This other book goes into this crime further and the association with the Manson Family. I remember reading this book a few years ago and it sent chills up my spine...why? well, because I used to date Bill Mentzer (the "hit man" profiled in this book. It's truly amazing that he could have actually been the person that I read about and I was, well, shocked to say the least. I thought he made all of his money being a body guard for the rich and famous and had no idea that the trips he took me on were his alibi's...scary stuff when I look back. I also learned from the book that he was cheating on me with Lannie what's her name. Well, at least it had a good ending and he ended up in prison where he 'ought to be after he got his 7 minutes of fame featured on "America's Most Wanted. I stopped taking his collect calls and letters since I saw the show and read the book.

Chilling true life crime. Good portayal of the subjects

Oh wow!!!! Just when you think you've read everything about very bad people, along comes this gem. The cast of characters in this book makes Caligula look like Mother Teresa. A real page-turner about the murder of an aspiring producer, Roy Radin, in the 1980s. Steve Wick is a reader's writer: he keeps the pace moving weaving the details into a very rich tapestry. I didn't want the book to end. NB--Because this book is out-of-print, run, don't walk, to the public library and check out a copy. It's worth your time and effort.

Ralph's descriptions are so real that I felt the heat, tasted the dust and puckered when there was a danger of getting shot. It was better than a movie. I was afraid to put it down for fear something would happen in the story and I'd miss it. I hope Ralph Cotton is around and writing for a long time

Ralph Cotton did a real good job describing the land and the people, the way they both played a role in shaping the life of William Bonney and the misguided insurance salesman. I especially like "Quiet JAck" Smith and wnat to read more about him

Ralph Cotton has chosen a character dear to my heart. His protagonist is, albeit an outlaw, a reluctant one. In this series of misadventures, Jeston Nash is perhaps best known as a man tryiing to get by during a time when a dollar was hard-made

Ralph, you have done it again. This story is about an Arizona Ranger Sam Burack, that is very quick on the draw, and an excellent shot with his trusty .58 cali rifle, and a list in his pocket of outlaws and one of them is a ruthless killer, Montana Red. But while pursuing Montana Red, the Ranger gets into quit a few different scaps, that only his wits and years of experience can get him out of. I give You a 5 star, Ralph, "Very Nice Work putting this series together",and would recommend any one that likes old west stories to read this well put together book. I have read the second book in this series also(BADLANDS), and cant wait until (HARD JUSTICE) comes out in the spring. Once you start reading you cant put them down.

Having read Cotton's Jeston Nash Outlaw series, While Angels Dance, Killers Of Man, and others, I couldn't imagine this new series topping them. On the surface Montana Red is one gutsy shoot-em up western in the tradition of Max Brand and, Louis Lamour. But the best part of the story is the underlying perception of human behavior. What violence does to the lawman and the other people involved is the stuff all great stories are made of. Cotton takes the reader and makes them face what they would do in these kind of situations. I couldn't put the book down until I finished it, and I still find myself goin back to it. Can't wait to see the movie.

Ralph Cotton is the next Louis Lamour. Montana Red takes the reader through a roller coaster ride of shootouts and tough western times when bad men were genuinely BAD! The story so captured me that I was afraid to put the book down for fear of something would happen and I'd miss it. It's definitely a page-turner from beginning to end. Can't wait for the next one.

I meet the author of this very moving story, in a small horse pasture, in southern Alabama, where we landed our Huey helicopter there in October 2002. We were there to interview John for the documentary film about the Vietnam experience called "In The Shadow of The Blade". It was there that I found a true real life hero. A man of great courage and great faith. I have found his life story to be both a spiritual, as well as historic look at who he was and who he has become. This is a must read for anyone wishing to go deeper into the understanding of the war and how it changed lives forever. John is a mountain of a soul and reading his book will inspire you. I do not think anyone can come away from the reading of his book without gaining much more respect for those men who "danced with the devil" in so many hot LZs in Vietnam. He fought the good fight and and paid the price with the loss of his leg - but he gained so much more heart and soul! This is a must read! I highly recommend it.

This book is full of emotion! A true Southern Gentleman from the heart. Many men faced the same tragedies, some are better for it and some not. Thanks to Mr. Givhan's southern heritage, he was and is able to cope with the emotions that I am sure he deals with on a day to day basis. The friendship that was concived and the ones that still exist are basied on the family values he has! This comes from a southern heritage, hard work and LOVE from family! This war took from us many special people, and left some here to deal with the TRUTHS that have finally been uncovered all these years! Our Government asked these young men to put their lives on the line for a cause, that I am not sure, was a CAUSE! The cover ups and lies that have been uncovered only make me wonder more about our Government! This book is well worth your time in reading. It made me more aware of this "war". It has stirred up a inquisiviness that I find has me thirsting for more knowledge about this "war", and it also let me know that there is still a "TRUE SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN" living in the south.

This story of one man's journey through life focusing especially on relationships and bonding during war time and the lasting effects this period had on his life moved me emotionally more than once. I learned more about men and war from this book than from my husband who also served in VietNam. I imagine many men and women can relate to this story though not many could tell the story the way John Givhan has. It has humor. It has warmth. It has love. This man searched deep to relate his experiences and it tells the story from an angle only those who have been there could know. But he made me see it all so vividly in my mind and heart. The story does not end when he left VietNam. It continues on to the years and discoveries he made about what really happened to him the day he was hit in a helicopter on a mission in VietNam. Intermixed with his experiences of the war are his experiences of his youth. They could be the memories of anyone's youth but these are his stories of how he grew up and it just happens to be in the south. This is a book on war but also a book on what war has done to this man and to families all over the world.

"You can't know a man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins," is the best quote I can come up with to sum up the impact of "Soon Will Come the Light".

Thomas McKean has presented in this book the one thing that I always wished for, but few books could offer---the ability to walk in my children with autism's shoes for a while and perhaps gain a deeper understanding of what their world looks and feels like.

McKean's writing reveals loving, gentle, brilliant man with autism, and his book is a stereotype buster. He shows us that people with autism have worth and wisdom to share with the world. He teaches us both through his inspiring gifts as a poet, and with his "no holds barred" personal thoughts on many of the current intervention trends in autism, such as auditory integration.

Even better, Thomas' book shows us who he is, a precious human being who walked away from life in an institution and bravely learned to coexist and compensate for the often harrowing sensory issues that come with a diagnosis of autism.

This book is a must read. It is a story of survival, courage, and the strong realization that people with autism have much to contribute to this world.

Mr. McKean is to be applauded for this timeless contribution to literature on autism. I will hold this book dear for a very long time to come.

Liane Gentry Skye
author
Turn Around, Bright Eyes-Snapshots from a Voyage out of Autism's Silence

As a teacher of students with Autism, I found this book to be very insightful. To be able to view Autism through the eyes of a person living with Autism was very helpful to me. I found his sections on sensory issues to be very informative. I loved his works of poetry at the end.

Thomas McKean gives great advice and valuable insight for parents of autistic children. He understands how parents try so hard to be helpful for their children, and sometimes fall short for lack of understanding. Thomas gives an insider's view of what autism feels like as a child and as an adult.

Thomas was a student of "The Child Whisperer" author Matt Pasquinilli. Mr. Pasquinilli has worked with children and adults challenged by austism and aspergers syndrome, and speaks about it in his book. Get "The Child Whisperer" for some great advice that compliments Thomas McKean's "Soon will come the Light."

This book is a realistic and poignant account of a kind-hearted boy growing up in Mississippi. The thing I liked best was the humaneness of the characters, including thier kindness and meanness. The author stands against racism without being rhetorical. In spite of suffering, goodness prevails.

I read the book a few years ago and it still stays with me. The descriptions are compelling and the story so engrossing I couldn't put it down. I would love a sequel as well.

I met Mr. McGregor while he was signing books in the Books A Million in Tupelo, Mississippi. Although his book lacked a fancy cover and had only a slight description on the back, I purchased one. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the book - the characters stay with you - their poverty, ignorance and anger. And in the midst of all that, the protagonist, a genuinely good person, who must have emerged from the first-hand experience of the author.

After living in Mississippi for the past three years, I have been amazed at the unique culture of the area - friendly, small town, good, religious people but still so much poverty, racial division and rigid thinking. I highly recommend Tall Cotton for the insight it has given me into the Deep South of sixty years ago and the origins of this culture.

The only fabric book comes with real fabric swatches. A great reference for fabric artists. You know how sometimes you want to achieve certain quality but don't know what material to use. The description of each fabric helps me to choose the right material for the right projects and make sure it stays that way forever. I also learn more materials for my fabric sculpture. I finally found this ideal book after so many years.

I love fabric and love to sew, but don't really know much about the fabrics I use. These books are so well-designed and well-written that it is a joy to learn from them. Be sure to buy the versions with the fabric samples included - that's what makes these books so special!

This book should be read right after reading James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Mem. Unfortuantely I read it over four years before I read Agee's work. When I read this book--in Feb 1996--I wrote to myself: This is a book Newt Gingrich and the crazy House freshmen should read--people who are so intent that those who cannot make it on their own should not make it.

Unfortunately, the synopsis left out that this book won the Pulitzer for Non-fiction in 1991. Maharidge and Williamson followed the footsteps of James Agee who had profiled sharecroppers during the Depression. They found their decendants, and showed that while cotton and sharecropping had died, rural poverty for these families had been passed down to new generations. The front section of the book is a series of photographs by Williamson, and they are tremendous. Moreover, in their reporting, they filled a gap left by Agee by finding a black family of sharecroppers to add to the others profiled. This is a tremendous book. It works on multiple levels, giving both the sweep of Southern social and economic history and bringing it down to individuals. Beyond that, the book is a metaphor for our own time. "If we understand the death of cotton," Maharidge writes in this book, "we understand many things about modern America." This is a tremendous work, highly readable and moving. The recognition these two craftsmen received for it is well-deserved

I own Anderson's entire Family Living in Pastoral Perspective series (Leaving Home, Becoming Married, Regarding Children, Promising Again, and Living Alone), and I refer to them frequently.

Each book focuses on a different transitional event and the family tasks that event brings into focus. Anderson and his co-authors deal sensitively with the pastoral issues involved.

Becoming Married explores the process of becoming married as more than just a wedding ceremony. Chapter one discusses how relationships must begin to be reordered before the wedding so that the couple's bond takes primacy over relationships with parents and friends. Chapter two introduces the genogram as a tool for exploring each person's family history in premarital counseling. Chapter three examines the wedding liturgy and ways to plan a meaningful wedding.

Chapter four covers several situations which can make the process of becoming married more complicated: interfaith marriages, interracial marriages, leftover or buried grief, living together before the wedding, and second marriages. Chapter five discusses post-wedding work and the nature of the marital bond. Finally, in chapter six the authors develop their theology of marriage.

All of the books are well-written and easy to read--no convoluted prose to parse here. The works have added texture from the many personal examples shared by the authors (both their own and examples others have shared with them).

Every book in the series deserves an honored place on any religious professional's shelf. Except, you may find them so valuable they rarely make it back to your shelf.

Herbert Anderson has some great approaches to pastoral ministry to those who intend on marrying! I am engaged and have learned so much about what it means to become married. I have given a copy to my pastor, and also to my mother! It is a book all should read. Anderson has some great pastoral excercises for pre-marriage work all pastors should read. It is a quick, easy to understand read!

"Trick of the Trade" has little to do with the real Custers, or real history, but if seen as a parallel universe tale, it is ripping good fun to read and I can believe that Nash was smitten with Libbie and rode into hell to deliver her last letter to "Auddie" (Autie). A realistic look at a man who is less than fully in compliance wih the law -- but men made their own laws back then. And the Army was often between a rock and a hard place. I even enjoyed the touches Cotton put on Benteen.

Ralph Cotton has once again written a historical western so real and so entertaining, it's hard to tell fact from fiction. everybody has written about Custer's last stand, but Cotton has put a real spin on it with Nash's love interst in Elizabeth Custer. I'm glad he focused on the battle of Reno Hill. Too little has been said about the Reno Huill battle. Cotton pulled it off expertly. Anyone who knows history knows the battle scenes in this book are acurate.

Ralph Cotton's Jeston Nash is the kind of man a lady dreams of finding by her side on a dark sultry night... And the kind of Outlaw a man prays to a merciful God NOT to meet up with in the silence of the same darkness... The kind of man who'd sell you a tainted horse (completely against his will, you understand), protesting all the way to the bank. ...the kind of man who played wet-nurse to a young country; growing by leaps and bounds in its push to the Pacific Ocean. The kind of man who figured prominently in the real history of America. As Nash's friend, Quiet Jack often says: "Yuh just had to be there." Thanks to Cotton's words, you are