I started this book one day, and couldn't put it down until I was finished! EXCELLENT!!! You two did a wonderful job! You addressed all of the important issues that we deal with, and in such easy to understand explanations and terms. I'm a former nurse, who has had Hepatitis B for 20+ years now, and this is the most concise, easy to understand printed material that I've ever come across. Thank you so very much! ... Again, thank you for such a wonderful job well done!

Another entry in the long line about nefarious things going on in this wonderful city. If you liked Leon's other books, you will not want to miss this one. She writes with her usual craftsmanship and knowledge of the city.

Having read all of Helen MacInness and Sherlock Holmes (after midnight) as a grad student I couldn't stand reading anything less and so gave up mysteries for over 35 years. Looking for something to read on the train, I bought my first Donna Leon book (A Noble Radiance) in the station in Stuttgart and have read nine of her novels so far. Commisario Brunetti and his sharp-tongued wife (who, like Leon, accidentally teaches English in Venice) are never boring. So far, I've not guessed the plot before it developed, and the description of Venice and Italian life is fantastic. A wonder that she's not been run out of town tarred and feathered, if not be the city fathers or the patrici, then by The Church. Enjoy, when you need something entertaining and intelligently written, with attention to geographic and cultural detail.

Without a doubt, "Friends in High Places" is Donna Leon's best book in her mesmerizing Commissario Brunetti series. "Friends" is the ninth in this outstanding series and Leon has not failed her fans with this latest edition, which, for some unfathomable reason, is not yet published in the States!

The author is able to capture what very few writers in the mystery genre do-- she creates such memorable characters that the reader actually feels he really knows--and even possibly understands--her creations. Certainly, Leon does to Venice what few other writers do to their settings. It is unbelievable that she is able to understand fully the mechanizations of the modern Venetian. She has weaved her plots so intricately--and plausibly--in her series, which seems short of a miracle for some "outsider"--she's an American!--to be able to grasp the bureaucracies of that system, be it religious, political, social, even the illicit "trade" bureaucracies.

With her unforgettable Brunetti and his family, Leon's themes run throughout her novels: among them the "moral path" which is at odds with what Venetians have come to expect and to accept, it seems. If one has a problem, the solution is to utilize his "friends in high places"--a favor for a favor--to solve it. The corruption seems to permeate all aspects of their lives.

But, of course, first, this is a murder mystery, and here, again, Leon is in top form. How exquisitely she leads the reader through this valley of temptation and evil! Yet, despite the impossible task of ever "cleaning up Venice," Brunetti plods on. He alone, it seems at times, knows right from wrong. He takes refuge and solace from his wife Paola; he loves his two children, and his greatest fear is that something evil might harm them.

He senses something is very wrong when a local bureaucrat is found dead; it is labeled an accident, but Brunetti has his suspicions, especially after this bureaucrat had previously contacted him to tell him that he had vital information that he must reveal to him, and to him alone. Before this revelation can occur, he is found dead. Brunetti doesn't believe in coincidences, especially when an attorney who is involved in a corruption investigation is found murdered by a sniper--an attorney whose telephone number Brunetti had found in the bureaucrat's wallet.

From this point on, Leon and Brunetti move cautiously--and sensibly--through this tangled, deceitful web.

The author is quite astute in her observations and realist she is, the endings of her books are not always the "happy ever after" type. Frequently, Brunetti has to con- cede to powers greater than his; he alone cannot stem the flow of corruption--and the Brunetti world, as seen through the series, seems to have no boundaries on corruption, be it from illegal dumping of toxic wastes to the illegal sex trade with local travel companies to the smuggling of drugs from Eastern Europe. Leon leaves no holds barred and the reader is often left to wonder if there really are truly decent folk anymore. Leon does not imply that the corruption is only in Venice, that Pearl of the Adriatic, but leads us to assume that such corruption--especially with today's big bucks, can be anywhere. The average reader knows this all too well, anyway.

For Leon fans, reading this book is not just an inclination, it is a must, naturally;

for new readers, it's also a great read, after reading this one, they will want to go back to the eight previous ones. Indeed, it's a "aventura felice della lettura"! (...)

If you like biographies, this is one to consider. This has to rank as one of my favorite biographies. It has all the elements of a great soap opera. It is a great insight into a man with the initial need to help a flailing country and then through the contacts he made as a businessman in Russia (including personal friendships with Lenin, Stalin etc.) becomes one of the most influential Americans in modern Russian history. His appointment book was a who's who of world polititians, his superfluous power and money allowed him access to the inner sanctums of Russian power unheard of during the American-Soviet cold war era. The book is an incredible introduction to modern Russian history and a must for anyone wanted to read about an incredible man. The story is told through a well paced and organized book. Both of my thumbs up.

Mr. Weinberg has placed himself in a position of great honor in our country for the information he has provided in his expose of Armand Hammer. Each page tells a mighty story, but most specifically Hammer's relationships with all those within these pages implies a tale yet to be revealed when the time is right...for Hammer, himself, is a sleeper as it would appear that he gave much to those of us yet remaining. But there is an underlying truth to his relationships with those within this manuscript should one wish to connect the dots--or rather, the individuals--and perhaps in the process find that the mystery is a greater one than that of his being a mere pencil-pusher back in the USSR. But the times they are a'changing, and Weinberg's words will serve to be prophetic in the long run. It was an excellent book to say the very least, as much is exposed within its pages with Steve Weinberg hitting the mark on this one with his insightful and amazing journalistic capabiliites.

This is certainly and exaustive (and exausting) overview of the field of investigative reporting. It gets a bit tiresome, though, for reporters like myself who don't see the world in the same good journalists vs. bad everyone else way that Weinberg and the IRE croud does. Nevertheless, there are some good ideas that can add punch to a journalist's reporting skills. Not a bad choice if you've run out of better books to read on reporting.

This book reads like a text book- so if you need a quick reference guide to background checks I would recommend buying this one in addition to somehting like Dennis King's - Get the Facts on Anyone. I've just started reading it but so far it's very informative.

A comprehensive source book for any investigator. This book delves into the controversial world of "investigative journalism" and how far the media will go to get a story. As a law enforcement investigator I am glad to have this informative book on how the media gathers and dispenses their information, it borders on criminal. If law enforcement ever gathered facts like the way this book suggests the media would be all over law enforment demanding someone' head.

What is revealed here is the methodology of a small minded inquisitor with little respect for his subject matter: the achievements of great public figures and the historical stature they merit, who seeks to trivialize and demonize their lives and achievements through two dimensional "pathography", santimonious petty faultfinding and scandalmongering of a mostly personal nature, steeped in shallow neo-Victorian prudery; tiresome and pharasaical critiques that thrived at the New Yorker under Tina Brown ("Picasso wasn't a great artist" etc.) and which are the stock in trade of whining "politically correct" radical feminists and the religious right.

Weinber has absolutely nothing to say that will enlighten and/or entertain those practicing the art of biography or those contemplating the practice of biography. Theoretical rather than practical, his so-called "guide" is a more a map for catastrophe than anything else: as witness Weinberg's own roundly-panned bio of Armand Hammer.