Ransom gives a well-written and knowledgable (especially for a poly-sci prof) account of the necessary distinction between politics (power) and the self, and the erroneous conflation of the two in traditional democracy as well as in bad readings of Foucault. Foucault spent much of the time writing from the perspective of power on the self, but the unanswered and crucial question is from the perspective of self on power - possibilities, realizations, implications, etc. Given the title I thought Ransom would give some interesting indication of a direction of investigation. He doesn't. He most often rehashes typical talk of 'care of self' etc. Nothing too illuminating. But then again, if you're not too knowledgeable on this, it might be of help.

Foucault has been afflicted by some misunderstandings of him. The implication of "critique" of power is one of them. Ransom, in this book, makes clear the Foucauldian sense of crtique and that of disciplinary power beyond sovereingty. But this book is , more or less, confusing and doesn't make a clear distiction between discipline and governmentality( or pastoral power).

This is the fifth in the Lacy's Mail Order Bride series. The first two were great, and the third one good, but the following books have not met that standard.

Ransom of Love is a good title for the story line of this book. They do a wonderful job of showing two different illustrations of how Christ has paid our ransom. The information on slavery was interesting and the hate and bigotry toward the slaves is unfortunately true. However, I found the book itself redundantly wordy and at times too simply written.

I only recommend this book if you have read the others in the series. For those who haven't - read the others first so you can see the quality of work the Lacy's are better know for.

I have enjoyed the entire series of mail order brides by these authors and found more substance and "meat" in this one. Reading about the various lives that are woven together, the differences in life choices by Christians and non-Christians, I found several stories that occur simultaneously to bring all the actors together. God's plan in our lives was never so clearly shown through words. A very good read as are ALL in this series. You will learn about slavery to the revival era of the late 1800's. Informative, entertaining, and thought provoking I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good read.

I havent read the book, but I see that the book is 6 weeks on the marcet and 11 people sell a new version and 7 a used version, which means for me that either the description for the book was a bit misleading or simple the book is not what the buyer expected , which is both not so good. I would be intersted to see a review from somebody having actually read the book.

The book seemed to be all over the place in the first 30-40 pages. I found myself constantly flipping back pages trying to figure out what was going on. The book settled down into a good yarn by the middle of the book. Some occurrences in this book seemed unbelievable. So ignore them and just enjoy the good action.

Set during the 1930s, "The Ransom" begins shortly after Christobel Kershaw's stepmother dies and the family (Christobel's father and 17-year-old younger brother Randall) comes together for the funeral. While "The Ransom" is supposed to be about Randall's kidnapping, that doesn't occur until about halfway into the book. The beginning half mainly has to do with the Kershaw's thieving servants and a gold digger named Mrs. J. Rivington Romayne who is all but climbing over Christobel's dead stepmother's body to become the next Mrs. Kershaw. I actually liked this beginning half, even though some readers may find it pointless to the overall plot.

It wasn't until around the midpoint that I began having difficulty finishing the book. For starters, the dialogue was slowing me down because of some of the character's accents, like this Scottish one: "This world's gangin' all aglae!" Then there were the occasions where the author wanted to preach at the reader instead of being a storyteller, which is her obvious intention by reading her bio--of being a "messenger" over a writer. So I'd just skim over these parts and move on to the bigger story.

While Livingston-Hill is a well-known Christian romance writer, there is no romance in this book. Yet I would hardly call it a suspense novel either. But readers who like wholesome, well-written stories that are somewhat akin to L. M. Montgomery, then I'd recommend this book.

Abigail Pearson has a weak heart and--according to her daughter JoAnna--an addled brain. Abigail lives alone in the family home and one night she suffers a heart 'attack', brought on by the appearance of the ghost of her husband.

The midnight visitor sets in motion a tornado of family events: Abigail's daughter and her hateful son argue over her fate, and her grandson and his pregnant young wife hover about, awaiting the promised legacy of the dark, ugly house--which they plan to sell to finance their start in life.

But events puzzle septuagenarian Emily Charters and her friend, Chicago detective Jeremy Ransom. They know the 'ghost' is human, and the torment of Abigail appears to have little motive, except for the nasty house that is all Abigail owns. What is the motive? What's the gain? And who begins killing off the players in this ill-fated, dysfunctional family?

The answers are surprising, and very real. "Ransom Unpaid" is a book about human motivation--greed, love, passion, and loneliness. It's well written, and is made more interesting by its character portrayal, particularly of the two old women.

I recommend it.

The research behind this biography is solid. The desire to study a black social gospel preacher is desirable, since they have been overlooked in other histories of that movement. Ransom certainly is worthy of study, since he was the most prominent black social gospel advocate. The 2-star rating is due largely in part to the lack of editing - numerous spelling and grammatical errors exist in this book, something that drove me nuts. It shows little respect for one's readers when such mistakes are allowed to exist, and they cause a person to lose interest in the material. Also, the book is far too brief to give a good view of Ransom's life and views. For an understanding of his opinions on various matters, tracking down a copy of his 1926 "The Spirit of Freedom and Justice" is suggested. This is a wonderful compilation of various speeches and poems by Rev. Ransom, offering a view into his beliefs on numerous issues. I also see on Amazon.com where another book about Ransom's writings is coming out soon - hopefully that will help people learn more about this major figure in the history of black religion in America (and in the social gospel in general).