Book 3 of The Kent Family Chronicles covers the period following the War of Independence.Jared Kent,son of Abraham Kent, the main protagonist of Book 2 "The Rebel",is left in Boston in the care of his uncle,Gilbert Kent, younger half-brother of Abraham and Gilbert's wife Harriet, a mean minded woman who resents Gilbert's affection for his nephew.Jared's only friend is his cousin Amanda who is several years his junior.After Gilbert's death, Harriet marries a fortune hunting gambler who not only gambles away all the family's money but who make improper advances to the 10 year old Amanda.Jared is forced to protect Amanda and wrongly believes that he has killed a man in self defence.On the same night Harriet is killed under the wheels of a carriage forcing Jared and Amanda to run away and begin an incredible journey-by foot-across country to Tennessee.They fall victim to a bogus preacher who kidnaps Amanda and sells her to an Indian tribe.Jared at once begins the near impossible task of finding and rescuing her.

Have thoroughly enjoyed the Kent series. However, this was the least enjoyable of the series. You need to read it for continunity; however, it does drag at spots. Abraham is not one of Jakes' better characters.

This compilation of the analogues to Paradise Lost, beginning with the Anglo-Saxon Genesis poem, makes a very useful tool for interpreting and understanding the tradition in which Milton was writing. I only wish it came out in paperback.

This book provides important information for any teacher or administrator. Those seeking to enhance their classroom or school to create a positive environment will find the research and information valuable. In the age of high stake testing it is easy to lose sight of the need to create an environment where students feel invited to be part of the learning process. Purkey and Novak create a clear visual picture of what is possible in inviting all stake holders to be part of the educational process.

The lovable Paddington needs your help counting. This book features Paddington in all different situations needing to count from one to twenty. A little busy at times, this book can help children learn to point and count how many items are on the page. Used one on one, this can help a child practice while counting fun and colorful postcards, buckets and much more.

Learning your ABCs with Paddington Bear could not be any more fun. Young children love Paddington, so linking a lovable bear with some concepts such as the alphabet are a dynamic duo. Showing the letters, objects that begin with the same letter and that word help children learn the alphabet easily.

Can the federal government effectively target funds to needier communities? Does political support exist at the federal level to achieve redistribution in the allocation of intergovernmental aid? The purpose of book is to answer these questions through a case study of the Urban Development Action Grant Program (UDAG). The authors contend that "...effective targeting and redistribution of resources undermine political support for the policies and programs that accomplish them (p. 2)." Their thesis is that "...large redistributive programs such as UDAG automatically generate political opposition powerful enough to transform them into distributive programs or lead to their demise. This study of UDAG is a good example of what happens to federal programs that seem to work. The authors' argue that the very success of UDAG in targeting economic development funds to stimulate private investment in distressed cities may be the reason for its demise in the late 1980s. UDAG was a difficult program to create in 1977 because its redistributive purposes meant that achieving the necessary political support in Congress would be tricky. It ran counter to the pork-barrel politics and logrolling style of Congress in which bills try to have something for everyone or a quid pro quo on a future bill. The Carter administration was able to push the bill through Congress but its later demise would be due to weak political support. Distributive bills have a far better chance of passing the Congress than one that would reauthorize a program that redistributive federal monies to selected, needier communities. This case study of UDAG effectively addresses issues posed above. In Chapter 3 the authors present a careful and thorough account of the political history of UDAG, showing the linkages and differences between this urban program and others that preceded it. They carefully demonstrate that after authorization, the program had to undergo further definition by HUD in order to be implemented; in addition, amendments to the program were eneacted by Congress in 1979 to better target funds to "pockets of poverty." But, the evolution of UDAG throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s was one of political and programmatic changes to refocus, make less-targeted, make less redistributive, and make more universalistic the direction of the program. The end result was to produce a program in the Reagan years that had little political support, declining appropriations, and weak linkages to its original purpose. This assessment of the authors is supported by a series of GAO reports on UDAG and an internal HUD evaluation of UDAG in 1982. The book does a good job of summarizing the crux of the issues raised by these reports. The general conclusion is that politics makes it very difficult to effectively target programs to distressed communities. Members of Congress, particularly those whose districts do not benefit from a redistributive program, seek to expand the boundaries of programs like UDAG in order to receive a greater slice of the federal budget pie. But the broadening of programs without massive new funding produces insufficient funds directed to urban problems. The end result is that federal dollars are spent with only modest impact on the intended objective, which is relieving economic distress in the neediest communities. Who benefitted from UDAG? In Chapter 5 the authors present the heart of their empirical analysis of the program, comparing so-called Rustbelt and non-Rustbelt cities that received UDAG funding. Their analysis is descriptive and understandable, presenting an effective test of their thesis. The conclusion of the analysis is that UDAG was essentially a redistributive program throughout its lifetime. Because of its targeting, it did not provide equal shares of funding to all regions and states, thereby undermining political support for the program. Only the small cities portion of the program followed a distributive pattern, offering somewhat more non-targeted aid to non-Rustbelt communities. The demise of UDAG is consistent with the books premise that giving three-fourths of the money to large cities in a basically redistributive pattern killed political support for reauthorization. Of course the bashing that the program took from the Reagan administration and its abuse by HUD also contributed to its demise. The authors raise an issue in their presentation suggesting that the UDAG experience reflects a "structural limit" in our political system (p. 10). They seem to believe that redistributive programs may be doomed to failure in this country because of the policy-making process. I don't buy this premise. Many redistributive programs have been successful and have survived politically. More likely, UDAG is just another in a long line of programs that were created to serve targeted needs but were broadened over time by the Congress. This country has a history of universalism in the reauthorization of programs--be they urban or rural, rustbelt or sunbelt, Democratic or Republican initiatives. The interesting finding of this study is that UDAG survived for as long as it did as a more-or-less redistributive program targeted to needier cities in needier regions of the country. In some ways it may be better for urban areas to fight for targeted programs--even if they will only survive about a decade. Ten years of targeting to distressed cities may be far better than 20 or 30 years of universalistic distribution of federal urban funds.

This book is great. Although I didn't compare it overmuch with Dracula, I thought the author was quite clever in weaving the two stories together. There is also an authentic, "Holmesian" feel about the novel that is essential for mysteries of this type.

This book presents a nice overview of the primary components of J2EE architecture. If you're looking for gory details on J2EE technologies this isn't your text.

As with any multi-author book the writing style varies wildly. All the examples are extremely trivial. The important part is you get explanation about how all the fundamental pieces of J2EE work together and what they do. Everything from Java Server Pages, to EJBs, JNDI, JMS, Web Servers (no real coverage on Web Services), different app servers, JAAS, JTA, etc.

Nice reference book for high level or simple questions when you're trying to learn the ropes. Basically useless for any hard core implementation efforts.

This book is its complete but contains a concise compendium of all J2EE fundamentals and technologies. The material is easy to read and code is easy to follow. I have not seen any other book that covers all J2EE-based technologies in detail that this book covers. I have also put this book as a textbook for my J2EE course at UTA. This book gives a comprehensive coverage of all J2EE technologies, concepts, APIs and components. Each chapter in the book can be independently studied and read in any order which is one of the best selling points of this book. This book is an excellent introduction book to J2EE which also makes it a highly seeked textbook for J2EE courses. This is also an excellent hand-on book.

This book has it all. It talks about all the different Java technologies and provides enough detail to learn them thoroughly. Although there are some differences in the presentation due to different authors, every chapter is explained well. This book is a good reference due to its in depth discussions. Very ideal for java architects and senior developers who do design and architecture.

I've been a Sherlock Holmes fan all my life. I have read all four of the Conan Doyle novels and most of the short stories. I've read numerous Holmes stories and novels by other writers and seen every Holmes film that I have come across. I was predisposed to like "Sherlock Holmes and the Rune Stone Mystery". However, all I can say is that it was a major disappointment.

First of all, let's be clear. Millett can call his main character Sherlock Holmes just as I can call myself the King of France, but saying, or writing, it doesn't make it so. Instead, we have some English imposter who doesn't even have the courage to use the Holmes name most of the time, let alone the Holmes intellect or his flair for observation and deduction. Millett would have been better off to have centered the novel around his own detective creation, Shadwell Rafferty, at least he seems to be who he says he is. Better yet, he should have built the book around his only interesting character, (alleged) villainous, Mary Comstock.

This is a story built, according to its narrator, the Pseudo-Dr. Watson, on coincidences. We all know what coincidences are. They are the last refuge of hack writers. If you don't know how to resolve a problem, have the solution fall conveniently into someone's lap. It's a lot easier than being creative.

Then there is the location of the book. We are asked to believe that Holmes would travel all the way to Minnesota by boat and train on some trivial mission for the King of Sweden. Since the King already has an agent there, this seems far-fetched. Now, I have nothing against stories set in Minnesota being a fan of John Sandford's Prey novels, but this is the third time that Millett has had Holmes make that trek. It just isn't reasonable to believe that Sherlock couldn't find something better to do in London, or Paris, or even beautiful downtown Burbank.

If you are a Holmes fan, I suggest curling up with Conan Doyle or Nicholas Meyer, or, better yet, one of Laurie King's Mary Russell novels. Just don't waste your time with this bit of fluff.

Sending Holmes and Watson to Minnesota, especially for a third time, is a stretch, but the story is good enough to overcome that, if the reader allows.

Millett manages to tell his partly factual mystery through a narrative that's acceptably close to Watsonian style, and makes his character Shadwell Rafferty a believable and pleasant addition to the team.

He is guilty of some overkill with his addition of the character Mary Comstock, whom he paints as being some combination of Professor Moriarty and Irene Adler. As such she can be no more than an obvious contrivance--there's only one Moriarty, and only one Irene Adler (who, as any Sherlockian knows, will always be "The woman" to Holmes). I'd have much rather seen Millett try to use either Moriarty or Adler in their true forms than this strange Comstock composite, which is definitely a mark against the book.

Having said that, I admit I much prefer to see a pastiche author err by addition, as Millett does in this case, than to see one err by grossly reshaping a classic character. Millett avoids this, and we're left with a book that, although untraditonal in setting, can be enjoyed in most of its other features.

I've read all three of Milletts Sherlock in Minnesota and this one was my favourite so far. I enjoy the interface of the refined Victorian detective with the quarks and characters of Minnesota. His stories have become progressively more fun to read. I really enjoy the addition of Rafferty to our crime fighting team.

I was again reluctant to read this sequel of the "Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon," and the author disappointed me by writing a better novel (exactly as what happened when I read Meyer's "The West End Horror" after "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution").

But let me make this statement here: "The West End Horror" is by far much better than this "Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders."

Again the same rich guy from Minnesota invited Holmes to his home town to investigate some mysterious occurrences in the Ice Palace there ... As if there are no good detectives in America. As long as we are talking nonsense here, why did not he summon Ellery Queen, who is not less intelligent than Holmes, or maybe Colombo (hohohoho).

The story this time had some mystery elements. It was, as a matter of fact, a whodunit. I figured the murderer out from half of the mystery, not because I was abnormally cleaver, but because of a fallacy the murderer inserted. The strange thing is that Millett did not allude to this fallacy, maybe he did not even know that it was there, and maybe I was lucky!

A new character is introduced in this novel, and Irish clever guy by the name Shadwell Rafferty. I'm not so enthusiastic about him, because he does not enrich the world of Sherlock Holmes, and people are more used to one superior detective in the story. After all, this is a pastiche to praise Sherlock Holmes, and no one else.

We reach to the conclusion of the story and the villain who killed every body was apprehended, and then nothing much, the story does not give me the impression I get from Doyle's writings. And I am not going to recommend the book, because I could have done well without reading it.

Larry Millett combines his knowledge of the history of the Twin Cities with a mystery involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. So how does it come off? This is one of the better Sherlock Holmes pastiche I have read, and believe me, I've read a LOT of them.

The history lessons I received from reading the book are a definite treat since I visit the Twin Cities several times a year and know the areas talked about. But even if you are not familiar with the Minnesota cities, a map and Millett's detailed descriptions help the reader visualize the cities at the turn of the century.

The Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson characterizations are very good; there are not too many instances where the reader would say "Oh, come on. Holmes would never do that." That is how I judge pastiches.

I thought this story the best of the first three Larry Millett/Sherlock Holmes endeavors.

This book is the follow up to Millett's first Holmes book, Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon. I liked that book, but I like this one even better. There are more characters, including Shadwell Rafferty, who is such an interesting character that a spin off series involving just him would be great. There are two crimes committed in this book, and like I said before, with all of the very interesting characters, this book is quite the page turner. Holmes and Rafferty solve the case in expert fashion, although it a tough one. You'll probably give yourself a head-ache trying to figure it out yourself! It's just over 400 pages, so it's longer than the Red Demon, but just like the Red Demon, Millett writes intelligently and is easy to read. I'm looking forward to reading the Rune Stone book, the third Holmes book by Millett.