Across the globe in Italy, The Black Rose Notebook is stolen from its private case in the Vatican Library and hand-delivered to Mossad Agent Josephine (Josey) Schulman. Josey has the ancient book special-delivered by diplomatic pouch to her father, a Professor of Theology at the Hebrew University in Israel on loan to the University of Chicago.

The forces of evil overwhelm the detectives and Mossad agent, as they are forced to accept and rely on paranormal powers and unbridle their long forgotten religious beliefs and faith to battle the Brotherhood. But can God favor telepathy, sheer determination, and love against satanic motivated PSYOPS (psychological warfare)? Can angels actually save Holy warriors from the depths of despair? Can der Golem, summoned by a Rabbi, help battle the spawn of Hell itself? Or will the world succumb to total mind control and adhere to The Brotherhood's protocols?

R. D. Weber takes the reader on a mind-boggling horror ride
in PROTOCOL-17. International intrigue and espionage, murder
investigations, occult and supernatural occurrences are blended
together in a compelling and frightening novel. Characters, human and supernatural, leap from the pages at times, via dialogue and description. Unforgettable villains and credible well-fleshed-out heroes add to this enjoyable thriller.
Readers of The DaVinci Code and cross genre King and Koontz novels will add Weber to their list of favorite suspense authors. His background as a former government agent lends realistic detail to his writing.

Across the globe in Italy, The Black Rose Notebook is stolen from its private case in the Vatican Library and hand-delivered to Mossad Agent Josephine (Josey) Schulman. Josey has the ancient book special-delivered by diplomatic pouch to her father, a Professor of Theology at the Hebrew University in Israel on loan to the University of Chicago.

The forces of evil overwhelm the detectives and Mossad agent, as they are forced to accept and rely on paranormal powers and unbridle their long forgotten religious beliefs and faith to battle the Brotherhood. But can God favor telepathy, sheer determination, and love against satanic motivated PSYOPS (psychological warfare)? Can angels actually save Holy warriors from the depths of despair? Can der Golem, summoned by a Rabbi, help battle the spawn of Hell itself? Or will the world succumb to total mind control and adhere to The Brotherhood's protocols?

R. D. Weber takes the reader on a mind-boggling horror ride
in PROTOCOL-17. International intrigue and espionage, murder
investigations, occult and supernatural occurrences are blended
together in a compelling and frightening novel. Characters, human and supernatural, leap from the pages at times, via dialogue and description. Unforgettable villains and credible well-fleshed-out heroes add to this enjoyable thriller.
Readers of The DaVinci Code and cross genre King and Koontz novels will add Weber to their list of favorite suspense authors. His background as a former government agent lends realistic detail to his writing.

Across the globe in Italy, The Black Rose Notebook is stolen from its private case in the Vatican Library and hand-delivered to Mossad Agent Josephine (Josey) Schulman. Josey has the ancient book special-delivered by diplomatic pouch to her father, a Professor of Theology at the Hebrew University in Israel on loan to the University of Chicago.

The forces of evil overwhelm the detectives and Mossad agent, as they are forced to accept and rely on paranormal powers and unbridle their long forgotten religious beliefs and faith to battle the Brotherhood. But can God favor telepathy, sheer determination, and love against satanic motivated PSYOPS (psychological warfare)? Can angels actually save Holy warriors from the depths of despair? Can der Golem, summoned by a Rabbi, help battle the spawn of Hell itself? Or will the world succumb to total mind control and adhere to The Brotherhood's protocols?

R. D. Weber takes the reader on a mind-boggling horror ride
in PROTOCOL-17. International intrigue and espionage, murder
investigations, occult and supernatural occurrences are blended
together in a compelling and frightening novel. Characters, human and supernatural, leap from the pages at times, via dialogue and description. Unforgettable villains and credible well-fleshed-out heroes add to this enjoyable thriller.
Readers of The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons and cross genre King and Koontz novels will add Weber to their list of favorite suspense authors. His background as a former government agent lends realistic detail to his writing. Stunning locales and great attention to detail make Weber a refreshing new voice in the thriller genre.

This is the book I've used for years when reading this story to my own children, passing on Tasha Tudor and other illustrators. Why?

Although we can find the same poem and pay a lot more, with award winning illustrators, the illustrations provided by Douglas Gorsline are surely the best. They are quite colorful, and offer details little children love looking into...cats lie sleepily on the window sill, we see an overview of the town, the presents spilling from the open sack are intriguing and plentiful, and Jolly St. Nick is -- well, quite Jolly (as you can see by looking at the cover!)

The story is an "abridged version" - I'm not sure about other parents, but we read this on Christmas Eve, and we only have so much time and energy. Everything we remember from the classic poem by Clement Clarke Moore is in this version.

(From "'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" to "He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!" In between we have everything, from the names of the eight tiny reindeer, to a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly, including dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky".

In other words, don't be scared off by 'abridged'!)

Perhaps a hardcover edition might be more appropriate if you're giving a gift (unless you're giving to more than one child), but this book is one of the best offers we've found!

A classic done simply and inexpensively!

The lyrics are the same, from book to book, but the fanciful illustrations in this one are enough to engage adults and children as they read this book together.

The perfect gift for any family whose Christmas tradition includes reading this classic!

- An plain English explanation of each class and method.
- Sample code for every class and method.
- Intelligent organization that enables you to find a given class or method quickly.
- A comprehensive, well-organized index that thinks like you do.

This summarizes the content of this book and the other two in the series and explains why they are the three books I wouldn't dream of programming in Java without. (I've been a professional Java developer since 1996.) Buy the book and make your life easier.

I'm studying towards my CCNP and already have the Syngress and Cisco range of books. I regard this book both as an investment and as a core book in my ever growing networking library.

It is known as the Bible of TCP/IP. It is great reading for beginners and for the most advanced reader.

The whole vol. set is a great investment as a resource.

With this book and Interconnection by Radia Perlman (which is quite good but dry). They will define the industry, as it is today and break down the RFC's to a readable level.

To continue I would suggest "Internet Core Protocols: the Definitive Guide" (comes with sniffer software).. It will help tie Comer's and Perlman's books together...

maggie is the oldest child having been raised in a home with no family love. she is close to her father and sister, but her mother is a different person all together. because of this lack of love from her, maggie is determined to make something of herself if only to prove her mother wrong. breaking the outer shell shes developed as a form of protection wont be easy, but rogan intends to do just that.

a lovely story with enough mystery to leave the reader hoping they have their copy of born in ice sitting nearby once they close the last page of this one ::smile

"Born In Fire" sets the whole tone for the 2 books that follow. While the relationship between temperamental glassblowing artist Maggie and upper-crust gallery owner Rogan is obviously at the forefront of this tale, the larger tale being told is that of 2 sisters and how they are coming to grips with the death of their adoring father and the reality of the long, loveless marriage he shared with their cold, bitter mother. The relationship and interplay between Maggie, her sweet-natured sister Brianna, and their shrewish mother provides some of the best dialogue in the book.

Maggie is a very well-developed character, who is so flawed and yet so wonderful that she is as human to the reader as one's own best friend might be.

What follows is Marcellus' seemingly inexplicable compulsion to understand and know the man whose robe he had won. Wandering in the Holy Land, he discovers more than he ever imagined about Jesus of Nazareth and the small-but-growing community of belivers in His prophesied Kingdom. Marcellus and those around him come to understand the promises and prophesies of the crucified Christos and await his return. As history records, however, not all around him share his profound faith.

My father told me about this book after he had given me a copy of another of Douglas' famous books, The Magnificent Obsession. I was truly enthralled by the vivid descriptions and characters. The story gives a depth to early Christianity which I had never known before. The book is written in a literary style that is unusual and somewhat unfamiliar to audiences of the current day, but I found that its unrushed elegance gave every page a quiet dignity that fit perfectly with the book's subject matter. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone.

This story was made into a movie (a modest testament to its power) in 1953 and was the first movie filmed in CinemaScope.

Written in the style of Ben Hurr, "The Robe" by Lloyd C. Douglas is a story of adventure and truth. This story follows Marcellus (a Roman tribune) on his quest to find the truth about this robe, these Christians and a man named Jesus. Tracing Jesus footsteps through Galilee and Cana and learning from the Christians in Athens and Rome, Marcellus finds more than he bargains for. He set out to find the truth and found a God he could finally believe in.

This is an awesome story of faith and hope! If you like historical fiction, especially that set in Jesus' time, you have got to read this book!

Douglas MacArthur was a colossus. He did not merely play an important role in the war in the Pacific, he dominated it and went on to play a crucial role in the West's early response to Communism in the Far East. William Manchester's exhaustive biography paints a warts and all portrait of the General. Manchester expresses rightful admiration for MacArthur's strategic brilliance and his amazing role in the recontstruction of post-war Japan. Yet, he does not shy away from criticism of MacArthur's extraordinary vanity which, in many cases, almost led (and during the Korean War did lead) to the General's downfall. I finished the book far more enlightened on the character of this individual and yet was left to draw my own conclusions as to his place in history.

Manchester's book is not just an immensely readable, throughly documented portrait of Douglas MacArthur. It also serves as a valuable work on the prosecution of the war in the Pacific and the early years of the Cold War and draws some very valuable and raises some interesting questions on the origin of America's entry into the war in Vietnam.

Individuals such as Douglas MacArthur should not be forgotten. Love them or hate them, they played a critical role in the history of the 20th Century and to the lives which each and every one of us live today. "American Casear" does justice to all aspects of Douglas MacArthur's life and character and I have no doubts that it will fascinate anyone who picks it up.

5 stars without any hesitation whatsoever.

I happen to love life with a passion and laugh near continually. I've never laughed as hard or as often reading than I did while reading this book. Never. Not even close. Imagine the person sitting next to you in a plane, seemingly without provocation, belly-laughs and can't stop. Then imagine it happening on a regular basis. You might wonder one of two things - when will he shut up and/or what is it that's making him laugh?

If you are at all curious why people laugh so hard so often and enjoy life so much...read this book. Please. No, really.

It's not just funny. If you can say 'just' and the type of extreme hilarity I mean in the same sentence without blasting the meaning out of the word 'just.' It's life Essential. I happen to love reading philosophy, eastern, christian, anything I can get my hands on. I'm so glad I got my hands on this collection. You finish the book and realize that you know a whole lot more than you thought you did about your world. Fortunately, a great deal of that knowledge consists of knowing you barely know anything at all. One of my favorite passages, to end...

'"Look," he said in a stern voice. But he wasn't certain how far saying "Look" in a stern voice was necessarily going to get him, and time was not on his side. What the hell, he thought, you're only young once, and threw himself out the window. That would at lesat keep the element of surpise on his side.'

...Please, for yourself and your happiness in life, read this book. If you come away and are anything but overjoyed to be alive...read it again. You must have missed something. =)

-Mike Fliss - mdf@duke.edu

In this classic story, Arthur Dent, a lovable and easily-confused Earthling gets dragged on the journey of a lifetime as Earth is destroyed by a group of Vogons to make way for a hyperspace by-pass. He is joined by a host of unforgettable characters: the easy-going researcher for the Hitchhikker's Guide to the Galaxy Ford Prefect; the hyper Two-Headed, Three-Armed President of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox; and his sexy companion former-Earth-reporter Trillian; and Marvin, the hopelessly depressed android. Together, they are off to explore the galaxy, battle with pesky mice-geniuses (no, not Pinky and the Brain), eat dinner at the end of the universe, travel through time, meet the man who designed Norway, redefine "improbability," patronize and annoy countless alien races, search for a decent cup of tea in an unforgivig universe, and continue the eternal quest to find out why 42 is so darn important.

Adams is a visionary. This is unlike any series I have ever read. Although "Mostly Harmless" was a slightly disappointing conclusion(?) to such an entertaining series, I will always consider the Hitchhikkers' "Trilogy" to be among the greats. If you do not own or have never read these books, then this compilation is a necessity for you. I recommend that you purchase it immediately, call in sick from work, school, or whatever, put up a small Somebody Else's Problem (SEP) field around you, and read it and again and again.

To me, the most valuable part of Larry Fine's book is the information on new pianos (although he supplies lavish information on piano mechanics,used pianos, piano care, and piano shopping as well as the information on new pianos). His book is unique in its effort to describe and explain the different brands and what sets them apart from each other. While the first three editions were all packed with useful information, the fourth edition adds an informal (but enlightening) rating system that ranks the new piano brands. This new rating system represents an extraordinary effort at an unbiased review of the different new brands, and it provides an extremely useful comparison among brands.

The rating system breaks new pianos down into general categories, providing a basis for the reader to use in comparing pianos within categories as well as between categories. Within each broad category, the rating system ranks the various brands. While many of the brands end up with similar ratings, this highly useful fact in itself provides the reader with enough knowledge for an educated evaluation of claims made by dealers in rival brands. The dealers should note: as Larry Fine points out, it is poor selling technique to try to sell pianos by criticizing the competition! Larry Fine's rating system highlights the unwisdom of this critical approach.

Educated by Larry Fine, a piano shopper will have a much more enjoyable experience than he or she might otherwise have had. You may agree with what he says, or disagree with it. You may find an individual piano that transcends the category into which the average piano of that brand seems to fall, or one which does the opposite. But at least you will be in a position of greater knowledge when you shop. Moreover, the book is well written and fun to read. A truly remarkable collection of attributes!