Years ago, plot was the thing in mystery novels. Over the last several decades, authors have relied less on plot and more on character to carry their work. Two current authors who are especially proficient with character driven mysteries, but who also don't scrimp on the twists and turns, are Michael Connelly (see my review of A Darkness More than Night elsewhere) and William Kent Krueger.

William Kent Krueger's third Cork O'Connor book, Purgatory Ridge is set in Aurora a town in northern Minnesota not far from Lake Superior. Krueger's novel runs several plots simultaneously. But each is propelled more by their respective character's backgrounds and motivations, and less by finding a solution to a traditional mystery puzzle.

When an early morning explosion at a lumber mill kills a respected Anishinaabe tribal leader, the stage is set for confrontation over the logging of old-growth white pines. The trees are considered sacred by the Anishinaabe, but the townsfolk rely heavily on money from logging and environmental extremists have swarmed in to stop any logging at all.

Meanwhile, a man who is the sole survivor of a shipwreck on Lake Superior, obsessed with guilt over his brother's death in the same wreck, vows revenge on the family-run shipping line even if it leads to kidnapping and murder.

Into the mix is O'Connor, the former sheriff of Aurora, a man who, like Connelly's McCaleb, is beginning to realize how much he misses police work. He is encouraged by several prominent citizens to run again for office, but his wife, a prominent attorney, dreads the affect it would have on their fragile marriage.

Krueger's handling of his character's thoughts and motivations is deft and he never lets the tension of the subplots falter. O'Connor, his family, and especially the Anishinaabe people are appealing because they are delivered fully alive to the reader.

Mysteries are not my genre of choice. However, I am such a fan of Mr. Krueger. I so totally enjoyed Iron Lake. Couldn't wait for Boundary Waters. Thoroughly enjoyed Boundary Waters. Couldn't wait for Purgatory Ridge. Now, as usual, am left disappointed that this one, too, has ended and I have to wait again for his next book. His writing gets better and better. His characters get stronger and stronger. He is truly an intelligent writer with a knack for grabbing you from the beginning and not letting go. Every time I think I have figured out "who done it", he throws a wrench in the story and proves me totally wrong. His books are so much fun. They are well researched and he shares so much with his readers. Mr. Krueger is a joy to read.

I was introduced to Iron Lake, Krueger's first book through a St. Paul/Minneapolis Radio show (Garage Logic with Joe Soucheray). It was a great read. I read Boundary Waters, the next in the line of the Cork O'Connor books and just finished Purgatory Ridge.

Purgatory Ridge has everything you want in a good suspense mystery, great character development, excellent story line (this one actually had two), a couple of twists, and edge of your seat, page turning suspense.

It is obvious Krueger has done his home work. This may be a fiction novel, but the places he describes (Boundary Waters Canoe Area, North Shore of Lake Superior, Sawtooth Mountains) are all accurate. I spend a lot of time in Northern Minnesota. I associate with many of the landmarks in his books, and that makes me feel like I am part of the action.

Upon finishing the book, it is apparent that Krueger is going to follow up with another Cork O'Connor novel. I CAN'T WAIT!

I first came across this book because I saw an email with the chapter on "Partners and Marriage" circulating on the Web. That chapter was one of the highlights of this book. It was falsely attributed, but a quick search of the Internet revealed its true author.

Its chapters share Nerburn's accumulated insights on life and matters that concern males across generations. The male instinct does not encourage the sharing of many private matters - many fathers are unwilling, or perhaps unable, to discuss these topics with their male heirs. Yet these questions rise up again and again to trouble generation after generation of men.

Nerburn has done us all a favour by addressing this book to all men, young and old. He speaks of matters you wished your father had shared with you. Somewhere inside, there are gems of wisdom that can change your outlook in life.

Like any fatherly advice, some parts do not go down easy. They may sound like words from another era, of someone who's not quite in touch with your generation. But on deeper reflection, they echo a timeless truth, and speak of eternal principles that guide our lives.

A book well-worth your money and time.

This book is extremely well written and very insightful. A great book for any man or any father of a boy. The book is full of wisdom and advice that will provide insight to the reader on how to convey values to their son. It crafts solid explainations to difficult questions that men have throughout life.

The book gives the reader the tools to become a better person and to appreciate other people and life in general. It could be called "the gentle-mans coaching guide". I couldn't put the book down until I finished it and I can't remember the last time that happened.

Hats off to the author for crafting this magnificient work which gets us to stop and think about what is important. That's quite a feat in this "point and click" society.

I first read this book in 1993. My own son was ten and I was grappling with the issues all fathers face when raising a son. I read alot,but this was the first fathering book, the first parenting book whose words leaped off the page and seized me. The author was honest, his words resonated with the integrity of life lived and hard lessons won. Upon finishing the book, I felt liberated and genuinely empowered about being a father. This is not the only book available on fathering a son, but it's the best I've ever come across and I can't recommend it highly enough. And Letters to My Son is not just a book for fathers, like many great books with an abundance of insight and inspiration, readers will find many simple truths on faith, travel, love, sex, aging, God and dying.

Wow! Sloop of War was written at a time when Alexander Kent could deliver top notch naval action. The novel contains more broadsides, swordplay and general action per page than any of his contemporaries could deliver. I read Sloop of War after completing O'Brian's HMS Surprise. Since the two novels were published within a year or so of each other and are set in roughly the same period, one would expect some similarities. There are few similarities. While O'Brian's forte is his use of language, themes and detail, Kent's strength is action, pure and simple.

Sloop of War is set during the American Revolution and follows a format that Kent used as Reeman in HMS Saracen i.e. there are two separate and almost stand-alone parts to the novel. In Sloop of War the separation in time between the two halves is much briefer. The novel features the young Richard Bolitho with his first command as the captain of a sloop fighting the corruption of the Royal Navy and the English powers that be as much as the dastardly American revolutionaries and their French allies. Only on the open seas are things simple or are they? Treachery on land or at sea is to be expected.

I suspect that Kent probably knew that he might alienate American readers by having his hero fighting against the American Revolution. However, he deftly avoids having major conflicts between American forces and his own. Furthermore, he has an American first officer accentuating the sense of internal conflict caused by the revolution. The causes for the war are not discussed and one senses that Bolitho has some sympathy for the colonists although he is bound by duty to fight against them. Wisely Kent does not have Bolitho slaughtering large numbers of American sailors in sea battles.

Kent writes well of the sea and its changeable weather. He is very strong on the action. There are also some serious themes. For instance, the men in Bolitho's ship may be fighting for King and country but ultimately they are fighting for each other. Bonds formed in war are much stronger than bonds based on idealism. The men one fights with can be relied on more than the women one is attracted to.

I did have one bone to pick with Kent's historical accuracy involving Canadian scouts. Kent describes the Canadians in the way that I think of voyageurs or courier de bois. In fact, Canadians in 1778 would have been French. The few English speaking Canadians of that day would not have been the woodsmen that Kent describes. However, it's a minor nit-pick in a thoroughly entertaining story.

Reeman/Kent was at his peak in writing stirring yet grim and realistic action novels when Sloop of War was published. It is not great literature by any means but it's a damn entertaining read.

Alexander Kent is undoubtedly the best writer of naval fiction on the market today. His books are packed with action, are accurate as to ships, armamment, and the interaction of the different ranks and classes in the Royal Navy of the period, with enough swashbuckling to keep the reader enthralled.

This book in the series, which tells the tale of our hero, Richard Bolitho, as a young naval commander in his first command, the Sloop 'Sparrow' during the American Revolution, is a tale of leadership, betrayal, intrigue, and fast-paced, bloody action. Ships, seaman, soldiers, and the sea all combine to give a fast-paced. grim and bloody tale of those men that 'go down to the sea in ships,' and put those ships 'in harm's way.'

Bolitho's First Lieutenant is an American Loyalist, and the relationship Kent builds for these officers, as well as the rest of the crew of HMS Sparrow is one of the highlights of Kent's novels. Kent knows men and ships, and it shows in his action-packed prose. Ships to him are living things, and his affection for them and the sea in general, is quite obvious. My own father was a professional seaman, which may be the reason these books are a favorite.

Better than the Hornblower series, as serious and grim as actual history, they are a pleasure to read, and to follow the fortunes of Bolitho from Cornwall and the colorful cast of characters that Kent has created. The Royal Navy during the period has been accurately described by a modern historian, and authority on the period, as 'man-eating' and Kent brings this out. His characterization of Bolitho as a humane officer is also compelling, for during this age thoughtful commanders took good care of the men they had to lead into the hell of combat.

Good book, excellent read, compelling characters, superb adventure-what else could you ask for?

Sloop of War, by far, is the best book to begin with if you are a new reader to the Alexander Kent series about Richard Bolitho. The book covers his first true appointed command as Commander of the Sloop of War Sophie during the time period of the American Revolution.

The book is packed with action and intrigue from many different angles. Characters are introduced that make appearances again in later books. The writing is superb and often glues you to the pages as you keep reading just to find out how the characters are going to fare.

Alexander Kent weaves Bolitho into a true complete picture, a hero who isn't perfect, a man who isn't perfect. But he makes you care so much about him that as I read the novel, I feel like Bolitho has been a lifelong friend. Your emotions rise and fall with each turn of his life.

I highly recommend the entire series, but this book in particular is a great place to start if you aren't sure you'll like this kind of fiction.

In the world of nautical fiction Alexander Kent #1, C.S. Forester #2, Dudley Pope #3.

I found I really liked the cover alot, and was the reason I even looked at the book. The story itself was very good, enjoyed all the twist and turns as well as the characters. I am happy to have added to by book collection, and recommend. Cudo's to the illustrator of the cover!

For all intrigue lovers and American Anglophiles, here is a book that will entertain you during both slow summer days and long winter evenings. Or rather who could resist the story of British Royal family political intrigue and romance of the lonely hearts all intertwined with the American professor's quest for his ancestral roots and much more?
As we accompany Malcolm Bride, gentlemanly, principled and "ruggedly handsome" professor of American history at Amherst, on his long-postponed trip to England, little do we know the twists and turns his search for ancestors will take. We move quickly from quaint London inn to Hall of Records and dark cemeteries, follow winding streets from English pubs and underground clubs to Windsor Castle, polo matches and dinner parties at Kensington. As the scenes change from chapter to chapter, the cast of noble and scumbag characters, both royal and ordinary, is introduced with nuanced descriptive details. The dialogs are spirited with particularly witty and sharp exchanges between Bride and Colin Crowe, the reporter for BBC Radio 4 on the scent of a "hot," Royal bloods' story.
A long-time journalist himself, Mr. Kent brings his characters to life with a keen sense of reality and drama as he masters "the random timing and juxtaposition of life's little events." The inner politics of the Royal family, however imaginary, play on modern readers' zest for gossip and offer a thrill of insider's view of celebrities. We feel privy to conversations, feelings and situations otherwise far removed from our daily lives. Bride's original quest for truth gets complicated when it turns into a story of deception and murder. As lies proliferate and stories are fabricated in order to discover an actual story, the very nature of truth today is questioned. A post-modern reader finds pleasure in the realization that we are reading a made-up story about truth that can be reached only through creating more untruths. The climax of coronation scene is slightly tinted by the cowboy bravado of western-like chases and escapes crowding the closing chapters of the book. Still the big questions about the nature of truth and how we get to it today powerfully resonate in the reader's mind till the very last page of When the Ravens Die. Enjoy reading it as much as I did.

This is a very intense book, hard to put down. You want to keep reading to see what on earth could happen next to the main character of the book. This person could be a continuing series for Mr. Kent!! It makes you wonder what he's going to do next with his life after finding out all he did about his past.. I hope Mr. Kent keeps writing, I will buy his next book!

Ms. Kent's style of writing mirrors that of her dancing: beautiful and inspiring. Throughout her fairytale, as this work cannot accurately be described as a story, nor a novel- it is every young girl's dream written elegantly and delicately onto the pages of her autobiography, Ms. Kent speaks honestly and candidly about her troubles and problems that arise in her life. Such situations include her emotional relationship with photographer Bert Stern, as well as her desire to continue dancing and performing after pregnancy (and how George Balanchine viewed her decisions regarding her choice to start a family mid-career). She also discusses her multiple attempts at careers outside the New York City Ballet; from her stunts as a guest artist, to her trials and misconceptions about the Allegra Kent School of Ballet. Ms Kent concludes her book with the statement, "...dancing well is the best revenge". Perhaps it could be better said that writing about life in dance has become Ms. Kent's true revenge. [HHS-4]

Ms. Kent's style of writing mirrors that of her dancing: beautiful and inspiring. Throughout her fairytale, as this work cannot accurately be described as a story, nor a novel- it is every young girl's dream written elegantly and delicately onto the pages of her autobiography, Ms. Kent speaks honestly and candidly about her troubles and problems that arise in her life. Such situations unclude her emotional relationship with photographer Bert Stern, as well as her desire to continue dancing and performing after pregnancy (and how George Balanchine viewed her decisions regarding her choice to start a family mid-career). She also discusses her multiple attempts at careers outside the New York City Ballet; from her stunts as a guest artist, to her trials and misconceptions about the Allegra Kent School of Ballet. Ms Kent concludes her book with the statement, "...dancing well is the best revenge". Perhaps it could be better said that writing about life in dance has become Ms. Kent's true revenge. [HHS-4]

I was not yet born at the time of Kent's ascent as a favored dancer for the New York City Ballet. Nonetheless, from other books I have read, I have come to understand that part of her appeal as a dancer was an ethereal, elusive- not quite of this earth quality. I believe that this aspect of her personality comes through in her book.She grabbed my attention with her descriptions of her beginnings and progress through dance. And then she seems almost to dance away as her personal life's conflicts begin to overshadow and ultimately, everything but end her career. Despite her many difficulties and the focus on them, I treasure this book. When I re- read it, as I often do, I start where her dance training begins and stop when her personal troubles overshadow her dance.Allegra Kent takes you into the magical world of dance and reality seems an intrusion. Don't mean to sound overwrought but this is the best way I can explain my feelings about this book. I reccommend it highly and am very glad I have it.

This book is good for people who have minimal experience with VB.NET and ASP.NET. It's very easy to read and understand and find what you need. With little background of VB.NET and ASP.NET, you will be able to write your first database driven web applications. This book is good as a starting point on the subject matter. The book goes through the items in short simple to understand paragraphs.

For experienced developers, you may want to skip the first two chapters. Chapter 2 gives an overview of realational database, how to use the database to retrieve and store the data. Chapter 3 covers methods for connecting to several different data source such as SQL Server, Excel, and XML. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 have lots of examples in reading and displaying the data using Data Reader and Data Set objects. All the examples in the book use Data Grid control for displaying the data. Later in the book, it discusses ways of using the data grid control for creating,inserting, editing, and deleting records. I tried several of the examples in the book and they worked fine. That is one thing I have come to like about the WROX press books is their examples are very understandable and easy to learn from.

Also, the experienced developer who is interested in learning the subject matter may find many other sections in the book boring because they will go through material they already know. It would be very nice to see a book such as this that can cover the subject for people who are already experienced as developers.

This book is well written and has the information that a junior programmer can use on his/her first programming language and the VB.NET/ASP.NET fundamentals for the experienced programmer to get a first look. ---Reviewed by Michael S.

This is a great book which covers most of technique to write an ASP.Net web application using VB.Net for database access. All the examples are quite easy to follow and understand. I highly recommend to any person who wants to learn and build web application.

It is not until you read a book that is dedicated to using databases in ASP.NET that you realize just how much there is to learn. This is a very readable & well structured book with excellent 'Try It Out' examples that provide easy to follow step-by-step guides.

Obviously understanding data readers, datasets, command objects and web server controls is vital but there are some rare and extremely useful chapters: componentization - leveraging class libraries for data access, performance, and a chapter that discusses Data-Driven ASP.NET application in the Real World that raises some very interesting issues; for example security tips, raising your own database errors & organizing your code.

The authors not only provide information that you would expect but they offer every encouragement to raise the bar by discussing ways to do things even better; for example 'A Better Connection String', creating Data Access classes, and fine tuning dataset & datareaders.

I'm a huge fan of the book that WROX has put out over the years (the 2 Beginning VB 6 books are phenominal). They've taught me virtually everything I know about programming. However, I must say that this book falls far short of my expectations for this publisher. It started out great; the examples of using RUP and UML were very helpful. I also learned a lot about MTS, XML, etc. that I did not know before. However, when it got to to actually writing the application, I had to take charge. Repetitive logic, misaligned object architechture, and not enough descriptions made me so frustrated that I only finished the book so I could rewrite the application more efficiently. Now, I'm a far cry from a professional programmer, so maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture. But, when I read a book to lean a new technology or method, I don't expect to be saying things like "Why did they do it this way?" or "It'd be much more clear if they did it this way." These, among other things, were said while reading every page in the sections dealing with writing the app. All in all it was very disappointing, but I won't hold it against these guys; they're still my favorite.

The first third of the book deals with subjects covered in other WROX publications. The treatment here is cursory, but enough to be usefull. However, once the code is covered things get messy. Properties are all named with Get (not good practice) and several properties should be coded as methods, for which the authors seem to have little use. ADO should get more attention, but the authors just go ahead and hard code database connections. The same parameters are sometimes treated as variants, then strings or integers. The stored procedures for the T-SQL database were all named with an sp_ prefix (which is a no-no), and so on... On the whole it's a usefull book, once you clean up the authors' mess.

In my opinion, this is how every book that attempts to teach computer programming should be written. Most books on programming tend to teach bits and pieces that leave the reader hanging in mid-air. You learn the "alphabets" and the "parts of speech" of a programming language, but you are not taught how to put it all together into a beautiful prose, right?
Not this book. "Beginning VB 6 AppDev" takes you, as it were, by the hands, and leads you through the tunnels, the caverns and other subtleties of application development. What you have at the end is a superb application, and a well enlightened reader. It is very rare to find a book this good: a single book that covers virtually everything needed to develop a fully, functional scalable application. Yes, it covers the whole development life cycle of a multitiered application.
The authors did a very good job. I gave it five stars because it is worth five stars. If you are not convinved, get a copy, and study it.

I bought this book because of the excellent reviews it got. However upon reading this I can't see any justification for these reviews. First of all it is very high level; I mean appropriate for your manager's, manager's manager maybe. This book is all about fawning over Diffie Hellman and philosophizing about how pki should be used etc. There is no technical information in this book, no code, no flow charts, no diagrams, no data structures. It doesn't even explain how pki is applied, for example to ssl. All the real information in this book could have been condenced to a few pages. I really needed this book to be good and it was not. Look if you want to go to a cocktail party and impress someone with no technical exposure then maybe this is your book. Otherwise there must be better choices.

Carlisle and his co authors have written a book that will allow the Security practioner, as well as the Security techie, to understand the basics of PKI Infrastrucutres. I had the opportunity to meet Carlisle at the Secure Summit this past Jan., and we had a very interesting dicussion about this book, how he came to write it, etc. Just sorry I didn't have my copy for an autograph. I have ordered my 2d copy, sent the first copy I bought to a buddy who needed to understand the innnards of PKI. This book is an easy read but loaded with good data on PKI. I would recommend this book to managers who need to understand PKI but don't need to do the technical pieces. For my part, I am Security professional with over 30 years experience.

Its not Entrust's fault if they are the only PKI vendor that actively supports standards, develops the most technologically advanced and secure PKI solutions, and carry out the best practices.

What a launch to the newest series from Blaze! Alison Kent writes incredible contemporary women. The dialogue is so authentic, the worries about careers and men so very real. And this story pushes the sexual envelope in the best ways. I don't think I've read anything this hot in months. I'll never look at a bottle of champagne the same way again. Sebastian is literally a hero to die for. Sexy and enigmatic and passionate beyond belief. This is what erotic romance should be!

I like a good, spicy romance, and a book by Alison Kent is about as good as it gets--while still having a plot. The Sweetest Taboo's bad boy hero is delicious, and the heroine's relationship with her friends is realistic and funny. This book is a fast-paced, fun fantasy that kept me reading late into the night. Enjoy!

I LOVED this book! Talk about hot! I was mad for Erin and Sebastian, and I thought the writing was superb. THE SWEETEST TABOO is everything I look for in a Blaze. In fact, it's everything I hope to find in a novel, but so rarely do. I can't wait to read the other books in this series, and I hope Ms. Kent writes more. I've already ordered as many books of hers that I can find. Wow!

I found this book to be a very readable guide the beginning Javascript user. However the "Online Companion", an internet site that the authors are constantly referring to is no longer available. So unless you want to key in all of the scripts by hand I would recommend a book with an included CDROM. - R*N

I bought three books about JavaScript to get me started and I have to say that this was by far the best. The other two books I bought were the Visual Quickstart Guide by Peachpit Press and O'Reilly's Definitive JavaScript Guide. I used the Quickstart Guide to get a basic understanding for the language but soon noticed that I didn't actually learn it, but was rather just copying the examples in the book. With the Definitive Guide the exact opposite was the case. It was simply to hard to understnad as a complete novice.

The official Netscape Guide is the ideal book for starters: It takes you through the learning process step by step, starting with the easy stuff and then becoming harder and more complex. It also shows you the annoying parts about JavaScript (bowser incompatibilities) and how to deal with them.

Overall an absolutely cool book to get you started!

Out of a large library of JavaScript books, this one is the only one that never gets shelved. I've seen novices find out how to do all the things they were looking for, and I've personally used it to expand my own knowledge. If I were to own just one JS book, this'd be it.