Valley of Death is one of the sexiest and most exciting books I have ever read! The love scenes sizzle and the action beats the Lethal Weapon movies! The characters are beleivable and so real. I'd like to meet Jack Riley in person to see if he's really that good in the sack!

Craig's book pulls you into the world of Jack Riley and Moria Clark, full of fast-paced adventure and romance. Valley of Death was a nonstop thrill ride that kept me intrigued with each new twist and turn. Ceaselessly exciting, Craig's novel keeps you turning pages until the finish.

Valley of death was an awesomely paced page turner that I couldn't put down! It has the action and humor of the Lethal Weapon Movies and the romance of Romancing the Stone! Form Chicago to the Arctic, it never stops and never lets up! if you buy no other book this year, buy Valley of Death!

I recommend this book to any one who likes excitement or good adventure. It's very exciting because you don't know if Will or Jess will find water or food. It has a lot of adventure because Will and Jess have to travel through sand storms, quick sand, and desert. When Will and Jess go through the sand storm they have to take shelter in an abandoned cave. It's a very tight space and it's hard for them to breathe. They have to go without meat for days before they find a weak ox, which they then cook over an open fire. I like the characters in the book because they are very independent and different. Will shows his self-sufficiency when he tries to go ahead to look for the rest of his party in the valley. In conclusion, if you like good adventure and great excitement, this is the book for you.

Twelve-year-olds Will and Jess Brantcourt are a twin brother and sister travelling west with their family to California in 1849. Because of their father's stubborness, the Brantcourts end up being separated in the desert from the rest of the wagon train. Now their wagon has broken down and their father is seriously ill, and the family is unable to continue. Now Will and Jess are the only ones that can save their family from death. So the determined twins set off across the desolate, dry, and unforgiving deserts of Death Valley. The valley threatens to live up to its name every moment of Will and Jess's desperate journey to find help as they encounter heat, thirst, hunger, and dangerous creatures. But they're determined to carry on and not give up, because their family is counting on them. This was another great book in the Survival series. I highly reccomend it if you like historical or survival stories.

Death Valley was another great book in the Survival! series by Kathleen Duey and Karen A. Bale. This book was about a brother and sister, Will and Jess Brantcourt. Mr. Brantcourt has decided the family will go west to search for gold in California, even though no one else in the family wants to go. Then he decides they will take a shotcut that will supposedly get them to California faster - one that goes through the cruel, unrelentingly hot desert of Death Valley. Then Pa gets sick from an injury, and the Brantcourts' wagon breaks an axle. Now, it's up to Will and Jess to go find help for their stranded family - for they are the only hope the Brantcourts have left. But can they survive in the desert with only scant food and water, and get help for their family before it's too late? Read this exciting book to find out!

Daniel Groody is a Holy Cross priest -- the order that runs Notre Dame. Assigned to work with Mexican immigrants in Southern California, he learned first-hand the realities of border crossing. I was reminded of the old Willie Nelson song about a planeload of "deportees" that crashed with little concern from the authorities.

Groody is not a sentimentalist and he tries to be even-handed. Although he registers appalling behavior on the part of the Border Patrol, he includes interviews with Border Patrol members in his research, and he acknowledges that there is a much larger picture: the relationship between the US and Mexico.

Groody focuses on the way individuals experience immigration. As I noted in my own book, Making the Big Move, identity change creates the greatest stress in any relocation. Here Groody talks about the way immigrants from Mexico also experience spiritual hunger as they seek to be united with a new community.

Perhaps the most vivid and memorable part of the book comes in the description of the four-day retreats, a program implemented by the clergy but designed by former participants who literally speak the language of the immigrants.

It is especially moving to read of the reaction of the "candidates," the new immigrants, as they are greeted enthusiastically by the staff and are served meals by the staff. Staff members apply for coveted positions -- and they actually pay $75 a week to work in the program.

Living eighty miles from the Mexican border, here in New Mexico, I've crossed checkpoints on the highways, often several hundred miles north of the border. Usually the guards just wave "Anglos" through and we rarely even stop. This book was a real eye-opener. At the end, I found myself wondering why we spend millions of dollars to keep out these people, instead of using the money to develop proactive programs here and in Mexico. Something is not working.

Daniel Groody saw first hand the continuing tragedy of illegal immigration and what happens to these people who risk their lives to find an opportunity to work. He describes a program in Southern California that treats the immigrants with respect and restores their dignity. The Church has its problems these days, but this is a story of the good that it fosters and a dramatic illustration of what religion can do in the lives of people. You will never look at the problem of immigration the same way again after reading this book.

What more could one want in a history book? Clean clear writing, plenty of interesting characters, loads of legends, and a starkly beautiful setting to back it all up. Lingenfelter has done a marvelous job. I've poured over his book twice and could easily read it yet again without feeling bored. This book gives a wonderfully complete history of the Death Valley area. Read it first or take it along if you plan to visit. It will increase your appreciation of Death Valley immensely, and you'll be enthralled by the history as its told here.

This book contains an excelent, highly detailed account of the history of Death Valley, CA from the first appearances of man up to it's designation as a National Monument in 1933 by President Herbert Hoover. It is very well researched as evidenced by the bibliography at the end of the book. Mr. Lingenfelter allows the reader to experience the trials and tribulations of the many soles who entered into "The Valley of Death" to discover, the hard way, the many illusions promoted by the published accounts of those who ventured before them. A must read for anyone wishing to visit the National Park for a drive or hike through a very mysterious and beautiful land.

I have read all four Jack Prester mystery books You feel like you are right in the park with him.

Jack Prestor, National Parks Special Agent, is sent to Death Valley to investigate the murder of an accountant. The accountant had been investigating the disappearance of funds from the park. Ev Brant is sent in to continue the investigation where the accountant left off. Before they've even been there 24 hours, another body is found buried at the sceen of the murder. With an attacker trying to stop them from leaving the valley alive, they continue investigating, hoping to find the killer before he or she gets them. To make matters worse, a group of aging Hell's Angles have taken over the park, and Jack is caught in the crossfire between the park rangers and the bikers. It seems that the park will errupt in violence before Jack can even solve his first mystery. This is a good mystery that kept me guessing until the last minute. The clues and red herrings are everywhere. Not to give anything away, but I didn't even interrpret all the clues correctly. Yet, everything fit together perfectly in the end. I highly recommend this exelent book.

A very important piece of your Death Valley information package. It has everything you need to know or want to learn.However - PLEASE - have more than just this one source! This guide may instruct you to go to "the foot of the conical shaped mountain". Then the canyon mouth is "to the left". BELIVE ME - when you get to these places, ALL mountains are 'conical' shaped. The canyon mouth forks and there is a right side with 2 canyons and a left side with one. An hour and a half up the left side will finally tell you that you wanted the right side canyon and the left opening on that side! Just be sure you are in the right place. Get help from a ranger or another camper. Don't expect the guide to be the end all and be all. The book is great. It will give you all kinds of interesting information and history.It will tell you everything you want to about the area you are in. Just be sure you are in the RIGHT area FIRST. There's lots of interpretation here. You don't want to be guessing about a two hour struggle up a long, winding canyon when you want to be on the next grand wash over in the next valley!!

This is a superb book that provides a large amount of exceptionally useful information about Death Valley. Having visited the park multiple times over the last 2 years, I had become familiar with most of the general areas and some of the less-known gems.

This book takes it to the next level for me. It is excellently laid out, totally comprehensive regarding the hikes it discusses and has well-chosen photos, genuinely useful maps and lots of interesting illustrations. I particularly liked the sections on the Last Chance Range and the Panamints.

Most importantly the author exactly captures the appeal of the place - the space, the astonishing world of rock, the light and the solitude - and does a nice job of emphasizing the need for us desert users to practice the "minimum impact" approach without ramming it down our throats.

Finally, he has wisely left out a few "secrets" - it'd be tough to explore if *everything* was already in a book!

For anyone who has heard of Zabriskie Point, but was afraid to ask. Though written by a hiker for hikers, this book is an indispensable resource of history, geology, archaeology, flora and fauna for this unique region. It will take you far beyond the trails.

this was one of the best books i have. this is about a girl name madeline which this story goes during the 1700s fallin in love with a young doctor name justin fier who lives next door to her cousins house which she was sent to live there. but later she is warned by an old woman and a ghost to stay away from him becuase he hides a terrible secret. later in the end she discovers his terrible dark secret. this is really a good book i recommend it 2 any1 who loves these kinds of books.

This book is totally superb! It keeps you on your toes, and saying "don't go to him, he's EVIL" and "run far away, don't let your aunt and uncle talk you into marrying him"!!! Stine produced the perfect amount of detail and suspense. I really think that anyone who likes mystery and horror books should definatly read this book.

This story is very interesting as it has a very good line. It explains the history of how Justin Fear became very powerful and those who knew him had tried to destroy him. Until Madeline a young and beautiful woman, had shifted to Shadowbrook met him and fell in love with his unnatural look and was warned by an old woman and a ghost to leave right away before it's too late. The ending was really good...and I loved it. Keep up the good work R.L.Stine....and keep writing.

This book just shows how spectacular a desert can look with the magnificent photos around the Mojave desert and Death valley of emptiness, stark flowers and blooms and just superb landscapes. It'll give you some inspiration to find something to look for even in a desert.

I know I will as I will be going to Ayer's Rock (Uluru) in Australia in a few months and it's also a big desert!

This book is a beauty, some of the most beautiful photographs I have ever seen.

I spent the first week of September in southern California this year, and on Sunday before Labor Day I drove from Los Angeles up to Death Valley. I hadn't been there since I was a child and I have to say although it is a desolate and lonely place (and 114 degrees at Furnace Creek the day I was there) it is also one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The sand dunes at Mesquite Flat alone are worth the trip.

Everyone should see it, but if you can't buy the book. My copy came shrinkwrapped in plastic which I really like, the last thing you want is to buy a nice book like this in a bookstore where someone has spilled coffee on the pages.

There is a knock at my door and here is the UPS man delivering my order from Amazon.com. Among the books: Desert, The Mojave and Death Valley Photographs by Jack Dykinga, text by Janice Emily Bowers. I barely had time to read more than a page or two of the text before it made me want to go straight to the photos to see the place she was clearly, and intelligently writing about. And I was not disappointed: It was overwhelmed with joy of at being able to share the keeness of Mr. Dykinga's fine and perceptive photographic vision of that place. This is a more subtle body of work than the previous books based around his photographs.

The Sonoran Desert had a similar effect on me years ago and expanded my sense of what ilandscape photography could be. Stone Canyons did not have as great of affect on me as the first book

More than anything else, the images in this book remind me why the large format camera is such a tremendous aid to seeing something more clearly and perceptively than you can with the naked eye. even more so than a 35mm or medium format or easily portable digital gear can. Some of the photos even have a sense of humor to them and when did you last see that in a photograph of a natural landscape? The reproduction of the images appears to be first rate and the design and typography of the book match its contents in quality.

In short there are wonderful things to be found in this book.

The southwest United States is a geomorphologist's dream... There's not a lot of green stuff covering up the beautiful geology! This book details the geologic features of Death and Owens Valley, CA. It gives the geologic history of features while succinctly describing the details of the processes that brought about these features. The Tufa Pinnacles in Searles Valley, the alluvial fans in Death Valley, the interesting history and development of Gower Gulch, the mysterious ascent of desert pavement, the glacial morraines and routes of the Tahoe and Tioga Stade glaciers at Convict Lake, the Mono Craters (Domes), Fossil Falls, the Alabama Hills and more. You'll even get the heebee jeebees when you read about the monstrous explosion of Ubehebe Crater! Certainly one of the most interesting and pleasurable books I've read in ages! Highly recommended for ANYONE who plans a trip to California's awe-inspiring Death Valley and environs! A must have!

Most years we vacation in Mammoth. This book describes a number of convenient and interesting side trips to take with the family. We wander around, sometimes visiting the same features, sometimes visiting a new site. Always appreciating more & more of the world around us. My children have a much better feel for geological processes and their impact on the landscape than do their peers.

The book starts with a five page description of Eastern California's geological history, then jumps into 30 sites of interest, nearly evenly distributed between Death Valley & vicinity and the Eastern Sierra & vicinity. A glossary, "Sources of Supplementary Information," and an index round out the book.

Each site receives its own chapter, replete with photographs, maps, geological diagrams, and even driving directions, as needed. I'm not a serious geologist, but landscape features fascinate me. The explanations that the authors give work well for me: I can understand them well enough to explain them to children.

If you're interested in how the land has been shaped, if you're willing to turn off the tube & make contact with the natural world, then this book is for you. One of the best "field guides" to geology I own. One of my favorites, too. (The companion volume, GEOLOGY UNDERFOOT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, is also an excellent book).

I've always had an interest in geology, but have had only a little formal education in the subject. I've also been to Death Valley and Owens Valley a few dozen times. The accuracy and attention to detail in this book along with the vivid descriptions often made me feel like I was back there as I read. On more than one occasion, I could replay what I had seen when I was out there as I read (in some cases picturing things that I had hardly taken notice of when physically there). The many photographs and diagrams also helped immensely. The occasional touchs of humor made reading fun, and it being a series of vignettes, it's easy to cover a chapter in a short time and not worry about setting it down until later. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in geology and how the area got to be what it is today, and you don't have to be an expert to enjoy the book.