Can't do more than fully agree to the review of Harriet here. Treloar becomes uninteresting since he is not personally involved, his character is not as eleborate as in the other two splendid novels. As with SPQR, the series started of very promising. But Roberts seems to be losing interest after 2 books....

A distraught, almost incoherent, Randall "Kit" Carson flies from the main office in Cleveland to Knoxville to assign his top private investigator Gabe Treloar with the most important case the firm has ever had. Gabe must safely bring home Kit's missing daughter, twenty-three year old Sybil, who apparently ran off with a Nick Switzer, a man with a long record. Gabe will do anything for Kit, the man who taught him how to be a good police officer and gave him a civilian job too.

Gabe soon tracks the pair to Memphis where he learns that they have been involved in cult activities. When a clue sends him to Las Vegas, Gabe realizes he must go underground if he is to find the couple, who pulled a scam, on a now irate paramilitary organization before they come to any harm. However, by jumping into the fray, Gabe has placed his own life on the line.

Though well written, the third novel in the Treloar mysteries, DESPARATE HIGHWAYS, does not come close to the level of excellence of the previous two stories (see THE GHOSTS OF SAIGON and A TYPICAL AMERICAN TOWN) . Gabe appears seems to be an arrogant know it all (he must have one hell of a T-shirt collection since he seems to have done it all), thereby losing some of the charm he oozes in the first two books. The story line is very interesting, but dragged down by way too many leaps of faith. Unless, the reader desperately needs a new Treloar fix, this reviewer strongly recommends that the audience try John Maddox Roberts' other Treloar mysteries for two superior and delightful experiences.

Harriet Klausner

Good diagrams and rebuilding information but a little light on troubleshootin, diagnostics, and tuning.

It's what he wanted, and he uses it.

This manual has guided me through a number of repairs over the past few years, however it is certainly _not_ a replacement for a factory service manual. The underlying problem with this manual is that it tries to cover too many different vehicles, and while it attempts to address the nuances of each model, it invariably leaves quite a bit to be desired.

I have a 1991 Isuzu Rodeo 3.1L V6, a model which is not covered too well. The pictures in the manual don't usually help, since they are irrelevant to my vehicle. Especially with regard to the engine. My particular year's engine might as well not exist according to this manual. Just recently my water pump went out on me, and replacing it was entirely different from that described in this manual. The picture of the 3.1L engine in the Haynes Manual was not mine! (this is just one example of when i've been let down).

Though an experienced DIYer or mechanic will know how to fix most things in his car, this manual was little help aside of general auto repair information. Indeed, I learned a lot simply by "flying blind" into much of my auto repair, making the manual irrelevant.

The conclusion: Call Isuzu (Helm publications, I think) and order their service manual, which I haven't done yet, but I plan on doing. I'm pretty sure that will be vehicle specific and should be much more detailed/helpful for your particular vehicle. When you call, they might ask you for 2 different versions UCR or UCR/S. I *think* the standard ROdeo is the UCR version, UCR/S I believe is for the Rodeo Sport (amigo?)].

Has good instructions, but doesn't cover all information

This manual is weak in certain areas. It is worth the price but the Bentley manual is much better being closer to real shop manual.

I've owned and used these Haynes 240 Series manuals (various editions) for over 15 years. The book is just OK for covering general maintenance and minor repairs but is lacking in many areas.

About a year ago, I purchased the Bentley manual for the 240 and haven't looked at my Haynes since. The Bentley goes into far greater detail in the areas of electrical, fuel injection, and suspension. The troubleshooting section is also more comprehensive.

If you're wanting to buy one repair manual to own for the life of your Volvo(s), spend the little extra money for the Bentley book. The Haynes book just doesn't measure up and Chilton is by far the worst.

Haynes has an admirable reputation for publishing clear, concise repair manuals for automobiles. This particular volume is troubling in its organization, its breadth of model year coverage and its inadequate depth of coverage of engine management systems. Haynes is an English firm, and this is an American published version of the English manual. As a result, this manual is objectionably weak at covering the electronic fuel injection and ignition systems found on most 1983 and newer US model Volvo's - which just happens to be one area of particular interest to most owners - what to do when the "check engine" light comes on. In this reviewer's opinion, the Bentley manual is considerably better. The Chilton manual, though weak on essentials, covers engine management reasonably well.

I have had the opportunity to read just about all the books written about Conan, so I have a little different viewpoint than the other reviewers. What appealed to me most about the Conan saga was exactly that; the majority of his adventures could be listed in order, in accordance to the oft published "biography" of Conan that appeared in the 12 voloume series by Ace Books which reintroduced Conan to recent readers and periodically, in later books. That is why I have a problem with this book. It has a good story, characters, and action but doesn't fit into the the timeline. This adventure takes place apparently before his escape from the Hyperborean slave pen and his well documented trek to Zamora and his first taste of civilation. Heck, in this story he traveled the length of the western world. Plus he was friends with a PICT!!. Too bad; Roberts writes Conan better than anyone since Robert Jordan, and with a more accurate placment, this book could rank up there with the best.

Conan the Bold follows our Cimmerian hero from his Northern homeland all the way to southern Stygia. The plot can be divided into four geographic settings - The first, in Cimmeria, sets the tone for the book well and gives the reader a brief glimpse of what Conan's life might have been life had he settled down at an early age. The second, in the slave pits of a backwater town were action packed with some dramatic fights. In the third setting in Ophir, dragged, before the book reached its exciting climax in Stygia.
The plot itself was a little predictable and the villians were somewhat cowardly. The strength of this book lies in the charachterization. Conan is only a teenager in this book and naive to the ways of civilization and this gets him in some trouble early on. The author also does a good job of illustrating how citizens of rival nations don't like or trust one another - something often overlooked in Conan stories. This is the only Conan tale I've read where Stygia is depicted as a place of high civilization and religion (albeit corrupt), and not of a nation of evil incarnate. For once the citizens have numerous gods to worship and not just the evil Set. It was a nice change. The heroine Kayla was written very well. Many women in this series are depicted as either shrinking violets easily woed by Conan's charms and in need of rescue or as double dealing rogues w/ a hidden agenda. Kayla was a tough warrior, w/ an inpendant nature who helped show the Cimmerian some of the ways of civilization.
This is a fun book and worthwhile for Conan fans, but not in the upper echilon on the series. I would recommend reading Conan and the Amazon by this author first.

I thought this was one of the best books out of the 5 I've read so far. I really liked the beginning; how it had him in Cimmeria. I also enjoyed how Cimmerian beliefs and customs were explained throughout the story as well. Taharka and company weren't bad villains, and the whole thing with the priests was pretty cool. One of my favorite sections of the book would have to be all of the action at Croton. I thought the part with the circus caravan was dumb, but it did serve its purpose, and it was hard imagining the bandits setting up a cave base like they did. Overall, I thought it was really good, but I gave it a 4 because of minor things that I thought were stupid and the end seemed rushed and kind of weak. However, I would recommend it.

The book lacks detail and is not user-friendly. The information for torque specifications is located in the beginning of the chapter rather than in the location of the repair being made. Having the information set up this way is very frustrating because you have to back track to get the information which is a waste of time. I also found a mistake in a wiring diagram for the ECU.

The book is laid out in a confusing manner in many ways, and it is difficult to be certain that the section you're looking at actually pertains to your vehicle year/engine. It has good information, but it will take you time to find it. Part of the problem is that it tries to cover too many years and vairations.

i need to find something about fixing transmichians on a dodge 1987 d-50 pick up truck

There were times when the book draws you in with imagery. And it was quite good at that mostly but sometimes the images fell apart in their own complexity. There were parts that carried on neadlessly for a bit too long and I didn't like how abruptly the book ended. Overall though it wasn't a bad book, worthy of a used-book buy or library check-out.

I read this book a little while ago and thought that it was overall a pretty good book, but during the middle/beggining of it I thought that it was a bit LONG. But if you like a good story that is interesting, than I recomend this to you, but if your itching for action than I don't recomend this to you.

It has 1) How to extract the code 2) Code Number/Cause chart, but NO chart mapping the flashing light to the CODE NUMBER!!!!!!!!!! There's no mention of any other book to referece either. I can make my little light flash but this book gives me no stinkin' clue as to what it MEANS!!!

I use this book almost daily,it gives very good information to testing components and how to retrieve trouble codes for vehicles,although the code definitions are only the meanings of the codes,it supplies you with enough info to be able to know what to start looking at,and there are places on the web to get more help once you have the codes,so for as inexpensive as the book is,it should be in every do it yourselfers toolbox.

It's a good read designed to entertain but don't expect too much more than that. My greatest complaint is that I can not find the rest of the series anywhere. End

An entertaining adventure, similar to the"Conan" adventure series, with some minor differences. Great airplane or bathroom entertainment.

Sometimes, especially at night time, my car makes me feel funny. I never had the chicken pox, ever.Smash cellblock H. Thank you.