Across the globe in Italy, The Black Rose Notebook is stolen from its private case in the Vatican Library and hand-delivered to Mossad Agent Josephine (Josey) Schulman. Josey has the ancient book special-delivered by diplomatic pouch to her father, a Professor of Theology at the Hebrew University in Israel on loan to the University of Chicago.

The forces of evil overwhelm the detectives and Mossad agent, as they are forced to accept and rely on paranormal powers and unbridle their long forgotten religious beliefs and faith to battle the Brotherhood. But can God favor telepathy, sheer determination, and love against satanic motivated PSYOPS (psychological warfare)? Can angels actually save Holy warriors from the depths of despair? Can der Golem, summoned by a Rabbi, help battle the spawn of Hell itself? Or will the world succumb to total mind control and adhere to The Brotherhood's protocols?

R. D. Weber takes the reader on a mind-boggling horror ride
in PROTOCOL-17. International intrigue and espionage, murder
investigations, occult and supernatural occurrences are blended
together in a compelling and frightening novel. Characters, human and supernatural, leap from the pages at times, via dialogue and description. Unforgettable villains and credible well-fleshed-out heroes add to this enjoyable thriller.
Readers of The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons and cross genre King and Koontz novels will add Weber to their list of favorite suspense authors. His background as a former government agent lends realistic detail to his writing. Stunning locales and great attention to detail make Weber a refreshing new voice in the thriller genre.

Across the globe in Italy, The Black Rose Notebook is stolen from its private case in the Vatican Library and hand-delivered to Mossad Agent Josephine (Josey) Schulman. Josey has the ancient book special-delivered by diplomatic pouch to her father, a Professor of Theology at the Hebrew University in Israel on loan to the University of Chicago.

The forces of evil overwhelm the detectives and Mossad agent, as they are forced to accept and rely on paranormal powers and unbridle their long forgotten religious beliefs and faith to battle the Brotherhood. But can God favor telepathy, sheer determination, and love against satanic motivated PSYOPS (psychological warfare)? Can angels actually save Holy warriors from the depths of despair? Can der Golem, summoned by a Rabbi, help battle the spawn of Hell itself? Or will the world succumb to total mind control and adhere to The Brotherhood's protocols?

R. D. Weber takes the reader on a mind-boggling horror ride
in PROTOCOL-17. International intrigue and espionage, murder
investigations, occult and supernatural occurrences are blended
together in a compelling and frightening novel. Characters, human and supernatural, leap from the pages at times, via dialogue and description. Unforgettable villains and credible well-fleshed-out heroes add to this enjoyable thriller.
Readers of The DaVinci Code and cross genre King and Koontz novels will add Weber to their list of favorite suspense authors. His background as a former government agent lends realistic detail to his writing.

Across the globe in Italy, The Black Rose Notebook is stolen from its private case in the Vatican Library and hand-delivered to Mossad Agent Josephine (Josey) Schulman. Josey has the ancient book special-delivered by diplomatic pouch to her father, a Professor of Theology at the Hebrew University in Israel on loan to the University of Chicago.

The forces of evil overwhelm the detectives and Mossad agent, as they are forced to accept and rely on paranormal powers and unbridle their long forgotten religious beliefs and faith to battle the Brotherhood. But can God favor telepathy, sheer determination, and love against satanic motivated PSYOPS (psychological warfare)? Can angels actually save Holy warriors from the depths of despair? Can der Golem, summoned by a Rabbi, help battle the spawn of Hell itself? Or will the world succumb to total mind control and adhere to The Brotherhood's protocols?

R. D. Weber takes the reader on a mind-boggling horror ride
in PROTOCOL-17. International intrigue and espionage, murder
investigations, occult and supernatural occurrences are blended
together in a compelling and frightening novel. Characters, human and supernatural, leap from the pages at times, via dialogue and description. Unforgettable villains and credible well-fleshed-out heroes add to this enjoyable thriller.
Readers of The DaVinci Code and cross genre King and Koontz novels will add Weber to their list of favorite suspense authors. His background as a former government agent lends realistic detail to his writing.

This is the book I've used for years when reading this story to my own children, passing on Tasha Tudor and other illustrators. Why?

Although we can find the same poem and pay a lot more, with award winning illustrators, the illustrations provided by Douglas Gorsline are surely the best. They are quite colorful, and offer details little children love looking into...cats lie sleepily on the window sill, we see an overview of the town, the presents spilling from the open sack are intriguing and plentiful, and Jolly St. Nick is -- well, quite Jolly (as you can see by looking at the cover!)

The story is an "abridged version" - I'm not sure about other parents, but we read this on Christmas Eve, and we only have so much time and energy. Everything we remember from the classic poem by Clement Clarke Moore is in this version.

(From "'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" to "He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!" In between we have everything, from the names of the eight tiny reindeer, to a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly, including dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky".

In other words, don't be scared off by 'abridged'!)

Perhaps a hardcover edition might be more appropriate if you're giving a gift (unless you're giving to more than one child), but this book is one of the best offers we've found!

A classic done simply and inexpensively!

The lyrics are the same, from book to book, but the fanciful illustrations in this one are enough to engage adults and children as they read this book together.

The perfect gift for any family whose Christmas tradition includes reading this classic!

I'm studying towards my CCNP and already have the Syngress and Cisco range of books. I regard this book both as an investment and as a core book in my ever growing networking library.

It is a compenhensive book. It talks about things in-depth. Surprisingly, It also include Internet security and Firewall Design. Although, this part does not talked in-depth, it can still give me a valuable concept about it.

The content is abundant. I am pleased that it organized in a good way. Most likely, make one chapter for each protocol. I can follow it easily.

Also, it is also good in glossary and index. I think index is quite important for you, since I can find what I want quickly.

Any, it is a good book indeed.

The TCP/IP protocol is described in wonderful detail and as a reader you can delve as deeply as you want.

I was able to read the book from cover to cover. I keep it handy as a reference (especially when I need help with subnetting). It's not the cheapest book in the world, but it should be the only one you need when it comes to this subject.

Thank you Mr. Comer.

maggie is the oldest child having been raised in a home with no family love. she is close to her father and sister, but her mother is a different person all together. because of this lack of love from her, maggie is determined to make something of herself if only to prove her mother wrong. breaking the outer shell shes developed as a form of protection wont be easy, but rogan intends to do just that.

a lovely story with enough mystery to leave the reader hoping they have their copy of born in ice sitting nearby once they close the last page of this one ::smile

"Born In Fire" sets the whole tone for the 2 books that follow. While the relationship between temperamental glassblowing artist Maggie and upper-crust gallery owner Rogan is obviously at the forefront of this tale, the larger tale being told is that of 2 sisters and how they are coming to grips with the death of their adoring father and the reality of the long, loveless marriage he shared with their cold, bitter mother. The relationship and interplay between Maggie, her sweet-natured sister Brianna, and their shrewish mother provides some of the best dialogue in the book.

Maggie is a very well-developed character, who is so flawed and yet so wonderful that she is as human to the reader as one's own best friend might be.

Written in the style of Ben Hurr, "The Robe" by Lloyd C. Douglas is a story of adventure and truth. This story follows Marcellus (a Roman tribune) on his quest to find the truth about this robe, these Christians and a man named Jesus. Tracing Jesus footsteps through Galilee and Cana and learning from the Christians in Athens and Rome, Marcellus finds more than he bargains for. He set out to find the truth and found a God he could finally believe in.

This is an awesome story of faith and hope! If you like historical fiction, especially that set in Jesus' time, you have got to read this book!

What follows is Marcellus' seemingly inexplicable compulsion to understand and know the man whose robe he had won. Wandering in the Holy Land, he discovers more than he ever imagined about Jesus of Nazareth and the small-but-growing community of belivers in His prophesied Kingdom. Marcellus and those around him come to understand the promises and prophesies of the crucified Christos and await his return. As history records, however, not all around him share his profound faith.

My father told me about this book after he had given me a copy of another of Douglas' famous books, The Magnificent Obsession. I was truly enthralled by the vivid descriptions and characters. The story gives a depth to early Christianity which I had never known before. The book is written in a literary style that is unusual and somewhat unfamiliar to audiences of the current day, but I found that its unrushed elegance gave every page a quiet dignity that fit perfectly with the book's subject matter. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone.

This story was made into a movie (a modest testament to its power) in 1953 and was the first movie filmed in CinemaScope.

MacArthur is portrayed as a brilliant innovator as exemplified by his masterful manuever in jumping from Hollandia to Leyte in World War II and of course the Inchon landing during the Korean War. The author by necessity tells the story of the U.S. Army's role in the Pacific during World War II mostly from the army's point of view. In that respect AMERICAN CAESAR serves as a useful adjunct to Samuel Eliot Morrison's HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II.

Douglas MacArthur was perfectly bred for military leadership and his future historical role. The son of a Civil War recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor and Military Governor of the Philippines, Douglas MacArthur surpassed even his father's amazing military and historical accomplishments. Manchester argues that MacArthur had a unique genius for military operations, from his quick promotion at age 38 to the command of the Rainbow Division in World War I, to his campaigns in the Pacific and his bold invasion at Inchon in the Korean War. MacArthur's military capabilities conceivably saved thousands of American lives. Typically his military moves were cunning and daring, bypassing enemy strongpoints and leading to victories at lower costs in terms of lives than operations undertaken by his U.S. military contemporaries.

The book's title, American Caesar, uniquely describes MacArthur's career as the liberator of the Philippines and the Military administrator of Japan. Perhaps no other American in history has held the type of power that MacArthur held in Japan as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. Yet his immense power was wielded with grace and an understanding of the Japanese people and their culture. MacArthur's long service in Asia uniquely suited him to this role.

MacArthur's weaknesses which ultimately led to his downfall at the hands of President Truman are explored. MacArthur learned that great military exploits are often achieved by acting against the will or explicit instructions of his superiors. Combining this trait with an immense ego, MacArthur's showdown with President Truman was almost unavoidable. This led to his firing and a lasting feud with Truman that ultimately tarnished MacArthur's reputation despite his incredible career and service.

Manchester presents MacArthur as a complex figure full of contradictions. MacArthur is shown as a warrior who exposed himself to extreme danger, but was often derisively referred to as "Dugout Doug" when he vainly surrounded himself with luxurious surroundings in his headquarters. He instituted liberal democratic reforms in Japan, then became a hard line conservative spokesman in the United States. By illuminating these contradictions inherent in MacArthur's personality, William Manchester presents General Douglas MacArthur's long and eventful life in a book which makes interesting and exciting reading.

This "omnibus" edition is rather a bit bulky to hold in the bath or on the beach or in one's sleeping bag, but it's worthy the sprained thumb muscles.

I'm almost 50 so this was a blast from the past for me (and in any case, I had only read the original trilogy, not the fourth book in what was still stubbornly and as the entry in the Hitchhiker's Guide will tell you, is nevertheless still a trilogy because it was written by a software avatar named Douglas Adams while in Improbability Drive. I thought everyone knew that. And then to have the 5th (and absolutely new) book, "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish," and the cute short story about the young and adventuresome Zaphod, well, when I saw it, I had to get it...for my 20-year old son.

His response? "Gee, now I know where all those expressions come from. You know, 'life, the universe and everything,' '42,' 'I never could quite get the hang of Thursdays' and so on." I'd made a convert. I'd pass the virus (or is that a meme?) on to a new generation and had fulfilled my role as a father. But being a wily father, after giving it to my son for Christmas, I borrowed it back* and reread the original stories, which I first encountered in their radio format -- the BBC radio versions re-broadcast on the CBC**. What a delightful blast from the past. It still froodles, by Zarquon!

*Always make your euro/loonie/yanquidollah stretch farther by giving books to people you'd like to read. A somewhat less obvious strategy than giving your wife the Motomaster cordless drill set from Canadian Tire for Christmas.

**Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; listed in the Hitchhiker's Guide as the Canadian Broadcorping Castration, thanks to an error by a sub-editor at InfiniDim.

Marc A. Schindler
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Pierce

To put it another way, I have not met a piano salesperson or dealer who had anything really bad to say about any piece in his or her inventory. Tone quality is something you can distinguish after hearing a few good pianos, but the actual quality of the instrument and how it will hold up over time is known only by those who regulary service them in the field. This is good to know, especially with so many asian-made pianos of questionable quality floating around on the used market.

If you're looking for an entry-level practice piano or a full 9' concert grand, this book will help you cut through all the manufacturers' and dealer hype.

Fine's knowledge of the instrument is great.