writter takes way too long to get to the point. Instead of liking the characters they become annoying.

I purchased The Window Pain while I was doing a booksigning in New Jersey and I am glad that I did. I started it last night and finished it this morning. Steve Perry tells a powerful tale about a young man, Tarique, raised in an abusive household until his mother gets the courage to flee. After that, they build a new life and Tarique experiences all of the common issues facing young boys as they become men. His best friend, Shandell, is just as intriguing and the two of them pack a powerful message for the youth of today. I have a fourteen-year-old son and I am placing the novel in his hand the second he comes through the door today. Hopefully he will learn things from the characters in the book that I could never fully express to him.

Sadly, Anne Perry seems to be losing enthusiasm - this latest in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series started off badly and degenerated into a boring and tedious read. The usual cast of characters that were vividly portrayed in the previous Pitt books either made cameo appearances (Aunt Vespasia and Charlotte's mother, Caroline) or were conveniently absent (Charlotte's sister, Emily and her husband, Jack). Perry seems to have gotten hung up on the issue of militant feminism in this latest book, and this has severely impacted the "detecting" aspects that were present in her earlier books in this series. But all is not lost - Pitt's boss, Cornwallis, appears to have fallen in love - with the wife of a Bishop no less! Is this an echo of what happened to Pitt's previous boss - he fell in love with, and married, a widow? I hope that Anne Perry does better with her next Pitt book. Me - I would prefer Lindsey Davis's Falco series any day.

In the late 1890s, what did it mean to be a woman in England? What did it mean to have a religious faith against Charles Darwin's new theory of evolution? Anne Perry at her finest draws the reader to experience what only one could have imagined. 10 years after Sarah's death in Cater Street, dashing Dominic Corde has taken the cloth of the curate, sharing the home with Reverend Paramenter and his family and Unity Bellwood, 'a new woman', who has a passionate belief in educating women, having the vote, and Charles Darwin. Religion and those who follow it are fodder for her mockery of such arachaic notions. So, who causes her violent death at the bottom of the Paramenter's staircase? Thomas and Charlotte must traverse through some of marriage's most difficult tests and examine their beliefs, when it appears as if Dominic might be the murderer. Jealousy, freedom to choose who one might wish to marry, passions that cause people to act and react, play an intricate ! part in this latest Perry, making the reader question are some choices worth dying or are desires and wants as useless as crying over split milk?

Perry's latest Thomas and Charlotte Pitt Victorian novel is yet another splendid "affair." As an historian, I would still say that novelist Perry is one of the finest Victorian era, zenith-of-the-British-Empire historians. More than anyone else, she has brought to the forefront the texture, darkness, light of the Victorian era, with its nasty social problems, its deep sense of caste, its range of crippling discrimination, its arrogance and cruelty - and the courage and stamina and wisdom of its common folks. This novel is no exception. Perry always takes a contemporary social problem of today, traces back to its origin or presence in the Victorian period, fashions a mystery around it, captures a reader's sense of outrage at that "ancient" abuse - and hopefully, reminds one of the continuity of that abuse to today. The focus this time is on a philosophy and a disdain and the ends some would go to insist on one's own truth.

Whenever she comes! to town, my question to her is usually, "What is your next book about?" She always, remarkably responds, "I am working on two now, and I think you will find the plots interesting." Her mind is as creative and active as anyone I have met. Amazing.

Angel lust might possibly be the worst book I have ever had the displeasure of reading. It is poorly written with flimsy, plasic characters that offer absolutely nothing and is little more than cheap tawdry porn. If you're looking for a novel don't bother, and if you are looking for erotica you could find better material in a bathroom stall.

Excellent book, a little challenging at first but once you become accustom to switching centuries, it really holds your attention. It would be a great book to begin a series with about Tom & Bert.

After reading a lot of serious non-fiction this book was a great break from it all. I like the way Perry blows out the Judeo-Christian concept of angels and God being all goody-goody and making them real living beings. It's a fun, sexy, fantasy, adventure. I really enjoyed it. 4 stars because I didn't like the ending...

I found that though this book offered some cute lighthearted insights to relationship astrology, they missed the boat on facts and truly diagnosing a relationship's merit with astrology. There is no mention of the idea that aspects or other parts of the couple's charts will have any importance in the relationship chart, which is simply not true.

This book explains 144 patterns of Mars/Venus combination in each sign. The focus is on their sexual implication. Their interpretation is quite detailed and each pattern is supported by a case study of celebrity's experience. Hence, I think that this book can be of great use, if you are interested in the sexual meanings of planets, which are usually overpassed in other astrological books.

I loved this book. It's a great icebreaker -- fun and great for parties. I've got other Birthdate and astrological characteristics books, but this one is the most fun. The Perrys' wit is tongue-in-cheek and I can tell they're just the kind of people I'd like to invite to a dinner party. I'll be looking forward to their next endeavor.

As a MIS major in a co-op school, I thought that learning VB would give me a competitive advantage when I applied for a job. This book was excellent in providing a general overview of all of the things that you can do with VB. Like a survey course in college, however, it merely scratches the surface. THE BEST WAY TO LEARN VB is not through a book, class or any other academic environment. THE BEST WAY TO LEARN IS BY DOING IT. Hands-on (not the easy spoon-feed exercises found in most books) experience is the best teacher. I wanted to learn VB, so I would get a job where I use it every day. The better I get, the more I would get paid. However, this is not always possible, and I recommend the following books for those who want real "hands on" exercises: Visual Basic 6 Developer's Workshop and Sams Teach Yourself MORE Visual Basic in 21 Days.

There's another version of this that comes w/ a developing version of VB6 - w/ the exception that you can't compile your programs.

Still, it's good enough to work along w/ the book as you're reading it. I bought VB1 a LONG time ago, and upgraded to VB3 years later. Back then, VB was still a little difficult to work w/ but I managed to get a few very helpful applications written for myself.

Now, searching like a madman for a freeware/shareware version of something that would meet my specific needs, I'd given up and decided to write it myself.

The question I had to ask myself was, "Is VB6 worth the upgrade?" To just write a few small applications and the hastle of learning another version?

The answer is a resolute - YES! This book just touches the surface of what VB6 is capable of doing, but it's enough to get you started. Once you've mastered the small apps here, you can go to online resources for more in depth help. I'd buy this book, as well as a more in-depth book that's filled w/ examples. You have to start somewhere!

I've programmed in Assembly Language on mainframe computers for 5 years and know quite a bit about programming techniques. I've been looking for a good book to teach me VB 6 and found this to be execellent. Sure, it teaches basic programming techniques, along with VB. But I've learned alot and feel confident that I can program useful stuff with VB. The examples are clear and concise, and the end of chapter exercises are excellent. (Other books I've read on Visual C++ had horrible exercises at the end.) I'd recommend this book to everyone wanting to learn the basics of VB 6.0.

After having read AVP: Prey, I followed reviewer Seth's advice from below and read Aliens Berserker and AVP War in sequence. I couldn't put either of them down! The descriptions of the MAX dealing destruction to A's and P's alike are really vivid, painting pictures in my mind...Perry rocks! I recommend the entire trilogy, but like others here, I wish there had been some Predatorial 'diversity of attitudes' in the 3rd book.

I really liked this book, actually stayed up till 5 in the morning to finish it. S.D. Perry is unquestionably the best author in the Aliens and Aliens vs. Predator series and this book doesn't fail to dissapoint. The characters are strong, the action is graphic, and the atmosphere is dark and disturbing, just the way an Aliens novel should be. If anything, my only complaint would be that it was too short. She could have developed the plot a lot more, but it's a small enough complaint. Another review mentioned the error that was made in the timeline. I noticed it too, but honestly didn't care. I thought "Hunter's Planet" was awful, worth forgetting about. For anyone who hasn't started this series yet, read Aliens vs. Predator: Prey first, skip Hunter's Planet and read Aliens: Berserker instead.

This book is for anyone who knows anything about Aliens or Predators or likes Mrs. Perry. It is a real treat to those of us who have read Aliens: Berserker. This book does start off kind of slow but begins to pick up pace later. Even with this factor you'll never want to put it down. It is a great addition to any sci-fi library. Plus it actually explains AvP: Hunter's Planet I think it was? Anyway...pick up this book if you're into S.D., Aliens, Predators, or just science fiction...it won't disappoint.

This is among the most unique perspectives on the the Confederate Army that has ever been written; which leaves one wondering whether the authors started off writing about the American Civil War and via some mystery of histography wound up with Caesar fighting the Germanic/Celtic hordes in the American South.

They obviously forgot that there wasn't that much difference in the basic demographic structure of the two armies as far as ancestry is concerned. And the argument is not even coherently expressed and absolutely no "hard" evidence presented that the Confederate Army was composed of suicidal maniac "Huns" intent upon blood and death. It is indeed dangerous when historians delve into the dangerous ground of genetics - it has to do with using "numbers" I think - and come with the idea that red hair and blue eyes spells doom and madness upon the battlefield. Is it any wonder the "hard" scientists really don't take the "social" sciences seriously after one has read a book like this. I pick it up every now and again hoping that I discover it was just a parody afterall.

But nay, it indeed attributes the aggressive and impetious attacks of the Confederates to their Celtic inheritance, and thus dumbly were driven to their doom because they had no choice - it was in the "blood".

As King Lear would say, who truly was a Celt - "That way lies madness!"

Get it for fifty cents and then think no more upon the matter.

McWhiney and Jamieson use Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage to effectively stage a war between the American Englishman of the North and the American Celts of the South. The authors engulf themselves in the heritage and culture of the South and its ties to its Celtic ancestry. Their viewpoints on how and why the Confederacy lost so many men are saturated throughout the book. Their exposition on Civil War tactics and how they were altered or rendered ineffective by technology allows the reader to examine the challenges faced by the Confederate commanders and soldiers in a war being fought solely with spirit and ambition.

McWhiney's thesis is much more of a stretch. He examines the disastrous Southern military tactics which cost the Confederacy its independence and argues that the reason the South stuck to these tactics for so long had to do with the Celtic ancestry and folkways of Southerners and of Southern culture. He contends that "the Confederates bled themselves nearly to death in the first three years of the war making costly attacks more often than did the Federals. Offensive tactics, which had been used so successfully by Americans in the Mexican War, were much less effective in the 1860's because an improved weapon, the rifle, had vastly increased the strength of defenders. The Confederates could have offset their numerical disadvantage by remaining on the defensive and forcing the Federals to attack; one man in a trench armed with a rifle was equal to several outside it. But Southerners, imprisoned in a culture that rejected careful calculation and patience, often refused to learn from their mistakes. They continued to fight, despite mounting casualties, with the same courageous dash and reckless abandon that had characterized their Celtic ancestors for two thousand years. The Confederates favored offensive warfare because the Celtic charge was and integral part of their heritage....There was no glory to be gained from fighting out of a hole in the ground."

Probably better suited for more serious students of the Civil War, "Attack and Die" by Grady McWhiney and Perry D. Jamieson, provides an excellent expose' about how the Confederates "bled themselves nearly to death..." by attacking with greater frequency than their Northern counterparts. The book also presents a very compelling argument about how the use of outdated offensive tactics, learned during the Mexican War, and antiquated in the face of major technological improvements to muskets and cannon, had a devastating effect on the South.

Another interesting, and controversial, aspect of the book is the authors' conclusion that the tendency for offensive warfare was deeply rooted in Southern culture, and Celtic heritage. While the authors lacked sufficient evidence to be convincing on this point, they were far more convincing about how the advent of the rifle made bayonet attacks obsolete, the offensive use of cavalry ineffective, and entrenchments and fieldworks highly prized by Northern commanders.

Although, as the authors point out that there were good reasons for the South to adopt a defensive strategy, they elected to pursue the offensive to the detriment of their cause. Certainly, it is difficult to argue with the fact that the South lost 175,000 men during the first 27 months of the war due to their propensity for offensive action, or how they lost 97,000 men vs. 77,000 men for the North during the first twelve major battles of the war, or how Pickett's famous charge resulted in the loss of 62% of his command at Gettysburg.

It's no wonder that these tactics prompted D.H. Hill to respond with, "it was not war, it was murder," in reference to the losses the Confederates took after repeated attacks against heavily entrenched Union troops on Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862.

This book is an insightful and worthy addition to the study of Civil War strategy and tactics.

This was a book I really liked. I found it facinating to read about another two members of the Tudor family. Maybe the most interesting thing about the Tudor family is how they managed to rule, or simply survive, in a time when cruelty, power struggles and dominance over women were common.

In this book Maria Perry tells us about the sisters' childhood and family background, as well as about their adult lives. In both cases the sisters had to marry a king as part of their father's attempt to keep or make allies, and not for love.

The eldest sister Margaret soon ended up as my favourite. She came across as a strong and couragious woman. In a time when women had no power, she fought to take control over her own life. When she was widowed and still pregnant, her brother tried to arrange a wedding for her. But Margaret wanted to marry based on her own choice, something her brother Henry VIII disliked. Later on she had to fight in order to keep her children, since they as heirs to the throne could be used as tools to rule the country by scroupulous men.

--Because this book, for the most part, except when the author decides to basically abandon a person or issue in it, is loaded with details. If you are interested in the life and times of Henry VIII, his relatives, friends and enemies, then you will likely forgive the author's apologist attitudes toward him (and her seemingly hyper-critical eye, in my view, of his sisters). If you are relatively thick-skinned about writers who do that, weaving their own opinions through the story they are telling, while supposedly presenting historical fact, you will find this book very interesting and fairly absorbing. There are a lot of minute details about banquets, clothes and social behavior, which are a lot of fun to read and know about, again, if you're interested in the first place. Which I am, so I liked this book.

Perry writes about the lesser known subject of Henry VIII's two sisters, Margaret and Mary who became Queen of Scotland and Queen of France respectively. It's really a review of his whole family, which shows that his sisters, even as political pawns were much more involved in events than wife focused biographies and legends would generally show. There is some early discussion of their parents, Henry VII and his Queen, Elizabeth of York, which shows how they inherited the royal propensity for pagentry and how, Perry's descriptions are sumptuous, the emphasis on sartorial wealth and jewels was really the political rhetoric of the day. More than that, it seems also have been a business, and many conflicts and wars can be explained by the need for the Tudors to pay for all their nice clothes and jewels--even, or especially, they owed money--so that they can keep being royals. Perry is as assiduous about the financial details as she is avid about the fashion details, and even if you aren't quite sure what the numbers mean the story is always readable, imaginative and intriguing, leaving its share of Historical what-ifs. (What if Mary's long-term youthful betrothal to Charles V of Spain had been honored, for example?) As one might expect Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn get their fair share of mention, but the context of their tribulations seems at once more mundane and more majestic.

for someone that has read the majority of magazine articles about perry ferrell and jane's addiction, watched "soul kiss" and "the gift" multiple times, owns many rare and live cds, and psi com's ep, i didn't learn anything new about one of the greatest rockers ever. the auther wrote the book in an attempt to be "tradgically hip" instead of delving into the life of his subject. though some of the knowledge he has of what bands jane's addiction were up against and/or playing with was interesting, i felt the author got off the track of what was important to the reader: the life of perry ferrell as a person, and an artist. after reading the book i immediatly came to this site to find another biography about perry that i might actually enjoy. no such luck. danny sugarman, are you interested at all?

I'm a big Jane's Addiction fan and I've always liked the Perry Farrell image...so I got this book to learn more about his views on lots of subjects. It barely really scratched the surface, and it had some incorrect information (ie. it said Perry's birthname was Simon Bernstein but it is actually Perry Bernstein to begin with). Still you should read it if you are a big fan because it does have some interesting info, but be sure to double-check the knowledge with a 3rd party before you swear about some of this authors' assumptions and information!

This is a cool book to get the progression of Perry Farrell from Jane's Addiction to the beginnings of Porno for Pyros, but it deals with the outside facts of his life, and not his actual life. So, if anything, the book is like a journalistic overview of Perry Farrell as seen through the eyes of the media, but not as seen through the eyes of himself. Much of the book is based in theory and conjecture, so you don't really come to understand who Perry Farrell is, if anything the book's thesis, is that nobody knows who he is. A bit disappointing, but it was cool to learn about the facts surrounding his rise.

For a number of reasons, I feel that the Net Force books have always been weaker than the Op Center series. I have three specific issues with this book. First, a number of recent "Clancy" books have been introducing story threads that are never used in the novel. There are at least two big ones in The Bear and The Dragon that brother me, but the same type of thing pops up on a smaller scale in Breaking Point. There is a lengthy discussion at the beginning of a handgun that takes different caliber rounds at the same time, but this was never used later in the plot. I believe that these types of wanderings keep the story from feeling tighter. Second, this plot could have been an Op Center or Power Play novel; very little about the plot made it a Net Force novel. This continues a trend in the last several Net Force novels to move away from the virtual reality plots that were initially used. While I think that this trend has actually improved the novels (I really disliked the virtual reality portions of the first novel), I would be interested in a series that more fully explored the military, economic, political and diplomatic issues of the "net."

There is also an interesting comment in this book about how virtual reality turned out to be nothing like anyone expected. This seems like a shot at people may have criticized the virtual reality sections of earlier books. I would encourage the author and other readers to look at Headcrash (winner of the 1995 Philip K. Dick Award) by Bruce Bethke or Snowcrash and The Diamond Age (winner of the 1996 Hugo Award) by Neal Stephenson for virtual reality that feels truer.

My third issue with the book is how compressed the timelines are. Both the Op Center and Net Force novels are laid out over a very short time frame. While I will not try to argue that so many major events could happen so quickly, I will take issue with the changes in the characters and their relationships in so short a time. In the Net Force novels, the changes in the relationship between Michaels and Fiorella over so quickly a period of time do not ring true to me.

I have been critical of past Net Force by suggesting that the characters do not act rationally or consistently. As someone with some experience with a troubled marriage and sharing kids, the pace of the relationship dance of Michaels and Fiorella seems unreal and re-enforces this feeling.

With so many good books to read, the final question is whether or not it is worth the investment to continue to read future installments of this series. For me, the answer is yes. One of the reasons that I read is to be entertained and, in spite of my concerns, this book accomplished that goal.

This is the first time I have read a Tom Clancy book. I was interested because of the computer angle. I REALLY enjoyed this! Lots of characters and sub-stories, although most of the characters are not delved into very deeply. That was O.K. with me because I was looking for action, not emotions. This book has LOTS of action! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because of the schmaltzy anti-feminist ending. Other than that, I would HIGHLY recommend it!

Just to tell the other's who say they don't understand that characters, you need to read the ones before this one. There are 3 other ones! No wonder you don't understand it. This is a good book.