This book was very helpful for wine tasting in a sometimes neglected area of California. The book should also point out that some, if not most of the wineries mentioned also have outstanding restaurants! Some of the restaurants require reservations for even a chance at getting a table.

Also, since printing some of the vineyards have had name changes.

Overall, the book helped make our trip to southern California very pleasurable. It was certainly a good choice to bring along.

This is a great book! Using it enables one to discover places that they never knew existed. The descriptions are great and the directions are very explicit and correct. We have taken 3 of the tours so far and had wonderful times! I am wondering if there is something similar for Northern California.

Los Angeles is shocked by the fire bombing death of the Cruzado family in the multi-racial Rancho Tajuat housing projects. Just about everyone including the police and the tenants feel that the Ra-Falcons, a Black Muslim group who provide security to the complex, killed the Mexican-American family. The leader of Ra-Falcons, Minister Antar Absalla decides to hire South Central private Investigator Ivan Monk to uncover the identities of the killers.

At the same time that Ivan begins to investigate what really happened to the Cruzado family, his significant other, Judge Jill Kodama is under recall pressure for not enforcing the three strikes and your out rule. However, Ivan has little time to provide her comfort as he has his own worries because he is now under indictment for murdering a gang member. With his priorities starting to shift, Ivan knows that while he tries to clear his name, he must discover the real culprit before more trouble leads to a racial civil war in the LA projects.

In his third appearance (see VIOLENT SPRINGS and PERDITION), Ivan Monk remains a great private investigator, who brings to life the mean streets of LA. BAD NIGHT IS FALLING is filled with the usual tremendous characterizations and two interesting story lines that actually work well together. Though at times the vernacular is difficult to follow, Gary Phillips continues to rise to the top of the ethnic who-done-it sub-genre.

Harriet Klausner

It is easy to pass over a book such as this, unless you are specifically researching lawlessness in the Old West.

Don't be so hasty.

Not only is this a well written book, it is engaging on its own level -- that is, quite well written and far beyond the standard dry text one would normally associate with such a topic.

Of course, I have my own prejudices -- I am a Sacramento Valley peace officer with an interest in history. Many of the local haunts have particular meaning to me, as I know the locales and can associate places with the text.

In any case, the book is very well researched, supports its facts in detail, has a nicely dispersed display of black and white photos throughout, and reminds us that many of the officers of yesteryear had their beginnings in the criminal element.

Few things were as clear as they seem in a number of idealized western films. There were base motivations: greed, violence, power.

And yet, on the other hand, this is not ! what one would call a PC book in which history has been rewritten with an eye to a particular agenda. History is what it was. Rough and raw and ragged on the edges. The book is not candy-coated.

Sorry to say, the book will probably not reach a mass audience. But hey, John Boessenecker: I read your book and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Well done, my friend!

I bought the Norte and Sur map books a few years ago. They are excellent. Simply the best maps of Baja. Easy to use, a wonderful legend, and I love the book format, no need to fold up the map.

If you can find them, buy them. Especially if you plan on driving Baja.

I own both the Baja Norte and Baja Sur map books. Simply the best map books of Baja. If you can find them buy them. I love the book format, no folding up maps. Space for notes, easy to use, scale on every page, great legend.

A must have for anyone driving Baja.

Wow. This is the real deal. |Discovered this on dusty back shelf of the local library and found myself enthralled. This is Baja the way it was ten years ago when it still held some of its idyllic lonliness. Great read.

Baja Outpost by Marvin and Aletha Patchen and Their Guests

Out in the high desert of Baja nestled between boulders and boojums, Marvin and Aletha Patchen have a cabin. And they have been gracious enough to open this cabin to friends and travelers they have met in their journeys. Due to its unique location this cabin has truly become a Baja Outpost.

A guestbook lies in wait for those coming through the door. Some write of what brought them thus far on their journey. Others write of where they hope the road will take them. Some write in the purely in the moment, describing the cabin, the sunsets and the flora. One particular visitor seems to revel in his encounters of the very close kind with the local fauna. But various desert critters don't deter the guests from enjoying the comforts of a place to call home during various adventures in Baja.

The Patchen's interesting and insightful comments are interspersed with the guest entries of over fifteen years, providing us with a very personal history of place. At the beginning of the book, the cabin seems like a simple refuge, nothing more than four walls, a ceiling and a door with a working lock. But it becomes a richly decorated home with the thoughts and impressions left by its visitors.

Some of the names are instantly familiar. Some become familiar as people are drawn back again to the little cabin in the middle of nowhere, providing the reader a very personal glimpse into the heart of Baja as seen through many eyes.

This is a perfect present for readers who long for those dirt roads and smell of sage, for those who travel off the beaten path and know the value of a good road story.