Book reviews for "York,_William" sorted by average review score:
Business Planning: 25 Keys to a Sound Business Plan (The New York Times Pocket MBA Series)
Published in Paperback by Lebhar-Friedman Books (1999)
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Not for everyoneI purchased this book expecting it to cater to someone beyond University level. However, the contents clearly cater for high school level learning and therefore provided little value to me. If you are looking to strengthen your technical and analytical skills look somewhere else. If you want basic training, give it a try.
Wow- great bookThis insightful book proved worth its weight in gold. A must read for any entrepreneur looking for serious funding.
Mirror Maze: A Janek Novel
Published in Hardcover by Villard Books (1994)
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Skip This Book!Over the years I've been a fan of William Bayer's books and particularly his Janek mysteries. However, Mirror Maze is definitey a book to skip. The plot was much too disjointed, the characters (even Janek in thsi book) were mostly uninteresting and not very credible, and the action was too sporadic to make me care much about what was going to happen next. I felt like I was in a maze reading this book and all I wanted to do was get out of it so I can move on to my next book. Finally, I took the easy way out and gave up on the book about 2/3s of the way through it.
Welcome to the NYPD as it should be.It is too bad the Janek novels are hard to find these days. In spite of their falts they are excellent reads. Janek is a pragmatice cop who doesn't loose sight of his humanity. He represents a lot of what todays cop should be like. You will enjoy this novel in spite of its rather somber seting.
Chains of Command
Published in Audio Download by audible.com ()
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So So Plot, Bad Writing, and God Awful Racial OvertonesSomehow I know people are going to say I took this too seriously, but this book was bad. What made it worse is that the writer paints anyone and everyone of color in this books as animalistic and sub-human. I dare anyone to show me one positive reference to a african american in this book. Can you use the [N-word] more !?! It uses all of the stereotypes that plauge our police forces today and makes no excuses for them. He seems to embrace them. Perhaps if the writer (an x-police officer) actually knew some real black or hispanic people (away from the police force) his book could actually be something better than the bad rantings and fantsies of a x NY cop. Really, anyone in this book that ancestory was anything other than northern european is portrayed as inheriently flawed to down right scum. This was my first and last book by W. Caunitz and if I could get my [money] back I would. If I wanted to hear myself (yes I am an african american male) portrayed as blacks were in this book, I'd go to my local Klan rally. In my opinion this book is no better than the god awful black gangster rap music video that portray black people in this same unrealistic manner. Maybe if Mr. Caunitz wants to meet real black people he'll drop me a note. I can introduce him to the doctors, lawyers, garbage men, Secratries, construction workers and cops who he seems to have no regard for. Well now that I've ventend I think I'll go read something that is both entertaining and realistic. Hey can I get my [money] back.. I'll even take pennies and you know everybody hates pennies. I just hate this book more.
Move on to the next book your list.The writing was just bad. The author may be a veteran of the NYPD, but he is just not a convincing writer. A lot of the word choice was inappropriate. The writing struck me as forced. The plot, particularly the ending, was wholly unbelievable. There are better books out there. Give this one a miss.
Best Of The Big City Police ThrillersThe bad news here is that the author died while working on this book and it was skillfully completed by Christopher Newman. Nevertheless it snaps and crackles with the dialogue and insider information that only Caunitz (a 30-year cop) could provide. You can read all of the police novels you want but you will NEVER find an author that gives you as much of the inside scoop on police work, language, and character. His plots are fascinating, his characters different yet utterly believable, and his mastery of giving a lot of information in a few words is unmatched. Caunitz was, quite simply, the best of them all at this kind of a novel. Rest In Peace, William J. Caunitz...I'll be re-reading your books from time to time until (hopefully) we meet in the beyond.
Exceptional Clearance
Published in Hardcover by Crown Pub (1995)
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A weak Police Novel!"Exceptional Clearence" is a book with no outstandings qualities. There's no great detective work or a gripping and interesting mystery to solve. The characters are poorly developed and I remember Ed Mc Bain's 87 Precint novels as a good example of how to built a convincing and weel structured police novel. Caunitz has too much to learn in this way before reaches a respectable position among the great police writers, like Mc Bain, Chandler and others.
Your Typical "Bad Cop Solves The Crime" NovelI enjoyed the tactics used by these cops to solve their case, but I never really felt any sense of mystery or suspense. It's easy to read, it passes the time, and it's not bad... but it's not that exciting either.
A Fine Police-Procedural NovelThis is author Caunitz's shortest book and that is my only complaint. He does not write "mysteries" in the classic sense; he writes police-procedural novels. You get the salty cop dialogue, an authentic inside look at what a cop's life is like, and all of the political, criminal, and hectic details - since the author is a former NYPD lieutenant. If you want a read "with the bark off" and enjoy hearing what a cop's life is REALLY like, you will enjoy this book immensely. If you are looking for something clever and Sherlockian, this isn't it. I love Caunitz's stories and reread them every once in a while.
The Flaming Corsage
Published in Hardcover by Viking Press (1999)
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DEFEATED ME!I hate to admit that I've been defeated by a book, but this one did it. I absolutely could not finish it. While the premise was good enough, and the opening engaging, the plot's jumps in time were badly handled and the story really began to drag early. I can't for the life of me imagine what Kennedy was thinking when this otherwise good author came up with such a mishmash!
love and madnessHaving first read Ironweed and Billy Phelan, The Flaming Corsage fit right into the mix. I found the structure a bit choppy but the story of Katrina, or is it the story of Edward's love of Katrina, to be most compelling.Every character, no matter how small, is as true as life itself. Tragedy, crime, class struggle, vengence, loss, carnality, and finally madness played out on a finely drawn historical background. I cried for them all.
Um...better than some reviews would imply...I had to write something to counteract that unfair review by the gentleman from Switzerland. Is _The Flaming Corsage_ Kennedy's best? Nope (that w/b Very Old Bones, no contest). This isn't the first book to start with on Kennedy; since several characters show up from other books of Kennedy's Albany Cycle (Ironweed and Legs, I believe), it is helpful to read those first to get a better appreciation of some of the implied goings-on of this text; it certainly helps with the time-jumpyness of the story, which goes back and forth between the late 1800s and early 1900s, right before Francis Phelan drops the baby...in another book.
Kennedy has a natural gift for storytelling, but as my previous sentence might imply, there's a sort of neo-Faulknerian insularity in _Corsage_; it helps to know about the other novels Kennedy wrote, and maybe even Kennedy's own life as a budding playwright himself (interesting parallel btw. the play in this book, and Kennedy's own progress in getting his first play produced), before tackling this one; otherwise it may make for a fairly confusing 200 pages. But insiders would disagree with me on that. And that's my point.
Memo to Mr. Kennedy...when _Roscoe_ is finished, please, PLEASE come to Bellingham to promote your work!
Twelve Apostles
Published in Hardcover by Putnam Pub Group (1984)
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Ouch.William J. Coughlin, The Twelve Apostles (Putnam, 1984)
It didn't take long to see that this one was going to my feeding my nearly-starved dustbunnies. The characters were completely wooden and presented in confusing fashion, too many plot threads were thrown at the reader all at once, and Coughlin gives his readers just one too many stereotypes by the time you get to the end of chapter three. With a bit more organization and some depth of character, this might have been a worthwhile book. As it stands, it's a morass of mediocrity in the highest degree. (zero)
Excellent legal thrillerThis is the third William Coughlin book I've read (the others were Shadow of a Doubt, Day of Wrath). The Twelve Apostles seems to be the best so far, and the female lawyer is sketched very nicely & far more accurately than some of the female characters in Coughlin's other books.
The book is set in Manhattan, in a large law firm that concentrates on corporate law. Auxiliary plot threads include a overly endowed business man who loves to take over other corporations, a Japanese/Englishman who is extremely possessive of business interest as well as lovers, and another lawyer who is an ex-Boston Celtic player.
Recommended for those who like lawyer mysteries, New York and international settings, and for those who like excellent plotting and action. The love interest in here is well developed.
A master of legal mysteries.Having read "Death Penalty", I was looking forward to "The Twelve Apostles". Mr. Coughlin did not let me down!! His masterful weaving of plots and subplots, although at times confusing, is nonetheless the best in mystery/thrillers. I literally did not want to put the book down until I finished the last page. I look forward to reading his other books, and regret there will be no more.
Blood Rose
Published in Hardcover by E P Dutton (1991)
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inaneHokey characters and plot. A waste. Not recommended
Great Suspence/ThrillerThis is a book you don't want to miss.
It keeps you interested throughout the entire
book. I just kept trying to guess who was involved
with the murders but it was to tricky. So many things
were going on you didn't want to put the book
down. I would really like to see this book put
on the big screen or even a T.V. movie. If you like
thrillers don't miss this one.
Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride
Published in Hardcover by Farrar Straus & Giroux (1984)
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HiThis is a preety good book. I know it can have better details. All of his other books are great! I just love them!
John Peter Zenger and the Fundamental Freedom
Published in Library Binding by McFarland & Company (1997)
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Excellent block quotes from Zenger's personal accountBut much of the book, which reaches just 150 pages, strays merkedly from the purported subject. The author has a pithy writing style, but his efforts are sometimes misdirected.
War of the Godfathers: The Bloody Confrontation Between the Chicago and New York Families for Control of Las Vegas
Published in Paperback by Ivy Books (1991)
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Not a bad book"War of the Godfather's" is not that bad of a book. Roemer does write a great story in the first half of the book, it is filled with action and suspense. The last half of the book is the weak part of it. Roemer constantly pats himself and the other agents on the back, only to get egg on their faces when the Chicago boss, Accardo, walks. By mixing fact with fiction, it does give a good story, thats what is missing in the last half.
Re: Joseph from QuebecHave to agree with Lars: Accardo is by far the most powerful mob boss in the history of this country. Where the New York mob was split and disorganized and ran a relatively small part of the country, Accardo and the outfit ran practically every other area, not just Chicago, but LA to Vegas to Kansas City and most points in between. The fact Accardo never spent a night in prison is enough to show you how good he was at what he did. Of course, Bonanno was small potatoes compared to the other NY Godfathers, so we'll never be able to tell who would have won a "real" war.
Re: Quebec JosephWhat does a Canadian know about the Chicago Outfit? Accardo was the Godfather of all Godfathers. He ran Chicago for half-a-century, without splitting power like the NY families, and then ran Vegas, too.
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