Reginald Hill is a wonderful writer. While so many other authors in the mystery genre repeat themselves and take the easy way out when it comes to plotting, Hill continues to challange his readers. Great plotting, great characters, great book.

Fifteen years have elapsed since the small Yorkshire village of Dendale of was flooded in order to create a reservoir. However, the orderly moving of the residents took a bizarre twist when three young girls disappeared and the prime suspect Benny Lightfoot vanished. Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel never closed the book on this case.

However, a drought has occurred, leaving the reservoir at an all time low. The village has begun to reappear. At the same time, graffiti proclaims the return of Lightfoot and a girl has been reported missing. This time around Dalziel and his partner, Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, hope they capture the culprit before anyone else disappears.

No review can do justice to the multi-layered, incredibly complex, but brilliantly written ON BEULAH HEIGHT. This novel has so many dimensions yet due to the tremendous talent of Reginald Hill, they all work and blend together so that the reader never feels lost. It's strongly recommend that fans read the entire series, but especially this masterpiece that showcases the mystery genre at its best.

Harriet Klausner END

A few years ago I discovered Dalziel (pronounced "deal") and Pascoe on A&E. I became intrigued, and set out to read all Hill's many books on this infamous pair of "thinking" British cops. I am now almost caught up as "On Beulah Height" is the next to the last installment in Hill's series.

I think the best way to read Hill's books is chronologically, but there are many of them. You can figure out the order by their publication dates. The stories are complex so even if you see them dramatized on A&E you can still enjoy the written text as much of it is interior monologue/thinking. Hill writes books that eschew the pounding action of many current mystery writers (who give me a headache). His plots move vigorously, but they are thinking reader's books--somewhat like those of Colin Dexter.

DCI Peter Pascoe and his wife Ellie have to be one of the nicest, most down-to-earth, and likeable couples around. Hill has tracked their courtship, marriage, marital problems, and the birth of their child Rosie, though the various cases Dalziel and Pascoe have undertaken. This book continues their story, while simultaneously filling out the lives of other characters: Dalziel (the fat man from Yorkshire), Weild(y) (the "gay" cop who rides a motorcycle and has a kindly heart) and the female cop DC Novello.

"On Beulah Height" is a tough book, as it involves the disappearance and supposed deaths of several small girls. Interwoven through the search for the abductor/killer is the tale of Rosie Pascoe's fight for her own life. Hill has used a the device of a children's story entitled "Nina and the Nix" to structure his plot.

The characters are believable, from the singer Elizabeth Wulfson to the "retarded" Benny Lightfoot. I like Hill's inclination to describe the interaction between men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, and lovers of both sexes. Hill understands human behavior, and his characters are quite believable.

In the end, the loose ends are tied up. You may find one angle a bit stretched, but I am willing to give Hill the suspension of disbelief.

Reginald Hill's detective stories are always an enjoyable combination of complex plots, well-developed characters, and lots of gossipy details of contemporary English village life. The only thing that keeps this from being a 5-star rating is that Pascoe is so closely linked to the victims and suspects that it is darker and lacks some of the humor of other books in this series. It's probably not the best of Hill's books for someone new to his detectives. Read another Reginald Hill first (you can't go wrong with any of them), then come back to this one when you know the main characters a little better.

Having renewed his relationship with college girlfriend Ellie Soper, Detective Peter Pascoe re-establishes contact with other school friends, who invite Ellie and Peter to spend a long weekend in the country with them. Work detains Peter, so that when Ellie and Peter arrive at the cottage, they find all their frinds brutally murdered, except for their host, who is missing.
Peter is out of his jurisdiction and on the other side of the witness table, trying desperately to convince his colleagues that his friend can't be the murderer.
Meanwhile Ellie does some investigating of her own, in which she finds an unexpected ally, the cop she detests, Superintendent Andy Dalziel.
If you have enjoyed later Dalziel and Pascoe books, don't miss this earlier effort. There are some great character developing scenes in this book, especially for Ellie and Dalziel.

Pascoe and Ellie arrive in Thorton Lacey for a reunion with four old friends. They discover three of their friends brutally murdered and the fourth gone missing. Is he dead also, or a suspect in the murders? Hill's descriptive powers are exceptional and they put you squarely into each scene. One of my favorites was, "Above the thatched roof a flock of television aerials parted the morning breeze and serenely sang their triumph over charm and Tudory". Intelligence and subtle humor infuse the whole story. The mystery spins irresistibly to the final pages and the ending leaves you with a smile.

The story of The Odyssey is one of the grestest stories ever told. Everytime I read it, I fall in love with the characters. I love the way Mr. Fitzgerald translates the book. He does a masterful job of describing the scene, and uses words to fully portray what is going on, and how the characters feel. I'm reading a version translated by someone else, and it feels "watered down." It's almost too easy to read. Fitzgerald doesn't simplify it to the point where something is lost. I would recommend this book to anyone. In echoing the words of people who have commented before me, I thought the Odyssey would be boring, but it truly is an awesome book and story.

This epic tale proves that the best stories and the most perilous adventures know no time period. "The Odyssey" is as compelling today as it was when it was written. Many of the adventures from Odysseus' journey have become stories all their own (the Cyclops, the Sirens, etc.) Fitzgerald's translation of this poem is masterful. He makes it easy to read but takes none of the magic away from Homer's spellbinding words. Children today who love action and adventure in books and in the movies should not overlook this classic simply because of its length and age. By any standard, this is quite possibly the greatest adventure story ever told.

The Odyssey was probably the best book I have ever read. I first read this epic poem as a freshman in high school, and have read it many times after that. The epic journey by Homer captures the journey through life and its obstacles. Odysseus is main character that must journey to find his way home after the victorious battle of Troy. Odysseus has to overcome many obstacles that lie in his path to return home.

In life we also face obstacles that limit our ability. To overcome each different obstacle, one must use strength, mind, and perseverance to move on and succeed in life.

Odysseus overcame these obstacles by problem solving and thinking ahead. The Odyssey really captures the essences of life lessons through out time. The book was excellent. I mean where else can you find bloody battles, passionate love scenes, giant maelstroms, and the occasional six-headed monster.

I recommend this book to any reader, whether in High School, College, or just the average reader. The Odyssey is a definite classic.

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Reginald Hill's Dalziel/Pascoe stories are unique, in that they vary from very light hearted (Pictures of Perfection) to grim and haunting, and even to the paranormal! This story is on the lighter side. The unusual twist is that Pascoe himself is forced to wonder whether, by driving under the influence, Dalziel has corrupted the investigation. The story ties together the threads of 3 different deaths on the same night. A newer character, Detective-Constable Seymour, assists Pascoe and Sgt Wield in the investigation. The completely clueless and luckless Constable Hector manages to hinder most of the help Seymour is providing. The story has some very funny moments despite the tragedy of the deaths of the three elderly victims. As always it is great when Mrs. Ellie Pascoe is a part of the story. And she is "present" in this one, although she's physically away, taking care of her own elderly father. The mystery is satisfying and the reader's natural suspicion of Dalziel's motives, and maybe even his integrity, actually enhances the plot. Well done.

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(For a sampling of the haunting, deeper side of Reginald Hill's Dalziel/Pascoe stories try "On Beulah Height: or "The Wood Beyond".)

EXIT LINES (Reginald Hill, 1984) is a particularly good book, even by Reginald Hill's particularly high standards. It tackles the themes of death and ageing in both a humorous and a tragic way, showing the keen intelligence and humanity of the author.

The book opens with the deaths of three old men on a November night: as Detective Inspector Pascoe remarks, decidedly "not a good night for the old". One was murdered in his bathtub, his daughter arriving just in time to hear him gasp "Charley" and die; one died of exposure on playing fields, the discoverer of the body hearing him cry "Polly"; and the third murmured "Paradise! Driver... fat bastard...pissed!"-understandably so, for Superintendent Dalziel was in the car which hit him. The dying messages serve as clues as enigmatic as death itself, reinforced by the choice of dying words as chapter headings (great fun for those quotation spotters and spouters out there!). Police work uncovers connections between the supposedly separate cases-and police corruption hovering in the air, with Dalziel going on a shooting spree (of pheasants, that is)-"grand".

Reginald Hill shows himself as a keen observer of humanity, fascinated by the human race-but not becoming bogged down in Ruth Rendell's social conscience or P.D. James' bleak pessimism, but instead remembering that the writer's first duty is to the reader, to entertain. Take, for example, Ellie Pascoe's father's senility as an example of how to handle family background problems without intrusion: it is secondary to the plot, but is there as a play on the book's theme of ageing, and also serves to provide a vital clue. Characterisation is superlative, the reader really feeling sympathy for the characters, or despising those who view the old as a burden. Hill achieves this through a remarkable mixture of humour and genuine emotion, contrasting-but never clashing-humour with grief in succeeding paragraphs. Old age is really brought home to the reader by the senile dementia of Mrs. Escott, a genuinely pathetic and well-drawn character.

The whole-detective story, novel elements-culminates in a particularly neat and moving ending in which all the loose ends tied up, with both good clues and affecting murderers. This book shows Reginald Hill at the height of his powers-without any doubt the best of the modern writers of detective stories who are still writing.

I used Online Law as a reference for my E-Commerce project at the community college. It covered all the important topics in great detail. The book is organized like a textbook, so it is easy to find the information you need. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in doing business on the Internet.

Any book on "online law" that was published in 1996 is going to include _some_ things that are out of date. Nevertheless this volume has held up extremely well. And it was written by a group of attorneys who know their stuff in both law and technology.

The coverage is thorough. A short introductory chapter explains what's "new and different" about online law; then a second chapter gives an overview of the legal issues that affect e.g. websites and e-commerce.

After that, the books breaks out into subheadings, each including multiple chapters on specific topics. Part I covers information security; Part II, online transactions; Part III, intellectual property rights in electronic information; Part IV, the regulation of informational content; Part V, the regulation of online conduct. As if that weren't enough, there's an appendix that provides a quick overview of cryptography. (If you think you might actually need to work with the stuff, you'll eventually want to invest in Bruce Schneier's book. But this is a good intro.)

As I said, some of it is a _little_ out of date. There's a lot of talk, for example, about modifications to the Uniform Commercial Code that were under debate in 1996; and of course any book written in 1996 can't take account of, e.g., the Digital Copyright Clarification and Technology Act of 1997, let alone the final outcome of _New York Times v. Tasini_. But the underlying legal issues haven't changed much, and this volume is still about as good an introduction as you'll find.

If you want a solid grounding in the law relating to information technology, supplement this book with Jonathan Bick's _101 Things You Need to Know About Internet Law_ and you'll be in good shape. If you want to specialize in this field there are other books you'll want too, but by the time you need them you'll know what they are.

It is a very good textbook of critical care medicine.It is simple and precise.

I do not known if I want to get the CD-ROM of this book,whether it is selled with the book or I can buy the CD-ROM only.

As this is a review of this particular book, I won't spend time going into the details of how much I loved the movie, how I found it to be an allegory for life itself, how I nearly started a master's in Literature to be able to write a thesis on it, or why I think some of the creepiest moments in Hollywood can be found in this brilliant movie. Instead, I will recommend this book, because it gives the reader some background details on Truman than help explain some of the more obscure scenes in the movie. In addition, the reader gets to see where Carrey made changes to the way Niccol had originally pictured the film, and how these changes helped bring the movie to greatness. The book is also handy to have around the house when the VCR is broken.

The book is as described: a facsimile copy of the shooting script. Interesting to see how much was actually dropped for the movie. While an annotated script would have been nice -- particularly more thoughts on why the differences between the original script and what was shot -- this book does what it set out to do, and it's definitely a great script.

This is one of the greatest movies ever, mostly because of the brilliant script. The first time I saw the movie I thought it was simply okay. But after my second viewing I noticed the subtle symbols and how great the script is, I have seen this movie 20 times and I can honestly say I have noticed something new each time, how many movies can you say that about. All the street signs are named after actors (Lancaster,Stewart,Barrymore)and the characters' names as well (Meryl (Streep) Laurence (Oliver) Vivian (Leigh) Angela (Lansbury) Spencer (Tracey) Marlon (Brando) and Pluto) and my personal favorite the I Love Lucy reference.

This is one of those books that makes you wonder if anyone attempted to proof or edit it before publication. A couple of the exercises referred to in the workouts cannot be found in the exercise descriptions. Sometimes, the written descriptions of the exercises contradict the accompanying photographs. Don't get me wrong, the routines provide tough and credible workouts. But reading the book requires some interpretation and assumptions.

This book gives a simple but effective way to get in shape, using calisthetics, weights, running and boxing to achieve it. It offers three levels of training, all basically the same format but with different intensity levels.
I have used this book several times over the last 2 years and enjoy the workouts. I break up the daily routines into 3 segments-the calisthetic part in the morning, the weights in the afternoon and the ad work in the evening. On running days, a similar pattern-running in the morning, weights at lunch and ab work in the evening. The routines don't take long that way but adds to fat-burning and muscle-building without exhaustion.
There are some negative points: they show exercises that they don't use and suggest exercises that they don't show.
But overall, I recommend this book to everyone who wants to get in shape without joining a gym.

I bought this book 2 years ago and still use the routines. This is a good book for beginner to intermediate trainers who want variety. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get in shape quickly and effectively.

I found this book very simple to follow and comprehend. In the past, I have run across books that are way too complicated and contain too much complexed unnecessary information. Once I picked this book up to read it, it was hard to put down. I found myself eager to learn more of these techniques. Fortunately, I have never been a victim of any violent crime and as a result am not sure if I would make the correct choices when it comes to defending myself. This book left me with a sense of assurance. I certainly feel like if a bad situation were to present itself, I can defend myself a lot better "now" than prior to reading this book. I liked the book so much and was so impressed with the way it was presented that I bragged about it to my co-workers and picked up extra copies for my sisters and mom at Christmas. I wanted to give them a "thoughtful" gift and also a sense of security. This is definitely a book that has self defense techniques that are so simple that even GRANDMA can learn them! If it's "instinctive" self defense techniques you are after, Common Sense Self Defense is the book for you. The authors of this book did an excellent job on the presentation of this book and made sure the audience would stay interested while reading its contents. Even though I was an amateur, the techniques were effortless. Thanks to this wonderful book my eyes are now open. The techniques are fun to practice too!!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.At first,I thought that it would be a book of 'how to' techniques but I was pleasantly surprised.This book really does teach and promote common sense.Of course, not all techniques could be presented in this book but the ones that were are very helpful.I appreciate the fact that this book doesn't promote a "gung-ho" attitude.The real key is to walk away or avoid situations where you could find yourself in a very precarious situation and to be alert of your surroundings.Only when it's absolutely warrented does it give tips on actual techniques to defend yourself and whether you may need to use excessive force.I have to tell you that a friend and I practiced a couple of these techniques and they actually worked.While I hope that I will not be a victim of a criminal attack, I do believe that the techniques that I've learned in this book will be very helpful not to mention practical.

This book is an execellent source for individuals with little self defense training. It gives you some basic defense techniques that you can practice on your own or with a partner. It is not overly complicated like some books I have read. The reader will not get bored or frustrated, but will enjoy reading and learning from the book. Even if you are experienced in self defense techniques, you will appreciate the quality of this book. It is the kind of book you will keep close by, as a reference.
In this day and age, every law abiding citizen should be conscious of threats that may be around them, and they should have some thought as to what tactic to take, in the event of a criminal attack. The police and other law enforcement can not be everywhere. You need to have some basic training to be able to defend yourself, or at least survive until help does arrive. Stop being a victim. Take control of your life and start by purchasing this book. You won't regret it.

A reference in matter of picture and colour photography. Most of the description are too succinct. In a roughly 66 pages and over a hundred photography, you get a good view of some parts of the Waffen-SS uniforms. Dont expect specific Waffen-SS portion to be exploited. Photographic reference only, but for a reference ..., it's a pleasent book to look at and at this price it's a perfect book to add in a collection...

_________________________
Paul Bourgault
2Lt/Fus MR21/34thCBG/RCAC

Although the photos are mostly of reproduction uniforms stagged by re-enactors, they do give a good all around look at the uniforms worn by the SS. Two thirds of the book is dedicated to their cammouflage and there many differant types and paterns. In all a good referance book.

As an artist, finding color WWII reference material is quite tricky, and usually limited to color plates done by other artists! This is just top shelf to me! -A real visual treat. The pictures are large and in very sharp focus allowing for good appreciation of detail and color, and there is a wide spectrum of mini-eras represented.There are several other german WWII color photo books out there, but none can boast the sheer number of Waffen-SS variations depicted here.Buy it right now, for one day you will look back with disbelief when you think you ever debated about adding this to your collection. -It's that good!