This is the best book on starting business that I've come across. A lot of practical tips on various strategies (marketing, pricing, promoting etc.). However, it is probably more about running a new business rather than steps in opening one. Worth reading thus.
Phuong , MA in Economics student @ U of Toronto.

I would highly recommend picking up this book to anyone contemplating opening a small business or maybe struggling with an existing one. It is an easy read and reminds you of the common pitfalls, at the same time motivating for success...

The only reason I read this book is because I got it in a discount bundle of books from a Christian bookstore. Now I know why they were trying to get rid of it. The story line revolves around a husband and wife who team up to write books about their travels. If you haven't read the first book in the series, the relationships between the characters can be hard to figure out. For the record, the main characters are Tony and (Dr) Priscilla (Price) Shadowbrook. The Shadowbrooks have two daughters, twins Kathy and Christina (Kit), and two sons, Mark (married to Amanda and father of Cooper) and Josh (engaged to Melody).

In this volume, the Shadowbrooks visit Jerome, an old Arizona copper mining town. The intriguing beginning immediately arouses interest, as they bump into an eccentric traveller carrying his own tombstone - marked with the approaching date of his death! But aside from the last two chapters - which contain an exciting and suspenseful concoction of murder and mystery - the book really doesn't live up to its early promise. Most of the content revolves around the Shadowbrooks and the book about Jerome they are working on. After a while, it dawned on me that the book the Shadowbrooks are producing was the very one in my hands! It sounds like a novel idea, but the novelty soon wears thin. After reading sentences like "Can we use any of that scene in our book?" for the fourth time (p.165), I began thinking: "Just get on with the book!" It soon gets a bit tiresome to hear the husband and wife writing team arguing about a suitable title, deciding what events to incorporate, and giving each other kudos for their brilliant writing in the previous chapter. The fictional Shadowbrook is supposedly a famous writer, having ardent fans constantly bow at his feet, and is mentioned in the same breath as Clancy and Grisham (p.168). But Copper Hill makes it painfully evident that Bly is no Clancy and no Grisham!

But I suspect the real Bly and the fictional Shadowbrook have a great deal in common. Can it be a coincidence that both Bly and Shadowbrook are writers of Westerns? That they have authored books with the same title? That the Shadowbrook husband and wife team are writing a book about Jerome called Copper Hill, just like the Bly husband and wife team? The connections between the Shadowbrooks and the Blys are too strong to be ignored. Secretly I wondered how much of the Shadowbrook's marriage and family is simply a reflection of the Bly's own life, particularly because a great deal of the book concerns the ins and outs of a marriage relationship hampered by menopause and trivial family squabbles. In this respect Copper Hill did have the potential to give a solid message about marriage and the family. But any positive message is sadly cheapened by the frivolousness of the conflicts. A mother of the bride who suddenly decides she's opposed to a backyard wedding, convinces herself that wedding rings are pagan symbols, and wants to add a train to the wedding dress - all just days before the wedding? Puh-lease! When will the silliness stop? Of course it does stop in the last two chapters when the murder mystery really heats up, but by that time it is really too late. Hampered further by some questionable theology about spiritual warfare (p.34 & 155), and a lack of courage in applying Biblical absolutes (p.68-72), this book is in the end a rather unfortunate disappointment. On its own, the cocktail of mystery and murder had the potential to be a winner. But when combined with a watered down mix of marriage and menopause, the final cocktail sadly turned sour.

I really enjoyed this book. A husband and wife writing team spend the summer in Arizona writing a book. It tells of the struggles and joys of marriage and raising a family while looking for God's guidance. And some interesting stuff happens during their book-writing summer. I hope they continue this series. It's good to read a book that puts family and marriage in a positive light.

A good read for those who enjoy humor and adventure and entertaining interplay of relationships in a husband-wife writing team. The unique setting of Jerome, Arizona, the town sliding down a hill, with its idiosyncratic characters, provide Tony & Price Shadowbrook a crazy summer of research while keeping up with their own family's antics.

As a textbook, for the first electrical machines course, the main advantages of this book are;

1- Sufficient number of worked examples and chapter end problems. 2- Sufficient number of diagrams, well selected and helpful.

The weaknesses

1- The typing mistakes; I have pointed more than 50 of them appeared in the second edition and, repeated in the third edition.

2- The graphical solutions are not drawn with 'easy to follow' scale, especially those with log or semilog-scale.

Nivel al que deben acceder los estuantes de una Universida

I am a big fan of both Clarke and Baxter, but this novel is not among my favorites of their stories. Now, I saw as very interesting the scientific ideas of the possible uses of wormholes, as well as the social manifestations of these developments. There also were many interesting comments peppered throughout the book. These aspects of the novel seemed like they came from Baxter and Clarke. Yet as a work of fiction I do not think the book succeeds. For one thing, the characters are rather sketchy and unoriginal. Secondly, there is a fair amount of what I consider filler material that does not add to the story. Third, the overall writing style is quite harsh, often with unpleasant language and scenes that in my opinion were unnecessary. This convinces me that the book was surely not written by Clarke, since the dark tone is in complete contrast to the many other works of his I have read. My point here is that if you consider reading this novel as a way to enjoy something by Arthur Clarke, I suggest choosing another. But all in all, as a sci-fi story I enjoyed it to a fair degree.

I liked this work of Clarke and Baxter (alright, I've never read anything by Clarke that I didn't like). I must admit I tend to enjoy Clarke as a sole author, I feel that he is more concise than with a co-author, however this book was a pleasant surprise. The physics is wayyyy out there, even for Clarke...I can't specify without giving it away, but let's just say that this one is a stretch ! I thoroghly enjoyed what they did with it though.

I most enjoyed the very descriptive passages regarding historical observations (looking backward), I felt engrossed during the narrative. As usual, Clarke/Baxter speaks to the social changes induced by the advanced technology they postulate, however, I found this book to be lacking in believability in this respect. This one aspect of it was disappointing. The rest was very enjoyable.

Notice how I haven't told you what the story is about, well I can't without taking away from the surprise elements. If you're an Arthur C. Clarke fan, I think you'll find this book worthwile (however it's no Childhood's End).

I thought the book was good, not great. Arthur C. Clarke is an excellent author, but he could have done better. The book basically diminishes everything in the world as we know it to be usless and meaningless. It describes a grim future for our planet, one in which I think is a little insulting to the human race.

The book concentraited on to many details, overuse of figurative language. If I wanted to know how the roses smelled in 2037 I would not have read a Science-Fiction book, I would have read a poem. Once the book told you something, or should I say, described it, it would have restated you again and again. I just wish the book would have been directed toward how life could be in the future, not directed at a few characters personal lives.

However, even if the book did not have exactly what I was looking for, it included a lot of interesting ideas. It also related the problems in the furture to the ones we are facing now very well. I was extremely interested in the fact that Clarke used actual scientific ideas and principles, not just ones made up by a couple of mental patients.

I would rate this book a good read for someone who likes a good story, and not to someone who would like to aquire some knowledge.

The authors have tried to cram all the theories and ideas of corporate finance in one single volume- they did a commendable job, but has made it too burdensome for MBA students who have to cover the whole book in a single semester. The initial chapters are a joy to read, but it all becomes unstuck when the reader reaches Part IV (Capital Structure and Dividend Policy). Then the authors become somewhat vague and make a heavy weather of explaining the important topic. That is the reason why I could not give five stars to an otherwise excellent book. The initial three parts viz. Overview, Value and Capital Budgeting, and Risk introduce novices gently to the basic concepts and tools. The writing is wordy, but very simple, and it never becomes irksome to the reader.The part on options is detailed enough to give the reader a basic idea of derivatives and will set him/her up nicely for future courses in advanced finance. On the whole, the book is much more detailed and easily acceptable than the other "classic" viz. Brealey and Myers. The best fact is that the authors are not writing for financial experts, but for people who are new to finance. Possibly, this is the best introductory textbook on corporate finance available today.

As part of the process of learning Corporate Finance, I found the guide to be extremely useful in solving problems and applying the theory to the practical stuff. In general, Ross et al deliver an easily understandable book but the best is how he takes most of the concepts at a much deeper level that you can find in many specialized books (actually many of those specialized books refer back to Ross!!!!)

This is possibly the best intro-intermediate corporate finance book in the market today.

The competition to this book, would be Brealey and Myers (but is dry, wordy, too informal, confusing, not super organized, and prob. written to be a money vaccum for the authors).

This book really has value added to it (for instance, the layout and gold fonts make reading the book more a pleasure and hobby than a hell-chore).

The tone is really engaging, professional, formal, and just keeps you awake (relatively to other textbooks like the Brealey and Myers).

I'm a undergrad student at the Univ. of Washington in Seattle, and I have used both this book and another book by the same authors called the fundamentals of corporate finance, and it's great. I have also used the Brealey and Myers prin. of corporate finance - and its a real hunk of junk.

Stephen White is, without a doubt, a truly extraordinary author. Even when his books aren't as good as you'd hoped, they're still good enough that you don't want to put them down (and, in my case, are willing to give them a second chance and re-read it). This book, while not the best, is still enjoyable. I believe the author hit his stride in "Remote Control" and has been off and running since.

While the book would've benefited from fewer characters (I had to go back and find where one was introduced to find out what her importance was), it was still enjoyable and had me reading well past midnight.

This is the second book I have read by Stephen White and I loved it. I couldnt put this book down! It keeps you guessing the whole way through!

I've been a big fan of Stephen White for many years. I re-read Private Practices in one sitting last night. It only reconfirmed why I grab White's books as soon as they're printed.

First and fundamentally, White writes with great suspense and lots of unexpected twists and turns. In this book, a ski death, a spousal abuse murder,the crash of the United flight in Sioux City, a gas explosion and a gourmet restaurant all find their way into the tangled web.

Still,when I recommend White to friends (which I do often), the recommendation always includes the wonderful dry humor of the books.About 3/4's of the humor is universal and a healthy forth is directed at Colorado things - weather, the People's Republic of Boulder and skiers. Funny enough for outsiders and really big grins for locals.

One word of caution to new readers of the Alan Gregory series. Unlike many male slueths, Alan doesn't have a new babe in each book. If you want to follow his romantic relationship, as well as the progress of friends and neighbors, this is a series worth reading in sequence. It starts with Priviledged Information. This book, Private Practices, is the second in the series...

Some of the Mormons who wrote reviews here are defending what can't be defended. Stephen White wrote a novel but he did research before he did and what he found was obviously not to the liking of the LDS Church or some of its more devout (and misinformed adherents). What White tried to do with "Higher Authority" (and I think he was very successful) was set a murder mystery against the backdrop of the workings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What Mormon readers of this book need to do is get honest; they also need to read up on their church's history and when they do, the real theology should come through. Alan Gregory is not the main character here, Lauren Crowder is. It is what she investigates and finds that makes for the backdrop of the story. What many non-Mormon readers don't realize is what exactly LDS members believe. White gives us a primer but he doesn't cover it all. If most people knew just exactly what Mormons believe, they would never, ever become adherents. Read this book because it's a good story. After you do, go to a Christian bookstore to the section on "cults" and buy any of the books on MORMONS. Read with an open mind and when you do, you'll find that Mormons aren't Christians at all. They mean well and Stephen White points that out in his novel. But it's the negative exposure that has the Mormons trying to explain away the inconsistencies and outright falsehoods that are part of their false doctrine. Stephen White lives in a part of the country where Mormons are numerous and influential. His riting is all the more courageous because of that. There are documented cases of people making death threats to people who write and say negative things about the LDS Church. I have spoken to non-Mormon friends from Utah and they HAVE told me that UTAH is as close to a theocracy as one gets in the good old USA. Read "Higher Authority" and get an idea why.

Not only was this a good read from a mystery standpoint, it taught me more about the Mormon religion than my college level Comparative Religion class. The author either has a very personal acquaintance with the Mormon church, or he performed very thorough research. Either way, I always love it when I learn something from a book as well as just enjoy the experience, and this was one of those books. I found this book to be HIGHLY original. In addition to the events in the plot being different from the ordinary fare, this is the first time I have read a mystery author who switches the focus from a series' main character (the psychologist)the secondary main character (Lauren)in a separate book. I read it in less than a week, was sorry when it ended.

As a born and bred Mormon, active and faithful, I read this story because it sounded intriguing. As a story, it lives up to its promise of mystery and excitement. I was dismayed at the Mormon bashing, and only want to tell prospective readers that the author has no real factual knowledge of the LDS Church and what life is really like in Utah. The truth is really simple and there's no mystery to it at all. Utah is far from a theocracy, and Church leaders do not dictate our actions, much less our thoughts. Unfortunately, the plot and premise of this book depends heavily on the possibility that even murder would be considered an option rather than have politically high-placed individuals exposed for practices which are not condoned by the Mormon religion. If you keep that in mind and discount 95% of what the author says about politics and religion in Utah, I do recommend the story.

Stephen Cannell, having shown he was adept at writing and creating TV shows, turned to novel writing a few years ago and has produced a number of generally decent mysteries. In his last novel, The Tin Collectors, he introduced his first series character, Shane Scully, who reappears in this book.

One day while driving on the freeway, Shane notices his best friend and fellow cop driving nearby. The only problem is that his friend died three years ago by suicide. Already in trouble with his superiors, Shane knows that reopening this case based on a fleeting glance is dangerous, but he can't let things lie.

This premise, while not completely original, is at least executed well. In fact, the first half of this novel is pretty exciting. Unfortunately, the second half gets muddled with its complex plot involving the parallel market and the various shady characters involved in this market. In addition, Cannell recycles some ideas from his first novel, The Plan, which also deals with childhood friends who wind up being on opposing sides.

The balance of good first half and bad second half is roughly equal, meriting this book an even three stars. If you enjoy Cannell's other works, you should continue with this one, but otherwise, you might want to go elsewhere.

Although I probably haven't read a novel in the past year or so, I have to commend Stephen J. Cannell for bringing the joy of reading a thriller back to me.

Shane Scully is a cop on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to his childhood friend commiting suicide and his girlfriend getting all the recognition for his work on a huge case he just cracked showing corruption in the L.A. Police dept., when he's driving down the highway one day and sees his supposedly dead friend driving next to him. After doing some investigative work he discovers that there is a rogue group of cops that have all faked their suicides so they could work off the books. Shane decides to infiltrate the group and delve into the shaddy underground known as the parallel market. In a wonderfully spun web of intrigue and suspense written by Stephen J. Cannell the reader is taken on an adventure that you won't soon forget.

I found the book imposible to put down for the 2 heart pounding days that it took me to read it. The book is very well written and easy to read. 2 thumbs up for Stephen J. Cannell on writing this soon to be best seller!!

I really enjoyed reading The Tin Collectors, so I was happily awaiting The Viking Funeral. It didn't disappoint me! I loved the interaction between the characters (which you can appreciate even if you didn't read The Tin Collectors). I like the fact Shane Scully is put in tough guy situations but always comes through a gentleman.

It was very exciting, and since reading the book and hearing Mr. Cannell speak at a book signing, I discovered that the vikings are based on a true "gang" formed in the L.A. Sheriff's dept. some years ago and that the money laundering is a problem which our government turns its back on.

Once again Cannell is at the top of his game, weaving actual events or bizarre occurrances into a brilliant work of fiction.

I was on the edge of my seat and read the book without putting it down even once!

...Stephen Coonts dips his toes into the waters of science fiction and comes up with what he does best-a techno-thriller. Rip, a college student summering as a geological survey worker, spots a gleam under the sand in the middle of the Sahara desert, and from such auspicious beginnings he unearths a seventy-foot, hundred forty thousand year old flying saucer. Everyone from a band of Australian mercenaries to the Libyan government knows about it, and wants it, within forty-eight hours. Rip's got himself a dilemma-how to get the saucer out of the hands of the various agencies who want it?

The Saucer is exactly the kind of turn-your-brain-off entertainment one expects from Stephen Coonts, and he delivers in spades. All the plot pieces are there, all the trappings (including the gorgeous sidekick, of course), all the loose-end-tying at the end. This is perfect beach reading. It never breaks formula, and the pages don't stop turning until you hit the last one. A good, solid read. ***

Whiz-kid seismic surveyor Rip Cantrell finds a still-functioning 140,000-year old flying saucer embedded in the Sahara sandstone. The U.S. Air Force isn't far behind with their recon satellites, sending out UFO investigator and top test pilot Charlotte "Charlie" Pine. A seedy Australian multi-billionaire sends out his own goon squad to reclaim the ancient artifact for an international auction, and the Libyan government is getting into the act with an air assault that just might stop them all.

Under those circumstances, what's a good, patriotic pair of red-blooded Americans to do? Why, take the saucer out of harm's way for starters, of course - even if the only way out is to fly the damn thing to safety.

You can't have more fun than this book. It's a non-stop roller-coaster ride of adolescent fantasy/action-adventure. The first half is often very, very funny, with Rip and Charlie making headlines around the world as a fleet of invading aliens, as they zip in and about various highway coffee shops for a bite to eat before taking off into orbit to evade heat-seeking interceptor missiles. The second half is where the uglier adult action begins, with the Rupert Murdoch-esque Australian weapons contractor getting his hands on Charlie and the saucer...but, of course, there's a great deal more fun to be had from there.

Ignore the nay-sayers who simply missed the point. None of this book is meant in any way to be taken that seriously. It does manage to raise some interesting questions regarding human evolution and ancient civilizations, but they are only lightly touched upon and more or less glossed over in favor of the Disneyland action-ride. So just hop on in the cockpit, and aim for the stars - or Missouri, whichever comes first.

Geological whiz-kid surveyor Rip Cantrell stumbles over a 140,000 year-old flying saucer lodged in Sudanese sandstone, and before he and his science team cronies can say "exploit E.T.," the secret is out and everyone's making a grab for it. The U.S. Air Force sends its UFO investigators, including hot-shot young test pilot Charlotte Pine, who takes a mutual liking to Rip. By the time a tipped-off Australian billionaire and the Libyan government make a move on it, Rip and Charlotte have figured out how to fly the still-functioning ancient technology - and do so, fast, to escape all the aforementioned parties and figure out what best to do with the saucer. Many zany hijinks ensue.

This is easily one of the most fun books I've ever read. It's part action-adventure, part sci-fi speculation, part spoof, and all entertainment. The entire first half is often very, very funny, with Kip and Charlotte making intentional and unintentional headline news on their flight to escape all authorities. Things turn more serious when the power-players catch up to the hot-rodding young whippersnappers, intent on capitalizing on their particular hot-rod. It all comes to a roller-coaster conclusion in a mini-World War III in Australia, with every major power on Earth hell-bent to either own the twenty-first century's leading edge in technology, or destroy it to insure that no rival nation gets it.

Ignore the nay-sayers. They missed the point. This book is just plain kick-in-the-pants fun, from start to finish.

Enjoy.

Sorry, but this isn't much of a book. Only 160 pages without the index and other stuff in the back, mostly self-promotion by a few architects of their own projects -- ok, some nice hotels and good color pictures in the middle -- only a little technical information. Other books have much more content, or more pictures of a wider variety of hotels/resorts. Way too expensive for what you get.

Great Book, I am an architect new to hotel design and I found this book filled with lots of valuable information, especially in chapters 2 & 3 where they discuss some awesome projects. Nice photos and diagrams throughout the book.