This book was very little about astronomy and the actual history of the discovery of Phobos and Deimos, which is what I was interested in, and much more about the politics in postbellum (that is too a word; I looked it up) America.

I skimmed endless passages detailing the intricacies of the lives of men whose names I didn't know because, well, because they probably didn't have much to contribute to the pagent of history. Maybe I daydreamed through this part in history class, but shouldn't a good historical novel include an engaging introduction to the period, rather than a catalog of the doings of every bit player?

I was unable to sympathise with any of the main characters, who were all self-absorbed and self-pitying. Peripheral (and non-political) characters, like the Irish astrologer, the "Scientific Frenchman" correspondent, and Asaph Hall (the moons' discoverer) and his ambitious wife, were much more interesting to me.

Many passages were clumsily written, telling rather than showing. And before each character comes down with malaria, the author made a point of describing the protentous mosquito bite--but ignores all the other bites that every character would have suffered in the course of the muggy summer.

My interest was in astronomy, not politics, so perhaps I shouldn't blame the author for expounding my favorite subject, but I'm a fairly well-rounded person, I think, and if the political stuff was better written, I might have enjoyed learning about it. However, it failed entirely to engage my interest.

In the real world Scientists have been and continue to pursue a Unified Theory Of Everything. In the genre of Historical Fiction, Mr. Mallon with, "Two Moons" appears to be searching for the literary equivalent. The period of History he chose to place his story in was a controversial and colorful period to say the least. Unfortunately this book communicates very little of those events, and when it does it tends to dull them.

The Author had a great deal of History to work with as a stage for the fiction he chose to set upon it. Senator Conkling, the scandals surrounding the New York Ports, and elections so manipulated they make our most recent seem perfectly sane. None of this comes through in the book; the History that is there is a faded backdrop and no more. The fiction that is added is aimless, lacks any sort of focus to prioritize whom we are supposed to be interested in, and vaguely wanders around a goal of an Astronomer that is simply ridiculous.

It's difficult to care about characters when they care so little for themselves. Lack of empathy for the players is compounded when their Histories are fragmented and scattered throughout the work. You could literally remove many of the Observatory staff and the story would lose none of the minimal interest it struggles to generate.

Nineteenth Century Washington D.C. was a very interesting place, both in terms of the miserable place it was to live and work, the issues that resulted from the Civil War, and finding new bodies in the Heavens generally should fascinate as well. In this story the reader is given a great amalgam of gray. Even when the climax of the book's central male character takes place, as a reader you will wonder why it did, and find it difficult to care. The philosophical topic of infinity or eternal existence is so cliché and thin, as to be patently absurd.

This Author may have written some good work, this is not one of them. It is also the first I have read, so it may be the poor exception.

This is a rare kind of book. It combines a meticulous sense of historical reality with science and high romance between unlikely characters. It makes me want to seek out and read all of Mallon's work, and to keep and reread (soon!) this one.

I paid more than what is listed here for this book locally.

The script is interesting because it has a few things in it that are not in the final cut of the film, but one can find them in the novel. The four introductions are all right, but I found only two interesting: the one by the director and the one by the writer. There are eleven black and white pictures (I read somewhere else there would be many more, including many backstage; only two of the included ones are backstage). I think I could have expected some colour ones for the price.

It delivers the script, but is definately not worth the money.

This book proves that the book always gives more details!!!
This is a great instalment in the hannibal seris, I never wanted to put down the book, The book jumps right to the point!!!
I highly suggest buying it, it isnt expensive I brought at a drug store for [$]

Value-Added Public Relations argues that public relations are key to any successful marketing campaign. The book predominantly rests its premise on the belief that public relations adds credibility, and, thus, "value" to the marketing campaign. While I know plenty of marketing executives are unhappy about admitting it, I'm not sure I would call it a secret weapon.

The book is loaded with several case history examples. While it's well-written, overall, it fails to convey its message while taking into account the Internet. For that, I suggest Michael Levine's Guerrilla PR: Wired, which accepts the Internet's uses in a public relations and marketing campaign.

Overall, Value-Added Public Relations is a strong, if outdated, piece of work. While its suggestions are still useful, and it is a thorough piece of work, it would be worth considering to wait and see if an updated edition is released.

This book is an insightful reminder, powerful tool, and eye-opener for all professionals who are either entering the field or have many years of experience in marketing or communication, which includes public relations. It opens a whole world of opportunities for success in today's competitive environment. Communications or marketing by itself cannot achieve success for a product, service or idea. The much advocated "systems approach" is even more true today than before. For those who have read Theodore Levitt's "Marketing Myopia," this book poses Levitt's famous question to the marketing profession-what business are you in? An interdisciplinary and integrated approach can help companies gain a competitive advantage in an ever increasingly competitive environment. It answers many questions we have today about the reasons for a successful marketing program. In today's world, where the consumer constantly faces information overload, this book provides ways of turning that information into knowledge by closing the marketing credibility gap as defined by Harris. The book addresses marketers of consumer, business, and high-technology products and services. An internally integrated communication effort will help consumers synthesize their world views in forming favorable perceptions of a company's products. Controlling consumer behavior has been far more difficult than shaping the few impressions that consumers receive. Isn't this what marketers and communicators strive for? The book refers to relevant and valuable examples followed by lessons for today's marketers.

Probably the best and most practical book on PR, from a strategic marketing perspective.

There is no non-sense,no unnecessary words--no B.S.!

The author is a real practitioner in Marketing Public Relations with impressive real world and academic credentials.

If other marketing or management gurus can write like him, there will probably be more practical business books for the readers -- the knowledge end-users to enjoy.

I understand that good reviews help sell books and that poor reviews don't. Well this review may never see the light of day, but I feel compeled to try and dissuade others from spending their money foolishly. The ending of Hannibal was, without question, the most ridiculous and silly climax I have ever read. For two thirds of this book I was hooked. A well thought out plot with a seemingly devastating conclusion had me wondering how it was going to work out. Past the two thirds point and through the ending this potential winner disappointed tremendously. I can understand why Jodie Foster passed on reprising her Clarice Starling role in the film version.

I'm sorry that my first customer review is a negative one. Mr. Harris is a fine writer, (Silence of the Lambs was one of the few books which actually frightened me while reading it) but he comes up way off base with this one. If I didn't know better I would feel that Mr. Harris was trying to bring the saga of Lecter and Starling to an end, not because it was time, but moreso because he suddenly grew tired of them both. Well, if that was his plan, it worked for me. I only hope that I can look past this silly, silly ending when his next book is published.

Like everyone else who's reviewing this book, I'd been waiting for this sequel for a long time. And while 'Hannibal' isn't the complete success that 'Red Dragon' and 'The Silence of the Lambs' were, it's definitely a book that MUST be read by fans of those great adventures. 'Hannibal' doesn't seem to follow a 'Serial Killer Hunt' format, so it isn't structured like RD or TSotL. Rather, it concentrates on the fallout of the events in TSotL; Starling's rapidly disintegrating career, and Lecter's flight from captivity. The book travels along as both Starling and Lecter's worlds slowly come together again, and for the most part, I found the bulk of the book to be less engrossing (or just gross-ing?) than I would have expected. But when the two of them inevitably meet again, by design of a malicious victim of Lecter's from long ago, Harris has concocted one of the most astounding reunions I have ever seen in recurring fictional characters.

I don't entirely buy into the motives or circumstances of the ending, and maybe I missed something along the way, but I have to give Harris his due, for his courage to wrap things up in such a shocking and unexpected manner. After I've had some time to think about it, I can honestly say...I like the ending because it's nice to be suprised, even though I don't think the circumstances or motivations are clear enough to be believable.

I rate 'Hannibal' at four stars, but the high rating is for the emotional shock value, not for a convincing, or entirely satisfying read. Harris has guts, I'll give him that.

In Hannibal, Thomas Harris reclaims his characters from the pop culture cocktail party that began with Silence of the Lambs. After Jody Foster and Anthony Hopkins successfully translated Harris' characters from prose to cinema, the pair seemed more suitable for endless appearances on talk-shows and magazine interviews than participants in the author's grand themes of battles between dark and light.

Readers should well be warned that Hannibal is grisly. However, Harris has suitably warned us of this through his other two Lector books. The maroon-eyed serial killer is, and will always be, a dangerous being. No popular worship from afar will buy any mercy when his appetite for action is piqued. He is a predator. He cannot be tamed. But, he can be predictable. Given the chance, he will kill. Given a challenge, he will persevere.

With that in mind, read Hannibal as the dark journey Harris intended. The author, much like Virgil, leads you, the reader, through a dark Inferno of intigues.

Clarisse Starling has more in common with Will Graham, of Red Dragon this time around. Clarisse has new lambs that disturb her sleep. The world has turned a few clicks and she is "in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes." Isolation is a powerful crucible. Harris exploits it to the hilt.

Much has been made of Lector's childhood recollections as a grand explanation for his condition. Rubbish. In Red Dragon, Will Graham says Lector has been labeled a sociopath because "...they don't know what else to call him." Lector's childhood recollections no more explain why he has his appetites than sociopath lucidly describes his character. He will always be an enigma; classically urbane and utterly lethal in the same paragraph.

Harris' grand theme, the struggle between darkness and light, enjoys numerous variations as new and old characters move into Lector's dark circle and become influenced by the same dark forces. It is, however, his domain. Few can survive it. None are left unchanged.

I have read all Thomas Harris's books and was really looking forward to "tucking in" (pun intended) to Hannibal. Initially, it was interesting reading, since I had the images of Foster and Hopkins firmly in my mind, whereas with the other books I had imagined a taller, softer, blonder, Clarice, and a Dirk Bogarde type Lecter. I disagree with some other readers who found the Italian scenes boring. I thought the book contained some beautiful prose, which either ironically or deliberately underscored the horrific subject matter. Trying to give a reason for Hannibal's state of mind, on the other hand, had the opposite effect.

In hindsight, I believe the painstaking detail that Harris went into, while adding value, certainly was outright showing off. He's obviously very smart in music, international cuisine, guns, knives, the FBI, and pig farming, but the hopping in and out of tenses was not a smart move, since for me, it actually minimized the readability of the book. I read Harris's earlier books in one or two evenings, but this one took more than two weeks. It was very put-downable and I sense that the book was written in the same way: the last few chapters seemed very hurried, as if Harris had taken a long lapse before getting down to finishing it once and for all. As far as the ending, well, I had to read it several times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating like Clarice. Was Harris hallucinating when he wrote it? If he wasn't, then the scariest aspect of the book is that Harris could actually be Hannibal's alter ego. I'd often thought I'd like to meet the author, but after that ludicrously horrific excuse for an ending, I'm far more scared of him than I am Hannibal Lecter!