I you live in the Dallas area, the presence of the mafia might come as a surprise. It is widely assumed that this was a problem limited to the New York or Chicago area. There was some mention of organized crime in the early 60's surrounding the assination of JFK, otherwise, it doesn't generate much local publicity. A transplant from New York, Weir has obviously done his research. I found the book to be accurate as to the geography for the time period, and the action kept the pages turning. As the suburbs of Dallas have grown to become cities in their own right, it is extremely interesting to read the account of how Grapevine, Texas and Flower Mound, Texas were involved. I enjoyed "City To Die For" and would recommend it to my friends.

CITY TO DIE FOR shines in areas where other mob-themed books and authors just cannot compare. Bob Weir has taken the gangster and separated him from the stereotypical story of good vs. evil. This book allows the reader to view not only the characters' actions and thoughts, but it also allows a glimpse inside the *motivation* and emotions of the central figures. Not your traditional 'Elliot Ness vs. Capone,' CITY well documents the events surrounding featured Dallas gambler 'Harry Battle' and his refusal to allow the New York mob to gain a foothold in Dallas. In the game of power, the rules of black and white do not always apply (as shown in the repeated failed attempts on 'Battle's life). Weir does a great job detailing this grey area with enough action, facts, and savory characters to definitely make any reader sit up and take notice. In short, it was a very entertaining tale that I couldn't put down!

A relatively quick read (took me 1.5 days) that left me with a greater understanding about the Dallas Mob and its role in the 1940's underworld. Additionally, CITY gave quite a few factual tidbits that I've since found myself referencing in conversation. :)

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

This book was great! A fast paced and interesting story. Well written... and thoroughly entertaining

University-textbook style, with great organization, readable two-color text, comprehensive index, and discussion of COBOL topics (like reference modification) that I have not seen properly addressed in other COBOL books.

Distinction is also made throughout the text between COBOL 74 and COBOL 85, with separate code examples for each.

Detailed discussion of every topic, good examples and the self-test is really helpful.

i am an adjunct professor utilizing this as the textbook for an undergraduate cobol class. it has more then sufficient examples, and the self-test is helpful for the students.

You can tell that the author (Ken O'Donnell's daughter) greatly admired and loved both subjects of her book (Bobby Kennedy and Ken O'Donnell). It's an inspiring tribute to a past era. Helen O'Donnell hardly knew Bobby Kennedy (she was 6 when he was killed). However, she grew up listening to stories about him. Her mother and father both loved Bobby Kennedy, for different reasons. They gave her a discriptive account of Bobby, the man, and RFK, the politician. With rumors that have become accepted and unsubstantiated truths, new books such as "RFK: A Candid Biography" that try to dirty his name, as well as a fading national memory of his contributions; this book is a refreshing change. Ms. O'Donnell mentions that Bobby was her father's hero, and as told by Jackie Kennedy herself, Bobby was Jackie's hero as well. It's nice to read something positive about Bobby Kennedy, my hero.

A Common Good is an enjoyable, fast-paced read. It is a warm portrayl of Bobby, Jack and Kenny O'Donnel as people. There are laughs and poignant moments. It s a must for anyone interested in Robert Kennedy.

Kenny O'Donnell has done an outstanding job of providing insight to a man who figured largely in world history. He has drawn a very real, very strong portrait of a man who set and met many personal goals in his personal and professional life. Robert Kennedy was, in my opinion the most interesting of his brothers. Mr. O'Donnell does an excellent job of describing the aura of sincerity Robert Kennedy exuded. He helps bring a man into focus who has been dead for many years by describing the consistencies of his character. Robert Kennedy was clearly a very driven, very determined and very hard working man. He was also a very caring, very committed and very compassionate as well. He was a central figure in world history and I think the late Senator's works have certainly influenced the world for the better. This book is definitely worth reading.

After acquiring a pretty vast library of boat building literature- this is still the most used to reference back to. It is definitely tailored to their processes but these too should be used as models of how the plans should be done also. Cheers

As The "Complete Guide to METAL BOATS" is about to be re-printed I thought this a good time to write an 'Author's review'. Over the past few months I have received hundreds of emails from customers expressing favourable comment on my book. When an author writes a book much of the content is usually 'researched' material ... In this case most of what you read in MB came out of my personal knowledge and experiance in designing and building metal boats. I personally find MB a great reference for the the researched material and the many pieces of information that occasionally 'slips ones mind' If you are planning to build or own a metal boat I can recommend this book without reservation. MB will NOT teach you how to weld but it WILL teach a welder how to build and maintain a metal boat. Regards, Bruce Roberts-Goodson

I waited with interest for the new edition as was advertised on www.bruceroberts.com website, and talked with the folks at Bruce Roberts, who explained that the whole book was being updated. They were quite helpful, and quite correct.

The book explains the "mysteries" and answers most questions regarding building a metal boat whether building from scratch and plans or from a computer cut kit. It explains the differences in the various materials with no great bias and plainly spells out the pluses & minuses of each. Welding techniques and materials are outlined as are methods for fitting out and installing systems.

Mr. Roberts-Goodson's writing style is down-to-earth, explaining items in plain English which makes it very easy to understand. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone considering building or buying a metal boat. Additionally metal boats owners would enjoy this book and would use it as a resource for repair and maintenance.

Concise, easy to read, easy to understand. A good read for any pastor or church leader who wants to get some clarity on the strengths and uniqueness of his or her congregation. The REALLY good news is that this is NOT another "How I Did It" book. To be sure, "How I Did It" books are inspiring, and you can pick up a lot of good tips and tricks. The trouble is that most of them probably won't work in YOUR situation! What Southern & Norton have done is given us a method which will help us understand and analyze our own unique settings - to discover our own congregation's values and unique giftedness - so that we can focus on doing the things that are right for us, not for somebody else! Share this one with key leaders in your congregation!

My congregation worked with Southern and Norton over the course of several months. We found their strategy for church growth and renewal to be easy to follow, highly participatory, and full of wisdom. It has totally transformed our congregation and organizational systems!

"Cracking Your Congregation's Code" is a great contribution to the church growth movement! It not only offers a theoretical framework for congregational health and vitality, but provides easy to use surveys and inventories. Their recommendations for church growth and renewal are not "one size fits all" but are easily tailored for each congregation's unique "DNA". The end result is the development of a "strategic map" that will guide one's congregation to a new place of enthusiasm and growth!

I've been implementing some of the procedures in Cracking Your Congregation's Code, and I've found it answers many basic needs of busy pastors and lay leaders. I know it helps answer mine. It's a practical book, that's easy to read, and easy to use. It describes how a church can transform itself. The surveys the authors provide for the four congregational systems give a church a way to quickly evaluate and strengthen their work. From my standpoint, as someone looking for how-to's, I'd say the information in chapter seven on how to create a strategic map is worth the price of the book alone.

Seldom do I see a business book that captures one compelling metaphor and carries it out over an entire book like this one did. The writing is good, detailed, and clear. Further, the book is filled with valuable team-building exercises that will improve communications and effectiveness, as well as work satisfication. If you work with manufacturing teams in the automotive industry, this book will be extremely valuable to you. In fact, it may function at beyond a five star level. On the other hand, if you work in high technology away from the NASCAR circuit and do most of your communicating in a virtual team by e-mail and shareware, this book may not seem very relevant.

The book's main weaknesses are part of its strengths. If you do not follow NASCAR, a lot of the metaphor will be lost on you. For that reason, I think the book would have worked better with more metaphors or one that was more universal than this one. The exercises are very good for bringing out differences and welding them together into an effective team, but they seemed very dependent on having a facilitator. I suspect that this facilitator would normally have to be from outside the team, for best results. Many organizations would not have the resources to draw on facilitators this much. Also, for short-term ad hoc teams, the exercises here could be overkill. There was not enough guidance about what you could cut back on, in those circumstances.

Also, I have seen a lot of team-building exercises blow up due to inexperienced facilitators. This book would not provide enough guidance to the neophyte facilitator on what to do, should a heated disagreement occur.

I graded the book down one star for its facilitator-intensive approach.

After you have finished enjoying new ways to improve team effectiveness, I suggest that you think about where people should work in teams but do not in your organization. What are the costs of this approach? What would have to be done to switch over to teams in those areas? Focusing on those opportunities may be an even bigger payoff than making your existing teams more effective.

May you enjoy the race, as your team is able to move faster, more safely, and more efficiently!

In today's increasingly complex business environment, "speed" has become the mantra of successful organizations. The ability to learn and adapt to changing conditions more quickly than the competition is what separates the winners from the losers. In their book, Checkered Flag Teams, Renee Merchant and Jo Ellen Roe capture the centrality of speed in the modern business environment by creatively building their presentation of team development around an auto racing theme. The auto racing theme also provides an interesting juxtaposition by demonstrating the importance of teamwork in a sport that to an outsider seems more of an individual endeavor.

The primary strength of the book is that it is based on a theoretically eloquent and easy-to-understand model of teamwork. I have never been overly fond of Tuckman's model of team development because it focuses too heavily on the social dynamics of teams while ignoring the crucial element of the tasks that the team was created to accomplish. The authors' model of team development (presented on page 31), however, corrects this weakness by providing a convincing case for the need to balance task and process issues in team development.

The more obvious strength of the book is that it provides a number of "tools" for developing effective teams. These team activities are indexed early in the book, so you can quickly locate just the activity that you need. The instructions and rationale for each activity are precise and easy to follow, so that even novice team leaders should be able to employ them successfully. In addition, most of the team activities are fairly brief and to the point which makes them perfect for teams on the move.

I especially recommend the book for teams that are just getting started, as it provides an excellent toolkit for getting teams off to good start. Though it also provides a nice reference for team leaders in any field who are working to develop their team facilitation skills or are just looking for some creative new team building activities.

Checkered Flag Teams: Driving Your Workplace Into The Winner's Circle employs an automotive racing template to provide the corporate manager an up-beat approach to having a strong business team utilizing a "Fast Start Teamwork" process. Authors Renee Merchant and Jo Ellen Roe provide the reader with more than thirty tools and activities that anyone who drives a car can relate to. Included is a completely new communications style inventory, "CARStyles", inspired by the type of vehicle team members prefer to drive. Checkered Flag Teams is highly recommended reading for corporate policy makers, human resource directors, managers, supervisors, team members, consultants, and aspiring entrepreneurs.

This was definitely as good as the first novel. It's fast paced, the characters are clear in your mind, and although it does contain detailed parts, it doesn't distract from what's going on. Love the show...Love the book.

I THINK ROBERT TINE DID AN EXCELLENT JOB WITH THIS BOOK. I COULD IMAGINE EVERYTHING HAPPENING AS I WAS READING. I FOUND IT HARD TO PUT DOWN WHICH I FOUND HARD TO GET USED TO SINCE I AM NOT A READER OF BOOKS AT ALL. THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK THAT I ACTUALLY FINISHED AND IT HELD MY INTEREST ALL THE WAY THROUGH. I CANT WAIT FOR ANOTHER BOOK TO COME OUT AND I AM STILL LOOKING TO FIND BOOK ONE AS I KNOW IT WILL BE AS GOOD AS THE FIRST.

Having read the first TV Tie-In for JAG I was excited to continue on to the second. I was hoping it would be just as exciting and fast paced as the first. Thankfully, I was not disappointed. Again, I feel that Robert Tine really has a knack for capturing the feel of an episode of JAG. The characters were true to form and mirror images of the ones I've grown to love through the show. The dialogue was authentic -- funny when called for and serious when it had to be. Something I love about JAG is the tendency to jump from humor to drama and Mr. Tine captures that feel very well in this novel. As per the first novel, the plot was enthralling and intricate and kept me guessing and completely involved right up until the very end. This story line would really make an exciting episode of JAG! Again, I was well pleased with Mr. Tine's ability to capture the chemistry between Harm and Mac perfectly. Their banter was just as witty and captivating as that on the program. An added bonus in this book is the increased inclusion of Bud Roberts -- a character I've grown fond of and who adds much to the story by way of levity. Once again I was sad to note that a picture section had not been included in this book either -- I still say this would make a nice addition to these highly readable books! All in all, _Clean Steel_ was a superb read -- on the same par with the first book in this series. I was quite impressed with this book and will read it again. Once more I was able to picture the actors who play these parts while I read the story which is a exceptional accomplishment on the part of Mr. Tine -- he captured their essence so well. _Clean Steel_ was a first class read that I completely enjoyed. I certainly hope there are plans to continue with this line of TV Tie-Ins. I, for one, would definitely buy them!

If you're starting or running a home business, there's one thing you need: practical information at your fingertips! This book is a life-saver-an all-in-one, quick-answer guide to all the issues, big and small, that homepreneurs deal with every day.

Robert Spiegel takes readers by the hand and leads them through every stage of business from initial idea to maturity to selling:

• Choosing the business-build it or buy it; franchising; multilevel marketing; evaluating your strengths and skills • Starting up-the business plan; licenses, permits, zoning; taxes and insurance; equipment and furnishings; financing; governmental resources; outsourcing; managing your time • Marketing-publicity; advertising; direct marketing; sales • Controlling growth-trouble signs; finding mentors; building credibility and stability; expanding or staying put • Planning your exit-should you sell, and when; leaving the business to heirs; planning for the unexpected

Robert Spiegel is a successful entrepreneur who launched and ran Chile Pepper Magazine for ten years. He writes frequently for Home Business Magazine and is a contributor to the America On-Line home business site.

Many talented and energetic business people ponder a different career path such as running a home-based business. But many of these would-be "homepreneurs" fear to take the leap. The challenges of working at home seem overwhelming. Fortunately, Robert Spiegel, a writer and successful entrepreneur, shares everything he's learned from more than a dozen years of working-at-home experience in his new book, The Complete Guide to Home Business. And it is a complete guide, covering everything people need to know about running a home-based business. Readers who are considering the switch will get personal advice, step-by-step instructions, insider tips, and detailed guidance for planning each aspect of the home business. Readers leaqrn how to: decide if a home business is right for them; choose their home business; plan their start-up; organize their business space; fund their business and manage their cash; market their business; recognize and correct common problems; control their growth; plan an exit from their regular job, and much more. Spiegel also provides a comprehensive collection of invaluable resources and listings, venture capital companies and investors, government agencies, small business development centers, franchise resources, business associations, business and trade magazines and Internet resources.

Booklist Review by David Rouse, 11/1/'99

Spiegel started his own magazine, ran it for 10 years, then sold it for $1 million. He is also a frequesnt contributor to Home Business Magazine. Spiegel does a thorough job of walking one through the steps required to run a business from home. He suggests what to consider when choosing a business and discusses business plans, licensing, permits, zoning, taxes and insurance. He recommends various marketing media and strategies, evaluates outsourcing as a staffing option, and stresses financial management. Going beyon many similar guides, Spiegel identifies warning signs to watch for that indicate a business is in trouble and advises how to recover. He also advises that one make plans for how best to "exit" from the business when the time comes. In acknowledging the "loneliness of the long-distance runner," Spiegel touches on the personal impact of going it alone.

howard is forever the mater of describing battles. and in this book it's battles, battles, battles. filled with action. man slashes man. great descriptions. great writing. great......great. men fights men. blood floats.

Saucy, violent and unrelenting, super great fics from REH. Tigers of the Sea nd other great works of the master abound here. Buy it. Luv it

This man's work has influenced me in all aspects of my life. I own all the books in this Baen series, and, (although they are extremely hard to locate nowadays) I have succesfully completed the collection of the ORIGINAL Conan tales.

High fantasy, wonderful imagination, and a lot of dark images. Not even the immortal Tolkien can match this man.

He is the unquestioned god of fantasy.

I found this book to explain many of the wonderful (and not so wonderful) thoughts and feelings that I, as a straight woman, have had in dealing with my close friend, who is a gay man. I had felt alone, and that perhaps our relationship was not "normal"-how relieved to find out that it is!

My only suggestion would be to include the group of gay men that AREN'T as mature as those in the book. I frequently have problems with my friend for his apparently immature behavior that I have witnessed among him and his other gay friends--I would like to understand better the immature, party-all-the-time behavior of this sect of gay men.

I got this book on a whim one day and couldn't help thumbing through it. Needless to say, I was still sitting in the same place an hour later, giggling and nodding as I turned each page.

The best part about this book is that it lends legitimacy to this relationship I have that's a HUGE part of my life. And if you have a gay man/straight woman relationship in your life, you know that it's not always the most respected relationship in the eyes of the general public. This book will give you confidence and your relationship will be the better for it.

The authors are dead-on in almost everything they say. And even though my best friend disagrees with me about how great this book is, I think he's just in denial!

It's about time.

Finally someone has addressed this subject which has bothered many straight women I have spoken to for years. What is it that attracts straight women to gay men? As the book points out, we get to know the femine side of men, which they all have, but straight men won't always show. I think the authors told the story with good taste and assured us that we are enjoying a "normal" relationship with our gay friends. Brova & Brovo to them for addressing this sensitive subject.