'Have you ever had a zit? Well, Jesus probably did, too. He knows what that's like.'

Marshall's book is extremely weak in regards to theology. The Bible does not discuss enough of Jesus' 'teen years' to fill 300 something pages of a slow witted and poorly written devotional.

The above statement is the kind of thing you will find with every page turn, speculation and lose theology.

The message is far too 'feel-good' and almost seems as more of a hiderance than help to any struggling teen.

In reading and looking at this book I have to say Mark Marshall has got all the qualities of a great Christian book writer! I have known Mark for a long time and he is true to his words. The book goes deep into the Psalms and from his heart. He is a firm believer in Christ the Alimighty God and has been a Christian all his life. His book writing skill are tremendous and to say this is one of those books that is hard to put down is true. I have known Mark for a very long time and if you want a book to lift you up heres the one for you!
My Name is Coolhand Luke Brady and thats my thoughts but you don't have to take my word for it!

I bought and read this book in good faith that it would be an amazing journey into the psalms. Boy was i not dissapointed. Mark is a very talented and wise man. He touched me deeply. This book is very highly recommended by me, a 17 year old troubled teenager. Thank you mark for this amazing and well-written book. Now, time to get that novel out!!

To put it bluntly, the Monarchies of God series has been getting worse with each additional book. At first, the innovative setting and original plot were enough to make up for the weak characterization and occasionally amateurish writing. But after three books, Mr. Kearney's faults become too glaring to ignore, especially since the novelty has worn off.

Two-dimensional characters are often defined through childish dialogue and direct authorial statements, rather than through their actions. Dialogues are frequently painful to read, being cliché-filled and uninspiring. What's worse, the plotline gives itself away at every turn, and the reader rarely has any doubt where the action is going. Finally, as mentioned in the review title, the book opens with a disgusting rape scene that is inappropriate for younger readers.

My verdict, obviously, is that the Monarchies of God series is no longer worth reading; I'd reccomend George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series instead. The writings better, the characters have depth, and the plot twists are truly unexpected.

Paul Kearney's third book in this series begins to finally tie together some of the plot lines that have built up during the previous two books. Needless to say, his high quality of writing is again on show. Likewise, the gritty nature of warfare in this series makes this book one for more adult readers.

The author manages to combine absorbing plot threads and action with quality characters, and a sense of depth that other authors such as George R Martin have become (rightly) famous for. I highly recommend this book, along with its two precursors as well-worthwhile reading material. As always, never judge a book by it's cover. My first impressions of the dustjacket design and story synopsis were lukewarm at best. Having finally picked it up and read it I was far more impressed than I thought I would be. Of course, if you don't read them in order you're shorting yourself.

In "The Iron Wars," Paul Kearney outdoes what he has done in the first two books of "The Monarchies of God" series. This book is much more political than the first two novels and this has much more military action than them as well. This book opens up with a riveting prologue that will be sure to lure you in to this creative tale. From there you are taken back to the lands of Normannia and its doings.

Even though this book doesn't deal with what is going on on the Western Continent, this book is still great. Most of the novel involves Albrec and Avila and their quest to bring the biography of Saint Ramusio to Macrobius and the war that is being taken place with the Merduks. Therefore, most of this book takes place in Torunna, while some of it takes place in Hebrion's capital, Abrusio.

Kearney's writing skills are superb. Not many author's are capable of doing what Kearney does. He gives you many plots and lots of characters and manages to keep you hooked like a skilled writer should. You won't be bored while reading this book as important events take place one after the other.

This isn't the best fantasy novel that I've ever read but it will certainly leave an impression on me in years to come. If you have read the first two novels of "The Monarchies of God" series then this is the book for you to read. This book will not disappoint and I guarantee that you will enjoy this novel immensely. This is what fantasy is all about it.

Happy Reading!

This book is basically a re-release of the book Mike Plant wrote 15 years ago. The people he writes about have not competed in a long, long time. Mark Allen is merely an up and comer here, rather than the reigning (now retired) champion we all remember him to be today. The author defends this re-release indicating that the only changes he has perceived are essentially the crowds, the bike technology and the advanced training regimens. OK, I liked reading the book to learn about the history and details of the race and now know my body probably could not survive the heat of the run. Nevertheless, I would have appreciated an update on this world famous event, rather than this attempt to cash in on an old work, with minimal input.

After all these years, Mike Plant's book still captures extremely well how the Hawaii Iron Man evolved from a death-defying challenge that nobody believed could be raced, to a full-fledged professional championship race that could be fought to the wire by men and women who made that day in Kona the focus of each year. Especially revealing are the author's portraits of Ironman legends Dave Scott and Scott Tinley. Having been taken by Plant into ST's mental and physical preparation for the race year after year, I finished the book feeling a little sorry that Tinley never beat Scott head-to-head in Kona. Much like an Ironman race, the book for me started out a bit conservatively, perhaps unsure how to approach the subject best. But once the setting and the characters fell in place, Plant's narrative moved a lot faster, much like a race that had begun to build in drama.

I would like to make special note of Plant's appreciation of Ironman founder John Collins and long-time race director Valerie Silk. For so many of us who compete in triathlons, follow the action, or just dream about running down Alii Drive some time before the 17-hour cut-off time, it is important to remember how improbable the Ironman's birth, and fragile its nascent years, really were. That, combined with the fact that this race could be blessed with such great, enduring athletes as Scott Tinley and Dave Scott to usher it into the limelight and maturity, is really miraculous, like Silk's fortuitous choice of courses on the Big Island.

I would have liked to read more about female athletes, such as the Puntous twins, Erin Baker, and even Paula Newby-Fraser. Plant barely mentions Sylviane and Patricia Puntous until close to the end of the book, and then nearly all the descriptions are negative. Baker and Newby-Fraser are reverently described, but in nowhere the dramatic shades that the men receive.

Lastly, the atrocious proofreading cannot go unmentioned. After a dozen years since the original printing, one would think that Velo Press could have paid someone a few quid to sit down and correct errors. The mistakes get even worse in the Epilogue, where the author calls triathlon great Greg Welch "Greg Stewart" twice in one paragraph, and an entire paragraph is repeated twice, but slightly differently phrased. This mars an otherwise classic 4-star book severely enough to merit a deduction from this Romanian judge; otherwise, it's a fantastic read that belongs on the shelf with Scott Tinley's own Triathlon: A Visual History (also marred by poor proofreading, but worthy of classic status).

As the founder of the Ironman Triathlon back in 1978, I have seen many attempts to get the story down on paper. Mike gets it better than anyone else so far. I was out of the triathlon picture for some years and appreciate Mike's total, beginning-to-end coverage of the Ironman history. The very few items with which I would take exception are all areas where other early participants have differing recollections or personal agendae. Mike is very careful to cover all sides of an often many-sided history. I recommend this book without reservation. John Collins (9th place, Ironman Hawaii 1978)

This short review will hardly help anyone, but I had to write something after reading some of this book. In the first chapter, the authors basically come across - even if covertly - as homosexual bashing, and to me, more towards men. Their whole approach, demeanor and disposition are so ludicrous, uncompassionate, unacademic and unjustifiable. I can't believe I was able to get through the environment that they set up in their book; save I keep in mind that these two are *not* experts or scholars in this field whatsoever. After chapter one, I was ready to throw the book out. To any credit, I do give some praise for finding a few interesting things while persuing the rest of the book, though I will not count anything in there as gospel. And I will not read this book in its entirety. If I don't get it sold on Amazon quickly to recoup a little money, it's headed not for the library, but for the landfill.

Found the writing style dry and uninteresting. Felt like reading someone's dissertation. May be used for reference reading but attempting to read from cover to cover might bore you out. Would recommend "Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps" instead.

I don't know what the editor(s) of this book were thinking in terms of the silly way sections end, and certain blanket assertions/assumptions the authors make about society; however, the basic information and research presented are fascinating and important. I wish I felt better about saying everyone should read this thought-provoking book. It would make the world a more humane place for both men and women if more people understood the points this book makes.

Herrnandez is someone who knows what he is talking about in this book. This book is not about the balisong knife exactly, but rather about Herrnandez's life and how much the martial art of the balisong and Arnis de Manao are a part of his life. To say he was a brawler would be an insulting understatement. Though written in a way that shows a minimum of education, it is insightful. This is the real thing, gritty and from the heart. Though not intended as an instruction book, it does lay down a few knife basics and provides some helpful street survival tips from Herrnandez's own life of fighting experience. Herrnandez sounds like Bruce Lee at times, in that fixed forms and positions do not a true fighter make and that if one wants to learn, one has to get in the water, so to speak. Practice, pain, dedication, and sense are what you will find about Herrnandez. You may like him, you may not, but this book holds truth.

This was a great book. Basically, it is a memoir of Mister Hernandez's life growing up in some of the toughest waterfront areas in the world. He talks about learning the art of balisong -- old school. You drop yer knife, you get a kick in the chops and 50 pushups! No fancy moves like "rolls" and "ariels" here! No, you just get that puppy open and go to town! He talks about a number of ways to open the balisong in a single fluid movement -- from every possible grip. Then, he discusses angles of attack, as well as a few "dirty tricks" that have worked for himself and others. Loads of memorable anecdotes and numerous pen and ink illustrations. Too bad this great piece of history is currently out of print -- unless you've got money to burn, [this price]is a bit too much to have to spend on a paperback!

So many technical errors that it should be labled as a fairy tale. Cannot be believe it was printed! I paid a dime for the book at a yard sale and feel ripped off!

I have to disagree with the previous review. This book does capture the essence of what soldiering is all about. Yes there are several technical errors, but I did not find them to detract from the power of the story. This book reveals the love/hate relationship that so many have with the Army, any Army I dare say. Having departed the institution only a few months ago I feel confident in saying this. There is so much to hate about the profession of arms, but there are those few rare moments - sometimes they occurred years ago - that you still treasure.Somehow those moments can keep one going when everything is at it's worse. That is what Carsten Stroud does in Iron Bravo. The book has wonderful atmosphere - one of Stoud's strengths as a writer - and presents the mind of the professional soldier beautifully. This book dosen't place the soldier on a platform, it merely shows them warts and all. And in my opinion the soldier comes out shining.

In a modern high-tech army, where officers move from one comand to another as they move up the ranks, it is the NCOs who have become the repositories of the history and tradition of the military. Iron Bravo is a semi-fictional account of the history of the US infantry as seen and understod by one NCO- a lifer named Crane- through his knowledge of unit history, his memories of Vietnam and his experience in returning to war in the Gulf. Stroud spent a year with the 1st, and this book is a compilation of the experiences of various soldiers, retold as the story of Sgt. Crane.

There have been a great many books written about the experience of the infantryman through history, many of them excellent; what Carsten Stroud brings is a perspective over time. He's a combat veteran of Vietnam and a student of history, and he understands what it is that is common to the experience of the foot soldier throughout history. He takes pains to show how it it is that experiences of individual infantrymen through history constitute an unbroken thread across nations and through time. Stroud's description of the advance of the US 1st Armored Division through Iraq and his parallels to the WWII battle of the Kasserine Pass is particularly illustrative.

While not a scholarly history, neither is this the typical I-was-there story. It's a unique way of telling the infantryman's story, and as such, of interest to readers of both combat stories and military history.

Joe Quesada isn't the worst IM writer ever but he is far from the best (With Dave and Bob I doubt anyone ever can be) The Sentient Armor was a silly idea to begin with so and their wasn't much that Joe Quesada could do to pull it out of the fire. And to the reviewer that was dissing Kevin Smith...I think you don't know what comedy is....

Why this was made into a TPB, especially so soon after the original comics' publication, is beyond me. Quesada takes a good idea -- Iron Man's armor coming to life -- and does a decent job of it. (Although not as good as Mike Saenz did with the all-computer-generated-art graphic novel CRASH.) The living armor's origins are pretty apocryphal (the "Y2K bug?" Come ON!), but it gets pretty spooky when the armor gets nasty -- in particular when it "deposits" Tony Stark on a desert island so that he can ponder whether he should join w/the armor or not!

The events of this TPB are being expounded upon in Iron Man's title even now, so many of its aspects may be rendered moot.

This is a fantastic story! I don't see why people hate it so much. It basicly goes from a plot idea of "What if Tony's Iron Man suit became sentient - that it became self aware. Also has touching ending.

I would not buy this book because the Monitor fought a Confederate Ironclad called the C.S.S. Virginia. The Virginia was built upon the salvaged hull of a union ship called the Merrimack (with a "k"). There was another ship built by the union, called the Merrimac (without a "k") but it was a paddle wheel boat and it never fought the Monitor.

This is a very well-put-togther, informative book about the ironside USS Monitor and its Confederate counterpart, the CSS Virginia. The title of the book was obviously off-putting to one reader, since it referred to the Merrimac (the name of the Virginia before it was re-fitted and re-christened by the Confederacy), but don't let that stop you!. This book delves into a fascinating part of American military history. The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac changed the course of naval history, and had repercussions all over the world. This book is a great introduction into that period in history.
For those who are still concerned about the use of Merrimac as opposed to Virginia: 1) the US gov't never formally recognized the Confederacy as a sovereign state, therefore the Confederacy would have had no authority to re-christen the ship (ergo, the original designation of Merrimac is, in fact, correct); 2) even during the Civil War, in both the North and the South, the name Merrimac was still widely used to describe the ship -- and remains the more widely recognized and acceptable of the two.

The story of these two ironclads is one of the most famous incidents in naval history. As stated in the Ken Burns Civil War Series, "for a moment, every other navy in the world stood obsolete." This book is very effective in chronicling the story of these ironclads, and should be viewed as such, instead of focusing on petty details.

This book, written by a pair of ex-convicts, was amusing and strange. A lot of space was devoted to nutrition (with some questionable data), physical conditioning, and a dubious "history" of knife fighting. The techniques depicted vary from good to ill advised, but are definitely worth a look. There is some good advice in this book, but it cannot be considered "all good." I would recommend this book based solely upon the authors' numerous anecdotes (from barroom brawls to fighting with sharpened NAIL CLIPPERS in juvie hall). Bizarre!!!

This book was a good read until the last chapter or so. It went off on a nutritional/work out tangent that will leave most readers going "Huh?" Anyway, the methods outlined are quite good...similar to Applegate and Pentecost (possibly it influenced the latter). For pure instruction, I would go with Pentecost's book since it is much more to the point...but Bloody Iron is a much more enjoyable read.....these guys share their prison stories. Plus you get to see some pretty horrific fashions from the 70's era!

After spending many years in the sometimes violent world of law enforcement (police officer), I have read many books and articles by the so-called "experts" in real life deadly encounters. This book is much different. It is written by two guys who's credits are which federal penal institutions they have been incarcerated in. These guys are the real deal. They present the brutal and ugly world of personal combat in a no nonsense and straight ahead approach. No fluff or unrealistic B.S.. This book dispells the modern martial arts approach to defense against edged weapons, an approach that has caused many their lives. This is a must read for anyone who works in a violent occupation.