserved but very well done. I've reread some of the Larsson scenes many times.

jl

The fifth Martin Beck novel. When an apartment building under police surveillance mysteriously explodes in the middle of the night, it's up to Beck to solve the crime. Was it terrorism? Assassination? Or just a gas leak?

One of the better novels in the series, this is the first one to deal seriously with organized crime and the underworld. It also gives more time to the hilarious Gunvald Larsson, introduced in earlier novels but here playing a major supporting role.

An excellent crime thriller.

A look into the world of Swedish Homocide Bureau Chief Martin Beck. The book is well plotted and gives the reader a realistic look into the procedures of the police, as well as a glimpse into the steamy side of life (and crime) in Sweden in the late sixties.

The second book in the Martin Beck detective series. ... the emphasis is more on the police procedural than the social and political commentary which would dominate the authors' later works.

The crime in this one is again sexual in nature, although even more barbaric: the serial rape and strangulation of little girls, whose bodies subsequently turn up in parks all over Stockholm. Beck is on the case (with his trusty partner Kollberg), and the two thoroughly investigage every lead, but to no avail. The tension in the book is simple, but palpable: ... As the detectives begin to feel the heat from their superiors and the public, the killer prepares to strike again...

And then the anticlimactic ending. No car chases, no shoot-outs, no ingenious breakthroughs, no sudden flashes of psychic insight: just simple police work and a healthy infusion of old-fashioned dumb luck.

One of the better novels in the series, again to be praised for its attention to details and realism.

The Martin Beck stories written by the gifted husband and wife writers, Wahloo and Sjowall are well written and will hold your attention. Guaranteed. These are crime novels with a social conscience of the 60's era. The authors bemoan the disintegration of the Swedish and western society, where everything is worse than it used to be. Martin Beck is a cop who is no villain, and who does his job because somebody has to do it. We look at the evils of the 60's society almost with nostalgia today. If only today's society could be as bad as the one Martin Beck had to face every day. Had he been able to see into the future, Martin Beck would have indeed been thankful that he didn't have to live in 2001. When I first bought the Black Lizard edition in a Berkeley bookstore years ago, I must confess it was strictly for the slick cover of a dead man with a face in a spaghetti plate (in "Murder At the Savoy"). Soon I had to have all ten of the Wahloo-Sjowall books. I still have them, and still occasionally go back to read them again!

Serial-killer novels with the detective in hot pursuit are a dime a dozen... This is a primary source for the genre, and a literary work of the first magnitude. One of those rare books with the ring of truth, making it all the more terrifying... The protagonist Martin Beck and his colleagues are in a league of their own, among the most compelling characters in modern fiction. The Martin Beck mysteries as a whole dwarf almost any other literary achievement of the last fifty years. If you've made it this far in this review, do yourself a favor and read one of these books. You won't regret it.

This self-study covers all the bases! Fast Facts provide a quick review prior to the test, test simulation software to prepare for the actual exam, step-by-step examples walk you through what was just explained, case studies help one see how the learned material is applied in the real world. It's not only thorough, but easy to read and understand.

I especially like that in addition to giving the correct answer to review questions, the authors also explain why the other answers aren't correct. It helped me understand the correct answer so much better! I've looked for this and no one else does it! It's probably the biggest reason why I chose this one over all others.

This is an awesome book for those with some Windows 2000 experience, but not a lot. Not only are all of the objectives covered in good detail, in many places the book steps back and gives you all of the background information that is left out of the objectives. Use this to pass the exam and as a reference as well. Very well done with no noticable errors or other problems, looks like Que has hit the nail on the head with this one.

In a sea of Microsoft Exam titles, this one stands out. After receiving this publication and reading it, I was amazed at how big the book was! It was good though because it made sure you were properly prepared for this exam. Good work on this book. You will be prepared for the exam with this one.

A good book for content, but don't look at the pictures. Not sure how this one got by, but a lot of the Figures in this book where wrong. When talking about RAS, the Figure showed a "Migration Tool For NewWare" picture. This kind of thing happened more that once or twice. I found this very distracting. The book also covered a lot of registry stuff, none of which will be on any test.

I used this book as my main study guide, and found it to be right on. It was easy enough for a beginner to understand, yet thorough enough to help me pass the exam. The CD is unusually well done. Oh yeah, the pull out cram book is worth the price alone. Get this book if you want to pass.

The book is good, there is no question about it, but what blew me asway was the short book glued into the front of it that is the nuts and bolts of what you must cram for the exam. This is not a tear-out sheet, or a rehash of the exam objectives - this is the actual study tool you need to pass the test first time out.

I think it is a good book for reference. However, you can't understand the details of the covered chapters which might be required to pass the exams. The questions in the books should have explanations so that the reader will know why the answers are chosen.

This is the best written book for logically laying out the data required to pass the tests. If you read this book, you will pass all the tests on your first try.

Great work!!!

This book is mostly a collection of practice test questions necessary to pass the MCSE exams. This is not a study guide. If you are trying to obtain an in-depth knowledge of the coursework, you will need to purchase another book other than this. However, if your objective is to only pass the exams and get your MCSE, this book is tremendously helpful. Simply put, a lot of the questions in this book are almost the same exact questions offered on the actual exams. There are some reading material which explains the subject, but this material is rather cursory and does not get in depth. The only strength of this book is that you can simply memorize all the questions and answers offered, and you will have know at least 70% of the questions offered on the actual exams. There are some errors which I found. For example, on the IIS 4.0 chapter, some of the answers offered are blatantly wrong. This is most likely a printing error or careless editing. Nevertheless, the majority of the questions and answeres are correct. The only other shortcoming of this book is that it does not explain the answers. It simply tells you what the correct choice is. I can honestly say that without this book, I would not be an MCSE today. This book is a VERY good shortcut to certification.

I used mainly this book, along with the New Riders (to a lesser extent), to study for the SCNA. It is most excellent EXCEPT for the DHCP chapter which has blantant TYPOS galore and is just flat out INCORRECT at parts.

So I scored 100% on all sections EXCEPT the DHCP where I scored a big fat 0% -- all DHCP questions were service file location and purpose, no client/general questions (many blank fill-ins too). Since that's 10% of the test, if you want to score more than a 90% (or don't think you have the 10% to spare, 67% is passing....

Overall I thought the book was an excellent resouce. I passed the exam the fist time using only this book as a study guide. Still I was troubled by the number of case typos I found, especially in the DHCP chapter.

I bought and started reading Rafeeq Rehman's book, couldn't get past the typos and put it away. I don't mind that he couldn't spell, but I don't trust book editors that can't do a basic spell check, so I lost a lot of confidence. I tried to work my way through Sun's class workbook, but found it dry. In the meantime, my boss was pressuring me to complete my exam. I purchased the (very expensive) Sun online exam and Rick Bushnell's book, studying both for two weeks. I passed the exam the first time (unusual for me), and even managed to get a 66 on DHCP. I'm throwing away Rehman's book, but will keep Bushnell's for future reference - lots of good info, minimal typos, and great conversational style.

It is a good book. The content is well-organized and easy to understand. And the review questions are so far so good. What I disappoint is that lack of illustration. If it can contains more figures to show the steps, I think it would make me easier to understand. Also, it does not explain some concepts in-depth and the converge of materials is not good enough. I think it can be better.

The book is quite self explaining and easy to understand but there are some errors in the review questions and some parameters are not explained within a specific chapter. On the whole, I suggest that you buy the book.

This book is laid out very well and explained concepts in an easy to understand manner. I used it and passed the test easily. The practice tests on the CD were great too.

Although the pictures are magnificent like all other photographs taken by Peter Black, I do believe the text could have been improved. While flipping through, you're taken on a journey of Bush's career from the early days in 1994 to the days leading up to their release of The Science of Things in 1999. While some of the stories written by Black are interesting and funny, I found other parts of the descriptions nothing short of boring. If you're mainly interested in the rare photographs, then this book will definately please you!

This is automatically a good book because of it's subject matter. It is a book of pictures chronicling Bush's endless string of tour dates from the beginning radio festivals and club shows promoting 16 Stone up until the massive sold out football arenas of Razorblade Suitcase. The narrative is from their photographer's (Peter Black) point of view. It is an honest reaction to the various situations they encountered from a long time friend that was there before they were famous and will still be there after it's all done. Although the text is totally unedited, it actually ends up adding to the book, because it seems like a friend is telling you about the concert they just saw. This is a worthwile book to get just because of the stories.

This books is so awesome. The pictures are fantastic! It's a must have for any bush fan!

Good as far as it goes, but has some editing errors involving photos and subject matter that weaken it terribly. There are better books on A+ including the Myers Exam Guide, A+ Adaptive Exams, and the Schmidt Certification Self Study manual. If you have a large budget, this book has mostly worth while information.

This is actully my grandfathers book so i had to rate it 5 stars but I actully do mean it! It is a great book. He is a electronics teacher at Solono and knows his work!

Designed for use along with the A+ Complete Study Guide, the A+ Complete Lab Manual delivers student exercises and practical labs that build student ability and confidence for taking the CompTIA A+ exam. (Amazon.com)

Broken down into 43 hands-on labs, the lab manual now gives you every opportunity to pass the exam. You excuses have run out. Evans has taken a great deal of time in preparing this book.

Each lab has a procedure and a report, giving you a way to record what you have done. This will make a fine addition to the learning process and will simply some of the more complex issues with A+.

The book has three detailed appendices; each designed fro a specific purpose. One for Windows 95 commands, one for DOS commands and one for specific command breakdowns.