Everything went according to plan. If the heist was a little flashier than Parker ordinarily liked, it still got the job done. The problems began when it came time to settle up. Rather than pay him his full share, Parker's three co-conspirators informed him that they were "borrowing" his take. They needed it as seed money for a big job in Palm Beach, so they left him high and dry. That was their first mistake. Their biggest mistake, though, was leaving him alive.

Richard Stark's intriguingly misanthropic master thief is back for yet another hard boiled adventure and it's a very good one. Bouncing back from the disappointing "Backflash," this time out the author has his noir chops finely honed. He keeps the prose appropriately stark and close to the bone. That's just what Parker's stories require. He is not a man who lives in a world of many colors or flavors and this book reflects that in its writing.

The plot is swift and uncomplicated, allowing us to appreciate Parker's brilliant criminal instincts and disdain for conventional morality. It takes a good writer to make a person who's not very likable into a convincing protagonist and Stark does a top notch job of it. It doesn't hurt that most of the people Parker meets, criminal or not, are just as crooked as he is.

"Flashfire" makes for an excellent, quick summer read.

This was my introduction to the work of Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake) and I just loved Parker. The character is a compelling blend of bad guy with good reason that reminded me powerfully of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley. It's quite a feat to put the reader squarely on the side of someone who, basically, is not a nice person. Highsmith did it; Stark/Westlake has done it, too. The man is a fine writer, with the gift of economy; no unnecessary descriptions, just pure driving narrative and vivid characterizations. I plan to get all the previous Parker books just as soon as I finish writing this review. Highly recommended.

About two hundred miles from Omaha, Parker and his three cohorts rob a bank with Parker causing the diversion with a nearby firebomb. After succeeding in this endeavor Parker's partners blithely inform him that they need his share of the loot as seed money to conduct a bigger heist on an island near Palm Beach, Florida. However, his former accomplices make one mistake when they abscond with Parker's portion of the booty, the trio leaves Parker alive.

Besides Parker wanting his money, no one cheats him out of his due so he follows Melander, Carlson, and Ross to Florida. He plans to trump his former friends by doing the jewelry job they were set to perform. However, Parker has also has blundered because someone not only recognizes him, but wants him dead.

FLASHFIRE is an excellent Parker tale that marks the return one of the great anti-heroes in American mystery literature. The story line is entertaining due to the lead character's criminal abilities that Richard Stark effortlessly brings alive in the well-written, fast-paced plot. Fans and new readers will enjoy this tale while seeking out previous books and movies (that both go back to the sixties) of a legendary protagonist.

Harriet Klausner

This is undoubtedly the best of general world history atlases and a valuable supplement for almost any study of history. The maps are generally quite good in both accuracy and clarity. There is some regrettable sloppiness in the editing, however -- as when a table of dates has Muhammad entering Mecca rather than Medina in 622 (page 99)! There is a useful glossary and a good index. The balance is, as some have noted, tilted toward Europe, but this no doubt merely reflects the fact that serious historical research is essentially a European invention. For the most part the editors have done very well in terms of both spatial and temporal distribution. It is regrettable that there are no indications of sources, however, beyond a general bibliography.

To my mind, the strongest competition to this volume is offered by the Penguin history atlas series authored by Colin McEvedy. McEvedy is much better on historical narrative and generally stronger on facts, but his books do not extend to every place and era, his coverage being strongest in Europe and especially weak in Asia. I wouldn't give up either this volume or the McEvedy books.

One thing which may confuse people in Amazon's listing of this book is that Geoffrey Parker is given as the lead editor. In fact, he edited the fourth edition and seems to have had nothing specifically to do with this fifth edition. The title page lists Geoffrey Barraclough and Richard Overy, and makes clear that the revision of this edition was Overy's work.

I've been on an ancient history kick lately, and since it's been about 20 years since I've done a lot of reading in this area, I thought I would check out what's available in the way of good historical atlases of the ancient world, or of world history in general.

This book is one of the five or so big historical atlases out there that are available. Since I've been looking in detail at all of the current ones, I'll give brief comparisons and you can go from there and decide which one might be best for you.

These alases are great for looking up those events, both momentous and not-so-momentous, to get a quick grasp and overview of the situation without getting bogged down in some more detailed and ponderous history. All the current ones do a decent job of that, but they very in terms of readability, the number of, and detail of, the maps included, and the degree to which they integrate the visual maps and materials with the text. Here's the scoop on all of these.

1. The Hammond Atlas is the traditional "big gun" in the field, being literally the physically biggest and probably most comprehensive of the 5 discussed here. It's also the highest priced, and more expensive than the cheapest one I discuss here by a factor of five. It's still a fine atlas despite the cost, and if I couldn't get any one of the others here, I'd still be happy with this one as it's certainly a beautifully done atlas. The book has over 600 maps and illustrations, many of which show such nice details (which not all the other atlases do) as mountain ranges, and in general are beautifully colored with a variety of symbols showing movements and other important historical and cultural details.

2. The Oxford Atlas of World History is also well written, and has lots of maps just like the Haywood volume. I found the writing style somewhat less interesting than the Haywood atlas, who has a nice, deft touch with the material. These two books are otherwise very close, except that the Haywood volume is less than half the price of this one.

3. The Nat'l Geographic offering has some of the most entertaining writing by Noel Grove and Daniel Boorstin I've found in any history text. Some of the tidbits are really great, such as Grove's comment that "Russia's...Peter the Great died at the age of 53 after diving into the Neva River in winter to rescue drowning sailors." Well, I'd read about him liking to cut off citizens' beards as he walked around town, trying to westernize and modernize Russia, too, so apparently Peter was quite a character in more ways than one.

Also, there was "Vikings were not just ruthless killers; they traded as often as they raided, and their wives knew rights that other medieval women could scarcely imagine." This statement also fits in with a similar description I read in another history, that the Viking and Scandinavian free peasants as a class enjoyed rights and priviledges unparalleled in most of Europe and even England.

However, ironically, this atlas contains the least number of maps and illustrations of all the books here, and oddly enough for an atlas, it actually has very few maps. Most of the graphical illustrations are arts or crafts-related, in fact.

4. The John Haywood Atlas of World History represents a great combination of quality and price. The book consists of articles on a particular period or topic which are closely integrated with the accompanying maps. This makes it very convenient to use. The book was written with a team of geographers and graphic illustrators skilled at combining the written word with graphics, and it shows. Also, this book is one of the more reasonably priced. My only complaint about this history is the index could have been more detailed.

5. The last atlas I wanted to discuss is the Times Atlas of World History. Although now a little dated, having come out almost 10 years ago in 1993, it still counts as one of the most scholarly, well-written, and well-illustrated of these works, and it's also intermediate in terms of price.

Hope my little "Consumer Reports" guide to the major atlas offerings helps. Good luck and happy book buying and reading!

The 4th edition of the Times Atlas of World History was published by Hammond, Inc. With the 5th edition, it has been published in the U.S. as the Hammond Atlas of World History and in the U.K. as The Times History of the World. Both have 375 pages and are edited by Richard Overy.

Aside from being updated to include recent events and the inclusion of a few more pages, the index is more comprehensive than in the previous 4th edition.

The binding is sturdy and should last many years.

I would estimate that there are over 650 maps in this book, typically three or four maps to each two-page spread. A variety of projections is used and the maps tend to be rich in detail without being overly cluttered. A striking variety of colors are used to display everything from empires, ethnic populations, migrations, nation-states, etc., using arrows prolifically to show movement. The larger maps often display mountain ranges. Most of the smaller maps show close-ups of regions or highlight cultural/demographic/economic matters using a variety of colors and symbols.

Each two-page spread has a basic theme or subject which is discussed in an essay that fits in the spaces not occupied by maps. Each map on a spread has a numbered accompanying blurb briefly describing its contents.

This is the best single volume world history atlas that I know of, surpassing the excellent but less comprehensive Oxford Atlas of World History. It's one major flaw is its Eurocentrism, but some students of history might find this a plus.

For balance, I recommend the MacMillan Continental History Atlas series:

The History Atlas of Africa by Samuel Kasule

The History Atlas of Asia by Ian Barnes

The History Atlas of South America by Edwin Early

The History Atlas of North America by Philip Davies

Less worthwhile is:

The History Atlas of Europe by Ian Barnes

because of its redundancy with the Hammond.

This book does a good job of describing study strategies. However, I think that the book, SURVEY OF 300 A+ STUDENTS: A+ STUDENTS DESCRIBE THEIR ACADEMIC STRATEGIES, by Kenneth Green (from Harvard) is a bit better (which I think deserves 5 stars).

Study strategies are often overlooked in school, yet they are the tools students need to succeed. The authors have included many strategies to help kids stay organized, take tests, do research reports, take notes, and study. I would highly recommend this for middle and high school students.

As a high school English teacher I have always wanted to have a book I could give my students to learn study skills. Study Strategies Made Easy provides practical information and important study skills such as planning for long term reports, how to study for tests, note-taking, organization, and how to improve you memory. These strategies, and the others in this wonderful book, give students the edge they need to be successful.

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!

What's best about this book are the data, especially lengthy quotations from gay Brazilian men. (Most seem to be from Jorge and Lino, although he claims to be drawing on 2000 interviews.) There's also unintegrated information about economics (neoliberal development) and "globalisation" that Parker supposes explains changes going on in how Brazilian gay men relate to and regard each other. There are also photos, maps, tables. Readers unfamiliar with the topic should begin with James N. Green's book _Beyond Carnival_ which provides the background to the AIDS era that Parker writes about.

"Brazil" is Rio de Janeiro and the northern port city of Fortaleza. Migration to regional centers and from regional centers to Rio (and on to Rome, Paris, and Lisbon) is sensibly discussed. There's nothing about indigenous peoples, or nonurban gay life. And nothing on lesbians.

This is the only book I've ever seen that has a list of maps, tables, and illustrations that does not indicate what page these are on. Obviously, this is the fault of the publisher rather than the author, gratuitiously making it harder to compare maps.(Parker doesn't do anything with the maps: there is no spatial/geographical analysis, just points of reference on maps.)

Being a Brazilian myself I was very well and deeply impressed with Richard Parker's book.The accuracy,the revealing clarity Mr.Parker uses to describe the homosexual culture in Brazil is going to make this book a classic. More important, besides the impressive scientific accuracy, I felt a text written with love and compassion. Probably that is why my heart was impregnated with kindness and compassion towards my Brazilian gay friends;the ones still living and the ones in Paradise. I am sure God is blessing all of them. Joaquim San Francisco, Wednesday,03/17/99

I'm using Critical Thinking for a introductory course in logic. The authors' use of language is precise and easy to read. However, I do have one complaint. Virtually all of the political examples in this book point out the logical fallicies in figures that are either Republican or Conservative. I would have liked the book more if the authors had exposed the fallicies on both sides of the political arena.

A very good "textbook" on critical thinking, written with humor. It covers the main aspects of every-day logic, teaching us to think for ourselves and to avoid being manipulated by politicians, religious proselytes and/or the media (people who want our ballot, our money, our "head"). I recommend it to everyone concerned with free thinking. I use it even in my lectures on Chemistry, occasionally. I only regret that the support material (The Logical Accessory and the Instructor's Manual), as usually, is not available for the common reader: could be the availability of these teaching and learning aids the only difference between lecturers and students?

When Parker hears the phone ringing in his kitchen, he puts down the body of the man sent to kill him & hurries from the garage to answer the phone that Claire offers him. Now he has two jobs to do. First to dispose of the body & then case out the Montana lodge of a dot.com billionaire in which resides a horde of stolen art treasures.

One last job before he retires, or so Parker swears!

It's not the gold-plated faucets Parker's gang is out to get, it's the contents of a false basement no one else seems to know about. The prize of unregistered stolen paintings is what draws this strange band of lawbreakers together, & to get around all the computerized alarms systems, they've taken on board a whiz kid fresh out of the slammer who has a temper & a parole problem.

Richard Stark, aka Donald E. Westlake, has a delightful, in-your-face & breathless writing style. He doesn't give you any extra information or any time to worry about details, because his anti-hero Parker will easily & quite reasonably figure them all out. & you're along for a fine ride!

Did Richard Stark (Donald Westlake) start the convention of having his lead character only go by his last name? In any event, it fits Parker better than the sensitive Spenser. Parker is a kind of sociopath. He is totally immoral -- his decision whether to kill someone is based solely on whether it will benefit him or not -- if it will, he has no hesitation. As this book makes clear, he also is not a romantic version of a criminal who believes in honor among thieves -- when two crooks who worked with his present conspirators threaten to turn them in, he expresses no surprise that they may betray their friends to stay out of jail.

Firebreak is made more interesting by a character who is a kind of anti-Parker, Larry. Parker is totally controlled; even when he takes revenge, he does so carefully and cooly. Larry, on the other hand, is a crook out of control. Their interaction makes this somewhat different than the typical Parker novel. This is hardboiled fiction at its best.

To a casual observer, Parker should be a thoroughly unenjoyable character: he is a thief with no qualms about killing, he doesn't have any real depth or past, and he doesn't even have a first name. But those familiar with this series know that Parker is one of the great characters in crime fiction; through Richard Stark's (Donald Westlake's) writing, Parker is a cool, methodical criminal whose adventures never cease to entertain.

From the very first line of this story, we are drawn in to this latest caper. Parker is recruited to participate in stealing some art from an internet billionaire. Having botched the theft previously, his recruiters are eager for a second chance, even with heightened security. The art in question is very valuable and already stolen material, so there are legal authorities involved also.

Meanwhile, some old adversaries of Parker's from an earlier book, are out for revenge and have hired killers to dispose of the thief. Parker's recruiters also have ex-partners to deal with. This makes for a complex but never overly-complicated story that is fun from beginning to end.

Who lives? Who dies? Will Parker get the loot? Fans of previous novels know that nothing is certain in one of these books; Parker doesn't win them all. As a reader, however, you can continue a winning streak of great books by reading this one.

This book starts with a bang, moves through a mystery to a heist, and then deals with problems, clean up, and near disaster. Along the way, we see the incredibly detailed story of exactly how a gambling ship might be ripped off. We watch Parker, the hero of this series of books, as he plans, executes, and then cleans up little messes. These stories are very fun to read, combining well researched detail with a fast pace.

In this book, there is one character that stands out -- the retired state employee, disgruntled, unhappy, who leads Parker to the gambling ship. I work in state government. I have met this guy. He rings entirely true. His inclusion in the story makes the logic of the caper work, adds intrigue, and allows the author to create the sort of character seldom seen in fiction -- an interesting functionary. These books are good fun.

In Richard Stark's dark new caper, the state of New York is experimenting with riverboat gambling. A floating casino's being tested for four months on the Hudson River to see how much money it brings in, and it's all going to be cash during the trial run.

Enter master criminal Parker, who's approached by an anti-gambling former state employee with a proposal to rob the boat. Something about this guy troubles Parker, but he goes ahead anyway, assembling a crack team of specialists to plan a beautifully ingenious raid.

Parker's motto in heists is "to try to control events" but he knows all too well that "they'll still get away from you anyway." Of course that's exactly what happens here, when the scent of all that money attracts other crooks with plans of their own and Parker has to clean up the mess.

Stark is the pseudonym of acclaimed mystery master Donald Westlake, author of last year's stunning The Ax, and his expert touch is evident in every part of this tense, tough and enthralling book.

I've been a HUGE Parker fan for years and welcomed Stark's return a couple of years back. If you liked the earlier "Score" novels, you will find the newest additions to the Parker saga to be just as well written.

This book I also purchased as a resource for studying differential geometry. It's a little bit better than the one by Thorpe, but not by much. The text is dedicated to the 'hard-core' mathematical, and even they would have to have some experience/guidance in this subject. I'm a self-learning type of guy, with an MS in physics. Too many questions arise to justify this book for the self-learner. There are problems, and a FEW examples.

It is hard to disagree with the idea that one must pursue the learning of mathematics in way that might be at odds with its axiomatic structure. One can pursue the study of differentiable manifolds without ever looking at a book on classical differential geometry, but it is doubtful that one could appreciate the underlying ideas if such a strategy were taken. Some background in linear algebra, topology, and vector calculus would allow one to understand the abstract definition of a differentiable manifold. However, to push forward the frontiers of the subject, or to apply it, one must have a solid understanding of its underlying intuition.

Thus a study of classical differential geometry is warranted for someone who wants to do original research in the area as well as use it in applications, which are very extensive. Differential geometry is pervasive in physics and engineering, and has made its presence known in areas such as computer graphics and robotics. In this regard, the authors of this book have given students a fine book, and they emphasize right at the beginning that an undergraduate introduction to differential geometry is necessary in today's curriculum, and that such a course can be given for students with a background in calculus and linear algebra. They also do not hesitate to use diagrams, without sacrificing mathematical rigour. Too often books in differential geometry omit the use of diagrams, holding to the opinion that to do so would be a detriment to mathematical rigour. Much is to be gained by the reading and studying of this book, and after finishing it one will be on the right track to begin a study of modern differential geometry.

A Must !!! After reviewing a few dozen books in the subject, this is without any doubt one of the best. It it written with rare clarity, and gives enough motivation and examples to understand the more abstract and difficult aspects of the field. The book is intended for advanced undergraduate (with good understanding of linear algebra and calculus III) and should be read prior to an abstract course in differential geometry (such as is covered in the books of Warner and Hicks).

I have to say that the folks at Mysterious Press have been makingme a happy man ever since they, along with Richard Stark (whose softer side is Donald Westlake), decided to bring back the greatest hardboiled series character of them all, Parker. What it appears they are doing is re-releasing an original Parker novel which is then followed by an all new Parker novel. For instance, this November will see the release of THE SCORE (old) in paperback and an all new parker in hardcover. As well as the release of FLASHFIRE (new) in the paperback edition. This is wonderful! On to THE MOURNER. This is not my favortie in the series by any means, but it is still a quick, harddboiled tale of double-crosses and revenge. in other words, precisely what you want from one of Stark's Parker novels! You will not be disappointed. Buy all the Stark books you can get your hands on because, believe me, one Parker novel and you will be hooked but good!

This time around, instead of the Big Caper, we get a revenge yarn . Parker is caught in the usual doublecross while lifting a statue from the home of an Eastern European diplomat. When he and Handy McKay are left for dead, it's up to Parker to recover the loot and exact revenge. Although this would be an excellent book from any other writer, it's a bit of a letdown from Stark/Westlake.

As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I read just about everything Richard Stark writes. His Parker is as tough as any contemporary protagonist comes, and THE MOURNER is among Stark's best books. It is exactly what you would expect from Stark and Parker. Read it today or even sooner!