This book is a clean old mystery-no blood at all, but good for kids 7+u

I find this a hard book to swallow. Life has taught me that there are always more sides to the story then just one. To me this seems like a book written by a bitter ex-spouse who really just wanted to flame everyone that ever took some control from him. Hard to believe he could be so disrespectful to his deceased wifes daughter and her family. These people have suffered multiple losses and this seems a bit cold and un-christian response.

I just don't believe this is the whole story. Plus I think it is odd he gets married so quickly?

It is all too frightening to think that this could go on in The United States of America. A parent "losing custody" of his child to a non-biological parent because of a "psychological status"? An EX stepparent should not be allowed this much leeway into a former step child's life. Period. She wasn't awarded custody because she was a better parent. She was awarded custody by default. She sued and he wasn't there in court because he had not been properly notified. That's the American way and it needs changing. Not just in Oregon but in any other states where this is allowed and those of us who think it does not affect us need to let our state representatives know that this will not be tolerated. I know that there must be someone out there willing to rectify this situation and make it right.

I wonder if any of this book's detractors -- notably left anonymous -- ever actually make it to the back of the book, where there are reams of actual court documents supporting the author's claims! They might do well to start with the end and read their way back. The truth might surprise them...meanwhile, general, unbiased readers should have no problems drawing their own conclusions based on the author's low-key style and "speaks for itself" proof. A gripping read no matter which side of the custody fence you straddle...

This was a timeless classical book with deep central themes exhibited with the relationship of George and Lennie. Out of the books we were assigned to read for our english class, this was the best one I read yet.

This is a beautiful book. How can anyone even speak a bad word against it? It is poignant eloquent, touching, and gut wrenching. It is a book to read over and over, hoping to gain life lessons on what friendship is really about each time you read it.

Of Mice and Men was one of the most well written books i have seen. The plot was excellent, I love the friendship between Lennie and George, as well as the foreshadowing with Candy and his dog to the end with Lennie. I feel sorry for Curly's wife. It was just a great sad sad book. I think it's great.

Out of all the quality books I have read, this one worst. Mr. Carey has neither the know-how or scope to fully take on any of the issues at hand.

This book does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the concept of applying Statistical Process Control. Through a great number of mini case studies it shows a number of possible applications. Probably more importantly it amply demonstrates the when to be concerned and when to continue monitoring the situation before reacting.

This is NOT a technical book. The few formulae that are presented are relegated to a small appendix and are virtually unusable. This makes the book more suitable for administrators than for quants.

People actually conducting the studies will not find what they need in terms of formulae. They will find what they need to understand which type of chart is appropriate and how to interpret the results.

Ideally the authors should have included software to actually do the calculations. This would have allowed the non-technical people to actually do their own studies rather than just interpet what others have done.

As a physician who is becoming more involved with quality control, I found this to be an outstanding introduction to the concepts of statistical process control. The abundant practical examples provide a guide as to how these principles can be used effectively in the health care setting. I recommend Carey's book to anyone who wants to get serious about managing the process of quality in healthcare -- I'm buying another copy to share with my staff!

In my opinion, this was a good novel. You are a bit confused at the beginning, but you start to understand it by maybe the third chapter. Although I don't like what happened to Phineas at the end, it was an element that really gave the book reality; every book can't end with "...and they lived happily ever after." John Knowles' A SEPARATE PEACE was a moving novel that gets you thinking. I strongly recommend this book to those who are open-minded; otherwise, you probably won't enjoy the story too much.

A number of reviewers have called this book long, slow, and boring. Well that's either beacuse they must not enjoy reading too much, or because they're too young to understand the true meaning of the book. It does not have much action in it, but it's very deep, and gets you thinking. If you like a powerful, provocative, psychological novel, then this one is for you. It is for people that would enjoy reading about the incredible complexities of humanity. Great book!!

The book is essentially a reflection of a 30-something year old man trying to convalesce from two psychologically traumatic experiences that happened in his youth at a New England boarding school. Gene was not ready, in his teen aged years, for the experience of Phineas - a character more mythologiclly true than realistic. Although the excellently crafted subtlies of this novel could by pass the shallow reader, there is a wealth of youth, human, psychology for the keen eye and the sensitive soul. Understand this book, and it will change your view of friendship and war forever. How can anyone read that last paragraph: "All of them, all except Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to themselves these Maginot Lines against this enemy they thought they saw across the frontier, this enemy who never attacked that way - if he ever attacked at all; if he was indeed the enemy" and not immediately want to read the book again,... and not have her/his naivete immediately shattered.

I had a good laugh when reading your reviews of a Cliffs Notes. I mean....oh, man....*laughs*. The book is great and I can't believe you even bothered to pick up an abreviated version. It might be several hundred pages, but it's a page turner. So, expand your mind.

"Crime and Punishment" for a high school or college not enamored with Russian literature can be intimidating. This CliffsNotes volume helps clear up the seemingly muddy waters.

While not all CliffsNotes are worth buying, in this case, it can enhance and encourage the reading process. They explain the many characters in two sections.

The first is not unlike what introduces many playbills. For example, for Sonia, it says "Sofya's nickname." Maybe that it is common in Russia, but it would have thrown me for a loop. For Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov, it says, "A poverty-stricken student who conceives a theory of the superman or extraordinary man as a justification or rationalization for his crime."

The second guide explains in a page or two the context and major concerns of only a few characters.

Because they have Russian names unfamiliar to most of us in the United States, their little guide will be handy to keep open as you read the actual book.

The chapter synopsis is also useful for teachers who are overwhelmed with responsibilities. I have used it for this reason with a private student. I had not read the work and needed to be up to speed quickly. The synopsis put the book in context, making expectation available to me as I read. This helped me know what was worth focusing on in our all-to-brief look at this classic.

Other sections explain motifs and arguments of Hegel and Nietzsche regarding the superman ideas presented. Lacking is a section on biblical references, which, for students without much biblical knowledge, will limit their appreciation of the depth of "Crime and Punishment." Judith Gunn's "Dostoyesky: Dreamer and Prophet" is a good follow-up for the student looking to understand Dostoyesky religious perspective and Russian nationalism.

I fully recommend "CliffsNotes Crime and Punishment" by James L. Roberts.

Anthony Trendl

James L. Roberts' Cliffs Notes for Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" begins with a brief look at the Life and Background of the Author, which is sufficient to allow teachers/readers of the novel to recognize some key parallels between fact and fiction. The Cast of Characters list includes a "note on pronunciation" that will be useful. Following a Plot Summary, Roberts provides a look at the general Structure of the novel, and I appreciate that he wants us to being thinking about this BEFORE reading "Crime and Punishment." He also sets up the general roles of the main characters and the result is that even if you do not read the Summary/Commentary section, Roberts gives you more than enough to think about at this point to enhance your reading of the novel.

The Summary/Commentary section breaks the novel down by chapters and Roberts uses A-B-C notations to distinguish specific lines of analysis; I consider such signposting useful to students. As always, the best way to use these commentaries is to read them after the corresponding parts of the novel, rather than doing them all at once after (or before...) doing the reading. Roberts them explores the Extraordinary Man Theories of Hegel, Nietzsche and Raskolnikov in a short essay section students will certainly find provocative. The Character Review looks as Raskolnikov, Sonia, Svidrigailov, and Petrovitch while under Motifs he examines Confession, being "All Alone," the Square Yard of Space, Suffering and Fresh Air.

This is one of the better little yellow books with the black stripes, with its major strength being that Roberts provides his best analysis outside of the Summary/Commentary section. He also takes the time to develop his case on Structure, Characters and Motifs (not all of these books do). But above all, Roberts sets up the novel so that going into "Crime and Punishment" students are well prepared to deal with the major elements.

This book has a a few very informative articles/chapters. It virtually covers the entire M&A continuum from deal strategy through post merger integration. It has a fatal flaw however due to its format and that is a lack of consistency from one section to the next. By jumping from one author to another, the reader is subjected to guidance that is often contradicted or not considered a few chapters later by another author. That is why I prefer books offering guidance on the subject from a thoughtleader or practitioner who can walk me through the entire process from beginning to end. I am comforted knowing I am not being plied with theory that will be refuted 30 pages later. The book does include some very learned insights from previous authors of HBR articles, which most of us have read before but fails to include others such as Drs. Mark Feldman, Pat Gaughin, David Greenspan, Mark Clemente and Jac Fitz-Enz who are some of the finest minds and true heavyweights in the fields of culture, process, organizational development, and integration. I know because- as a Harvard alumna and corporate strategist for 20 years - I have worked as an employee alongside some of these M&A pioneers at such firms as AT&T, Lucent, IBM, and Citibank watching them give birth to the M&A scriptures. Each has penned their guidance in other less lofty titles which take the reader the whole way through the M&A experience while sharing successes, failures, theory, and case studies. This book is impressive to put on one's shelf and it does indeed have some very practical applications for today's corporate combinations. Yet the comprehensive guidance offered by these other authors eclipses the magazine-like compilation contained herein. It sorely misses their contributions.

Instead of one big novel involving characters from all six current Star Trek book series, this is a collection of six short stories, each one picking up from the cliffhanger ending of each of the Gateways novels from the individual series (if that makes sense). While this sounded like a cynical marketing ploy, I had hoped that the six stories would build on each other to present some sort of unified whole, bringing the whole adventure to one grand conclusion. How wrong I was!

The Star Trek (original series), Challenger, and Voyager stories could--and probably should--have easily been included as concluding chapters in their respective books. Each one is nothing more than an epilogue to the main story. The Deep Space Nine and New Frontier stories present somewhat separate adventures, but that doesn't make them much better. In both, characters get transported to significant locations (an important historical moment for Colonel Kira, a mythical afterlife for Calhoun and Shelby) where nothing of any real consequence seems to happen. Of course, since both series present ongoing adventures, it's possible that these tales plant seeds for upcoming stories. Even if that were the case, it doesn't make these stories any less inconsequential or any more satisfying.

The Next Generation tale, longer than the other five, does, indeed, wrap up the Gateways story. But, like the other five, there's no real reason (besides financial) that this story couldn't have been included at the end of Doors Into Chaos.

Because four of the stories are completely dependent upon what came before, there is a complete lack of tension or suspense. All the big events happened in the parent novels, and all the authors have left to do in What Lay Beyond is tie up the loose ends (even when there aren't really any loose ends that need tying up). Any opportunites for suspense that could have been sustained through the other two stories are completely ignored by their authors. Frustratingly, those two authors, Peter David and Keith RA DeCandidio, have done particularly good Star Trek work in the past, which makes their lackluster contributions here even more disappointing.

So, if you followed the Gateways saga so far and need to see what happens next, I recommend waiting for the paperback. Nothing of enough consequence happens to make this an immediate must-read.

The series Book 1-6 was promising, if annoying for having a cliffhanger ending that forced you to buy the next book, or specificially the Book 7 which contains all the endings.

Well after being built-up by books 1-6, wondering if the inconsistencies between those books would be tied together in ST Gateways Book 7, wondering if Book 7 "the grand conclusion of what lay beyond" would put forth a good explanation for the Iconian mystery, tie all the loose ends together and provide good conclusions for the cliffhanger endings of books 1-6...............it was most most most disappointing to see that this was not the case.

Book 7 creates more inconsistencies and the endings are [bad]. Oh some of the endings were ok, but the final ending...for the TNG book in the series...which was SUPPOSED to tie everything together, totally messed it up and failed, completely failed to deliver! I mean...first in books 1-6 they established that once activated a gateway cannot be destroyed no matter what they threw at it because it will simply absorb the energy. THEN in Book 7...suddenly Gateways CAN be destroyed by explosive force...no explanation given!!! Just a lazy author who didn't even read the previous book he wrote and ignored all stuff he established in the previous book! Once again, this is a MAJOR LETDOWN!

Star Trek-Gateways: What Lay Beyond written by Diane Carey et.al.is the culmination of a seven part series including all of the different genre of the Star Trek Universe.

Now, I'll be up front about this series... I'm not a fan of shelling out money for poor marketing and the way this series was presented to the reader was a downright travisty. I really do NOT understand the reasons why they (Paramount/Simon and Schuster) did this, save but one, to dig into the readers wallet.

Enough said, now, here is the contents:

Star Trek: One Giant Leap by Susan Wright
Star Trek Challenger: Exodus by Diane Carey
Star Trek DS-9: Horn and Ivory by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Star Trek Voyager: In the Queue by Christie Golden
Star Trek New Frontier Death After Life by Peter David
Star Trek TNG The Other Side by Robert Greenberger

Found in this volume are the conclusions to the above stories, but the hook is you have to buy the first six volume in order to make sense of these conclusions. This is why people believe they've been ripped off... and I can't blame them. I this was my idea, I'd expect a pink slip with my last pay check.

The only saving grace in this book is The Pocket Books STAR TREK Novels Timeline written by the Timeline Gang; Robert Bowling, Johan Ciamaglia, Ryan J. Cornelius, James R McCain, Alex Rosenzweig, Paul T.Semones, and Corey W. Tacker... with David Henderson and Lee Jamilkowski.

After you read the first six books you'll see what I mean, you really lose the flow of the story. But, now that all seven are available in paperback the contenuity should be easier to follow.

Tidewater Dynasty is a fictional account of the Lee family. It is based upon historic dates and facts. The glimpses of the Lee family are not true to life. All the Lee husbands are good looking, intelligent, perfect husbands, unselfish, ... All the wives have the same traits. There is one Lee who does not comform to the Lee image. I suppose he embodies all the bad traits of the Lee family so that none of the others had any.

I've always been interested in the Lee family of Virginia, especially Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot, the Declaration of Indpedence signers, so I ordered this book, hoping it would give me an insight into the world the two lived in. The book did, in a way. Some of the best points were when the authors described the society of Old Virginia, the relationships between the Virginia families, and how the colonists lived. Thankfully, the authors did a good job of portraying Richard H. and Francis L., but after that, the book sort of went downhill. I definitely did not enjoy how the authors portrayed Henry 'Light Horse Harry' Lee. He came off as some whiny, simpering man, and it really annoyed me. But, other than that, this book is a great insight into the society of Old Virginia and a fair look at the Lee family, and their roll in our history