I like the theme of this book, but the author relies on too many cliches to excite the readers interest. The story is basically evil and greedy politicians conspire with the liberal anti-gun media elite to do away with the constitution and bill of rights. Add into the mix the Fidelistas (Mexican invading army) and the Patriots (a group of, well, patriotic Americans wanting to fight the evil government and bring back America's greatness) And you have all the elements fo a great story. But, this particular story doesn't go anywhere, and the book ends without any resolution. I suppose that is left up to the imagination of the reader. Maybe the author intends to write a sequel? If so, I would buy it.

A book with a similar theme, but that is carried out with a lot more convincing detail is "Unintended Consequences" by John Ross. I highly recommend Unintended Consequences.

If you like Westerns, you'll like the action in this novel. If your politics are right of center, you'll enjoy the political intrigue. Even if your politics are left of center, you'll enjoy this portrayal of the US in the near future, when three political factions are fighting for control of all or part of the country and some good people have to make some hard choices about which side they're on.

When "Patriot Radio is on the air" my friends and I listen. We are still trying to stake out our own political philosophies and D. Michael Phillips does a great job in assisting us. I would recommend this book to any college- aged student wanting to strengthen their grasp on the American political economy.

"NAKED INTO THE NIGHT" ANSWERS THE QUESTIONS POSED BY THE INEVITABLE MID-LIFE EXPERIENCE SO MANY OF WE "BOOMERS" ARE ASKING.LEAVING SELF-SUFFICENCY AND MOVING TOWARD FAITH AND FOCUS ON OTHERS IS THE PATH TO INNER PEACE. IN THIS PARADIGM, IT MATTERS LESS WHAT YOU DO, WHAT YOU HAVE, ETC. THE FOCUS IN THIS BOOK IS ON HOW WE DO WHAT WE DO.IF YOU SEARCH FOR FREEDOM AND INNER PEACE, THIS BOOK HAS SOME OF THE ANSWERS.

Ran across this book several years ago at a local bookstore, lost track of it, found it again looking for something else. It's a wonderful novel about how one can begin a new life that is deeper and more connected than one's old one.

I don't particularly enjoy reading fiction novels, but I was intrigued by Winn's endurance to throw away his identity, his family, his prominent position in the community, and, most of all, his comfortable life. It's not every day that a very wealthy and educated middle aged man, sound of mind, decides to do something totally irrational, by leaving his loved ones, his bank accounts, his assets, and his successful business, and goes naked into the night, wandering around the country with the true hope to find a new identity and the true meaning of his existence. It takes a lot of guts and a 'desperate' drive. This is what kept me devouring the book page after page, depicting myself in the same situation, and living his experience as he is about to start a precarious new life, just about when he had pratically achieved everything and had accumulated wealth and power. Each chapter kept me nailed to its story with trepidation and suspense. I had a spiritual contemplative experience, and I cried with Booker, when Nita died. Now I can hardly wait to buy the sequel "Lost in Las Vegas" and to read more about Booker's new life with the Pueblo Indians.

The field guide was very handy in learning the specific animals and plants I encountered in Arizona.

It is handy to go back and look up an plant or animal in the field guide after a trip - ie. many of my travels were difficult backpack trips and the field guide was left in the car to save weight!!

this is the one to take! Like carrying a park ranger in your backpack to help you know what you are looking at. Trees and wildflowers, animals of the land, sky and water, minerals, stars of the night sky. Increase your knowledge and understanding of the beautiful places you visit and your own backyard. Check out the Audubon Field Guides to Florida and other regions as well. Well worth the money. Lots of color photographs and well organized for easy use.

This is a delight to come home to after a walk or a trip to the river. I try to bring a wildflower home to check out in the book, and am never let down.

While it seems almost an impossible undertaking to include four very large states in one book, in fact the Range guide helps focus the book quite a bit.

As an artifact, the book is well made and should last some time.

I am from the part of New Mexico that Agnes Morley writes about. My parents live in a canyon approximately 30 miles from the Morley homestead. This book tells it like it was and anyone living in Magdalena, Datil, or Pietown today can tell you so. Morley conveys a deep affection for the land and an independence of spirit that still holds true in the area today. It made me proud of my community to read her book. It was also fun reading some of the local history from a first-hand account. I particularly enjoyed Morley's portrayal of the lawyer Elfego Baca, who is a legendary figure in Socorro County. His reputation suffers quite a bit at her hands! The only aspect of local history that I found conspicuously absent from her book was any discussion of the local mining industry. Mining played as great a role in the area as ranching did at the time. I suppose it indicates that the miners and ranchers didn't mix much. Still, it seems odd that she doesn't even mention it.

I work for a school that just purchased 600 acres of the ranch described in this book. The area IS as beautiful as she describes, is as rugged and the people are just as hard-working and caring.

I found the book to be a great story. She says she is just a story-teller, but what a good one! It makes the past come alive. My husband and I read parts of it out loud, while camping in the very ranch she describes.

WARNING! Once you start, it is hard to put down.

The title is misleading, as she truly must have been a great lady. This is a classic memoir by a woman who grew up in 19th-century New Mexico, and worked and rode side-by-side with the men, taking the full responsibilities and knocks of a hard life and keeping a great sense of humor through it all. The only concession to her gender is that she apparently rode sidesaddle, remarkably enough!

I purchased this book from Jonathan himself, he was signing books in Greeley, CO after a major blizzard. I thought it sounded like a book I might like to read and I was amazed that I liked it more than I thought I would. I think I will read another one of his books. I have recommended it to a few people that I know. I would recommend it to all.

I picked this book up while in Las Cruces. The author, Jonathan Miller, was signing copies and I figured, why not? I read it and was amazed because I knew all of the locations he was writing of because Miller is a New Mexican native, or at least lived here long enough to write convincingly about the area. The main character is almost the lawyer side of Tony Hillerman's Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, not necessarily a Native American but all are deeply enrooted in the Southwest. Pick this book up if you want a great taste of local color, but it is a must read if you are from the area.

I am reading Rattlesnake Lawyer after buying it at a writers' conference where the author Jonathan Miller was on a marathon book signing. He is a very intelligent, personable young man. And his book captured my interest in the first three pages. Mr. Miller writes with expert skill, his characters are so REAL and well-rounded especially his protagonist Dan. And, WOW, does he have the "flavor" of New Mexico perfected. You won't be disappointed in reading this book!!!! Please do buy this book NEW as authors are cut out of the profits on used books which is a shame, it is worth every penny. And tell all your friends about this author and book. I want to see Mr. Miller become a best-selling author so I can read more from him in the future!!!

I debated between a 3 and 4 on this. So, it's probably a 3.8 overall, with some parts being 4.5. The story of the Preston's journey coupled with the many historic reflections is excellent. Preston has whetted my appetite for more history of the American Southwest. I struggled with the writing. Some expressions used by Preston were trite and distracting. For instance, throughout the book, when Preston meets people along his journey, he inevitably writes, "We shook hands all around." I was left wondering what the significance of that phrase was. In many spots the dialog seemed "canned" and I was wondering if the people interviewed really said those things. There were other writing distractions, but, I always found myself deeply engrossed in the discussions of historical events. Thus, more for the history than the writing, I kept reading, and I'm glad I did.

Reading a book twice is a rarity for me. But this book was worth both the investment (I bought one for myself, one for a friend) and the time. Having lived in and explored most of Arizona through backpacking, hiking, and horse trekking, I found Douglas Preston's recounting of his adventure to be both a delight and a thoughtful read.

Anyone who has experienced the difficulties and beauty of nature first hand, will benefit from this book. All horse lovers will find themselves and their fleet-footed friends well depicted in Preston's travails. And those who simply want to learn more about the Southwest, its original inhabitants, the Spanish conquest and the impact of civilization on this fragile landscape and doomed people will want to explore Preston's sensitive, well-documented exposition. His final observations on our future are prescient and a warning: we, too, may go the way of the Zuni, Navajo, conquistadores and ranchers.

What a wonderful read! From the first page I was gripped with not only the snippets of history of the region, but also the adventure of the author and his companions, riding horseback from Arizona's Mexican border to Santa Fe, retracing Coronado's sesarch for the Seven Cities of Cibola.

The tale is a wonderful one, as the author rides through present day Arizona and finds that the Old West is not dead after all. At considerable risk to life and limb, the adventurers ride the trail which they, and scholars, believe was Coronado's own, and in doing so meet ranchers and cowboys who relate their own histories and adventures in this wild but exciting land.

An incredible travel tale, and a must-read for those who enjoy history mixed with a good adventure.

Without doubt, this is the finest account of the technical aspects of the race to produce an atomic weapon at Los Alamos before the end of WWII. As other reviewers have noted, you don't need a degree in physics to read this book; however, you do need endurance.

"Critical Assembly" is a plodding, straightforward, chronological narrative of how talent and materials came together to make a bomb; a techno-nerd's dream. There is no attempt to delve into politics and ethics, make the characters "come alive" with interesting personal glimpses, or place it all in historical perspective. For that you need Richard Rhodes' "The Making of the Atomic Bomb."

Still, the authors did not write "Critical Assembly" to be a riveting historical novel soon to be a blockbuster movie. For technical information, it is the best single book available. To understand why anyone would care how the atomic bomb was made, let alone plod through the technical details, read "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" first.

This book is THRILLING in the scope and depth of its description of HOW the bomb was made. This was a unique historical event in that the best brains in the world, stimulated by a sense of extreem urgency and given, in effect, unlimited physical and financial resources accomplished in the space of three years somthing that in the 1930's was considered as Science Fiction.

The book is highly readable and understandable by non technical people. This book is proof that "once upon a time" we did things "Right the First Time" in this country. An outstanding historical and technical account of the "ultimate" invention.

Very well written and does not overwhelm the reader with technical minutia. This is an excellent companion to Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb and will please any student of the history of science.

Eloquent Silence, a reprint novel from Sandra Brown, is a sweet and endearing love story. Drake Rivington is a popular soap opera star, who is still trying to get over his deceased wife. Drake has a young daughter, Jennifer, who is deaf. Feeling that Jennifer needs a tutor to help her Drake hires Lauri Parrish, a teacher for the deaf. Lauri moves into Drake's house to help Jennifer, while Drake is on location for the soap opera. Sparks fly when Drake comes home for a break from his work. Eloquent Silence is a love story that will pull you in and grab hold of your heart. It is so easy to love Jennifer and wonderful to see her learn how to sign and even speak some words. While the little girl is winning your heart, her father and Lauri are falling in love. How sweet a novel!!

All soap opera fans will love this book! The handsome leading man of the most popular soap falls for a teacher, who could be you or me! That is the charm of this book! Total fantasy with some great love-making scenes. And the story ends the way we all wanted it to! This was my first Sandra Brown book and I am looking forward to more!

The author did good research on learning the deaf kids communication skills and the tools which are used. I believed the characters, the challenges they had and you look at this story as a true story, you learn from it and that's why it's so enchanting.

Needless and unfair rants against Pro-Lifers spoil this novel about two sisters in the Southwest. In several places in the novel Ms. Hall treats the reader to Pro-Life bashing of an extreme and one-sidded nature. These rants don't further the plot, develop character, or edify the reader in any way. I had to quit in disgust.

I enjoyed CATCHING HEAVEN a great deal and finding the characters real made me feel like I was right there with them. I wasn't turned off by the PRO-LIFE bashing as stated in the other review - in fact, didn't see it as bashing at all, but actually what "those" people do at clinics. Also, if you are THAT sensitive, then maybe you shouldn't read books in general - remember - the writer has the right to write what he/she chooses.
Great book - great story lines - great ending!! ENJOY!!

My friend gave me this book for Christmas and I usually love everything she gives or recommends to me but this time I was a little hesitant. I fought getting into it but soon found the characters voicing thoughts and feelings that I had thought were only hidden inside of me. Maud's questioning of why people have children, on page 203, and Lizzie later on thinking how it would only take 2 steps to reach out and touch Jake really hit me hard. How we find and lose, build and break and rebuild relationships, whether they are with the family we are born with or the family we create was so right on. These relationships were so real I felt like I knew them and had been there. I saw my friend in several of the characters and, of course, thought of my sister and myself. There was the good stuff I see in myself and others but I also saw the underbelly and selfish side of myself and others in this book. WOW ! This was a book I couldn't put down but made it last through 3 days so I could savor it bit by bit. I finally finished the last few chapters in a deluge of tears and am ready to read it again with a clearer head, this time. I am so pleasantly thrilled to find a book I want to give as a gift. I wanted to write this review as I was reading it. I want to write Sands and thank her. If Laurie hadn't given this book to me, I would have given it to her. I look forward to what Sands has to write next. I look forward to that journey of discovery.