Jordy Poteet's newly-discovered father, Bob Don Goertz, invites him to a family reunion on an island off the Texas coast. Jordy does not want to acknowledge Bob Don, let alone the rest of his extended family. However, his girlfriend Candace convinces him that he owes his father the respect of going and that he needs to get to know his biological family. Jordy goes grudgingly, and begins to think he made a mistake, when his new family begins to argue and snipe at one another and at him. One of his relatives shows up dead under suspicious circumstances and Jordy notices how eager some of them are to blame it on natural causes or suicide. As time passes, Jordy begins to learn family secrets which have been kept quiet for years. He feels certain that one of the family is the murderer, but the family lies and deceptions seem to have created a number of people who had motive and opportunity. This is the most powerful book yet, in the wonderful Jordan Poteet Series. Abbott paints wonderful word pictures and creates totally believable, if malevolent, characters. This book is highly recommended!

The man is a wonder to read,more please and faster!!!!!!!!!!

Distant Blood is the fourth in Abbott's delicious Jordy Poteet series. They are like reading candy -- addictive, leaving me craving for more. I found this series two years ago and have been waiting for new installments. Now, five minutes after finishing this one, I'm craving the next and fearing he won't write any more.

This book is wonderful, continuing the story set forth in the earleir novels,while managing to add new, engaging characters who you, as the reader, never quite know whether to love or turn in under suspicion of murder!

The first and third books in the series are good to read once, but Wyvern's Spur can be read over and over again. I can't guess how many times I've read it. While the other books are kind of dark and spooky, WSpur is just fun. It's a kick in the pants. Giogioni is my kind of hero. I doubt the missus'll let me name a kid after him though.... Oh well. Hooray for Giogi!

What can I say? This book is a shining example of good fiction writing. Good plot, good characters, good pacing and a wonderful change of pace from the traditional trilogy formula of having the main characters in book #1 in dire trouble. I am disappointed however, that the only other novel that I have seen with Giogi and Cat in it has been Ed Greenwood's Cormyr (an excellent book in its own right). Highly recommended along with the two other books in this trilogy.

The Wyvern's Spur, second in the Finder's Stone trilogy, happens to be the best of the bunch. I had trouble putting this book down, it was that good. As my subject line says I would give this one six stars, no seven, if I could! Unlike the Azure Bonds, this is less an adventure and more of a mystery. In it, we alter focus from Alias and Dragonbait to Giogi Wyvernspur.

Set in Immersea, a relatively small city deep within Cormyr, we learn early that someone has stolen a family heirloom from the Wyvernspur crypt. Who has done it and why? The answer lies buried in the past, and in the mysterious words of the crypt guardian. However, to make matters a touch more colorful, Tymora blesses us with the presence of none other than Olive Ruskettle.

While at first it would seem odd the shift in characters, from Alias to Giogi, it all comes together just in time for the third title in the series: Song of the Saurials. This will no doubt remain one of my favorite stories, in or outside of outside Realms fiction. If you can get your hands on a copy of this title do it, and do it now, you will not regret it.

A quirk of many Ars Magica players is that they have a particular edition they value above all others: mine was third edition: to my mind, it was the apex of the games origionality. At its best, Ars Magica was an intensly colourfull game that gave modern players a filter through wich they could percive a fantastic medival world. It was a mix of judith tarr and prof. umberto eco, and propably the best thing mark rein . hagen ever made.
Unfortunately, the current owners of the game do not get all that. They seem to think that its supposed to be a "realistic" simulation of the middle ages: not that the middle ages are not intresting enough on their own, but that just wasnt the point of Ars Magica. Its name means "the Art of Magic", and it was supposed to focus on what was OUTSIDE the medival world: its cosmology was one never thought of in medival times. The main characters are outcast wizards, not, say, knights.
Also, i have a terrible suspicion that the current owners overuse of historical material is due to a lack of ideas of their own. Even the colours used in the game - books have become more grey.
One last thing: the rules have always been a bit heavy - going (even a simplified version of rolemaster can manage to be quite complex), but the basic dice system is easy and logical enough, so with a bit of practice a storyteller should be able to manage with a few general rolls. The fourth edition people should have kept most of them unchanged, i understand.

Before Jonathan Tweet moved to Wizards of the Coast, and before Mark Rein-Hagen created the WW's World of Darkness -- they created Ars Magica. This is a wonderfully detailed, and realistic medieval roleplaying game. The magic system is the best there is! The fleshed-out combat system, and the fact that you play 3 characters from different social strata are also wonderful features. The first RPG to have troupe-style play, and it's quite a treat for gamers seeking substance. Minor complaint: I wish there were a few clear and concrete examples of the rules being used during play; in some places the text is dense and a bit hard to digest. But don't let this fool you, the rules are really quite simple -- the presentation just needs to be streamlined.

My background is in Medieval History and the Arthurian legends. While I have enjoyed RPGs in general over the years, I have never really felt fulfilled by them. Ars Magica changed that.

This is a grand game, not only in terms of system, but also in scope. You are not slogging around odd underground defense installations finding monsters sitting in room with a king's ransom in gems; instead, you are part of a community and your interests are first in foremost in the esoteric study of arcane lore and magic. Assuming you are a mage. The Companion and Custos (Grogs) have a slightly different take on life, but they are lower down the Great Chain of Being.

This game assumes that in the Middle Ages the world was what people believed it was. Demons are real. God is above all else. Faeries are around every corner. Within this context, you, the player, are an anomaly -- a mage with great power, socially shunned (at best), but in the end subject to the world around you and the constraints placed on your magic.

The system is elegant, requiring only 10-sided dice. The magic system is magesterial -- huge, flexible, yet limiting the lesser magi until they have a chance to learn. Most of all, the game puts you within a real world and makes you feel enmeshed in it.

If you are looking for a truly fine RPG, this is it, hands down.

I never knew that Hammett could be beyond hardboiled and noir. These stories have O'Henry like twists to them and some really funny prose. And they're long enough to get some development but short enough to finish in a normal sitting. It's fun.

During the years of radio drama, Dashell Hammett's Nick Charles and Sam Spade had their own weekly radio shows, and movie flings. But one series based on a Dashell Hammett character was puzzling: "The Fat Man". He was named J. Maxwell Smart, weighed 240 lb., and of course was one tough character. Yet, you'll never find him under that name in any Hammett story. The radio, tv, & movie character was, in fact, based on the nameless Continental Op.

Truly, he is the most interesting of Hammett's series characters. He is tough, ethical according to his code, and keeps his true emotions buried under the toughness and the physical bulk. He is a cynic, one who assumes that each person involved is undoubtedly lying. On the occasions that a female character makes a play for him, he assumes that she has an angle. And he, in turn, formulates his own lies which have the effect of bringing out the truth. There are times that he is as surprised at the outcome as the reader is.

Hammett is skillful in the way he keeps the op in character, and the reader needs to be alert to catch some of the subtleties such as a restrained sense of humor when the crooks trap themselves by thinking he's after them when he's completely unaware of what they've done; a buried feeling of remorse when a client is murdered because the op had the wrong assumption; a decision not to unnecessarily involve an erring wife who's resigned herself to having her infidelity revealed.

These stories indeed have literary value while being engrossing crime stories. If you enjoy today's tough police detectives such as Harry Bosch, you will find these far earlier stories engrossing.

This is the first Dashiell Hammett book I've read. It's actually a collection of short stories revolving around the exploits of the Continental Op, a nameless private dick who works for the Continental Detective Agency. The Op is a hard-nosed, intelligent guy who always cracks his cases, along with a few heads. Hammett originally wrote these as serials for magazines way back in the 1920's. That was one of the things that surprised me about these stories. I couldn't believe they were written so long ago. The edginess and violence seems much more modern. These stories could easily have been written around the time that Raymond Chandler was banging out his Marlowe stories (during the 1950's). You cannot help but like the Op. He's sarcastic and smart and operates on his own code of justice. He's the kind of guy you would want to have around if you were in trouble.

All of the stories are good, but some are better than others. The best story, in my humble opinion, concerned a jewel heist gone bad in which the Op ends up in a gun battle in a dark apartment. The bodies stack up quickly in this one. Other stories involve a trip to Mexico, nine "clews" that don't add up, and a theft that the Op accidentally stumbles upon. All of the stories involve murder and mayhem. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how the stories would end while I was reading them, but Hammett always seems to make it end in an unexpected way. The writing style is quick and cool, with many neat metaphors I've come to expect from noir writings.

The introduction to this collection is pretty useless and boring. I recommended skipping it and going right to the meat. This is noir. Who needs an introduction? Read!

This story is about a small town in Texas, that has a cast of characters that only small towns could get away with. Junebug, Bob Don, Beta and others. The is the first in the Jordan Poteet mystery series. Jordan Poteet has come home to Texas from Boston to help care for his mother who has Alzheimers. Jordan gets a job has the Library manager and finds a dead Southern Baptist in his library when he opens up that morning. This woman had just the day before hit Jordan in the head with a book, because she called it smut and said it should be removed from the library shelves. Of course Jordan could be the main suspect, so he trys to find clues to the murder so he won't be indicted. I found this book very funny and also I liked the ending. I will definitely read more by Jeff Abbott.

Jeff Abbott catches the atmosphere of small-town Texas to perfection in this, his first novel. His hero is Jordy Poteet, just returned from Boston to care for his mother who has Alzheimer's. In contrast to his job as editor in Boston, Jordy becomes the head librarian in his old hometown. His nemesis is Beta Harcher, a religious zealot who is singlehandedly attempting to censor many of the best books in the library. Jordy and Beta have a loud disagreement, and the next day Beta is found murdered. Jordy's old schoolmate Junebug, now the town sheriff, fingers Jordy as the chief suspect. Jordy sets out on his own investigation as an act of self-defense. He discovers a list of townspeople which Beta compiled and beside each name is a scripture reference. Jordy talks to each person on the list and looks up the Bible verses, in an attempt to solve the murder. This book is well-written and has interesting characters and a well-conceived plot.

There are enough wonderful reviews here on this book(Do Unto Others) but must add my 2 cents.This is the best book I have had in my hands in ages! When will there be more??????? This man writes the best 'cozy' you could imagine!

This book is one of the funniest books I have read. I have tested this book on both Jews and non Jews, and they all laughed themselves to a near death experience ...

I have got so much laughters out of it, I'm considering conversion :)

This book has everything an extremely reformed jew needs to be. It is extremely funny and even if your not a reformed jew or not a jew at all, you'll laugh untill you can't laugh anymore. I recomend this book to everyone

My wife and I laughed ourselves silly. The fact that we are of the persuasion of the the book's title probably has a little to do with this, but anyone would enjoy this book. Even (especially) if you happen to already be a reform Jew, don't pass this little book up.

Excerpt:

"When you follow the conventional sales process in a complex sale, you run head first into a series of traps that grows progressively more difficult to avoid and that makes a positive outcome for the sale less likely. This downward spiral starts with a fundamental and, as we soon see, erroneous assumption of the conventional sales paradigm--that your customers have a quality decision process with which to diagnose their problems and evaluate your solution."

'nuff said. Buy it, read it.

As a sales coach, I need to be familiar with all aspects and techniques of selling. There are a lot of books out there; last time I counted there were some 5000 or more listed here at Amazon.com. And if there was ever a book that had a shot at displacing "SPIN Selling" from its pedestal, this is it!

The only negative I have, and it's a small thing, is that this book owes a great debt to Sharon Drew Morgen's "Selling With Integrity", but she is *not* mentioned anywhere that I noticed. Jeff Thull has taken her principles and applied them to the large complex sale. "Mastering the Complex Sale" is well-written, easy to learn and easy to apply.

Book Review: Mastering the Complex Sale, How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High
Ramon Ray, Smallbiztechnology.com
3 July 2003
I've been actively covering the technology industry for about 4 years now and IN the industry as a consultant for many years before that. What I've noticed is how far the divide is between technologists - real hard core geeks who understand technology and those who do not.
Interestingly enough, what happens is that technologists (or half baked techies) are given the job of selling technology to non-technical (often times) business owners.
In very large corporations, this process is not always the case. The tech seller of vendor X meets in a meeting room with the "tech team" of HUGE company Y. There's a blending of minds and at least the technical barriers are lowered, if not completely removed.
However in selling to smaller businesses there's often not an in house expert that you are dealing with. Sure, you might be meeting with the office techie but she might not be up to speed on your particular technology or know more than she needs to know to keep the office computers up and running.
I was in a small GOVERNMENT office the other day, helping them understand email marketing and we could not get to the Internet for whatever reason. It was about 1:00pm in the afternoon and the person I was talking to said, well the guy should be here tomorrow to have a look at it. See what I mean.
I've been reading Jeff Thull's Mastering the Complex Sale, How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High and the insight he shares helped me to understand so much better how this bridge between business who have a problem and DO NEED a technology solution and tech vendors who have the solution (or one of several possible solutions) can be shortened or altogether removed.
He explains that sales are being squeezed by two opposing forces - commoditization of products (read Dell's solution to that) and the increasing complexity of products. This combination of forces results in profit reduction and of course more difficult sales.
His book is not just for fresh sales staff out of Sales 101, but Jeff explains how even TOP SALES PERSONS need to sell better.
"To survive, a company is required to recruit and equip sales professionals who are capable of understanding the complex situations their customers face, configuring the complex solutions offered by their companies, and managing the complex relationships that are required to bring them both together".
This is the crux of Jeff's book, and the solution for the "Dry Run".
The "Dry Run" is what happens when a sale appears to be going just so right, you have the right solution, the customer appears receptive but after months and months - you get no sale. The customer has bought from another company or even worse - they have not bought at all.
So many companies I speak to focus on how low cost their product is, or focus their whole presentation on THEIR product and NOT the customer's solution.
Jeff writes that the more complex the decision making process is, the more frustrating it is for the customer and simply comparing prices is so much easier for them. If your product gets stuck in this rut - you'll be forced to lower prices and you might put yourself out of business.
Another bit of advise that you'll read about in, Mastering the Complex Sale, How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High, is that traditional sales techniques do not work in a complex sales environment.
"When sales people use the conventional sales process in a complex situation, they are like major league pitchers hurling 90 mile per hour fastballs at batters who may be at the plate for the very first time or who hit only infrequently.
What are the chances that such batters will connect?"
You are the pitcher and your customer is the batter.
Mastering the Complex Sale, How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High is a book that will help great sales people sell better and new sales staff learn from the mistakes of others.
There's so much insight in Mastering the Complex Sale, How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High and it should be mandatory reading for every sales person and marketer on your staff.
If sales persons would take time to LISTEN to their customers and understand THEIR needs and then find the solution that can meet that needs - sales would increase. Technology is very commoditized and at times VERY complex. However the companies that can nurture relationships with their customers and tailor solutions to meet their needs will master the complex sale.

The Ride tab book is definitely a must-buy for not only the avid Metallica muso-fan, but for those wishing to upskill themselves in various guitar techniques.

The solos are an absolute note-by-note transcription and each riff is intricately tabbed to include even the most subtle of variations.

Includes a very well-written introduction, outlining some very important and helpful tips to assist you in your mastery of one of Metllica's finest albums.

In a one-line verdict: A definite must-have, even as a collector's item!

If you love Metallica this is one of the best books you can get. Unless you're simply amazing you're going to need this to learn all the solos.

Ride the Lightning is a very special CD. The guitar book to go along with it is equally special. The introduction at the beginning is an added bonus. The songs are made very easy to learn. Of course, it takes a lot of practice to be able to play these songs. The solos are just amazing. I would recommend this to any guitar player who likes Metallica (and there are many) or just likes some good old-fashioned speed metal.

It seems that the Library Journal review of Jeff Gunhus's "No Parachute Required" is rather mean-spirited, to say the least. It is seldom that one reads a book review in which the reviewer cannot cite any merit to the piece, and that makes one uneasy. The reviewer seems to take particular offense to the title and marketing, which she sees as a jab at the fine work of Richard Bolles, a motivator and guru with decades of experience. Perhaps it can be argued that the title slyly acknowledges Bolles as the standard.

I am a recently retired veteran of a thirty-year career in student advising and employer relations, including positions as Assistant Dean/Director of Career Services at UCLA, Southwestern University School of Law, and Loyola Law School. I have never met Mr. Gunhus, but was asked by him, via telephone, to look over an early draft and was subsequently contacted by the publisher to make a statement on an advance proof. I therefore feel qualified to speak about the unfairness of a cranky reviewer and, more importantly, able to state that the book has considerable merit. It is a book that speaks to its own generation, and that is one of its strengths. It is a young man's book about young people interested in entrepreneurial and creative careers, and the plain need to earn a paycheck, and it speaks forcefully and well.

Like most business-side writers, as opposed to academics or career services professionals, Mr. Gunhus speaks about his business and the lessons from that work. This seems valid enough. His use of quotes is a common motivational technique, and any quote-adverse reader can ignore the insets easily enough. I found them to be well-chosen when I read the final piece.

College grads and twenty- or thirty-somethings considering business or creative work frequently fall into passivity and confusion. This is understandable because of the complexity of choices, and the increased anxious parental pressures. Mr. Gunhus's enthusiasm about goal-setting and having faith in oneself is energizing to read. Perhaps this quality is what struck the Library Journal reviewer as excess, but the examples she presents of the author's advice seem to misrepresent his viewpoint.

The sharp sword of a book reviewer completing a critique by indicating that it is nap time for her may be a shade too trite, even harsh, to make some entirely trust her good faith as a critic. "No Parachute Required" is solid, standard career-planning and job-search material from a pleasing and lively author. It should be appealing to the under-35 audience without a childhood job dream in place. In this reviewer's opinion, it is well-written prose and should sell extremely nicely to the intended audience.

For a very young working man to research and draft a book, sell it to a publisher, and have a highly competitive piece in a saturated career-guide market is reason enough to trust his advice and purchase and read the book.

I just recently finished this book, and all I can say is "WOW!" Jeff Gunhus writes in a very straightforward, down-to-earth style that is very conversational. It's like having a wise older friend show you the ropes in life.

Filled with inspiring quotes, the book made me excited about life and about career choices. Having grown up a great deal in the past few years out of college (I'm 25), pretty much everything Gunhus wrote rang true for me. Trust me, you younguns' still in college can USE THIS BOOK! If I had read it, it might have saved me from a lot of heartache and depression, upon graduating from university with a 3.8 GPA and being totally unable to find a job in my field (that challenged and motivated me.)

This book is a great investment. It's very inspirational, and gets you excited about life. Most importantly, YOUR LIFE. Mr. Gunhus pulls no punches. He makes it clear to the reader that if you want success and happiness, YOU MUST PURSUE IT. Cuz it ain't gonna just come to you, folks! That perfect job isn't gonna come a'knockin' on your door!

One of the most useful parts of the book to me was the section on resumes and cover letters. You must be tenacious and direct in order to get a job these days. BUY THIS BOOK and you'll be on your way!

PS: I also thought the first book reviewer wasn't too wise. I think Mr. Gunhus' book title is amusing and truthful. That other "parachute" book was boring to me, a young person.

As I get closer to graduation I have some serious concerns about what comes next: Do I go straight to graduate school? Do I get a job, but what kind? Do I do both? No Parachute Required has given me the inspiration to grab my diploma and then take charge of my life. I now feel I have the tools I need to turn what I learned in class into something meaningful for my future. I only wish I had read this book a few years ago, while I was still in school ... I think I would have done a few things differently.

This book was great!Cordelia has a vision while at the house and has to give clues to the gang threw the show. Gunn's gang find out that a women's body was dumped with no identification marks what so ever. What's the deal and are the two related? You have to read to find out. This book had me from the first page, I couldn't put it down. The story with Cordelia in the "Haunted House" was what had me keep reading. I also love the fact that it showed Angel, Gunn, and Wesley all doing their own thing to figure out the case. This is one of the better Angel books I have read and I recommend it to everybody!

If you are an Angel fan, then this book is definately for you. Cordelia wins a contest to spend a week in a mansion for the show "Fear Factor". After a painful vision her first night she begins to belive that this house is more than just a stage setting. With no communication allowed to the outside, how is she possibly going to inform Angel and the gang about her vision? With some quick thinking (not going to spoil everything for you)she gets her message across and the boys come running.

The action was well written and although this is supposed to take place in the 2nd season on Angel, there are already undertones to how ANgel and Cordelia really feel about each other.

I have read every book in the Angel series and this one was by far my favorite. A sure treat for any Angel fan.

Very enjoyable read. And finally getting to a novel that features the Angel team (Angel/Cordy/Wes/Gunn) I enjoy the most made it even more likable to me. The story had the usual creepy and the team's detecting style was really good. Their concern for Cordelia was touching. Highly recommend to all fans of the TV show.