If you're in the middle of writing a novel, stuck on a block, or considering starting a novel, you'll find LESSONS FROM A LIFETIME OF WRITING readable, inspirational, and practical.

~review by Joan Mazza, author of Dream Back Your Life; Dreaming Your Real Self; and 3 books in The Guided Journal Series with Writer's Digest/Walking Stick Press.

This book will get you writing and keep your writing at a higher level.

~review by Joan Mazza, author of six books, including Dreaming Your Real Self and Exploring Your Sexual Self.

John Rambo. The most dangerous man alive. His country has called him once again -- this time for a mission he will not accept. Living in exile in a Buddist monestary, far from home, he is finished with the glory and the blood of war.

Now, his former commanding officer, Colonel Trautman, the only man Rambo trusts, is in trouble. On a mission meant for Rambo, he has been captured by Soviet troops on the Afghan border.

For John Rambo it's a call to arms. And an invitation back into Hell...with the help of Afghan rebels.

Not only are the stories EXCELLENT, but I imensely enjoyed the author's commentary before and after each one.

And he makes his points, plots and story lines, with little vulgarity, which is becoming much too common in the latest Stephen King works.

Kudos and I will be hearing more.

While this collection does not contain all of Morrell's short fiction, it does contain all that I had read in other anthologies, most notably the powerhouse novella "Orance is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity," one of my all-time pieces of fiction, short or otherwise. I am a fan of author notes in collections, and Morrell doesn't disappoint. While he doesn't expound the way that, say, Harlan Ellison does, there are short notes before each store in addition to a Foreword and Afterword, and these add a texture to the book that I think makes your first read more enjoyable and increases the re-readability. Plus if you've already read a couple of these in anthologies it is nice to see the author's perspective instead of the anthology editor's perspective before the stories.

I read this during a particularly hot summer week and found it to be perfect for this setting...the stories are engrossing enough that I forgot about the heat, and a few times I caught a genuine bit of a chill! Anyone who enjoys dark stories or speculative fiction should give this great book a read.

An added bonus to this book is the foreward at the beginning of each story. Morrell discusses his development as a writer and shares with the reader his personal tales of triumph and tragedy: from his meeting with his idol, writer Stirling Silliphant, to the death of his teenage son to bone cancer. Each story seems to be weaved around an event that touched Morrell's life. This authenticity makes for a more eerie read. For example, "But at My Back I always Hear," is about a professor who is stalked by a female student infatuated with him. Morrell himself faced this dilemma while teaching at the University of Iowa. Other scary topics covered include an art historian who follows his subjects' break with reality and ultimate demise; an amateur writer who becomes a best-selling novelist with the help of a ghostly typewriter; and a high school football team that is victorious because the coach is dabbling in witchcraft and produces an evil good luck mascot.

Two of the stories in Black Evening won Best Novella, Horror Writers of America Award. One story was a nominee for this same award and one other story was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award. Morrell stated that the first piece of advice he received as a young writer was to write about what he feared most. Obviously he took that advice to heart and left us with some chilling entertainment.

The way the characters develop is great. From Decker to Beth to Esperanza and others the characters are interesting and you want to know more about them. If you want to read a great book then buy this one.

What Cavanaugh does not know is that Prescott is hiding some deadly secrets. Cavanaugh soon realizes that keeping Prescott alive will prove to be a difficult and costly task. Not only does the scientist have many enemies who will do anything to catch him, but he is a dangerous and paranoid man who trusts no one. Cavanaugh and his wife, Jamie, soon find themselves in a desperate struggle to survive, as the protector becomes a potential victim.

There are enough gun battles, fires, explosions and general mayhem in this book to satisfy the most bloodthirsty readers. The action is non-stop, and although the book is not particularly realistic, it is exciting and engrossing. Cavanaugh is a smart and well-trained operative, but he is also fallible and vulnerable, which is refreshing in an action-adventure novel. Cavanaugh's wife, Jamie, is a strong and capable fighter, and she and her husband make an effective team. If you like terse dialogue, danger and adrenaline-fueled battles to the death, then "The Protector" is the novel for you.

Speaking of Teasle, he's not the redneck he's made out to be in the movie. In here, he's an ex-Marine and a Korean War hero, just going through a divorce, and with a set of morals and standards he feels he needs to live up to. Colonel Trautman is different also, especially in the very end, which I thought was sorta sad.

All in all, I think the worst part about the book was when Rambo was remembering his Special Forces training. The description was highly unorthodox, and sounds nothing like the Special Forces training that I've heard of, and that some of my family members went through during their time in the Army. Also, don't read the intro,, as it gives away the ending. Or rather, read the intro after you've finished reading the whole book. And then see the movies, and see how much they ... in comparison.

The novel "First Blood" by David Morrel may be wrongly interpreted as just an "action/adventure" thriller without a brain, but that's far from the truth. The book does contains some elements of the adventure genre, but it presents us with a much bigger vison of life than just that. It is about Intolerance and justice.

John Rambo, a vagant war veteran, is mistreated by a bunch of redneck cops in a small town in the US. Submitted to humiliation and torture, and being traumatized by the months (years?) he spent under torture by the vietnamese, the ex-green beret and war hero loses control, explodes in fury and hatred and fights back, starting a killing spree.

He hides in the woods, builds traps, he uses the elements of the nature against his pursuiters.

The climax hits when both him and his enemies are thrown in the woods, his element, were they have to play by his rules, and the animal within each one of them takes control.

Then, violence erupts.

The novel is very real and down-to-earth. It is quite different from the movie. It is not heroic at all. It is about being different and being thrown aside, it is about the indiference, hate and coldness that the United States gave to their war veterans. It is about intolerance and fear. It is about how the government destroyed the sanity of some kids to build killing machines out of them, and sent those killing machines to southeast Asia to a war they could not understand, didn't want to and, mainly, didn't HAVE to. To kill better.

It is about how, when those kids came back home confused and tortured by the atrocities they had seen/commited, their country threw them in the gutter, pretending that they weren't there. Disposable heroes.

It is not at all about madly killing faceless enemies, big guns and, explosions, and giant-brested babes waiting to be rescued. It is not about making toys and animated series for kids. It is about reality. Forget the movie adaptations, forget the distorted, pleasent and idiotic vison that Hollywood wants the world to have. The real thing is here. Read it.