Carballo has made his debut as a writer with a very well-crafted story. Through its characters and plot, "In the Shadow of Gleam" opens a door that will take the reader into the mistery of adolescence as well as into actual environmental issues and concerns. I hope there is more to come from this young author.

Arles Carballo's passion for the environment is well known in the Miami area. He has taken this love, combined it with his extensive knowledge of teenagers and how they "tick" and created an exceptional first novel. This was the first book in years that I read from cover to cover in one sitting. Perhaps we need to pay greater attention to our truly GREATEST natural resource....our CHILDREN! We are losing kids at the same rate as our environment. Keep writing, Arles, and I'll certainly keep reading! Lois O.

I read the back cover of the book and I thought it was interesting, but when I started reading the book, I flipped. I couldn't stop reading the story. I felt bad for Brandon and I couldn't stand Ryan. I've told my friends about the book. I hope everyone reads it. It's great.

I simply could not put this book down. Much more than an entertaining portrait of early 20th century life in some remote places, this is a highly informative social and political history and a compelling reflection on nationalism, patriotism and the fears, violence and intrigues which sometimes accompany them. Mr. O'Neill obviously has talents for both research and scene-painting, and his writing is both literate and engaging. After 340 pages, I was sorry to put the book away. But I feel wiser now that I have made the journey with Mr. O'Neill.

"Blood Dark Track" provides a fascinating background into the history of both Ireland and Turkey during the first half of the Twentieth Century. These two very disparate regions actually have more in common than we would initially suppose: neutrality during WWII, an antipathy to British Imperialism, persecution of religious minorities, and layers upon layers of history underlying bloody Twentieth Century history.

These areas also combine in the persona of the author, Joseph O'Neill, who has provided an intriguing personal narrative of his own family. His father's side, Catholic, poor, and Republican from Cork; his mother's, Catholic, bourgeois, and apolitical from Mersin (a coastal city near Syria). Their meeting is as fortuitous as it was unlikely.

The author deftly melds the pieces into a coherent whole, despite geographic, cultural, and temporal distances. Because of the personal connection of the author to events, people, and places, it reads more like a novel than a history.

Informing the story is the author's discovery of his grandfathers, both as family and as characters in two distinct, though subtly parallel, historical contexts. I was surprised to find the story so gripping that I finished it in three days.

This is a brilliant book. The author searches for the reasons why his two grandfathers - one Irish, one Turkish - both ended up in prison during the Second World War. His Turkish grandfather, Joseph Dakad, was interned by the British in Palestine on suspicion of spying for the Germans. His Irish grandfather, Jim O'Neill, was interned by his own government in the Curragh as a member of the IRA. By subtly intercutting the two stories, the book looks at nationalism in two very different contexts - the polyglot, post-Ottoman culture of Turkey in the years between the two world wars, and the hidden story of the IRA between De Valera coming to power and the resumption of The Troubles in 1969. In searching for the reasons why these two very different men were interned, O'Neill illuminates unspoken ideas of nationalism and individuality that permeate (like DNA) the two sides of his family. While he sifts through British intelligence reports on "undesirable" activity in Jerusalem, and discovers who really murdered Admiral Somerville in West Cork in 1936, O'Neill's book is shot through with contemporary echoes of his grandfathers' ordeals. As the author watches Bernadettes Sands reject the Good Friday Agreement in the name of Ireland's republican martyrs, and interrogates former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir about the morality of political assassination and the lessons the Zionist underground (the Lechi also known as the Stern Gang) learnt from the IRA, we realise that the ghosts of these men still haunt today's headlines, and our ancestors can exercise the power of an unconscious force over our political reflexes.

I ordered this book along with, "Police Officer Exam California : The Complete Preparation Guide (Learning Express Law Enforcement Series. California)," for my brother as he was taking the test to enter the academy. I must say that he did pass his test with help from these books, but it took him a couple tries, and I don't think this book accurately prepared him for testing. But it did help a little. I would say that these a generous three stars.

Most of the stuff in this book is some of the things you would hear from a law enforcement officer, like I do (dad is a cop and I will be the 1st female in the family). This book is pretty good if your want to see what a real exam will look like. It also give alot of tips for you application and interviews. It tells you what your training will probably be, and gives you tips on how to do some physical training, with alot more information on other things. So, if your getting into law enforcement, I can say this is a right book to get. But if you know a police officer asks them for some insight on the field, too.

AND FOR ALL THE WOMEN OUT THERE IF IT'S YOUR DREAM OR THIS IS THE PROFESSION YOU WANT TO GO IN TO I COMEND YOU, FOR I AM A WOMAN, AND I BELIEVE IF YOU FEMALE OR MALE GO FOR YOUR DREAMS AND THE THINGS YOU WANT IN LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

For teachers or trainers who use film to bring variety and excitement to the classoom, Prof. Champoux has written two useful film guides, one with a focus on management and the other on organizational behavior. Both have similar tables of contents and it is unlikely that students who have purchased one book would feel their money was well spent in the purchase of the second volume. Additionally, students may feel cheated by the formatting decisions made by the author and the publisher. Each book could easily be reduced in page numbers by at least half with no loss of content.

With these reservations considered, Champoux does provide a useful service for the reader. A few examples will serve to demonstrate the value of his work.

In Chapter 3 of the Organizational Behavior text Champoux reviews the 1970 Jack Nicholson film, "Five Easy Pieces." The category for this film is Quality Management and the scene Champoux uses to illustrate a breakdown in customer service is the now famous roadside restaurant confrontation where Nicholson attempts to customize his order with a waitress who advises him that he can't make any substitutions for any items on the menu. At first Nicholson attempts to use reason with the waitress in order to get the food he wants to eat, but when reason fails, his anger and savage wit combine in one of the most memorable putdowns ever filmed.

Champoux makes it convenient for the viewer to find the scene with fairly accurate tape start and stop times listed prominently before his accurate description of what the viewer will see. He then asks three open ended questions which seem obvious at first, but in reality are difficult to answer. Teachers will find it easy to add their own questions such as: Is the customer always right? Our conditioned response is yes, but the scene Champoux gives us requires us to think more deeply about this question. More than this, Nicholson is a difficult customer. How does a person in the service industry work effectively with such people? Students will be eager to discuss such questions and instructors will discover many teachable moments stimulated by the interest generated by the film clip.

As mentioned, this guide has been formatted into a workbook and always after the questions for discussion is a page for analysis of concepts or examples and then a place to write personal reactions to the film clip. All the content mentioned could easily have been formatted on one page and students can use their own notebooks or learning logs, which they are likely to do anyway, to record their observations.

With these reservations noted, I am still able to recommend this book. Prof. Champoux shares with us his years of experience watching popular films. The eighty-two films cited in the text are divided into twenty-five chapters that correspond to topics that students will find in the typical organizational behavior text like perception, motivation, and leadership. As in the Five Easy Pieces example mentioned, his selections are appropriate, entertaining, and thought provoking. Students and teachers will discover in Champoux's book many good reasons to bring a thoughtful attention to their next film viewing.