His Pulitzer Prize winning career ended when his award-winning story proved phony. His health has turned shaky when he learned that he turned HIV-positive. Now as he sinks deeper into the morass of non-living, all Benjamin Justice wants is to be left alone. However, ignoring her calls, not washing, shaving, brushing his teeth, and insulting her fails to deter Charlotte Preston. She wants Benjamin to write a book counter-arguing sleazy celeb-biographer Randall Capri's degrading look at Charlotte's recently deceased father, TV and movie star Rod Preston.

Unable to refuse the $25K advance and $25K follow-up, Benjamin accepts the job. He explains to Charlotte for that amount of money she owns full editorial license to change his words to include whatever the hell that she wants to write. However, before Benjamin can begin his inquiries into the lives of Rod and Randall, someone kills Charlotte. Feeling obligated to continue with the assignment, Benjamin expands his investigation to include discovering Charlotte's murderer.

THE LIMITS OF JUSTICE is a well-designed Hollywood mystery, but it is also a redemption novel. The story line belongs to Benjamin who in his fourth "Justice" tale uses Charlotte's murder as a rallying cause to regain his own lost humanity. Though one of the major underlying themes is out of an X-rated B horror movie, Edgar winner John Morgan Wilson paints a fresh landscape of Southern California. Anyone who enjoys a private investigation story starring an individual on a personal vendetta to regain his former champion status will find this wondrous novel does that and much more.

Harriet Klausner

I've been fortunate to have read the Benjamin Justice mysteries in sequence. When this popped into a search list I did on the author, I reserved a copy immediately.

The style itself is an equal match to the other three in the series. Wilson has maintained a steady, even narrative throughout the series.

What I found the most enjoyable was Benjamin's attempt to redeem himself and his condition. He was well on his way to rebuilding his life in 'Justice at Risk', but met with some setbacks. Having hit bottom, again, he must decide to go with the flow or to fight the current.

One minor annoyance: The way the mystery was wrapped up suddenly. It made the whole investigation seem a side-issue.

But even with that point made, I have to heartily suggest this book to anyone who has enjoyed the 'Justice' series. It is a must-read.

If it wasn't for Amazon's Quick Picks, I would never have discovered this author and this great mystery story. After checking the book out on my Amazon Quick Pick List I couldn't wait to read it. I am glad I did because I read this book in one day, it was that interesting and so hard to put down. I will be sure and read his previous three mysteries.

"The Limits Of Justice" tells the story of Charlotte, daughter of TV and movie star Rod Preston, who wants an unauthorized biography stopped about her father.. Private Investigator Benjamin Justice gets on the case, and then Charlotte is found dead. The story goes on to reveal a network of pedophiles and secrets that are too horrible to imagine. This is a very engaging read and keeps you glued to your seat till the very end. His description of the Southern California region and its history, as well as Mexico, is surely educational and enlightening if you are not too familiar with this area. A book worth exploring!

Just returned from the Czech & Slovak Republics and found this book invaluable. Excellent, correct descriptions of localities. Useful to those of us who drove the country and trained too. The mini phrase section is all you need, so don't buy a separate phrasebook. Those going to Prague should also buy the DK travel guide for that city which is excellent and colorful.

Sadly, I ran out of time to explore the Slovak Republic, something I hope to do the next time I go into Eastern Europe. So I can only attest to the Czech republic portion of this book. I found it extremely useful, especially in planning my trips outside of Prague, though it does contain a good portion about Prague. One of the best suggestions was to include a visit to Litomerice after the somber tour of Terezin. I didn't take the advice on booking ahead on my trip to Cesky Krumlov and spent about an hour finding a place to stay and I went late May. Not speaking any Czech beyond hello and thank you, I had a lot of trouble with the Czech train system, especially outside of Prague. I found the bus system to be better than the Czech train system since you could buy a ticket on the bus as you boarded and the bus drivers were friendlier to me than the ladies at the ticket windows at the Main Train station in Prague and in Cesky Budjovice (where my train to Cesky Krumlov was early and I didn't understand when it showed up, so I took a bus instead) Either way, it is extremely inexpensive to travel around the country, so at the very least take a few day trips outside of Prague, if not longer trips. I was lucky this new edition came out months before my trip. Another great guidebook by Lonely Planet. As for an earlier review, Prague Castle counts as a museum, so its closed on Mondays.

I bought this book because I couldn't find the Prague book in time (I live in France). Plus I like more of a country history instead of just city history. As an experienced traveler, I can say that overall this book is good. It's hotel suggestions must have been good because they were all full. The maps were very nice. The restaurant suggestions were great. Only a few complaints: It didn't tell us that the castles are closed on Mondays (we found out when we saw the big CLOSED sign on the castle). Also there is not much info on tipping. The book said 5-10% yet EVERY restaurant added at least 20%. I got the impression the book hadn't been really updated since the previous version.

...which should convincingly argue that the sun actually rises in the west and sets in the east, and that there really is a Santa Claus and an Easter Bunny.

The authors astounding willingness to go on record denying that universities all over the U.S. have been taken hostage by the PC crowd is breathtaking. Sorry pal, but at the tender age of 30 I decided to go back to college and I SAW the ugly face of political correctness up close and personal. It has a lot in common with Mao's Cultural Revolution, and is just as repulsive.

I can't say it better than the review above: "Double Plus Good;' and if you'll excuse me I have to get to my 2-Minutes Hate session.

R. Easbey

As a judge in the New Orwell Awards, I have the pleasure of trying to find the best piece of Orwellian attacks on the individual.

It is one tought competition, with many people vying for the top spot. Here, our intrepid author has penned a serious attack on free speech and in defense of repression everywhere. For this, we are grateful to him in a way we proletarians will never be able to repay.

While not as good as some attack on free speech (Richard Feldman comes to mind), I have to give Mr. Wilson some credit for several areas:

Brazenness- that Mr. Wilson has the braveness and stoutheartedness of character to argue that political correctness doesn't exist in the same country that is sending Joe Rocker to a re-education camp for "insensivtivity" requires an ability to stare reality right in the face and deny it with hand on heart. I give Mr. Wilson my sincere admiration for his bravery in the face of annoying reality.

Our other reviewer pointed out that claiming that political correctness doesn't exist or is "distorted" is a thankless job. I agree. We must learn to thank people like Mr. Wilson for their tough job in trying to convince people of the dangers of believing in real things, and learn to see the importance of not believing in uncomfortable concepts that fly in the face of our ideological convictions and nostrums. I for one will never forget the dear lesson our brave teacher has given us: namely, that reality is no impediment to our well being and that freedom is terribly overrated.

What do I rate this book? Double Plus Good!

Not so many years ago, very few people had ever heard the phrase "politically correct," let alone any horror stories about politically correct leftist college professors and students trashing the canon and burning labryses on the lawns of white, unapologetically heterosexual and capitalist men who bravely persist at reading Shakespeare. Recently, though, political correctness has become so well-known and such a stigma that even people who in any other context would be seen as members of the PC thought police routinely proclaim themselves politically incorrect--often in the course of taking positions that have remarkably little to do with politics, correct or not. The problem with all of this is that political correctness is largely a myth, as John K. Wilson argues in this aptly titled book.

One component of the myth of political correctness is that all people on the left are entirely lacking in humor or any sense of proportion, particularly about themselves and their politics. According to the popular mythology, someone who is PC can be identified by his or her habitually grim expression and belief that saying "pet" rather than "animal companion" is a crime equal to, say, disemboweling live puppies. Wilson shows the irony of this, as the term "politically correct" originated on the left as humor, "used sarcastically among leftists to criticize themselves for taking radical doctrines to absurd extremes." In addition, The Myth of Political Correctness never takes itself too seriously and is at times very funny.

Wilson looks at many of the widely told stories about political correctness, countering them with the solid documentation of facts that tends to be missing from the internet forwards you've all been reading, and exposing distortions and outright lies in the versions you've probably heard told by people like Dinesh D'Souza, William Bennett, and George Will. The book also contains a great many valuable statistics disproving common beliefs, such as that, due to affirmative action, qualified white men can no longer get jobs.

In addition to retelling -- and refuting -- the standard repertoire of stories about leftist political correctness (my favorite is the one where it was reported that a professor had been driven from his department by politically correct colleagues for saying something they didn't like, but really the guy was still in his job and the only problems he had experienced as a result of what he said was that some people were annoyed with him and didn't talk to him in the hall anymore), Wilson gives (well documented) examples of much more grievous behavior by the Right. These are included throughout the book, though they are especially concentrated in the second chapter, "Conservative Correctness."

I don't mean to suggest that the entire book is one anecdote after another. There are a lot of them in the book, but interspersed with excellent analysis of the ways that the myth of political correctness has been used specifically against higher education, reasons for the myth's acceptance, and reasons for the left's inability to answer accusations against itself. Wilson is not afraid to critique specific programs, such as affirmative action, or the left in general, and does so very sensibly.

The Myth of Political Correctness is worth reading cover to cover, but each chapter also stands on its own for those who are interested in a particular issue but don't have time to read the whole book (which, for the record, is not that long and goes pretty quickly). This book really should be required reading for all of you who want to declare yourselves rebels against political correctness. Chances are, you wouldn't want to spend time with most of the people who made sure you know about it and dislike it (unless of course you are a member of the Rick Santorum-Trent Lott fan club).

As a CA-2 Anesthesia Resident, I have found this book to be comprehensive and convenient as I have passed from Cardiac to Thoracic to Vascular experiences. It has offered me a large knowledge base and more adaptability as inter-staff variability tries my patients. This Book is a happy medium between painfully extensive texts and abreviated/incomplete handbooks. It offers deepth to all aspects of pathophysiology and monitoring. Its weakness is in clinical applications such as CPB weaning, which is similar to other books of its kind. Regardless, this book is one of my favorites, one I have read from cover to cover and use as a reference frequently.

... I personally think this book is the right choice for all the cardiovascular anesthesiologists and students who want basic to update knowledge for 3 areas(cardiac, pulmonary&thoracic and vascular anesthesiology) as rapidly as possible within a single book. This book let us see the point among the wide and complicated area, and also let us review our knowledge from perioperative assessment(Chap. 1) to postoperative ventilatory support(Chap. 40). Nicely arranged, easily understandable tables and figures(adapted or maden) will help you to study, lecture and practice.

I did read with great interest John Wilson's novel. It beautifully summarises the findings of John Franklin historians among which the most recent and complete is probably David Woodman's "unravelling the Franklin Mystery".

Why only three stars? maybe because I had already read Woodman's books and Wilson adds little to that. Fiction it is, but sticks very closely to the conclusions to which previous authors arrive. The story puts together all the known clues but, at the end adds not much else.

My greed to learn more was frustrated for instance at how little is described of Peel-Lady Jane strait; this, after all, was the main discovery of the Franklin expedition. It seems difficult to believe that they would not be more excited about it!

Wilson desserves great credit for assembling into a consistent fiction the conclusions of others. I would have wished more colorful and dramatic extrapolations, as one can find for instance in Jules Vernes "les anglais au pole nord" from last century. I would have liked to live the north with Fitzjames.

The Franklin Expedition has fascinated me for years, especially since some of my students created an interactive computer game, "The Mystery of Franklin's Fate," for Science World in Vancouver. I've even thought about writing a novel about it, but now John Wilson has saved me the work--and done a far better job than I could have!

North With Franklin is the journal of James Fitzjames, one of Franklin's captains (some of the early passages are from his real letters). Wilson has the style and attitude just right, and blends his research very effectively into the story. We can see the ships, the men, the terrain. We see the first optimism fade as the ships are trapped in the ice and make no progress in the short summers. The first deaths, from TB, are painfully vivid to Fitzjames; by the end, each death gets only a cursory note, while the captain battles his own mysterious ailments and tries to keep the survivors alive. His journal is a series of letters to his sister-in-law, for whom he clearly feels more than he can admit.

As the years pass and the expedition dwindles to a handful of desperately sick men, Captain Fitzjames comes at least to a clearer understanding of what has gone wrong--not just lead poisoning and scurvy, but a complacently arrogant belief in superior technology.

John Wilson brings the expedition members to life again, each a distinct character (though of course the "people"--ordinary seamen--are seen through the eyes of an officer in a class-ridden society).

The narrative seems so plausible that I half-expected to find the expedition's place-names on the endpaper maps--but whatever names they gave the bays and points vanished with them and their records.

Still, North With Franklin is as close an account of the expedition's fate as we are likely to have, at least until Captain Fitzjames's real journals are found under some Arctic cairn.

John Blum's short, but informative book on the Progressive Presidents presents a fairly balanced picture of the presidency after the ascendency of progressivism. The author admits he is a "conventional liberal" who "grew up" with the FDR administration while he "admired" FDR. However, he raises many important questions about the "Imperial Presidency" that this men invented. He admits that in the wake of welfare-statism after LBJ has "provoked reconsideration." This reconsideration owes itself to the progressive presidents continiously testing, exceeding, breaching and redefining constitutional and customary limits to power. For an avowed liberal to even concede that the Presidency at the behest of progressive liberalism has perhaps gone awry is a watershed event.

The Progressive Presidents is a wonderful text, perfect for any American History buff.

An immense compendium of the pristine paddling spots left in New York State. The authors looked for lakes with one goal in mind: find places where the water has not been spoiled by development, pollution, or powerboats. Unquestionably, they succeeded. The book describes over 100 trips across the state, with an expectedly high concentration in the Adirondack Mountains. For each trip, the authors describe launch locations, scenery, notable areas on the lake, and any interesting wildlife seen during their paddle. Many of the lakes are a bit small for a full day trip, but if one only has a few hours to paddle, these are certainly places to go. The authors did a good job of including sites from across the entire state, and tried to include a number of lakes near New York City. Unfortunately, the authors almost ignored flat river paddling, but a few calm rivers and streams did make their way into the book. Overall, if you are a New Yorker who loves getting away from it all, this is one book to have.

For the novice, such as myself, this is a good book to get you started on exploring the canoeing areas of New York. They review the area, the water, and the wildlife. It is not an exhaustive list and many areas we found were seasonal, but that wasn't mentioned in the book. I hope they write another updated and more exhaustive review in the future.

My mother gave this book to me when I was ten, which was a very long time ago. Those images of the mummies, so well-preserved that they don't look like mummies but like still-living human beings in some eternal pain we can't imagine -- they gave me nightmares then and they can still chill me to the stomach.

My mother gave this book to me when I was ten, which was a very long time ago. Those images of the mummies, so well-preserved that they don't look like mummies but like still-living human beings in some eternal pain we can't imagine -- they gave me nightmares then and they can still chill me to the stomach.

After seeing a clip on the Franklin Expedition in a documentary on mummies, I rushed to the library to see if there was a book on the subject. The only one available was this book in the juvenile section. At first I was disappointed, but, noticing a photo of the preserved body of one of the sailors, I checked it out. For a kids' book, this one is pretty cool. The first part of the book is a fictionalized (and very sanitized) story of life for the average seaman on the doomed expedition. This story leaves the reader with questions that the author will answer in the second section describing the disinterring of three buried crew members and the information their well-preserved remains revealed. The photos are amazing and make this book fascinating for all ages (I don't remember juvenile books being this cool when I was a kid). The reading level and, at times, disturbing content is probably appropriate for kids 5th grade and up.

The final sentences of John Morgan Wilson's Revision of Justice are Benjamin Justice's lament for the inevitable ending. "But life doesn't work like that, not even sometimes. I guess that's why they make movies." Unfortunately, those lines could apply to Wilson's novel, too, with a one-word substitution. Revision of Justice is no more realistic or lifelike than the typical Hollywood screenplay, so pat that at times it reads like one. For a series that began surprisingly strongly with Simple Justice, this is tragic.

Unfortunately, the difference between Simple and Revision is clear: in the first book, Wilson focused on character, introducing and developing Benjamin Justice as well as his world and his supporting cast. There, Wilson shone; he created a deeply flawed anti-hero who nonetheless could hold the loyalty of the reader and several stereotype characters (i.e., the grouchy editor with the heart of gold) that broke out of their mold. He also painted the world of West Hollywood vividly and clearly.

In Revision, however, Wilson leaves character development and shifts his focus to plot. That's where it all falls apart. Revision limps clumsily along a pre-ordained story arc, as though it had been created in a beginning writers' workshop. The meat of the mystery is clear from the first chapter, and the reader knows the solution in every detail by page 131 (first hardback edition). The rest of the book alternates between the agonizing wait for Justice to catch up - how many murders will it take? how many innocent people will he hurt in his quest for truth? - and an in-depth depiction of the entertainment industry, with a focus on screenwriting. In fact, large chunks of the this novel would be much more at home in a non-fiction book entitled "An Insider's Guide to Hollywood Screenwriting." Wilson clearly knows this world all too well. If only he had been able to draw the reader into it, as he did with WH in Simple, rather than dissecting it.

Even more painful is the careful alignment of resolutions, as Justice gets his chance to revise his past mistakes. He once abandoned a lover dying of AIDS. In Revision, he finds a guy who looks just like Jacques, the dead lover. Conveniently, this guy is also sick with AIDS, also dying, in a way that gives Justice a chance to replay his abandoment of Jacques, making the right choice this time around. Justice also once falsified a major story for the LA Times, dragging his editor down with him when he falls from grace. In Revision, Justice has the opportunity to pursue truth instead of lies and offer that same editor a major scoop. (It's the truth, this time.)

Second novels are always difficult, especially the second novel in a series. Wilson, despite all of his undeniable writing talent, has stumbled here. But so have a lot of good writers; many went on to better things. Let's hope that the third Justice mystery restores the series to its former glory.

I have to admit I haven't read the Benjamin Justice Mysteries in order. In fact, I read "Limits of Justice" first and have been backtracking. So I can honestly say this second mystery following "Simple Justice" is not my favorite. However, I really did enjoy the story because the author writes with a style that draws you in with a skill that makes you read right thru not wanting to stop till you get to the end. The story centers around a dead man, Raymond Farr, and how anyone at this Hollywood party might have wanted him dead. Justice begins to nose around and unearths a web of relationships, that finally lead him to the killer. I thought the story dealt very emotionally with Ben's feelings for AIDS stricken Danny Romero, a subject in the murder, and his effort to clear his name in the murder. The ending, yes, was a little obvious, and the murderer easy to figure out, but it's still an interesting read, and very enjoyable. I am glad I read this second mystery by John Wilson, and would recommend all four of his mysteries to anyone.

Wilson continues his Benjamin Justice series of detective novels with this dynamic second entry, set, of course, in Hollywood, among the world of rapacious, do-anything-for-a-break screenwriters, a world Wilson himself apparently knows well from experience.

A young, aspiring screenwriter with too many connections to too may important people with too many secrets is found murdered at a party in the posh home of a prominent screenwriting teacher. Justice, a once promising print reporter felled by scandal, is enlisted to help find the killer by his friend, a hotshot reporter named Alexandra Templeton. Justice agrees for financial reasons, but his heart is dragged into the search as well, as he is determined to clear his new friend Danny Romero of any suspicion of the crime. Danny is HIV positive, just like Ben's late lover Jacques, and Ben experiences a VERTIGO-like moment of déjà vu. (The love scene with Ben and Danny in the AIDS clinic, with Danny nearing death, is electrifying, touching, and erotic.)

If John M. Wilson/Benjamin Justice's Hollywood is any indication, there are practically no nice people in the American movie industry. There certainly aren't in this cast of characters. If someone's not busy clawing his way to the top (or even to the middle rung), then he is busy hiding some secret of a very shady past. The novel has the grime of raw ambition all over it, and chances are you won't find anybody here to whom you will relate. But that is all right. This is probably a more accurate representation of the Hollywood milieu than a lot of people would like to admit. Wilson does it very well. And his sense of character is sharp too. More and more I find myself thinking that Benjamin Justice may well be a more compelling character than Michael Nava's celebrated Henry Rios (and I wouldn't have thought that a few years ago). Justice is no Huggy Bear himself, but he's smart, sardonic, and funny, and he accepts his "loser" status with the stoicism of a wise man.

If one can cite faults here, it is the easiness with which one can guess the killer and Wilson's rather irritating habit of bashing white males and playing up the multicultural aspects of his own cast of characters; there's something in it that smacks of insincerity.

An excellent novel. Just don't go into it looking to be cheered up.

againandagainandagain. it gets almost interesting. lovecraft's scientific story ending up with nothing much of a climax, Poe drowning in nautical technical information and fragmentary style. taine's is the most interesting one. first too little happens, then too much. could have been good, but is first too boring then too much in the overwhelming action-genre. glasby has good descriptions, but his story doesn't go anywhere. some of the other stories could have been good too. but always, something destroys. too boring, not going anywhere, lacks suspence. truly sad since many of the stories shows potential.

An excellent collection of short to medium length stories, all dealing with Antarctic expeditions and what the adventurers found (but wish they hadn't).

I only gave this book three stars because of the horrible proof-reading. It appeared as if the original documents had been scanned in and run through OCR software without a human bothering to check the results. Some examples: in one story, Tekeli-li is printed T>k>li-li; in one story all instances of "he" are printed as "be".

Other than that, I would recommend this collection to anyone interested in weird fiction set in Antarctica.

From the ends of the Earth come stories of adventure and really BAD things. Start off with a sonnet by Lovecraft himself, called, 'Antarktos', then on to the first course with 'The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket' by Edgar Allan Poe, with a follw-up of excerpts by Jules Vern's called 'The Sphinx of the Ice Fields'. This is followed by the not-so-well-known 'The Greatest Adventure' by John Taine. 'At The Mountains of Maddness' by H.P. Lovecraft is served next, the main course, followed by 'The Tomb of the Old Ones' by Colin Wilson. Arthur C. Clarke cooks up a fine story in 'At the Mountains of Murkiness' and what meal would be complete without 'The Thing From Another World' by John W. Campbell Jr.? We finish off our fine dining with 'The Brooding City' by John S. Glasby and 'The Dreaming City' by Roger Johnson. Full yet?