I am a high school student and this is a college course, and the only reason I am bought this book was because my school can't afford to supply the students with it. This book is great and is going to almost guarantee me a passing grade in my Marine Biology class. Although this is just an introduction book it is full of information and it is and interesting subject to study. Coming from a student I recommend this book to any Marine Biology teacher. This subject is overall fun and even if you are expecting to be something non-related to this subject when you choose your career this is still very educational.

Michael McGarrity's "The Big Gamble" is a fascinating and believable police procedural vividly set in New Mexico.

Two bodies (seemingly unrelated) are discovered after a fire of dubious origin. One is an eleven-year-old cold case from Kevin Kerney's past. His estranged son is the primary for the other victim.

The plot follows the pair of investigations that eventually uncover a huge ring of gambling, prostitution, drugs, money laundering and politicians. The villains are high-ranking politicos, plus one evil gunsel.

A credible resolution that opens the possibility for continued pairing of Kerney and his son.

This seventh book in the Kevin Kerney series is just as fresh as the first---one reason being that Kerney has held various positions in New Mexico law enforcement in different locales.

Great series by a most under discovered writer.

Michael McGarrity has written another great Kevin Kerney mystery. This time, Kerney is drawn into a case being worked by his newly discovered son, Clayton Istee. A fire that destroys an abandoned roadside fruit stand reveals two corpses-one new, one old, both murdered. The older victim turns out to be a "cold case" of Kerney's. McGarrity successfully braids the two cases together, allowing evidence to be discovered in a totally natural and believable way. He also does a great job of quietly describing the bundle of human contradictions that is modern New Mexico, and realistically portraying the tensions that exit between Native American, Hispanic and Anglo. I started reading this one late; which was a mistake because I literally couldn't put it down until I finished it! Good thing I didn't have to work the next day.
I also get the feeling that as McGarrity continues to write, Clayton Istee is going to come to the forefront of his New Mexico mysteries and Kerney will take a "back burner" position. While I find Istee an intriguing character, and worthy of being the focus of a great read, I hope Kevin Kerney continues to inhabit Michael McGarrity's fictional world.

The real Kevin Kerney is back from the irreality of his previous case UNDER THE COLOR OF LAW. For the first time McGarrity splits the story between two cops: Chief Kevin Kerney of Santa Fe and his newly revealed son, Deputy Clayton Istee, 150 miles apart. New and old deaths are gradually interwoven in parallel to the reluctant yet beautifully described reconcilement of these two strangers. This is as much a Big Gamble for the two strong and silent men as are the casinos that figure in the scandalous plot. Maybe they will develop into a famous duo like Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Clayton may be a needed addition in the series because, with an entire police department now at his beck, Chief Kerney will have a hard time doing his old lonesome investigations that made his reputation as a maverick lawman.

McGarrity's stories are not hidden clue mysteries a la Poirot; rather they are dogged police procedurals firmly driven by vivid local color. Here Kerney and Istee must tread carefully, from opposite ends, through personal, ethnic, and political, as well as gambling, sexual, and jurisdictional, minefields. It is McGarrity's ability to write believable plots and personalities that "feel real and right" that makes him a master, and this may be his best. It's curious how some publishers overly rely on spell checkers and miss homonyms; here Dutton drops occasional prepositions.

As a huge King Of The Hill fan, I eagerly purchased this book. I though it was fairly boring, and only a few pages had me laughing, and just a few more made me smile.

I loved this book! I'm almost 23, but I'm definitely giving it to dad this June. It's about 120 pages of pure Hank-mania. Hats off to the author!

This book was funny as they come. They really hit the nail on the head when they created this Hank Hill character. It blends in perfectly with the show - which I watch religiously - and was so good I shared it with my own father. He had a bigger laugh than I did.

New Traditions In Terror is a new and ambitious horror fiction anthology. Why ambitious? Because the whole of the book is comprised of stories dealing with subject matter already much overdone: we're talking vampires, werewolves, vengeful spirits, ghouls, demons, and evil people here. A risky proposition indeed, as nowadays I dread reading vampire or werewolf stories for knowing that while the characters may change, the basic storyline is one that I've read hundreds of times before. That in itself would be acceptable, if not compounded by the fact that I usually also will have gotten absolutely nothing out of the story by its conclusion: no emotion, no involvement with any of the characters, not even the consolation of knowing that while nothing new may have been brought to the table, at least I'd had the pleasure of reading a gripping, page-turning story.

And so, New Traditions In Terror delivers sixteen stories and one poem, by authors the readers of Horror-Wood may not be familiar with. Seventeen fresh voices accepting the daunting challenge of writing tales containing characters that are increasingly looked down upon in the field as being passé.

For the most part, the authors vindicate themselves extremely well. While admittedly, few stories really do break any new ground (a story concerning a cyber werewolf is a notable exception), as a whole the stories are well-written, and do manage to sweep the reader up and carry them along for a short, but enjoyable ride. Many evoke a well-defined and appropriate atmosphere, almost tangible, as well as creating developed characters that I came to care about, hoping they would come to a good - or deceivingly bad - end. On at least one occasion I compared a story (favorably) to some classics I fondly remember from my decades of reading.

A few stories in this collection deserve mention. "Afraid Of The Water", by Robynn Clairday, does such a good job of evoking concrete images in her tale, that it brought back some very unpleasant memories of my own fear of water as a young child. "Monster", by Peter N. Dudar, is a great example of a tale that can build suspense and keep a reader on edge through merely hinting at the horror, rather than through any blatant or graphic depiction of it. A wonderful example of "less is more." The ending has a wonderful, Lovecraftian/Cthulhu feel to it. Lastly, there is "Kiowa Wells", by R. A. Cox. The highlight of the book, Cox's tale takes an old idea (vengeful Indian spirit), and weaves it into an enthralling classic. Heavily atmospheric, well-developed and written, perfect pacing, ever-increasing chills. I predict a deserved, enduring popularity for this one.

The only aspect of the book that I feel doesn't work is one story, only because it reads more like a "The Shadow"-type detective tale, with a monster casually thrown in at the end because one was needed, than as a horror story. It's a good tale, mind you, but definitely feels out of place with respect to the rest of the collection.

That said, New Traditions In Terror is a fine read, and a welcome addition to a horror fiction library. A collection of well-crafted and entertaining tales, from 17 talented writers from whom I hope we'll be fortunate enough to hear from again. It's encouraging to know that the future of horror fiction is in such capable hands.

Bill Purcell has collected many satisfying stories (about creatures thought to be passe or no longer frightening) in this book. Vampires, werewolves and ghosts are nothing new. But the stories in NTIT are not your granddad's WEIRD TALES stories. The authors of these stories get inside the monster and look out at the world. They do mre than go boo. Why do vampires drink blood? Would a werewolf even want to stop killing people?

Personal favorites: "Cargo" by Sean Logan, "Kiowa Wells" by R. A. Cox, "The Last Wolf" by Lester Thees and "Dogs" by Michael Beai.

If you are a fan of the old monsters, buy this book. If you are a fan of current horror, buy this book. If you are a fan of both, I envy you. (Oh, and buy this book.)

Usually when I pick up a themed anthology, I'm disappointed that all the stories seem the same. This book contains a good variety, loosly based around the theme of "traditional" monsters. The differant stories, and the unique writing styles, kept me entertained throughout the book. As I said above, some of the stories scared me, some just grossed me out, but all in all, I thought this was a great collection. My hat's off to the people who put this one together.

Duke University basketball coach Mike "Coach K" Krzyzewski and co-author Donald T. Phillips have written a heartfelt and practical book. The coach weaves his leadership and team strategies into lessons not just for sports, but for business and life. The book, which includes a foreword by Grant Hill (yes, he can write, too!), is filled with personal experiences, anecdotes, and examples. The coach uses sports as a metaphor for management. For example, he advises: "Never let a person's weakness get in the way of his strengths." We [...] recommend this well-written book to anyone interested in emotionally balanced team-building, as developed by a winning coach.

In this book, Coach K does an excellent job of explaining his leadership techniques and how they have led to his unrivaled success with the Duke University men's basketball progream. While Duke fans will appreciate the examples more than non-fans, anyone who takes a leadership role in their life, or wants to, can benefit from reading this book. I would especially recommend it for aspiring coaches - from little league to the pros.

The layout of the book adds to its effectiveness. Sections of the book are labeled much like a basketball season...with the preseason, season, postseason, and all year. When he puts his leadership tactics in this layout, it helps everyone whose role as a leader changes focus throughout the year.

I chose this book to read for a business class at my college. The book focuses around Coach K and his experiences with basketball. He alludes to his theories applications towards business some, but it is up to the reader to apply them to his/her own business situations. His theories though on leadership and family are empowering, touching, and entertaining. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's not just a book for the basketball lover, Duke fan, or business reader. It's a book that shows how one man has steadfastly stood by his beliefs throughout his life. Great book, Coach K!

Hikers interested in the Sandia Mountains will be disappointed in this book, as it contains only the most rudimentary of trail descriptions. Most of the book is devoted to climbing routes, and the route descriptions are generally helpful, if not particularly detailed. However, new editions of this book appear only about every 8-10 years, and the route information in new editions seems to be about two years old upon publication. No mention is made in the current edition of either sport climbing routes in the area or the growing bouldering scene in the Sandia foothills. It will be interesting to see if there is ever a later edition, as Mike Hill's store went out of business and I'm not sure he even lives in the area now.

This book develops self knowledge and managerial skills in a very hands-on way. I teach leadership skills to students and executives. If someone doesn't have the luxury of attending those types of classes/trainings, this book will provide him/her with a good self-guided replacement. It's not too heady, and the chapters are short and do-able. The book covers many topics from networking to conflict managment, to decision-making techniques and many things in between.

This book is one of those rare finds that one comes across once in a while and which makes complex concepts very clear. It begins with the Identification of Training Needs, goes through the process of developing faculty, preparing, scheduling and conducting programs and moves on into evaluating the effect of training.Brilliantly simple with illustrative flow charts that carry the reader through the entire training process. It would help of course, if there were a few sample forms or formats and a little more detailing, particularly in the design of training programs. The lack of these, however, does not detract from the fact that with this book it is possible to setup one's own training centre and have it comply with ISO standards effortlessly. Highly recommended for those developing a career in training as well as for those handling a training centre or in-charge of the function.

This book presents 9 classic Silver Age stories of the JLA. The only fault I could find was that the old ads weren't printed!

This book reprints The Brave and the Bold 28-30, which introduced the Justice League, and Justice League of America 1-6. Nine classic stories from the dawn of the Super Heroes as we know them today. Trying to buy all these issue seperately would drain your wallet, but together in a handsome volume, they are a deal for any classic comic collector!
(Note: This review is for Vol 1, not Vol 2. For some reason, it shows up under both)

I read the 6th Volume most recently, but this review might apply to the entire JLA ARCHIVES series. The stories in the series improve a bit as time goes on, but the difference from volume to volume is barely perceptible.

You'll have trouble finding a more colorful and bizarre collection of popcorn-science-fiction concepts in any novel or collection of stories; not in comics, not in Larry Niven or in Isaac Asimov, none of those guys. The characters and dialog may seem awkward and stilted (even by the standards of 1960's comics writing), but the inherent weirdness and originality blazes right on through.

With the possible exception of Stan Lee, Gardner Fox is the single most influential writer in American comics. In addition to the Justice League, he created The Flash, The Atom, Hawkman, and the 1940's Justice Society of America (and numerous others I can't think of right now). Along with editor Julius Schwartz, he revamped most of those characters in the late 1950's to create what we call the Silver Age of comics. A list of Fox's literary successors includes comics writers Cary Bates, Mark Waid, and Grant Morrison.

Mike Sekowsky's artwork is perfectly suited to represent the various alien worlds and super-science characters that recur throughout the stories, even if his superheroes usually look a little off (except Wonder Woman).