Sometimes when you are running away from the horror of your past, you slam into something extremely beautiful.
Hiding Places is a wonderful example of the combination of romance and suspense. Mr. Nelson intermixes love and danger with courage and devotion. It will keep you on the edge of your seat while at the same moment give you the desire to fall in love. This is a great book.

Troubled heroes fascinate me, especially when they live by their own code of decency. Mr. Nelson's Andy Paul is my kind of hero! Andy is strong and capable, a loner who can't fully escape his past as a Navy SEAL. He travels the world as a photographer, capturing beauty and human pathos with the camera's eye, trying to live down what he considers failure as a SEAL commander.

The reader doesn't learn about the origin of Andy's nightmares straightaway. He thinks his solitary thoughts on a much anticipated fishing trip in the Ozark Mountains. Andy welcomes isolation, and seeks to refresh a world weary spirit with the rugged beauty of his surroundings. . His underlying decency and humor come to the fore when he meets Fran Whitler, a widowed mother who keeps a secret past to herself. Their attraction for each other is immediate, and then Fran's hidden past returns to haunt them both. Andy is drawn into Fran's nightmare, and in the process must relive his own shadowed past.

In this first book by Richard Alan Nelson, I found myself at first sharing Andy's love of nature's peace. Descriptive passages of mountain scenery served as a pleasing backdrop to the tension building rapidly around the ex-military hero. While reading, I struggled to "assist" Andy Paul and his top notch SEAL team pals in their unofficial covert rescue of a kidnapped child. It was a thrilling read, regardless of your preferred genre. I won't give any more of the story line away. This author has created an exciting story that proceeds at breakneck speed, with enough twists, turns and surprises to keep the reader guessing.

review by L.A. Johnson for Midwest Book Review

Andy Paul is the strong silent type - loner, accomplished photographer, world traveler, ex-Navy SEAL. His underlying decency and humor zero in on Fran Whitler, a widowed mother who keeps a secret past to herself. Their attraction for each other is immediate, and then Fran's hidden past returns to haunt them both.
I found myself straining to "assist" Andy Paul and his top notch SEAL team pals in their covert rescue of a kidnapped child. Mr. Nelson has created a tight story, intermingled with realistic visions and scenarios of the American southwest. It was a thrilling read and I recommend it, regardless of your preferred genre.

This is a great book about not just helping people find a job, but helping them find themselves and fulfillment in their career. For the job seeker this book is also a great tool for understanding both yourself and the career counsel you may seek.

As a rookie in the field of Career Development I was in for some major surprises. As many Americans in today's society, I thought that the most frequently utilized tools of any professional career counselor would be assessment tests and occupational forecasts. Instead, I learned that these tools should be be used sparingly and with caution. Although still frequently used, the the highly skilled and professional career counselor makes it his/her mission to help the client use introspection, and ultimately, assume the responsibility for her/her own career development. I learned a lot about the field of career counseling, material which can not only be used when working with clients but also material that will be beneficial to my own career development. My two least favorite aspects of the book were the last chapter which dealt with "Hanging it up as a Career Counselor". Not that this Chapter shouldn't have been included, but I felt as that it was a downer of an ending. Also, it was recommended that the Counselor be ready to bring God and sprituality into the counseling session(s) if the client seems ready to do so. Maybe it is because I am new, but I find religion and spirituality to be so personal and unique to the individual, that I would be uncomfortable doing this. Religious values and beliefs are so varied that I think one would have to be highly knowledgeable about both world religions and the world of work.

When I purchased this book, I found myself inspired, refreshed and enlightened by the contents. After doing career counseling for over 20 years, I am delighted to be caught up anew in the possibilities. I called up four colleagues and started a book discussion group. We are working our way through the ideas herein, beginning with the authors' distinctions between information, knowledge, and wisdom. Brilliant, and very helpful! I recommend this to career practitioners who wish to sharpen their skills and focus. Bravo!

Ever try to look up a word in a 600 page dictionary that isn't in any order known to you? Unless you know this book's secret you'll have to look through the entire book to find your weed, if it's in the book at all. There is a key on page 603 but no instructions on how to use it and the author apparently doesn't return email inquiries. This book is full of great pictures but if you want a book to help you identify a weed in your garden look somewhere else.

A must-have book for gardeners, hikers, rural residences. 100% color photos make it great to ID weeds about the house. Categorized by family so pretty easy to find. Books that have art renderings of plants just don't ID a plant for me, and I'm an artist!
Any negative about the book would be that it could use more descriptive type about the plant.

This book isn't for everyone, but it really fills a gaping hole in the reference library of any gardener interested in the use of native plants, xeriscape gardening, wildflower cultivation, etc. For anyone who has ever let a yard go to seed "just to see what happens" (or dreamed of doing so) this book helps you determine what weeds are really weeds and what weeds are hidden treasures. The book is amply illustrated with photos of both mature plants and seedlings, which helps you determine what to get rid of after monsoon rains have done their part. The descriptions are clear and the index functions fine. Plus I just love the idea of having an entire book on weeds!

Richard Bolles has a delightful writing style and a light touch for addressing some of the most profound issues of our lives. I bought this book because of how much I enjoyed Bolles' treatment of job hunting in "What Color is Your Parachute?" Unlike "What Color," which has been constantly updated and revised to reflect the changing realities of the job market, "The Three Boxes" was written for a mid-70's audience and does not address the new realities faced by people in the 21st century. When Bolles wrote this, his (younger) audience was likely idealistic college students ready to join the Peace Corps and forgo material gratification for the sake of larger social issues. Today's college grads seem to be bent on amassing huge fortunes very quickly, even at the expense of their social and personal lives. This book is written for people of all ages, but this is just an example of how far priorities and attitudes have changed. I hope Bolles updates this book since it hits on very important life issues, but I find this edition has lost much of its relevance as our society has changed dramatically.

Bolles' What Colour is Your Parachute? has, in the short time since its release, become a classic in how to find a job. The Three Boxes is a related but rather different work. The author takes on the broader issues of life planning, which includes not only career, but also educational and personal planning. In some ways, this book is a rebuttal to the traditional college/career/retirement paradigm by showing that people don't have to (and,for that matter, won't even if they wished to) live their lives in the traditional career path straitjacket. The tone of the work is thoughtful but practical.

A lot of self-help oriented material nowadays seems to focus on mustering your potential to achieve your dreams. These works have their place, but they fail to answer a preliminary question--how does one know what one wants from life?

The Three Boxes is about the task of actually figuring out what you want, and then implementing what you want. It's remarkably free of needless fluff about the inner person, while filled with practical ideas on "breaking out" of the "traps" of modern career life.

This is a book to own. It's an easy and thought-provoking read, presented in light style with interesting graphics.

I first read this book when it had been out only a few years, and it turned my head around. I had been brought up, like most children of the 'fifties, to think of life as a series of rigidly defined serial roles: first you were a student, then you were a worker, and finally you retired and got to do all the fun things you'd been putting off for the past 40-odd years. Having worked my way through graduate school, and done a bit of traveling in the process, I of course knew how artificial these distinctions were -- but I still tended to feel vaguely guilty about my "immature" lifestyle and rebuke myself for not "settling down" like a Real Grownup was "supposed to." Bolles set me straight -- in fact I was doing a pretty good job of balancing growth, work, and leisure in my life, and had nothing to be ashamed of. My subsequent work history has borne out the wisdom of his advice: I've been happiest and most productive when my life achieves that same balance; the most miserable time of my life was the nine-year period when I succumbed to the siren song of Silicon Valley and became a money-obsessed workaholic. This is a terrific book, and one that bears rereading every few years, especially when you feel your life slipping out of balance.

Hold on there, dudes. Etymology of Chinese characters does NOT prove that they independently developed a prehistory based on Adam & Eve and the Great Flood. The Chinese alphabet evolved much later than Sumerian. Historians already recognize that trade brought not only the idea of writing from Sumer to other cultures but also their prehistory. All we can accurately say is that Sumerian writing and prehistory influenced the development of Chinese writing. That is not the same thing as saying that China preserved its own memory of the same events. Please do read the book, but with a healthy context rather than a wild eyed, unsubstantiated and unsupportable conclusion.

I found the book quite enlightening. Many of the pictographs from ancient chinese as depicted in oracle bone and bronzeware writings, are strikingly telling of the genesis creation account. There were too many such examples to list them all here. On the other hand, there were a few that were....well, a stretch. The authors premise is that the pictographs were formed and accepted because the creation account passed down through the generations was universally recognized information. For example, the pictograph for dusk is a man, woman, and God behind gates in a garden. This is strongly reminiscent of the the genesis account of God visiting with Adam and Eve at Dusk as described in Genesis. In any event, the book is has enough of these examples to be worth reading. It is very good evidence that all races had one and the same beginning and God. It also provides evidence that monotheism was first.

This book is a useful pocket guide for those who find it difficult to remember everything all of the time! The information is concise and provides useful references to the parent text. One drawback is that 20/20 vision is essential as the text is fairly small - but it is easy to carry around with you. One further improvement would be to revise the index as finding the section you need can sometimes take a while...a definite drawback for a bedside textbook! Overall a useful pocket aid and well worth the money!

This Manual is a summary of the larger book by the same authors. It contains everything that you need to know about the internal diseases of dogs and cats. The organization is superb: it takes you from the etiology to the treatment whithout forgetting an excellent walk through the diagnosis. The information is concise, very modern, and as complete as you may want it. But be aware! This is not a book for learners: if you need pictures and details of things an experienced veterinarian knows well, get the parent book! Both are excellent texts for their own purposes and well worth their prices.

This book contains chronicles of seven industries of G3 (US, Japan, Europe) like semiconductor, computer, software, machine tool, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and medical diagnostics. The aim of those chronicle documenting is to examine the effectiveness of existing models of industrial leadership or, in Porter¡¯s term, competitive advantage. There have been several theories like technology life cycle theory, punctuated equilibrium, dynamic comparative advantage, and the like. But authors argue that close examination of seven industries in this book dose not support those theories. Some industry fits into some theory, but not into others. According to authors¡¯ analysis, each industry shows very specific dynamic of competitive advantage. In some industry, for example, competitive advantage lies in firm level, in other, in industry level. They suspect that all-encompassing theory could not be developed. They seems to conclude that all we can do is to identify a set of factors affecting the dynamics of industrial leadership, such as resource endowment, its institutional embodiment, features of local market demand, and local technological condition. The industrial leadership is the function of the system of those factors, not individual factor. In my opinion, what they have in mind is not that different from Porter¡¯s conception of ¡®cluster¡¯. Overall points are reasonable. But it¡¯s far from conclusive enough to suggest some clear-cut picture to reader. And that, case studies of industries are far too cursory. In fact, in-depth study of various industries in a volume is definitely prohibitive task. And that, the aim of this book is at another. But I can¡¯t help thinking that this book is no more than preliminary trial.

Scholars from around the world provided seven chapter-length overviews of leadership in seven key industries. Editors David C. Mowery and Richard R. Nelson present these detailed, well-documented and richly written explorations in context by offering an analysis in chapters that follow each industry study. The forces that moved these industries in the U.S., Japan and Western Europe included technological innovation, world politics, changing marketing, product innovation and the advent of mass production. We [...] recommend this book to those interested in the progress of the seven industries covered - computers, computer software, semiconductors, machine tools, organic chemical products, pharmaceutical biotechnology and medical devices - and in global commerce and manufacturing.

This book advocates a new force structure for the US Army. Current US forces are composed of heavy 2D mechanized forces, and light Airborne and Air Assault capable infantry units. The heavy forces have great tactical mobility, but no strategic or operational mobility. The light forces are opposite, with great operational and strategic mobility, but are foot mounted upon arrival on the battlefield.

This book proposes a helicopter transportable light mechanized force for the US Army. This force would give the Air-Mech troops much greater firepower and mobility than the current airborne/air-assault units have. It would also remain air transportable for vertical (3D) envelopment (impossible with heavy mechanized units), as well as having a much smaller logistics requirement than the current heavy mechanized force.

The concept is significant for the US, but is already employed (in a modified form) by Russia. The book is a bit heavy on specific details such as vehicle modifications, and weapons configurations rather than the theories or concepts showing how such a unit will be employed tactically (it covers operational deployment well).It also has little coverage of the USSR/Russian experience with this type of organization.

This is a multi-authored book, and takes the form of a series of chapters rather than an integrated work by one man. As a result many issues are covered in duplicate. As a side note, the book constantly assigns made up names to armored vehicles such as the M-113 or the German Wiesel. These are not officially assigned or recognized names. This ametuerish touch only confuses readers who might not be familiar with gimmicky renaming.

Had the book spent more time explaining the potential tactical employment of the ideas, along with how it will fit in with the new 4th Generation Warfare models now being explored I would have rated it higher. Coming up with a good military theory is only half the battle. Effectively conveying these ideas and why they are important is the other half. This book achieves the first requirement, but fails on the second.

Overall this is an important book in that it proposes significant and valid changes to US Army structure. It is a diamond in the rough, and if the reader can tolerate the various issues mentioned above it is worthwhile.

My first impression, thinking about 2 dimension warfare and three dimensions with lethal, airmobile fighting platforms, was how heavy Army forces have done the powerful, ground assaults in 2 dimensions, with huge linemen like 70 ton M1 tanks, but with Air Mech Strike, it's like technique called 'passing' has been made available. When passing (3D air mech maneuver) was introduced into football, many probably hated it, but where would NFL and college football be today with passing, interceptions, etc. 3D and 2D can 'work' together, just like football is the metaphor for War (principles are similar - Mass, Maneuver, Unity of Command, Economy of Force, Surprise, Simplicity, Security, Objective and Offense.....)

With 3D Air Mech and 2D heavy forces, we have more synergy and options to defeat the enemy, get the 'drop' on them, take the offense, make first downs and get in end zone. Now of course Air Defense can be very dangerous to Air Mech, but so are interceptions in passing game, there is RISK, and Quarterback and receivers DEMAND training, just as future Air Mech Strike troopers should be highly trained and have superb leaders, just like the couragous airborne and glider troops of the 101 Airborne and 82nd, led by great men like General Gavin and General Ridgeway. The brave troopers of 1-7 Cav at Ia Drang with then LTC Moore and other pioneers of airmobility in the First Cav, Big Red One and almost every unit in Vietnam pushed airmobility. Too bad our skills have withered, and it's time to renew those skills. This book is rich with materials, references, and graphics all well balanced to offer a 3 dimensional vision of future war, grounded on historical and current scenarios.

It's time for the Army and rest of DOD to get serious and find some good 'passing' QBs and great Receivers' to make this unique and bold doctrine effective for a powerful 2D and 3D American military on any field of battle, not just in the Superbowl!

Attention readers!

Remember March 15, 2002 well!

This was the day the U.S. Army conducted its first helicopter-based Air-Mech-Strike combat assault in Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda...just like described in the book. Co-author Major Charles Jarnot is in Aghanistan NOW and he emailed me the following description:

Air-Mech-Strike in Afghanistan!

The war in Afghanistan has seen several combat firsts for the U.S. Military, first use of an armed un-manned aerial vehicle and the first use of the B-1B Bombers in a close air support role to name just a few. Now in Operation Anaconda another first for the U.S. Army, the first employment of helo-based airmechanized forces by a U.S. field commander in combat, complements of the 3rd Battalion of the famed Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group.

On March 15, 2002, the Canadians attached to the U.S. Army's 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division, used U.S. Army CH-47D Chinooks to air assault their armored tracked BV-206 airmechanized vehicles into the operation Anaconda fight.

Airmechanization is a relatively new maneuver warfare doctrine extensively developed by numerous European armies. First theorized in the 1930s by Soviet Field Marshall Tuchachevskiy, today the Russian, British and German armies have fielded airmechanized brigade and division sized units. The concept involves the vertical insertion of tracked combat vehicles via helicopter and fixed wing para-drops. The idea is to use aircraft to break friction with the ground and cross vast treks of terrain and obstacles to quickly gain positional advantage. Once inserted, the mechanized vehicles provide the vertically inserted force with tracked terrain mobility, protection against small-arms and shrapnel and significant increase in firepower via the heavier weapons carried on the vehicles vice foot mobile troops inserted by parachute or helicopter.

The technical challenge to airmechanization is how to build a tracked combat vehicle that has sufficient protection and weapon capacity yet light enough to transported by helicopter or parachute. Advances in information/reconnaissance technology, weapon lethality versus weight and the increases in aircraft
lift performance have all contributed to the boom in airmechanization. Today five other countries beside Russia, Britain and Germany, are in the process of fielding airmechanized brigades, including China. The most expensive part of this concept is the fielding of large numbers of heavy lift helicopters and short field cargo airplanes. The vehicles themselves are relatively inexpensive. In the U.S. Military, the critical air component is already in place with over 600 heavy lift CH-47D Chinook and CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters and 500 plus C-130 Hercules aircraft in the inventory.

But what about the risk posed by ultra-light combat vehicles? Isnt massive armor needed to survive? Lightweight Airmechanized vehicles (AMVs), like those employed by the Canadians in Anaconda, might seem on the surface to be extremely vulnerable. But surviving on the battlefields of Afghanistan may demonstrate a shift in this traditional paradigm. For example, the greatest risk to vehicle movement in Afghanistan is not Taliban/Al-Quedas Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), but rather the millions of land mines laid throughout the country. The Canadian BV-206 AMV used in Anaconda mitigates this risk by virtue of the very light weight and tracked suspension that results in extremely light
ground pressure. This not only contributes to its excellent terrain agility but makes anti-tank mine detonation a very small probability since the BV-206 ground pressure is far below the minimum necessary to set off a typical anti-tank mine.

Wheeled combat vehicles on the other hand, are extremely vulnerable to land mines due to the high ground pressure characteristic of typical wheeled vehicles. The separate cabs of the BV-206 also lessens the potential casualty effects of RPGs by compartmentalizing the blast areas. The lightweight also means that it can approach the enemy from terrain deemed non-useable by heavier armor and thus lessens the chances of moving into a planned vehicular kill zone. These features combined with the lethality of high tech weapons like the Javelin anti-tank guided missile (50 pounds and 2,500 meters range) and light weight auto cannons and grenade launchers like the M-230 or ASP-30 30-mm and the Mark-19 40-mm make AMVs a deadly package for their size.

Airmechanization, a competitor for the Armys planned transformation based on the Striker wheeled armored vehicle? Intuitively all new ideas are intellectually competitive with older concepts and the same is true of the 3-Deminsional airmechanization idea versus the 2-Diminsional Striker program. But in practical application there is no conflict. As most professional Soldiers know, combat is a combined-arms affair where different weapons, platforms and the specialties of different organizations combine to have a collective greater effect than any one part. The Armys Striker transformation is slated for the light infantry divisions and some of the heavier formations. Airmechanization would be more applicable to the Armys Airborne and Air Assault units where the Striker is not scheduled for fielding. As the European armies who have fielded airmechanized formations will tell you. These agile forced-entry units are battlefield enablers to heavier forces and
not necessarily their future replacement.

Like the use of the armed predator UAV in Afghanistan, this first modest employment of airmechanized forces in Anaconda will undoubtedly generate heated debate on the utility of this new and controversial maneuver doctrine. This historical event may be the catalyst for the U.S. Army to convert its own airborne and air assault divisions along the European Airmechanized models or like the ill-fated Pentomic Divisions of the 1950s, be simply a flash in the pan. Still the question that this event will pose for the U.S. Army as whole is the continued validity of parachuting or helo-insertion of dismounted troops close to the enemys crucible of anti-aircraft fire, shoulder-fired missiles and RPGs. The American public and our enemies, should know that the U.S. Armys leadership in Afghanistan is not tied doggedly to any written doctrine. The first use of airmechanized forces in combat by an American commander demonstrates the mental agility and creative prowess of a unified effort that will "leave no stone unturned" in its effort
to defeat the Al Queda and Taliban, to include employing a Canadian airmechanized force!

Major Chuck Jarnot, 101st Airborne Division Liaison
Officer in Afghanistan

If the thought of spending the rest of your life working for somebody else doesn't horrify you, then this is the book you need to improve the way you're making your living. It can give you some amazing insight to who you are and what you need, tens of job ideas and general encouragement for finding your own way in the life.

If you aim higher than simply finding a more attractive job, forget the book. It's not for you.

Now, let me tell you about the book itself. Carol Eikleberry obviously worked hard on it. She has given her best to make the book as appealing and interesting as possible. However, every time I open and read it, I just can't help the feeling that the career advisor Eikleberry is much, much better than the writer Eikleberry. If you have a chance to talk to her in person, I advise you to do it. Besides of the obvious point that the author pays very little attention to the possibility of being one's own boss, she also concentrates too much on her own type of unconventionality. I fell in a pretty different category in her personality test and there's hardly any advice for my type in the book. That's what I meant by saying that the book is for conventional people with small ambitions.

Now, I can well understand that Carol Eikleberry had the largest possible audience in mind while writing the book. Surely, she knows from her solid professional experience which types are more frequent. Probably I'm just too different from an average unhappy American. I really can't blame her. But I can return the book - in fact, I did, for it was useless for me.

The two good things in this book are a very interesting personality test - a kind you probably haven't seen before, and tens of job ideas, some of which might be pretty surprising for you. Otherwise, it's just plain mediocre. It well deserves three stars.

Dr. Eikleberry's book, "The Career Guide for Creative and Unconventional People" is simply a must buy book for career changers and those who have become unhappy with their current career status. Dr. Eikleberry provides the reader with some very practical, down to earth tips, on how to discover, channel and use your talents for positive personal and social outcomes. The author answers her e-mail and has a supplemental web site for this publication. You may have read other books and said to yourself, "Not another career book!" But give this book a try. You'll be glad you did. This book is five stars (plus)!

This book is required reading for anyone who dreads the thought of conformity and working in a traditional office setting. I've always felt smothered - and a bit depressed - working conventional jobs. Reading this book helped me understand my problem, and provided me with a new outlook on my life and career; it can do the same for you. The book is a cross between a career guide and a psychological assessment, but it never gets boring. Carol Eikleberry offers insight into the six personality types, and the kinds of jobs they usually enjoy. Emphasis is on the "Artistic" type, which is the most psychologically difficult personality of the six. Eikleberry explains how artistic types are uncomfortable in positions that are rigid and devoid of creative expression. Being forced into such environments often leads to depression, physical ailments, and low-self esteem. In the book, you'll find suggestions for overcoming these problems, and finding out what your heart "really" desire in a career. There are also tests and checklists to help you discover your niche; and after doing so, you'll find tips to motivate and inspire.

I was never one to enjoy history much until my college history class used this book for the main text. I found this book great reading (interesting and kept my attention most of the time). I must say that after that class and this book, I have become much more interested in aspects of history. This book is wonderful and I would recommend it to any college professor of history or high school student with even a slight interest in history!

I used this book for self-study after many years away from any formal courses, and I was very pleasantly surprised to find myself engrossed in the lucid and engaging descriptions, the beautiful illustrations and photographs, and helpful index. It covers, at just the right level of detail, American History from the colonization of the Americas to Clinton's presidency. It gives a big picture without being condescending and simplistic, but also without assailing you with inessential jargon and names.

I looked at many different American History surveys and this is my favorite by far. On the other hand, if you already know the main outlines of American History, and want detailed analyses of particular periods, then this book will not be as helpful, as it is merely an overview and the bibliography is not very detailed or well annotated.

This book has been a great aid in writing my research papers! I really liked the way the book was broken down between chapters and sections, it made choosing a research topic much easier. The book was also very well written and to the point, it was not at boring at all!