Jacob Asch is about as close to Marlowe as it gets. When I read crime fiction (especially first-person stories about private investigators set in LA!), I'm continually making comparisons with Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. So far, I've found two worthy successors to Chandler: Crumley and Lyons.

Lyons' execution is nearly flawless. The story never sags, from its opening in which a new client is found dead in Asch's office. The pursuit of the truth about the client, his prostitute girlfriend and junkie crime-partner is wound into a tight, elegant ball of a plot, surrounded by a host of LA police detectives... some cooperative and some downright suspicious of Asch's motives.

I encountered and read this book by accident. I will hunt down the other Asch novels for the simple reason that this book is an entertaining, nearly flawless example of LA PI fiction.

Reporter turned private detective Jacob Asch agrees to meet a man on short notice--anything to take Asch from the ennui of tracking down elderly people for conservatorship actions. The man says he suspects his wife of being unfaithful, and Asch takes the case. After a fruitless day of following the woman, Asch returns to his office to find his client murdered. Asch is further confused when the man turns out not to be who he claimed to be. The police are not confused, though. Asch is promptly jailed.

When the police verify Asch's whereabouts during the day, they finally release Asch, who vows to solve the mystery of the murdered client. When each lead seems to leave to a corpse, Asch finds himself involved in an even larger mystery and a growing cast of suspects. He finds himself growing increasingly suspicious as he falls into the arms of a gorgeous blonde homicide detective. But can he trust her, her alcoholic partner, the self-centered reporter who did the story on police corruption, the widow of a slain cop, the mechanic who dabbles as a pimp, or any of the other people in the story?

"False Pretenses" is a hard-boiled detective story for the '90s, true to the genre's pioneers without being an anachronism. Jacob Asch may not be Sam Spade, but he is not too far removed. The result is a very enjoyable novel.

I have taken a few physics labs at this point and have seen my share of appendices on statistics in the back of the lab manuals. They taught me about how to plug in the numbers and told me a little bit about why the equations mattered, but little else.

This slim, inexpensive book has done a magnificent job about teaching you not only how to do the math (it includes problems and has solutions in the back) but also how to think about different types of experiment error, and where it is appropriate to use certain equations or error-propagation approximations. If you ever have trouble with basic lab statistics, or are just getting started as a science major, this is a great book to have.

This book really covers it all - from error handling and propagation to how to make data regression for data analysis and so on - for the experimental physics student. It's very well written in a direct and right-to-the-point way. Definatly a great book.

This is a great book, a must for people from 6 - 96. Is there anything that bothered you in maths, & you were shy or afraid to ask your strict teacher? well, once you have : All You Wanted to Know About Mathematics but Were Afraid to Ask : Mathematics for Science Students, there'll be no problems at all cause this book will give you answers to all your maths problems..... i advice anyone with trouble in maths to buy & read it carefully..... anyone who buys this book will have no regrets....

If you're new to creative writing, or if you teach an introductory creative writing course, I strongly recommend that you read this book. It uses a structured approach to the different aspects of writing (writing about places, situations, people, etc.) and includes many thought-provoking exercises at the end of each section. The book also includes many excerpts of autobiographical writings from well-known male and female authors, including Annie Dillard and George Orwell. Finally, the editor ties it all together with several essays that help teachers and students get the most out of the excerpts and writing exercises. I have used the book successfully for many years to refresh my own writing skills and to build the skills and confidence of my writing students. I only wish that a newer edition would be published.

As a high energy physics graduate student, I know of no other book which provides a better grounding in the data analysis techniques needed in an HEP phd. This book has been invaluable to me. It has also been invaluable to many of my professors and friends. If you are doing an HEP phd, you should get this book. Its as simple as that.

I bought this book several years ago in a second hand book store, I originally bought it just becuase of the title but once I started reading I became quite engrossed, the book is very factual and to the point and not at all like alot of the so called satanic or occult books on the market that glorify perversion and depravity. If anyone wishes to find out about satanism historically as this is quite an old book or just out of general interest I would recommend this as a thoroughly good overview and actually made quite alot of sense as it takes a hedonstic view on the subject. If you enjoy an alternative lifestyle or if you would like something a bit different to read you should read this book. It deffinently gave me a view on life which I had already started on but made me feel much more confident in the process.

This is an absolutely wonderful book about Satanism. The author actually has a sense of humor, such a rare thing when writing an exposition on modern Satanism... Read this book.

This book belongs on the shelf next to LaVey's Satanic Bible, for it puts Satanism in more of a historic and modern context. The chapter on heavy metal was particulary interesting. While the public's "fear" of this type of stuff has abated during the 1990s, this book remains a must-read.

This story had great potential but was totally unbelievable. The plot, the dialogue, the characters - didn't believe Jake could really be that smart or quick thinking. I couldn't wait to finish the book - I wouldn't have except I didn't have anything else with me to switch over to.

Jake Conason, the protagonist of DARKNESS IN HIM, is a senior at (fictional) Jefferson University in St Louis. He's pre-law and the two biggest things in his life are his relationship with Jordan --- whom he wants to marry --- and the results of his law school applications. His three first choices are Stanford, Harvard and Yale, which gives us some idea of the level at which he is working, complete with a grade point average near 4.0 and a pending summer internship at a prestigious New York law firm. Jake's father is a prominent lawyer in Texas.

Jordan is an art student and they don't always see eye to eye on Jake's devotion to studying. Jordan is an appealing character and we understand Jake's attraction; the enigmatic Lindsay is equally appealing.

In spite of his determination to keep his grades up, Jake doesn't let hitting the books distract him from partying. He's a member of a fraternity, a well-respected senior man and drinking is a huge part of everyone's life --- and death, as we come to learn eventually.

DARKNESS IN HIM is a first-person view into what some would call the corruption of innocence while others would call it learning to live as a successful adult in our contemporary society. Granted, though, Jake takes the learning process to extremes. He finds himself in a situation that could ruin his future and he handles it in a way that seems to him the least damaging to his life plans. Jake is intelligent and attractive. Because we are always hearing his inner thoughts through the first person narration, his rationalizing makes sense and, as we read, we are both appalled and torn with sympathy. This tension is what makes the novel work.

Andrew Lyons, the author, is apparently young enough to remember his own college days vividly and he is skilled enough as a writer to make the story move along in a page-turning sort of way. But what is most significant about this book and about Lyons's potential as a novelist is that his background in the television business shows. (The bio blurb says that he has worked in TV, most recently as a producer since he graduated from Washington University in St Louis.) The subject matter of DARKNESS IN HIM, as uncomfortable as it may be, is hugely significant in today's world. Lyons needs more skill and polish to his writing, which may come in time, but he already has the insight to choose a subject that beats close to the pulse of America's competitive, success-driven heart. If he continues to choose his subjects so unerringly and unflinchingly, his future looks bright.

--- Reviewed by Ava Dianne Day

This is this writer's first novel & I will be anxiously awaiting & anticipating more to come! For a debut work, I found it to be exceptional. The psychological suspense & intrigue is top-notch, the dialogue is taut & surprises are around every corner. I read it in record time, feeling drawn back to it with every spare minute I could devote. Andrew Lyons is a talent & should have a very bright future ahead of him as a writer in this genre if he continues in the tradition of "Darkness In Him!"

A method for estimating the resistances across various types of valves for use with SURGE.