After my own diagnosis three years ago, I set out to help other men and their companions with the effects of this disease, primarily through my Phoenix5 Web site. In that time, I have read dozens of books about prostate cancer and I can say without doubt that this is the most complete and best prostate cancer reference book that I have seen. Its primary strength is that there may be more illustrations than its 368 colored pages. It is filled with hundreds of color photos, drawings, illustrations and sample forms, from the basics to the highly technical. Just look at the table of contents. And interspersed are "physician's notes" by Strum that take up cases or individual instances, to "reinforce the concepts in the text."

I've never seen a prostate cancer book where so much is so well illustrated. I highly recommend this book to anyone dealing with prostate cancer, from the newly diagnosed to the "old pro" like me.

Robert Young
Dx'd 11/23/99 PSA 1000+ Stage M1c

Webmaster Phoenix5
...
To help overcome the effects of prostate cancer

This book is a thorough and comprehensive work designed to provide essential information for the recently diagnosed prostate cancer patient and their loved ones. The book is written in lay person friendly language, but quickly moves the reader into the depths of technical details of prostate cancer, diagnosis, progression of the disease, and standard medical treatment. This is an excellent reference on our current understanding of the disease and standard (not alternative) medical treatment. The only short-coming of the book is the lack of suggestions for alternative and complementary medicine treatment (although a couple alternative books are referred to.)

Dr. Stephen Strum and Donna Pogliano have written an excellent book which will guide both patient and physician, alike, to optimal care in the treatment of prostate cancer. Easy to read and understand, color coded for quick reference, basic and advanced information depending on the readers interest, it's all there. I use it as my prostate cancer bible and even carry it with me to PCa support group meetings. When discussions raise a question, we find the answer.

The dedication of these two people in producing a text of this quality will change the way men will be able to live with PCa and will impact the quality of life of those men who may eventually die from prostate cancer.

What a page turner!
The Abduction of Rebecca is destined to become one of the season's most discussed novels.
This is a writing so true to life in today's society that it makes you feel as if it were you it was happening to.
If you like a book that allows you to feel as though you are part of the story and keeps your adrenaline flowing with every word on the page while leaving you anxious about what is to happen next, then this is the book for you!
This book has something for everyone regardless of your reading preference, so read and enjoy because it will take you a long while to forget this book.
I could not put it down and I highly recommend it.

As a literary agent, it is a great pleasure to have been lucky enough to represent a work such as "The Abduction of Rebecca."
This author displays a real working knowledge of the novel both in structure and content in keeping it enjoyable and flowing.
Teressa takes a complicated, multi-faceted plot, inspired by a true event, which in lessor hands, could be confusing and misleading and creates a gripping tale that captures you from the beginning, and doesn't let you go until you have read every word on every page!
Her story line includes a film industry setting, romance, personal revelations, murder, and intrigue, woven into an exciting tale that among other things demonstrates a mother's courage, strength, and love in the search for her abducted child.
I recommend it for all lovers of love stories, mystery, suspense, and dramatic adventure.

A thriller reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock that has it all, romance, drama, and mystery. Teressa Honeycutt has a way with words, which will become apparent as you begin reading the twists and turns in this heartrending story of abduction and murder.
Every parent is aware of the overwhelming happiness a child can bring to their lives. But, fortuantely, every parent is not aware of the devastation experienced when a child is stolen away, in the blink of an eye.
This mother's experience in dealing with the abduction of her beloved daughter, Rebecca Lynn Grandaunt, leads the reader down a path, and over many winding roads, which are filled with murder, deceit and intrigue.
Though her path is twisted, dark and grim, her maternal instinct is strong, and she perseveres. At times the hurdles seem insurmountable, but her indomitable spirit will not let her abandon her search. The courage displayed by this mother equates to that of a sow bear, guarding her young.
Truly, this is a book that you will want to read from cover to cover without ever having the inclination to put it down!

I recently watched both "The Shawshank Redemption" (with Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman) and "Stand By Me" (with River Phoenix, Jerry O'Connell, Wil Wheaton and Corey Feldman) and this prompted me to dig out my old copy of Different Seasons. Most people are surprised when they learn that those movies were based on novellas by horror master, Stephen King, but he shows that he's not just into scaring the heck out of you.

The story cycle bases one novella per season, and each follows characters on a journey, whether it's one of hope, descent into corruption, coming of age, or life through offspring.

"Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" takes place over decades, as a prison inmate retains his spirit and soul, while breathing life into a dark institution, and whose patient nature finally leads him to freedom. The story is told in first person from the point of view of old Red, the guy who can get you things, about Andy Dufresne, a young banker jailed for the murder of his wife and her lover.

One of King's great strengths is creating a believable voice for his characters, and as you read this tale, it is like Red is talking to you. Other King strengths are providing back story and creating a world in which these characters live, one with a past, present and future, and it makes them three dimensional. One of King's flaws is going off on tangents and digressions a bit too often, but he always comes back to the story.

'The Body' (basis for 'Stand By Me') is a coming of age story about four small town boys on the cusp of entering Junior High School. On the Friday before Labor Day, they set off to find the body of a missing boy. One of the four boys, Vern Tessio, overheard his brother talking to a friend about the dead body.

The characters fall into several categories: Gordon LaChance, who narrates the story as an adult, is the dreamer/writer whose older brother died earlier that year. Chris Chambers is athletic, tough but smart. wise beyond his years and the white sheep in a family of black sheep. Teddy Duchamp is the psycho wiseguy who wears thick glasses and hearing aids as the result of his war veteran father putting his head to a stove. Vern Tessio is the least intelligent, but plays a key symbolic part as the one tells the others about the body and also is the first to spot it.

Along their journey, the boys encounter adventures, such as Milo Pressman the junkyard operator and his dog, Chopper. There is a run across a high trestle as a train bears down on them, a swim in a culvert full of leeches, and a night in the dark woods with screaming wild animals. When they eventually reach the boys, they have a run in with a group of teenage hoods from their town. A major difference from the movie, is that this story details the aftermath of the confrontation after the boys return to town.

King does a nice balancing act with his adult narrative and pre-adolescent dialogue, making each voice unique and fleshing out each boy's character to make them multi-dimensional. All four experience growth, but Gordon and Chris take this growth with them as they get older. Don't let people drag you down. There's a lot more to this story than just kids looking for a dead body.
My bumps here are again that King goes off on tangents and digressions, some to fill in background and history for the characters, but sometimes really straying far from the course. At one point he takes nearly a page to say that someone is dead, where 'The kid was dead. The kid wasn't sick, the kid wasn't sleeping.' Would probably have sufficed.

I won't go into a lot of detail about the other two stories. 'Apt Pupil' is about a boy who discovers a Nazi war criminal living in his town, and blackmails the old man into telling him stories about the war in exchange for not blowing the whistle on him. The stories the boy hears slowly lead him into senseless acts of violence. In 'The Breathing Woman' a 'disgraced woman is determined to triumph over death.'

These four stories combine to make an interesting cycle, and demonstrate that Stephen King has writing talents that stretch beyond his horror work.

...as i sat in my buddy's dorm room on a cold, thundering night in late april, i secretly fell in love with the movie, "Shawshank Redemption,". who would have guessed, but this movie was by one of my most favorite authors --- stephen king. up until a few moments ago, that movie was on my hit list of one of the best, all-time movies to see...now it's on my hit list to read the book! cruising into amazon.com, and looking *eagerly* for the latest book --- hopefully the fourth and finale in the gunslinger series --- i "fatefully" stumbled on the book entitled "Shawshank Redemption". thinking it had to be a fluke, i clicked on the bio of the tale. now, pleasantly surprised... ...i'm buying the book --- not only because it's possibly the best movie i have seen of the nineties, but because i know it's got to be good if it's written by stephen king! ---poetchick@hotmail.com

Reta hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, was a great short story by stephen king. I enjoyed reading this book and even watching the movie. I was suprised how much the book grabed my attention and how I didn't ever put it down.

As an aspiring young filmmaker, the first thing I was told to do was go out and get a copy of the Filmmaker's Handbook. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the book had been updated in March of 1999, and that now it included all kinds of information about the digital age. I have learned so much from this book. The book goes over the entire film process, and does it in a straight-forward manner. It is a great start for beginners, yet it includes a rich amount of information for the professional. Anyone who has ever thought about a career in film really needs to get a copy of this book. Written in a manner that neither patronizes nor confuses the reader, the Filmmaker's Handbook is the best book I have skimmed or read on film, and believe me, I've looked at a lot.

I'm getting into film production but don't have time to attend a real film school. And I'm basically interested in the mechanics of filmmaking - so this book The Filmmkaer's Handbook is perfect.

It gets down to all the basics of filmmaking. If you want to know what a line producer does, how light meters work and the ratio of film stock to projection, this is the book for you.

It's thick but easy to read with nice B&W illustrations. As a novice and somebody who wants to know how a movie is made this book is perfect. I was really impressed by how simple and to the point this book was on the mechanics and made it an easy read. I will keep in hand at all times for reference as well!

Very well done and exactly what I was looking for in a filmmaking book!

The media has traditionally been an extremely specialized, not to mention prohibitively expensive, field. With the introduction of digital production and editing, however, the material costs and requirements for video and audio production is decreasing rapidly, with quality levels already remarkably high and increasing annually.

This book provides a superlative introduction and overview to all of the key subjects in producing a lower- to higher- budget film. Though the title makes reference to the digital age, analog equipment is discussed when pertinent as well, and compared to existing and emerging digital technologies.

The technicalities of optics for lenses is fully detailed, as are filters, microphones, stands and other equipment, recommendations for each field of what emergency supplies to have on hand, editing and previewing equipment, software, to name but a few of the countless topics covered. A truly comprehensive and detailed work.

Anyone with a serious interest in this field can learn from this book the fundamentals needed to get started in extremely high quality digital production. Given the materials and information provided, the cost of the book is truly remarkable. Any reader will complete any section feeling like an expert on the subject. One does not have to begin with experience in the digital arena, however, nor even in video production. Even as technical as this work is, it leads the reader very carefully through all which is pertinent and necessary.

A single possible minor shortcoming, is the description of the process of digitizing analog recordings or an actual/ambient environment, into a digital format. One totally unfamiliar with digital concepts may find the analogies provided a bit difficult to follow. It provides enough of a foundation, however, that an interested reader can seek out more technical and/or accurate descriptions of this process. A very small criticism to an otherwise truly excellent work.

This was my second Stephen Coonts, the first i read was The Flight of Intruder, a Great book too ..
Final flight is even better, i think is one of the best thrillers i have read, wondeful story, great plot and the Jake Grafton Character is very Good, Toad Turkington is a very Funny Character. The description of the flight scenes are very well done, it's almost you were in the carrier. This book is a must have. Highly recommended.

This book had all the making of a best seller. A great plot exciting and doesn't let the reader go. I personally found this one of Stephen Coonts best books ever. The reality of the events of this book almost makes it seem like a real event.

This book has everyone involved. The US, Christians, Arabs, Jews, Atheist, and the rest of the world are all in trouble. The Arabs are after the US again. This time they are trying to capture one of their nuclear weapons. They are shown as experts in black mail as they "recruit" the people they need to complete their mission. They plan to use it to destroy all the religions that oppose them. They infiltrate the supercarrier USS United States. Jake Grafton is losing his vision and his pilots as problems start to occur on the planes. Still the problem falls on him. The Arabs make it into the carrier and take hostage the Admiral using him they get 7 nukes in to the coppers and fly away. It is now Jake's job to catch and destroy the Arabs before they can use the nukes. The ending is one of a kind.

Say it isn't so! Jake Grafton, Stephen Coonts' hero of at least two other novels, has reached the pinnacle of naval aviation by becoming the CAG on the "United States" . . . and now age is catching up with him? He's a career navy officer, has a terrific wife, but he may have to quit flying because of a silly little problem with night vision? With all of the problems that Stephen Coonts weaves in the Middle-East, it doesn't take much imagination on the part of the reader to guess that we haven't yet seen Jake's final flight.

Stephen Coonts has outdone himself in "Final Flight." The character and plot development are superb. Jake and his wife Callie are again at the center of the story, but there are plenty of other interesting people. I'd like to read more about Toad, one of the F-14 weapons officers who flies with Jake - and that Judith! -- wow!

If you only read one Stephen Coonts book, this is the one to read. The book easily stands on its own for readers of all interests. (If you're into aviation, you'll want to read "Flight of the Intruder" and "Intruders" before reading "Final Flight." These two books will give you some very good lead-in information about Jake.

I have read the prior three novels in O'Brian's masterful Aubrey/Maturin series, and thought the first three were uniformly excellent. After a layoff, I returned to the series and while I enjoyed The Mauritius Command, I thought there was somewhat of a slip from the first few books of this 20 novel series.

The novel opens promisingly, with Aubrey suffering in a less-than-ideal domestic situation. His mother-in-law lives with Jack, his wife Sophie and their cranky daughters, and his efforts to manage a farm are comical in his ineptitude. When Maturin visits, and Aubrey tries to show him around and put a brave face on his domestic struggles, the comedy inherent in O'Brian's writing comes shining through. While Jack (and the reader) itch to get to sea, it is there that O'Brian seems to lose control of the story.

Aubrey gets an order to go to the Cape of Good Hope, where he is sent on a mission to dislodge the French from the Mauritius Islands and help set up a British Colonial Governor by the name of Farquar. As is usually the case, despite great achievements in the past, Jack is shackled and insufficiently rewarded by his superiors in the admiralty, and his supposed connections, through his father in the Parliament, are of little help.

O'Brian seems to assume a good bit of nautical knowledge by the reader, and this landlubber sometimes got a little lost in the naval warfare scenes. The most engaging aspects of the novel seemed to me the differences in character, and the seething one-upsmanship among the various ship captains under Jack's overall command including Captains Pym, Clonfert and Corbett. The problem was, just when the author whets your appetite for some great internal conflict or drama between the brutal Corbett and the popular Clonfert, Corbett is sent from the area.

Moreover, the final battle scenes are almost thrown together in summary form, as if the culmination of the mission did not really concern O'Brian as much as the hassles of getting there, and so there was a bit of a letdown at the end. I look forward to the next novel (Desolation Island I think), but have to be luke-warm in my praise of this one. I give it a fairly generous 4 stars, 3 and 1/2 if I could.

O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series seems to get better with every book. I found the first, Master and Commander, hard slugging and gave the series a second try based on recommendations and the publicity following the author's passing. It has been well worth the second try.

Unfortunately, The Mauritius Command reveals the second strategic error that the author made in writing the series. The first error was starting it in 1800 leading to some historical crowding later on. Similarly, the author has let several years slide since HMS Surprise contributing further to the crowding. I have read that the author regretted his timing of the series although in fairness too him it wasn't obvious that Aubrey/Maturin would catch on and that he would ultimately complete 20 novels covering an 18-year period. The novel itself has few flaws and is well paced.

Jack Aubrey has spent the intervening years in wedded bliss although his circumstances and life away from the sea have not been kind to him. Not only is Jack Aubrey married but he also has twins. The opening pages make me wonder what married life would have been like for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth had Jane Austen written a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. The allusions are there and the writing is good enough for O'Brian to pull it off.

The Mauritius Command really picks up when the duo return to the sea bound for Capetown and a campaign against the French held islands of La Reunion and Mauritius. Aubrey is to fly a Commodore's pennant and administer a hiding to the French. However, he has to deal with an untrustworthy admiral, captains with varying abilities and fighting spirit and personality conflicts. The tension builds steadily and there is more action than in earlier novels. The conclusion is anti-climactic although it is very neatly tied together.

The Mauritius Command was published at roughly the same time as Kent's Passage to Mutiny. Both are examples of the authors at their peaks. O'Brian is clearly the better writer of the two but he doesn't deliver the action the way Kent does. Still if events didn't happen as O'Brian relates, he did a superb job of catching the flavour of the times. He was a great author and The Mauritius Command demonstrates this thoroughly.

This fourth novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series shows more narrative unity than the first three, which is partly a function of Jack Aubrey's now-exalted rank. As a newly promoted commander in a small sloop, and even as a post captain, he was at the beck of more senior officers. Now, as commodore in command of a squadron of several ships-of-the-line and lesser warships, plus a small herd of transports and Indiamen crowded with troops, he has reached a position of high command, with orders to capture the French outpost islands of Mauritius and La Reunion in the Indian Ocean. As Dr. Maturin privately notes in his diary, Jack was probably happier as a junior officer, with only his own ship and men in his direct responsibility; now he must manage other ships's captains at one remove, deal diplomatically with the Army, and oversee the installation of a new British governor. O'Brian hews closely to historical fact in narrating this little-known but complex campaign, and he also delves more deeply into the psychology of the supporting characters -- especially Lord Clonfort, a not unintelligent but very unhappy young commander apparently afflicted with bipolar disorder, who constantly seeks the approval of his own subordinates as well as his seniors. As true historical fiction, this volume is, for me, the most enjoyable in the series yet.

This book gets off to an odd start with the switch of the narrator. I understand why it was done, but you don't know who the narrator is until a few pages in. However, once you get used to the fact that Tegid is narrating, it's a deep read with rich descriptions and an activity that bounces you all over, which can be distracting.

It's an interesting book about the right of kings and of sovereignty. What exactly does a king mean to the people, the land or to himself? I think that this is a question that bothers Llew throughout the book. The answer isn't clearly defined, and you see the destined king stumble, but the pondering of the question is a valuable task.

That said, I would say that there is a lack of depth to the plot. You know that everything is supposed to come out right at the end. Things that should be difficult to accomplish are dispatched with ease. However, I enjoyed this book and will pick up the 3rd book in the series to finish it off.

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. The whole trilogy is a great story that is really hard to keep your mind off of. The characters and the plot is well thought out and the essence of the battles and good vs evil is almost overbearing at times. Lawhead has great description, and describes each scene well. If you like a book that will stretch your imagination with celtic culture and mythology this is a great series to read!

Seldom do I read a trilogy I truly enjoy where I don't want to start the third book. The beginning of the third book leads to the end of the trilogy and this isn't the "Never Ending Story". Llew, the misplaced warrior, grows to meet his destiny. One wonders if the land will die before he finds it. Plenty of loose ends to entice you to read the third of the series, but you would want to anyway. Mythical, mystical and heroic, this is well worth the read.

I have heard Stephen Shore speak at an autism conference, and quite frankly, he gave me immense hope for my son (diagnosed ASD at age 5).

If you do not have the opportunity to hear Stephen Shore speak in person, read the book. If you have heard him speak, read the book. Keep this book close for the moments when you feel hopeless. It can remind a parent of the power of advocating, saying "no" to the experts, following the lead of your child, following the gut instinct of "I know my child best." It gives a glimpse of what the experience is like inside autism/Asperger's Syndrome.

A must have for the library of anyone advocating for a person with an autism spectrum disorder.

I write as a peer and friend of Stephen Shore. His book
is a great step forward for our community. It is focused,
practical, well documented and informative. Stephen is not
another "autistic lounge act." He is a mature, married,
serious person with a life way beyond the deserved acclaim
that this book will bring to him.

The book is especially useful since Stephen Shore,
like most of the observed people with our condition,
Asperger's Syndrome, is male. His is the first book written
by one of the majority gender, after almost four decades of
living this way, to give parents, siblings, professionals
and our younger peers a great overview of how to live
in a unique way with dignity.

A must read and a very enjoyable one!!

Jerry Newport Tucson, AZ

Author of "Your Life is Not a Label: A Guide to Living
Fully with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome"

All I can write is "WOW"! The author Stephen Shore takes you through an amazing journey - his life. I have over 85 books on autism and this is definately my favorite for providing some possible insight on what my autistic son Jeff may be feeling. Not only is the insight amazing and explainations easy to understand - but he gives so much hope. There are few books I have read where I truly laughed, cried, and celebrated his ups and downs (corny but absolutely true.)
The authors words have helped me better understand and communicate to my son and for that I am grateful.
Stephen has an amazing ability to communicate and provide humor at the scariest thing I have ever seen - autism - is truly a gift to all parents and friends of autistic. Please do your self a favor and read this book. It is a must for everyone's collection.

A great book for the large, multimillion-dollar corporate, government, B2B complex sales executive looking to enhance, hone and build their sales strategies. The New Strategic Selling system focuses on the big fish. Many tactics and ideas may apply to smaller business sales opportunities but the main focus is toward major corporate accounts where the sale must funnel through multiple channels before closing versus smaller business accounts.

I have many years of industrial sales experience, and I started my own manufacturing business with venture capital financing (Big time selling). This book has the best approach to strategic selling that I have encountered. I read it to get recharged and check my practices. I recommend it to all new sales people.

Many times a sales person can get confused identifying the players, the probability of change, the timing, the competition, the politics of a sales opportunity. Following the Strategic Selling process lays out an effective plan that leverages the key benefits of the sellers/buyers solution, and minimizes price as the principle buying criteria. Strategic Selling provides a process for what successful sale people do consistently-Plan. This book lays out a process that is also a two day class used by many global corporation's sales forces. The book is not a replacement for the class, but if you are selling B2B the process is well documented, and will put you on the right track. I have been teaching and using this process for 13 years and I have not found a better sales opportunity planning process. I think you can learn more from this book than from 100 sales calls.