New Mexico is called "the Land of Enchantment" and as a native New Mexican I can tell you that it is an apt description. Those who travel through the state on I-10 or I-25 can barely sense it. It is a harsh desert land; but it is also forested, and mysterious, with a long history, older than that of many other states, dating easily back to the 1500s. Keith Wilson knows this too...all this and more and his poetry reveals a hushed secret, as if a breath has been drawn in, then expels the secrets, the soul of the place. And his laughter reverberates. --Ronald L. Donaghe, author of Uncle Sean and All Over Him

An intricately informative piece of work, giving the reader all that is required in the subject. I wish more people would write with the same information quantity and quality.

Thomas Hardy's "The Mayor of Casterbridge" es a truly remarkable novel. Interesting throughout, it is the story of the rise and fall of a man named Mechael Henchard. Ay the beginning of the novel, Henchard is a volatile, twenty-one-year-old hay-trusser. He becomes drunk at a fair and sells his wife and daughter to a sailor in an auction, which originally began as a joke, turns serious.Upon realizing that he has sold his family, Henchard searches for them to no avail, and takes an oath to give up alcohol for twenty-one years. After the supposed death of the sailor, Michael's wife, Susan Henchard, and her daughter began a search for Michael Henchard, who has become the mayor of Casterbridge.
The novel proceeds as many soap-opera-like events unfold. The unique plot-twists made reading the novel a very entertaining experience. An unfavorable trait Henchard possesses is not letting go of past mistakes. Although he tries to atone for the past indiscretions, fate always seems to catch up to him. These factors and others contribute to the downfall of Michael Henchard.

Mayor Henchard was drunk when he sold his wife and child. This instance of reckless cruelty would come to haunt him in his later years. Overall a pious and good man, his downfall was his reluctance to face his past. His will dictated his epitaph. He will never be heard from again. (The will is on the last few pages of the book.) Fading into nothing, it challenges the reader to find a term for death. Is death the physical end of life, or the emotional end of life. Readers will be challenged to determine their own answers to Henchard's damnation.

This book would be especially useful to science students engaging in a predominantly practical-based biological course.

This book is an invaluable source of information not only for those studying about various practical techniques but even those engaged in experiments in a lab environment. Written more as an overview, it works to familiarize the reader with the principles of both experimental protocols and the equipment that might be used, for example centrifuges. It's very useful to go back to it from time to time to get a refresher on techniques that I might use on a regular basis but might not remember all the details of. Highly recommended. It's also written quite simply, which unfortunately is not the case for all biology texts.

This is part of the Writer's Digest "Howdunnit" series--aids for the mystery writer when constructing a story. There's a lot of great information here, from the description of how an emergency room is arranged and operated, to the same for an autoposy, to numbers for ways in which people die by suicide, homicide and accidents. Wilson uses some quotes from books--mystery and otherwise--to illustrate his sections. I can't say much for his choice of quotes, especially this one from Robin Cook's Mortal Fear:

"Glancing up at the monitor, which still showed normal ECG activity, Jason touched Cedric's neck. He could feel no pulse.

'Let me have a cardiac needle,' he demanded. 'And someone get a blood pressure.' A large cardiac needle was thrust into his hand as he palpated Cedric's chest to locate the ridge of the sternum."

I imagine that it might be difficult to continue to work after someone thrust a huge needle into your hand, eh? Such wonderful writing to be used as a model for would-be authors. I also noticed that Wilson is in love with the M.D. designation following his name. His name never appears in the book without it. From the use of quotes from his own published novels, and from the fiction that he created from this book, its obvious that the M.D. never helped his fiction writing any, other than provide him the information that makes up this book. Maybe it did help him understand the material presented here; at least enough to present it in a clear and readable manner. I plan to go on and check out the other books in this series, but I hope the other authors are better fiction writers than this guy.

If you're planning on writing a suspensful novel and are unsure of whom to turn to in order to obtain information on forensic medicine, then this book is a useful resource. This can help you write clues for the detective in your novel to follow in the search for answers. Scientific terms are explained, so it is a great book to read.

This is one of the best books in the howdunit series...It is a very good book for people just starting to learn about forensics. It is very detailed in many differnet areas including: medical and leagal procedures, how to deterimin time of death, autopsy, differnt methods of death, capital punishment, and of course, causes of death. I love this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in crime scene investigation, or forensics, police work, ect. Happy reading!

This book of poetry by Keith Wilson was inspired by his experiences in the Navy during the Korean War. Accordingly, almost every poem has as its theme war, death, the sea or love lost or gone awry. It makes for a coherent whole, but it can get depressing. It takes awhile to actually get into the poems, and the rhythm is hard to pick up at first. If you are able to stomach it through the first 30 pages or so, however, you can finish the book with a better idea of how to read and interpret Wilson's work.

I picked this book up at a local used book store and really didn't have a clue about anything that author Keith Wilson had written in the past. As a fan of the medical thrillers from the keyboards of writers F. Paul Wilson, Michael Crichton, and Robin Cook, I wasn't really expecting much from this "unknown". Boy, was I pleasantly suprised! Life Form is better than anything that Cook has done and is in the same league with Wilson and Crichton.

A small New Hampshire town is losing inhabitants to a mysterious disease that only affects them when they leave town for an extended period. No one seems to see any connection until a local school teacher loses his best friend to the mystery ailment. He then spends a considerable amount of time, energy and money to get to the bottom of the mystery. What he finds along the way is more than he's bargained for and almost costs him his job and life.

You won't be disappointed Life Form if you like medical thrillers that have a variety of plot twists. My only wish was that it hadn't ended so soon!

I found this book to be very interesting and well-written, but I think it misses the mark as "A Writer's Guide to Hospitals." Maybe it was a bit too ambitious (that's a very broad topic) or maybe the two authors had a different idea of the book's purpose, but I found it vacillated between a soapbox for one author's disenchantment with the medical system in America today (a disenchantment I share) and a good survey of how a hospital works for hospital workers. Here and there I found the type of information I expected to find (what the mood is in certain areas of the hospital, where the power lies, a sample of dialog, and so on), but that was unfortunately the smallest part of the book. The glossaries are helpful and well-written (but not complete -- "Stat" is missing). Though the history section is interesting (I love history), maybe it should have been left out so they could devote more time to what writers need. I'm glad I read it, but didn't really provide me with the info I need for two medical scenes in my novel.

Code Blue is filled with information concerning hospitals and how they are supposed to work, but, as a book (especially a guide to writers), this one badly needs professional triage. It is obvious Drs Wilson and Page know their subject, perhaps too well. It is a slow read, and only one chapter (Mistakes, Complications and Accidents) offers interesting info for new writers. Unless, of course, your plot centers on the future of HMOs. I expected more from these distinguished medical men since they both have contributed two other excellent volumes in the How Dunit Series. Perhaps the most humane jesture is to remove life support from Code Blue, and let it pass on to its final resting place.

"Code Blue" is a great introduction to hospitals for anyone
interested in this topic. While the book's title suggests that it is
intended as a tool for writers, I think that many other people would
like to have a more comprehensive understanding of the practice of
medicine in this venue. This book has been criticized by other
readers, and the common thread in their dissatisfactions seems to stem
from the fact that this book doesn't offer a detailed explanation of
everything that might possibly occur in a hospital. If such a book
were to exist, it would be infinitely long and comparably expensive.
Working within the bounds of practicality, I think that Drs. Wilson
and Page have done a superb job of providing an overview of this
subject. If you're looking for highly detailed knowledge on a
specific subject you will likely need to perform further research, but
that should not be construed as being a criticism of this book.
Bottom line: A well-written and informative guide that will give you
an insider's view of hospitals. (Review by Kevin Pezzi, MD
(doc@ERbook.net), author of "Believe It or Not! True Emergency
Room Stories")