Note to beginners - this book is not an overview of how to begin playing the snare drum. There are no diagrams, or detailed information about the snare or drumming style. It is mainly an exercise book reminiscent of those used by school bands to increase skill and technique. To get the most benefit, a basic understanding of how to read music (rythmically) is needed. But it truly is geared toward students as well as the professional drummer. The theme of this book is practice makes perfect.

Furthermore, the introduction is a dryly wonderful piece of writing; pragmatic, no-nonsense, economical prose imparting essential advice on practice. This book makes an ideal "workout" (emphasizing that "control" is the gateway to strength, endurance, coordination, and all else that drummers crave). Practice Stick Control daily, and meditate on the craft of drumming.

Technically speaking, Stone Song is a work of fiction based around factual characters and events. No one really knows much about the mystic Crazy Horse, but Blevins obviously did his homework. Using stories passed down through generations and well documented occurances ranging from the Fetterman massacre to the Little Bighorn; the teenaged "Curly" to the inevitable ending at Fort Robinson. You follow His Crazy Horse and learn just what might have made him tick.

This is really more than just a novel, it's an intimate look at one of the truely great men, and most tragic episodes in American history. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Crazy Horse, the American West, Native Americans, or for that matter, anyone looking for a good read

It's hard to say whether Wyvern's Spur was the best of the three books, they were all so good. You will not be disappointed in reading this book.

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.

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!

There seem to be two plots: 1) will Shan and colleagues find the killer(s)? and 2) how will the spiritual lives of Shan, the other "good guys", and those wavering on the edge hold up? At times, the mystery theme seems less important than the religious one. After finishing the book, my central impression was a reminder/teaching of the first Noble Truth of Buddhist teaching...all life is suffering. I would encourage people to read this book and try to understand how Shan and the other characters persevere.