Personally, I believe that this is the greatest work that Holmes wrote. Through Elsie Venner, Holmes tried to oppose Calvin's idea that humans are morally responsible for their inherited flaws, and this is perfectly demonstrated through Elsie's serpentine characteristics and following "humanization" and death. It succeeds in being a forerunner of inherent symbolism in literature, but I feel that the black "mammy" character degrades this book in my eyes, just proving that Holmes was not as great or as original as we would hope. He did not have to stoop to such racism to prove a point or create a meaningful story. Still, his work deserves its rightful accolades.

i think it has to little information about some authors.

John Clellon Holmes was at the core of the so-called Beat Generation; he was present at the Times Square Coffee Shop, with Burroughs and Huncke, when Kerouac first defined the term. However, Holmes hasn't seemed to garner the attention of his more celebrated colleagues. This is true for a number of reasons. One, his life was more stable and ordinary than his friends', although he was still quite active in the bohemian events of the day. Two, his narrative style is much more traditonal than Burroughs, Kerouac, et al. For both reasons, the media has less to focus on--from a sensationalist angle. From a literary perspective, though, critics have a wonderful specimen. Holmes is a gifted writer. Go is perhaps the most accomplished novel chronicling the "beat" experience. It is not astonishing or avant-garde in structure, language, or plot--it is simply a great work. Go is full of astute insights regarding the era and its values. Holmes has a great deal of skill with the nuances of character and setting. Get Home Free, on the other hand, doesn't quite live up to the promise of Holmes' early work. The vitality is still there, but as the reader moves away from Manhattan, the details are neither as compelling nor as vivid.

The Hampstead Poisonings is an investigation by Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock Holmes' older and more intellectually-able brother.

One of the best aspects of this novel is the slow unfolding of plots within plots, with the story taking a few unexpected turns to keep the reader on his/her toes.

However, I wasn't overly impressed by Petrie's supporting characters or even his portrayal of Mycroft Holmes. He seems determined to portray the British characters as upper-class twits, sometimes only in the speech patterns but often in their other actions.

I was also disappointed that Mycroft was not either a complete armchair theorist nor a man of action. Had he been portrayed as one or the other, he might have seemed more consistent. Instead, while he states an unwillingness to carry out physical activity, when the time comes he charges in with the best of them without a second thought at the time later.

My view: a clever plot somewhat let down by the characterisation and writing. I understand that Glen Petrie has written other Mycroft Holmes books, which I would be happy to read.

Some authors have a gift for conveying their thoughts to the reader in simple, non-technical terms. Bill Holms, author of this book, simply isn't one of them. This book is a helpful guide for designing your own marketable firearms, but practically requires that you be well-versed in the inner workings of guns to start with. There seems to be a few holes here and there, such as the lack of information on the case extraction and ejection systems, and a good, thourough explanation is rare indeed; Holmes instead covers a huge variety of action types (bolt, autoloading, etc.) and other mechanisms, but devotes only minimal space to each.

Overall, the book (which includes the plans for a 12-gauge shotgun and 10-round magazine)is a worthwhile buy to those who already have a good idea of how a gun works. Otherwise, you're better off simply sticking with books by P.A. Luty or Gerard Metral.

If you are looking for a book to chill out with, this is the book. It has action, greed and romance and all with a nice ending. When I wasn't reading the book, I found myself wondering what the characters were up to.

It was a good book, though boring at times.

Interesting and humorous biography of John Cougar Mellencamp's early years. Nice photos.

Well this book is the sequel to Armageddon 2419AD, the original Buck Rogers novel. It is set many years after the first book and Buck is now an old man. But the Han aren't finished yet. Buck's illegitimate son Mordred (who else?) is trying to destory him. This story was based on an idea by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

Whereas I am always greateful when new Holmes stories are released, particularly in anthology form, and as long as they do not deal with utterly bizarre places or events, I found that these stories were rather lack-luster. Within the first three days I had the book, I read through five pieces, none of which were as remarkable as I hoped they would be. The usual contributors are here, and one can usually expect outstanding entries by Loren D. Estleman and Edward B. Hoch, but here their stories are as flat as the rest. Hopefully in their next effort, the writers will write more engaging tales.