Relive the days when "We are the World", Sade and Phil Collins ruled the airwaves (and the Grammys), the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inducted its first 12 performers, the infamous "dingo ate my baby" incident (parodied years later on 'Seindfeld') occurred, the Challenger space shuttle exploded and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant melted, 'Top Gun', "Ferris Bueller" and 'Aliens' topped the box office, Tyson, Gretsky, the Bears and Mets ruled the sports world.

The format looks more like a calendar than a book. The layout (more yearbook than calendar) is great, but the glossy-yet-flimsy paper its printed on does not lend itself to repeated readings. Don't let that stop you from enjoying this nostalgic yearbook, but be forewarned that it will require some care to keep it intact.

I loved this book. I used it on a term paper on the media's tendency toward scandal and found it very informative and interesting. If you want to understand the games the news media plays and form solid opinions on journalistc ethics, read this book.

Included in this book is some of Micah Morrison's finest work, covering material that has yet to reach the full comprehension of the public, but which someday will seem like the writing on the wall for believers in the American ideals of integrity and individual freedom.

Willaim Cosgrove is probably an excellent fireman, good husband and father, etvc. But he is not even a fair writer. Hired to be Robert De Niro's technical assitant for the making of the movie Backdraft, Cosgrove's prose resembles that of a love-sick tween describing a back-stage encounter with a pop music star. Other than knowing that De Niro is famous, and that movies are made, Cosgrove shows no deeper knowledge of his subjects than was presented to him during this experience. Thus, no analysis or depth - strictly a chronological narrative, without any insights.

Brother Bill Cosgrove did an excellent job when writing this book. What an experience he must have had.

Bill Cosgrove's recounts his friendship with Robert DeNiro and the movie Backdraft in his first book, "Robert Deniro and the Fireman". Bill tells us about meeting the famous actor, and eventually he is hand picked to be DeNiro's technical advisor for the movie. We follow the pair around the streets of Chicago, to the different places Backdraft was filmed at. Bill tells us where many of the scenes were shot at, and what its like to be on a movie set. But most of all, it tells of a friendship- one that brought a regular firefighter together with one of Hollywood's famous actors, and a pair of socks.

First things first: this is not a Dan Turner book. It is a Duke Pizzatello book. That said, Bellem still does embellish every page with his trademark supersonic slang. And the persona of Duke may be even more hard-boiled than Dan, if a little less intelligent.

However, this book is quite unpleasant, dealing with rampant adultery, VERY graphic murders, and 'operations.' (Duke gets into so much trouble basically to cover up a past indiscretion.) Yes, he is certainly a typical detective antihero, only without even Dan's limited conscience, nor Sam Spade's self-awareness. So the almost-campy, overwritten tone makes the grimy topics explored seem even sleazier here, without either the irony a deeper writer would have injected (Chandler, anyone?) or any particular courage or authenticity to its convictions (a la Hammett). This is merely under-the-counter men's sensationalism. He is perhaps closest in feel to Mike Hammer, minus the kill-crazed vendettas. Duke winds up with about 4 women per night, sometimes the same one twice. (He makes Wilt Chamberlain seem like a prude!) Just once, just for kicks, I'd like to read Bellem describe a woman's nose. Or elbows. Anything but her "creamy white thighs," etc.

Bellem's limitations as a writer are more easily overlooked in short story form, or when the events portrayed toe a line closer to comedic. In short novel form, with subject matter this dark, it's hard to get excited about his fun turns of phrase. You may only smile faintly, as opposed to howling or pumping a fist. (You mean I'm the only one who does that?)

The mystery is appropriately twisty, which is not to say it is unpredictable; intuition may take you a long way toward solving the case. (I'm one of the world's worst mystery-guessers and I figured the culprit by Chapter 3.) Also, there is very little exposition, and little to no character development. Duke just hustles about town to set up the next roscoe fight or harlot or to give Bellem an opportunity to try matching Chandler's gift for simile.

When Bellem is good he's very good, to paraphrase Mae West, but when he's bad he's not necessarily better.

P.S. I wholeheartedly recommend High Adventure #60, if you can find it, and if you can't find it, keep looking, because it's tremendous, and you won't feel like you need a bath after reading it.

More willing dames, more violence, more doublecrosses, more plot twists, more death, more coincidences and a quicker pace than just about anything else out there.
Here's a brief outline:
Intro
Slang (throughout)
Sex
Fight
Sex
Doublecross
Plot twist
Violence
Plot twist
Sex
Murder
Murder
Doublecross
Coincidence
Violence
Plot twist
Sex
Violence
Plot twist
Coincidence
Death
Doublecross
Doublecross
Plot twist
Violence
Plot twist
Coincidence
Death
Solution
Sex

Get the picture? Fun trash.

This is a terrible book. Do not waste your money. As an experienced VB developer new to C++, I found this book to be so poorly written and organized that it was almost totally useless. I've read piles of books on different languages and technologies so this is not a frustrated nubie complaining here.
Don't be fooled by the title. After a sloppy review of C and C++ the book gets to it's real focus: Writing components for VB in C and C++. If this is your focus, you may find some useful info in a couple of chapters. Otherwise, don't bother.
I recommend Core C++ by Victor Shtern. Very thorough and well written. Then just read the documentation that comes with Visual C++ before spending your money on another book.

This is a great book! I've been working the past few months to transition from VB to C++, and have worked through several books. But most of them took many concepts for granted that left me in the dark. This book explains VC++ from a VB standpoint and has answered all my questions that other books didnt even touch.

Although I enjoyed Roberts's previous book in this genre (Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun), I found this book tedious and disjointed. The sorry retelling of some Star Trek episode in each chapter seemed flat and the lessons drawn from it arbitrary.

This is one of those books that strikes someone as a good idea -- and maybe it is. But the implementation is lacking. Maybe "Perseverance" and "Judgment" will be chapter titles in some future tome.

Annoying, but not fatal, is the complete lack of understanding of military organization and language by the authors. There is only one commanding officer on a vessel; Riker is no one's commanding officer. Particulary egregious is the "Make it so" that comes at the end of each chapter:

Indeed, competence is a force mulitplier. Make it so.

Indeed, the sky is blue. Make it so.

Even if your not a frequent follower of the Star Trek series, the lessons throughout this book are very relevant to the leadership characteristics of a successful business. In short, you've hired people to do a job, let them do the job.

"Make it So -- Leadership Lessons From Star Trek--The Next Generation" is a delightful way to interject wit and wisdom into a normally dull subject. Taking sound principles of leadership and telling of their importance through the medium of "Star Trek" is a refreshing change from the usual manuals and guides on leadership. The authors,Wess Roberts and Bill Ross, have done a very good job of combining sound leadership principles with the story lines of favorite "Star Trek--The Next Generation" episodes and made leadership principles available to any and all readers. It does not matter whether you are a avid fan of the series, Star Trek in general, or a reader just looking for good advice, this book will deliver what you seek. I have recommended this book to my corporate learning center as required reading for their leadership seminars, it is that good. Whether you are in a leadership position at home, in industry, church, political or social world, there is something in this book for you.

Prolific Stuart Woods is back with his 8th Stone Barrington novel, of his 24 fictional works to date. If he had accidentally called Stone "James Bond" it would have been just as believable, as Barrington sleuths in espionage and intrigue during the day, and drinks and bed hops during the night. Traveling to London via the Concorde on an unlimited expense account, much of this book seems devoted to the lifestyles of the rich (even if not famous). Two of Stone's old girlfriends dominate much of the proceedings, even Arrington Calder herself -- the running gag being that she and Stone will never marry (they came close once before) 'cause she won't go through life as Arrington Barrington!

There was quite a degree of suspense in the 300+ pages, although to me it was as much caused by "what's going on here" than the story per se. Even when it ended, ..., we weren't sure what they did or why it mattered, despite a couple of murders, almost unconnected, along the way. In fact, it was like leaving a movie you thought was pretty entertaining but you never did figure out the fundamental plot. Even Stone didn't know whom he was working for half the time. We'd no doubt fail the quiz at the end on who did what to whom. Moreover, an appearance by Stone's old police partner Dino (still on active duty, but apparently able to travel at will to bail this guy out time after time) did little to advance the story line and thus seemed somehow irrelevant.

Thinking it might be time to let Stone "die off", we note from the author's web site two more Barrington books are in the works, as well as another featuring his newer female lead, Holly Barker. Woods claims he's writing two books per year for the foreseeable future; while still fans, we would like to see a little more substance, a little less sex, and a more cohesive plot. Woods has all the skills to pull that off and more. We're just not sure they are on display that well in the Short Forever.

The Short Forever by Stuart Woods is just one of the many books written by him with the character "Stone Barrington." Stone is an ex-cop turned investigator for a law firm. In this novel, a client, John Bartholemew, is sent to him by an acquaintance of Stone's. He tells Stone to go to London to bring back his neece and to have the man she wants to marry sent to jail for life. Turns out the woman is not his neece and the man is a former man in British military operations that used to work with Stone's client. It also turns up that John Bartholomew is not his real name. Stone, when arriving in london, is reacquainted with an old fling of his, who is now engaged. Stone also gets caught up with busines partners of the man he is supposed to have sent to jail. To Stone, the review of this book is as confuing as what he must go through to solve everything. I personally loved this book and plan on reading other novels in the series.

I greatly anticipated the release of this book for quite some time, and I was not let down! This next Stone Barrington book lives up tp the standards!

In this book, Stone ends up overseas in London, working for a man whom he finds out he knows very little about. John Bartholomew, or if that is even his real name, has sent Stone to convince his "neice" to return home to the states. Stone's job is to separate her from her lover, Lance Cabot, who is involved in some "illegal matters".

John and Lance Cabot are always one step ahead of Stone, keeping him guessing as to the truth of what they really are after. Are they really working together in some secret intelligence agency? Or are the rival enemies, both hoping to nail the other? This is what Stone must figure out.

And of course, what book would it be without the appearances of Stone's old time flame Arrington and old NYPD partner Dino Bachetti.

I greatly enjoyed this novel and cannot wait for the next one already! Stuart Woods cannot write them fast enough!

Enjoy!

It bothers me to no end to read the negative reviews of this book. Maybe it's because the book is labeled from "casual" to "expert" user. I knew absolutely nothing about web publishing and HTML coding and found this extremely easy to read and follow. Unfortunately there were probably a few people in the "advanced" bracket who needed to slam this book because it did not cover what they expected. It gave me a solid basis for HTML and Dynamic HTML coding and was a great introduction to Java and CGI. When an author has to cover so many subjects related to HTML he's bound to skim over the more advanced applications. Being almost 1000 pages, it does a sterling job. By the way, the CD has a great HTML editor on it!

As a beginner I found the book a tremendous resource into HTML and Web page authoring. I do not believe the book is intended to be an exhaustive reference on every topic but wants to focus on normal day to day concerns. After reading the book I now feel extremely comfortable on all Web issues and recommend the text highly.

Easy and fun to read and learn basics of HTML and well beyond. Logically organized so it works well both for self-instruction and as a reference.

I read the first one about 6 months ago. A all-round good time, one mishap after another, the first book you wanted to see want would happen next, BUT this one! Jumps from one story line to another, with unbelievable plots, I know that it is Science Fiction but the authors could at lest try to make it believable. I felt it was three or even four books that were not related to each other, I would not recommend this one at all. I will try one more of the series, but if the next one is just as bad no more.

This is a good book for when you want to read something that has a plot and characters and all that literary stuff, but you don't want to have to actually think.

If you haven't read this, but have read any of either author, then you haven't hallucinated anything yet.

It is a frivolous romp through a sad universe that seems populated with familiar faces by two of the great experts in the genre of humorous SF.

Read it or be forever the way you are. (Not that it will change anything permanent. Just a few yucks and a strange longing for a second right arm - even if the colours don't match.)

Filled with in-jokes that only a fan would get, it is a feast for the initiated.