Vachss started out as one hell of a crime writer ("Strega", "Blue Belle"). But by "Down in the Zero", he looked as played out as the Rolling Stones. "Footsteps" showed he's still capable of writing brilliantly.

What makes this novel great is that it shows Burke has changed considerably from the person he once was (no longer carying a gun, keeping his temper in check), yet the change is completely plausable because, at his core, he's the same person (tough and cynical). Vachss's humor is as sharp as ever. So is his prose.

Burke, ex-con- not ex-cop- finds himself hired by a police- woman who insists that a recently arrested serial killer is innocent, and wants him to find proof. Burke's old nemesis, Officer Morales, is her prime suspect, and is also hot on Burke's tail. A gripping page-turner, one of Vachss's best.

Burke is the anti-hero of the nineties. If you are ready to move on from the Robert Parker series than you areready for this new, extremely neurotic individualist. There is a zen quality to Burke -- things seem to happen around him and he has limited chances to influence his situation. He does have a team of equally colorful cohorts, who are perfect role players to Burke's Michael Jordan. Once you get used to this character its hard to stop liking him.

Courtesy of Love Romances

This book is all about fantasies. Each indulged here is one most women dream about. There is the sexy man at the office, role reversal with the dominant man submitting to every desire of the woman, the harem, the threesome with two beautiful men, and the glamorous stranger.

In Alphabetical Order comes the first one. Most women have that one man at the office they can't help but fantasize about. He is the one they can't help but wonder "What if?" That is the premise here. The alphabetical order of sex is many of the different methods and items used.

Reversal is all about the submission of the dominant, alpha male, who is tired of being in charge, to the woman. He wants his woman to command him, care for him, and take charge. How many out there have not dreamed of being in just this situation at least once in their life?

Next comes Exotica, the time old harem fantasy. What would it be like to be kept for the sole purpose of indulging in a little bit (or a lot) of physical pleasure. To be primped and pampered in preparation for the master. And oh, the interesting things that can be done with a few strands of pearls.

Tempest begins in a tempest, a violent storm erupting out of nowhere, stranding cars on the side of the road. But that is not the tempest this story is really about. A young woman seeks haven and finds a small house, which is the temporary home to two of the most beautiful men she has ever seen. And they are twins at that! Ever wondered what it would be like to have two men at beck and call, satisfying every whim? This story is the answer to that question.

And finally, comes Biker Broad, for a little game of role playing among strangers. Two strangers meet on a private beach and indulge in a little bit of passionate play.

Now, this reviewer does not typically read erotica, having only read one or two such books in the past, so had a little bit of trouble getting into this book at the beginning. This was not helped by the place of choice for starting this fine book. This book was started on a lunch break from work and after only a couple pages, had to be put down for later. A bit too hot to handle for relaxed reading on a break. But none of this is for lack of skill and talent of the author. This is a book to be savored in the privacy of one's own home.

After getting used to the graphic details used, this book was certainly one to be enjoyed, Just a little shocking for one not used to it. Good writing and common fantasies used made this a fun read. This reviewer admits to having imagined each of these fantasies at least once. Also interesting was the fact that all but two of the stories never used the woman's name. A couple never even used the man's name. Was this perhaps to make it easier for the reader to imagine oneself in a few, or all, of these roles perhaps? That was definitely a nice touch.

All in all, a uniquely refreshing collection of stories. Another side note to keep in mind however, the reader should definitely have one's partner readily available during or after reading. For that will be needed to cool the flames bound to be generated by this book. So how about indulging in a little Hidden Passion today.

Hidden Passions II, Ms. Burke's second collection of steamily-erotic fantasies, consists of five stories. As with the first collection, these stories are first-person explorations into the steamier side of dreams. They range in content and setting ' there is some gentle Domination, one threesome (male, male, female), and a 'sheik story'. The heroines come from many cultures, which is nice to see, and every character's voice is distinctly different.

These are longer stories with more detailed characterization than those of the first volume, and they are equally enjoyable. My particular favorite was 'Reversal,' where a handsome Master named Jon shows up at our character's doorstep, asking her to take care of him ' and she does! Hidden Passions II is a thoroughly enjoyable anthology of romantic spicy erotica, and one that I'll definitely return to again!

I read this collection of stories when it was first offered and for erotic readers this is an outstanding effort on MS. Burke's part.
The stories cover a multitude of genre's and while they are all by the same author, they don't have the same FEEL. This is important in an anthology I think, and this book definately has eclectic 'tastes'.
Keep writing, Ms. Burke, and I will keep reading.

This book can be appreciated by anyone who is "falling apart"...whether it be from the stress of work, illness, or any loss from death.
My group of widow friends like to use it for discussion groups to help us face our new reality, to respond to the depression, and to learn to reconnect to God, to self and to others.We found it offered a "spiritual prescription" to take daily as we begin a new journey.This treasure-trove gives hope that the sun will break through the clouds and a rainbow promises new life.

I just loved it. I couldn't put it down. I only wish
Andrea Yates had had a friend like Sylvia.

This sweet book, this helpful book, this realistic book, this book that has so many answers.....Christian help for depression, yes, but it also gives us a lot of hope, a way out of so many tough spots, a way to look at ourselves that can help in so many ways. Give it to a friend who's going through a bad patch, who needs healing after 9/11, who just needs to look at himself and God and see that the connection is always there. Ms. Burke writes from experience, and shows that is it, indeed, a wonderful teacher.

Being a former Yellowstone Savage myself, I couldn't put this book down!! I felt as if I could have written this book because so many of Joyce's experiences were shared by me and my friends! For anyone that has felt the love of the incredible land of Yellowstone, this is an awesome book! She shares her insights on her experiences of living in this beautiful land so if you want to know more about Yellowstone, it's a personal guide to the park from an employee's perspective. If you worked in the Park - you'll enjoy reliving those fantastic memories!!

Joyce Lohse brought back many memories of wonderful days working on the Yellowstone. Reading her book took me along with her as she visited the many places Yellowstone Park has to offer. Through Joyce's eyes you get a different view of the Park and all the fun people who worked along side of her. If you have worked in the Park then you know the pull it has and a life changing experience Joyce reviews. If you have only visited the Park then you get another perspective. But if you are about to make a decision to work in the Park please do and join the thousands of people who have as Joyce did. You may find yourself rereading her book from to time. Super book !!!

Joyce has captured the essence of Yellowstone with the story of her adventures as a Yellowstone Savage (ie. employee). The tales that she tells are written in a prose style that really draws you into the story. This is a book for anyone who has a passion of outdoor adventure and how it relates to the simple joy of human interaction! I recommend it to any past, present, and future Yellowstone employee as well as anyone who enjoys prose about our First National Park!

Few books have caused such anxiety as this one. It brands some people as socially unworthy (basically, if you're not in it!), and raises others to great worth. If you read VANITY FAIR (the novel, not the magazine) by William Makepeace Thackery, you'll see the characters rush home after a party to consult BURKE'S PEERAGE to see if those they've just met are of proper lineage. Arianna Huffington (who is Greek) recently said that, when she got to America, she was relieved she could make social progress there. She went there from London, where she said, "You had to be in BURKE'S PEERAGE to make it socially." Imagine a book having such social influence in both the 19th and 20th Centuries!!

This latest edition of the famous bible of the British aristocracy takes a robust attitude to such touchy subjects as money, illegitimacy and snobbery.

Those requiring remotely useful information on the who, what and where of British society will be obliged to update their now dog-eared 1970s vintage editions - this new volume, while bemoaning the vanishing English Country House, has scores of entries for the would-bes, might-bes and has-beens of showbusiness.

No expense has been spared in researching the sons, daughters, lovers and sisters-of-cousins of the rich, the titled and the famous.

For some entries, the claim to fame is merely to have been born of the right seed (with, or without, benefit of clergy). Elsewhere, a meritocratic approach is evident, with the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis and some hundreds of other screen sirens, British and American, finding their way in. However, a Bourke's tradition is maddeningly maintained in appearing to favour some achievers over others, with little apparent regard for talent, longevity or importance. If nothing else, this gives us all a stick with which to beat the book, and adds to the general sense of the surreal and the dotty which characterises this distinctly British, and quite obviously insane work. Read it with relish.

A superb party game involves reading part of an entry, and challenging your guests as to whether the person concerned entered the Peerage on merit or thanks to an accident of birth. Skilled players edit their extracts to gull the susceptible. Enjoy.

Intended as a companion volume to _Burke's Guide to the Royal Family,_ this product of the "new Burke's" follows the familiar indented-outline format and is very easy to use. The early history of each House is only summarized, but is complete from the sixteenth century or so. Families that are "temporarily out of business" make up the bulk of the book, including portraits of the current pretenders (up to c.1980, anyway). Much readable anecdotal material, and the Introduction has some salty comments on the observed results of replacing hereditary monarchy with "mob democracy." An excellent and trustworthy source for ready-reference.

This is one of the finest research book set available. All the world's royal families are at your fingertips. Includes photographs & geneological tables. Highly recommended. Please look at this book.

Although most of this book consists of scenarios where you say "well of course...", they are excellent, focused examples of the points made. I wish the title were different; I can't imaging handing this to someone and saying "here, you should read this". But most IT people should!
Great book, easy to read.

To Dan & Alan.
I wanted to thank you for writing such a good book. Now I understand that I am not the only techie who has to experience these frustrations, and that makes me feel a little better, but I will feel even better when I have implemented the teachings in the second half of the book.

I loved the title! The title of the book caught my eye, because I had heard about a book titled "business at the speed of light(?)", and being a bit of a rebel, I laughed when I read the title and thought "that's the truth". After a few scans of various pages, I wanted to buy it. And I am not disappointed yet.
I would not feel stupid telling someone to read this book based on it's title, and if you do, then you may need to get out the environment you are currently in. Everyone needs to lighten up a lot. That theme is illustrated several times in this book.

Dan & Alan, please send me an email when your site is revised (ExecuThought.com), I would like to find other tech people to converse with about your thoughts and lessons in this book, and I think your online dicussion board would be an excellent place to do it.

Again thanks for the book, I haven't enjoyed reading a "business" book like this since reading the "E-myth revisited". Each chapter is a comedy, adventure and tragedy wrapped in a valuable lesson.

After a three year absence from Notes, I needed to get up to speed fast on the new revs. At the time I purchased this book, I also purchased Mastering Lotus Notes R5 by Haberman & Falciani. From an intermediate level users standpoint, I found the Sams book adequate but nearly every question that I needed answered in some depth I found in Mastering. In a nutshell, I could have saved the money for the Sams book since Mastering provided everthing and much more. This was especially true in setting up Internet accounts and Locations as well as understanding how to manage databases.

All technical books should be this clearly written. I really liked the fast paced and yet thorough approach the authors achieved by going through the various aspects of using Lotus Notes R5 in 24 chapters. Everything an end user needs to know is in this book.

The authors advise in composing an email to make your most important points first as readers may not read to the end of your document and they follow their advice in this book. Most readers will get what they want from the first chapters while more demanding users with more specialized needs will find more of what matters to them as they continue reading.

There really is nothing here for a Notes Administrator except to find that this is THE book to recommend to end users to answer their questions effectively. There is a wealth of information here on using short cuts and formatting documents to produce more appealing presentations. And the authors also do a great job of suggesting ways to improve collaboration and workflow in a team environment.

The information on subscriptions was too brief and I think it would have been helpful to warn users that sometimes you just need to shut down Notes and restart it to get some things to work properly.

If you need to be more efficient in your communication and documentation in a Notes environment, this book will help.

The ease and effortlessness needed to learn this topic were presented in such a way that it didn't seem like work. I enjoyed the well written facts needed to help me complete my work with a brand new product. I don't want an explaination just show me how it works. These authors take the time to explore every detail and teach me the ones I need to succeed. Thank you Jane and Dorothy for making my "Notes" simpler.

A big question for me when buying my first book on training for racing, was "Who provides the most reliable and important information?" I have seen Dr. Burke quoted in a variety of sources including Bicycling magazine, Velo magazine, and Chris Carmichael's web site. So I had the impression he is respected in the sport. Further, when reading his writings in other sources, he has gone into the underlying physiological processes that contribute to one's performance on a bike. As such, I decided to purchase his book based on his apparent credibility and the depth of information he provides. Strengths of his book include its excellent coverage of what goes into training for competitive cycling. From beginning "base training" to sprint training, periodization, and planning one's training for the entire year. He also speaks at length on nutrition, equipment/rider aerodynamics, body positioning on the bike, and adjunct training methods. Again, there is an emphasis on underlying physiological processes including some discussion of relevant research. I would say the book's weaknesses lie with it's failure to address racing tactics. Certainly, you learn about what is happening with the body at race pace, but this book will not tell you about positioning for a sprint or pacing one's self for a time trial.
In short, buy this book if you are serious about racing and want to enhance your knowledge of what goes into training for competition. Don't buy this book if you want to learn about tactics.

Burke, a well known name among cyclists, gives very detailed and sometimes complicated advice about how to train, how to create a training schedule for various goals, how and why to make a training diary, etc. Readers should be aware that his advice is aimed at the very serious cyclist, and his training schedules range from those for serious collegiate cyclists (~15hrs/week) to professionals (~25+ hrs/week). His advice is sound, but it may be more than most people really need. His peak mileage (feb) is 2000miles--that's 500 miles per week!

Very detailed, I found "serious cycling" easy and enjoyable to read. Ideal for the self - coached athlete, it helps personalize your cycling program depending on your present abilities. While reading you find that there is much more to training and becoming a better rider then you first thought, but it puts the "why" into training in addition to the "how" giving a better understanding and appreciation with what changes your body must undergo to be a better cyclist.

Periodization, training modes, keeping diaries and more... The nutrition section I found to be a little "old school" but, nevertheless, interesting and backed by studies. This information is aimed at the "serious cyclist" and may be too much for someone not willing to put forth the 15+ hours a week.

After years of looking for a book with spanish slang with no limitations, I have found it! After picking up the basics back in Spain, I wanted to know more, and nearly drove myself crazy looking for a book on it! It has some great illustrations, has practically all the slang you could need, rude or not, and has all the spanish variations such as Cuban, Chilean, Argentinian etc. For me, I think it's brill! But then again, I'm an enthusiast, and after all this time....I've found it. Even so, it's good for a giggle, good for a reference, and for using against your non-spanish speaking mates!

This book is so important to the field of Spanish education that I'd recommend it to anyone attempting to develop fluency in Spanish. Business people, doctors, teachers, or travelers can all benefit from this book. As a teacher of Spanish, I've observed that one of the most difficult challenges for students is making sense of the idioms. This book is the ultimate remedy! It provides clear, concise definitions and examples that will ultimately make the difference between being good and being fluent.

Idiomatic structures are often difficult to translate, so a student of Spanish will usually attempt to interpret an idiom in a literal sense by translating the words separately instead of as a single unit, since without special training it is not easy to recognise a Spanish idiom when it crops up, consequently leading to erroneous, nonsensical renditions. However, Street Spanish 2 bridges that gap by providing the necessary tools to deal with this problem efficiently, showing how to avoid those embarrassing situations.

This self-study guide contains an abundance of universally popular idioms compacted into each chapter, which represent what you would normally learn if you were living in a Spanish speaking country for a number of years trying to cope with the finer intricacies and colloquial expressions that form the backbone of everyday spoken Spanish.

Each of the 10 chapters includes about 20 or more idioms in every dialogue, providing a challenge that compels you to examine the imaginative and expressive techniques used to communicate ideas and thoughts effectively. To be truly proficient in this language it is not only necessary to recognise idioms, but to have a clear understanding of their usage also, as these structures are widely utilized in movies, magazines and by native speakers. The course material is designed to allow the student to acquire this vital knowledge quickly, since it provides the key that unlocks the mystery behind mastering street Spanish successfully. I would therefore recommend this book to anyone desirous of expanding their knowledge of this popular language.

(Having the cassettes, which are not part of the package, would be an added bonus since you would hear the dialogues being spoken by natives of Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Peru, Puerto Rico and Colombia, providing a better feel for the language, its speech patterns and the varying pronunciations).