Immigration. What do we really know about immigrants as people - especially the obstacles they face and the hazards they must endure to reach the United States? No one wants to examine this terrible situation, and the press tries to ignore it. John Annerino is a brave photojournalist who wants to open the eyes of this country and the eyes of Mexico. In Annerino's book, DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS: Crossing America's Desert Borderlands, he writes of crossing the Arizona desert along the historic route called the Camino del Diablo, (Road of the Devil), during the summer. Annerino accompanied 4 Mexican farm workers on a grueling struggle across the desert to get into this country. Annerino risked his own life to experience the killing heat migrants endure to cross the desert, and at one point writes of his and his companion's slim chances of surviving their journey, "We would all die like dogs in a killing ground that has claimed hundreds - perhaps thousands of their countrymen." Annerino not only witnesses and endures the hazards and rigors of his companions, but he also photographed many of the people who died in the middle of the desert. He writes graphically of one dead man: "His mouth was still open from the horror, because no one heard him gasping or saw him dying at the finish line to America's Killing Ground." How long will we permit this tragic situation to continue? One brave man cared enough for people to risk his own life to open our eyes with his camera and pen - John Annerino. And you need to read his book, DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS, to understand the human toll and suffering on our borders, and the lives that are lost among those who flee the poverty of Mexico lured by the same American Dream that brought me here. Why? To quote Annerino, "Because they're out there dying right now."

August 11. I sat down this evening to read DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS, and just finished it. All in one sitting. I really couldn't put it down. I think it's a tremendously important book. It should be required reading for those planning to cross the border, and track and control the border through immigration policies. The author did a huge amount of research, and legwork. I commend Annerino's efforts and results. His photographs, along with the maps, work well together to give the reader a first hand encounter with the land and people who cross it. I like the pacing of the chapters, the inclusion of both the men who cross the border and the Border Patrol agents, and Annerino's very thoughtful reflections on the value of Mexicans killed in the killing fields in search of a paycheck to send home to their families. It makes me feel real bad. It is hard to read at times only because it's so sad. Boy, am I glad I wasn't the photographer on those trips! Thank you for the remarkable book.

A story like this demands a great deal from an author. Although Annerino has obviously spent many hours researching the borderlands of the Southwest, the key to this monumental work is the extent to which he is willing to live the story he writes. He has taken immense risks, walking side by side through the desert with Mexican immigrants, and coming face to face with the coyotes and narcotraficantes and Border Patrol agents and ranchers of this volatile area. With Annerino's books, you always learn tons of local history, but never at the expense of that vivid sensation of dust and sweat and heat and imminent danger that keep it an interesting read. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about the little-known wilderness along the Mexican border and the human cost it extracts due to current immigration policies.

I had unknowingly admired Doubilet's work in many National Geographic articles over the years. The recent Great White cover photo was fantastic although a little untimely as it had to be hidden from my girlfriend who I was going diving with for 2 weeks a month later.

I was proud of a few photos I took on that holiday but when I saw this book I almost threw my camera away. Doubilet takes underwater photography to another level altogether. This book displays Doubilet's talent and dedication to the full with a diverse portfolio taken over many years from all over the world. The light in his trademark above & below water photo's is so perfectly balanced my friends assumed it was manipulated.

Buy this book for anyone who appreciates natural beauty. My Mother and girlfriend were first on my list and just as impressed.

This book contains exceptionally beautiful underwater photographs. Most images are in colour, but there are also some remarkable black white shots, taken by the photographer at different locations throughout the world. The photographer presents the reader with images that are rare and unforgettable. Congratulations to the author David Doubilet for sharing with the world such an exceptional work of art.

This book rivals, and in many instances surpasses, the great underwater photography works of Chris Newbert (Within A Rainbowed Sea, In A Sea Of Dreams). I never thought I'd live to see a work of underwater art more stunning than Newbert's, but Doubilet has certainly raised the bar. The black and white work is haunting (especially the manta shots) and his use of light is mindbending. If you love the ocean and its sea-peoples, buy this book -- you won't regret it!

No book has ever captivated me the way this one has. Cynthia Acree has written a fascinating book that highlights her experiences as a military wife when her husband, Marine Corps Colonel Cliff Acree was shot down in the early stages of the Gulf War and held prisoner of war by Saddam Hussein. Cliff was held captive for 48 days, and overcame brutal beatings, starvation, and torturous interrogations; he nearly died on more than one occasion.

Cindy was back home in America fighting her own battle. First of all, she never even knew if Cliff was alive until he was paraded by the Iraqi's, beaten, dazed and starved, in front of news cameras that broadcast their footage back to the rest of the world via CNN. Cindy rallied for the support of her fellow Americans to fight for the release of her husband and the other POW's. Both Cindy and Cliff tell the story in The Gulf Between Us-- it is one that stirs great emotion, and makes us proud to be an American!

Thank you, Cindy and Cliff, for not only having the courage to endure, but for finding the strength and courage to remember and share those moments with the rest of us!

Cliff and Cindy survived, alone and together, incredible challenges to life and love. This is a wonderful story of the human spirit and its ability to endure in the face of disaster.

I highly recommend this book to readers of war history as well as readers of human drama. It is a fascinating chronicle of the experiences of a Marine pilot who endures personal misery as a POW. Yet, his story is told in a very personal, sensitive way. Unforgettable.

Cindy's drama is just as compelling, and the reader witnesses the behind-the-scenes activity of her attempts to secure her husband's liberty. Once together again after the war's end, these two soulmates then turned to the tasks of recovering, rebuilding and healing.

Honor, courage, commitment, loyalty .... all words which spring to life within this book. Don't miss it!

READ THIS BOOK! Cliff and Cindy's story is a gripping one; it is full of the events that can only be called "heroism under fire". Their situations could not have been seemingly more opposite, yet their approach was EXACTLY the same -- love and duty and honor in all things. It must have been hard to remember when was Cliff was being tortured that his main purpose was to survive and give no information. It must have been excrutiating for Cindy, when the cameras and reporters were crawling over each other and her for a story, that her main purpose was to get her husband and the other POWs home. And how does one deal with the pressing worship of a grateful nation, hungry for heroes? The tales are told in riveting fashion, as the reader is pulled along through every detail of their stories, as if standing in the room as the events unfold. The descriptions are vivid and captivating. You won't be able to put this book down!

Cliff and Cindy weathered "their dessert storm", and survived to tell their story because the seeds of their success were ALWAYS there! They BOTH knew that much might be expected of them; the DIFFERENCE is, they were WILLING -- not to be heroes (though heroes they TRULY are), but to do WHATEVER it took to accomplish the mission before them! Such a thing cannot just be "taught"... it must be LEARNED and LIVED!

Cliff and Cindy ARE heroes, but this book is not JUST about Dessert Storm. It has taken its place alongside those biographies and stories of GREAT men and women that we MUST study if we will ever be ready and willing to take our place in the fight for something bigger than ourselves! If I were a high school or college teacher/professor, I would make this book MANDATORY reading, to show my students that there ARE still heroes, and they come in many forms -- usually when THEY least expect it...

BZ, Cliff and Cindy! Semper Fidelis (the motto of the Marine Corps; it means "Always Faithful") -- for you were, and are true to that which has made the telling of your story possible!

THANK YOU for sharing it with us!

I noticed that my mother was using the paperback edition of this devotional to write little prayer requests and thoughts in the margins. This prompted me to buy her the journal version of the devotional which gives her much more space to write and includes the same powerful devotionals. It was a great gift!

Another great idea is the "Devotions for Morning and Evening With Mrs. Charles E. Cowman : The Complete Daily Devotions of Streams in the Desert and Springs in the Valley". Even though it is a little harder to find, my mother claims that the evening devotionals which are taken from Cowman's "Springs in the Valley"
are just as moving as the Morning devotionals (taken from "Streams in the Desert"), if not more so.

I have been reading the paperback devotional and I enjoy it greatly. It is non-judmental and very loving. My fave devotional!

I noticed that my mother was using the paperback edition of this devotional to write little prayer requests and thoughts in the margins. This prompted me to buy her the journal version of the devotional which gives her much more space to write and includes the same powerful devotionals. It was a great gift!

Another great idea is the "Devotions for Morning and Evening With Mrs. Charles E. Cowman : The Complete Daily Devotions of Streams in the Desert and Springs in the Valley". Even though it is a little harder to find, my mother claims that the evening devotionals which are taken from Cowman's "Springs in the Valley"
are just as moving as the Morning devotionals (taken from "Springs in the Desert"), if not more so.

I have been reading the paperback devotional and I enjoy it greatly. It is non-judmental and very loving. My fave devotional!

I have been reading the paperback devotional and I enjoy it greatly. It is non-judmental and very loving. My fave devotional!

I noticed that my mother was using her copy of this devotional to write little prayer requests and thoughts in the margins. This prompted me to buy her the journal version of the devotional which gives her much more space to write and includes the same powerful devotionals. It was a great gift!

Another great idea is the "Devotions for Morning and Evening With Mrs. Charles E. Cowman : The Complete Daily Devotions of Streams in the Desert and Springs in the Valley". Even though it is a little harder to find, my mother claims that the evening devotionals which are taken from Cowman's "Springs in the Valley"
are just as moving as the Morning devotionals (taken from "Springs in the Desert"), if not more so.

I loved reading An island to oneself and enjoy rereading it. I am a good friend of Tom Neale's daughter Stella Neale-Kenyon who will be revisiting Suwarrow in July 2003. She has written an epilogue to this book which gives you an inside look at Tom Neale as a father. It is very enjoyable to read. Stella lives in New Zealand and Tom's son Arthur lives on Manihiki island.

My edition is entitled An Island to Myself, but I'm sure it's the same book. I have two copies. How could you not like this book? Imagine yourself living on an island all alone and enjoying every minute of it -- well, most every minute; there are some rough moments. This is very entertaining reading and is one of those few books that I like to read again and again. Tom Neale was really a very unusual guy. Buy this book if you want something that's a sure pleasure to read. Thank you.

Embarassingly, I am not a person who reads books often. This book reminds me of the enjoyment and fun there is in reading. I first read (An Island To Myself) in the early 70's, again in 1981, and recently again at 51 years old. I couldn't put it down and felt I was living another life for 2 1/2 days. Tom Neale went to the uninhabited island of SUVAROV at 51, believe me, he's made me fanticise.... anyone else interested? His experiences and how a (normal) human being can exist 200 miles from civilization is extrodiarily depited. Read this book, it may become a favorite! To answer a few questions in previous reviews herein: Tom Neale died in 1977, he must have married and wrote two more books, one about cruising with his wife and two children which I ordered today.

Ron Strauss has created a masterpiece of suspense and intrigue. His character development rivals that of Grisham and his plot is equally as compelling as Clancy,s. This is a very difficult book to put down. His research into Mid-Eastern history, politics and life makes it a truly fascinating novel. I look forward to his next book.

The first part of this book was a foundation, an education, if you will, so the full meaning of the story is absorbed. This prelude captured my interest and wasn't able to put it down. I found Rise Desertman to be intriguing and unpredictable, the suspense had me jumping up and down. I loved the character, Pasha. You could feel his pain and hear his thoughts and revel in his glory. I found myself yelling out loud when Pasha was finally faced with his lifelong enemy.

Ron Strauss did a wonderful job in capturing me on an emotional level and held it until the end. I look forward to reading more material from the author.

In Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome, Italy, Arab terrorists attack the El-Al counter, but undercover Israeli agents strike back. When the air settles, many innocent bystanders have died along with most of the attackers. The daughter and grandson of Israel's most deadly undercover agent, Colonel Pasha Ed-Al, are among the dead. The Italian police manage to arrest a few of the surviving terrorists, but the leader, the renowned assassin Nayeff escapes.

Israeli Prime Minister Moshe Ben Kadar lost his son at the Munich Games due to Nayeff's actions there. When Pasha demands a shot at Nayeff, Moshe willingly agrees. However, Nayeff raises the stakes with an abduction of a key military official. As war instead of peace seems imminent, Moshe's widowed daughter-in-law, Shoshona, who loves Pasha, makes a last ditch effort to obtain peace between these long time enemies.

RISE DESERT MAN is a powerful thriller that focuses on the daily life of living in the shadows of terrorism. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action that starts form the opening page. The characters seem genuine as Nayeff and Pasha share passion for their causes even if they are on opposite sides of the Israeli-Arab question. Ron Strauss writes an exciting tale that seems so appropriate with what is happening to the peace process in the Middle East today.

Harriet Klausner

Wow! What can I say? This book is full of adventure, romance and intrigue during one of the worst times in the world's history. Allison Wescott is serving in a field hospital trying to get Major Bret Holden out of her mind and focus on her duties a year later after the events of 1914. Wade Findlay arrives as a medical intern and Allison decides to join him in treating wounded British soldiers near Baghdad. She was totally unprepared for Bret's reappearance in her life and the feelings that came along with him. After a tragedy near Baghdad, Allison goes home on medical leave. Little did she know that she will stumble once again into espionage and murder. Allison and Bret must find the murderer and the Egyptian treasure that everyone seems to want. A great story about finding love in uncertain times, faith in the Lord and courage. I heartily recommend this for a great exciting read!

One of the best books I've ever read,(and I've read a lot of Christian fiction). Chaikin does a great job of keeping you guessing. This book is full of action, suspense, and romance. It would make a great movie actually. The war scenes at the beginning are drawn out a bit long, but the suspense at Sarah Blaine's house more than makes up for it. After Book 1, I thought the second book would have to be of lesser quality, but I was wrong. Book 2 was even better! Now I can hardly wait to read #3. This book is a must read.

Again, I say wow! Linda Chaikin delights us again with the thrilling second book in the Lions of the Desert series. In this book, Allison Wescott is in the Arabian Desert, nursing wounded WWI soldiers in August 1915. Colonel Bret Holden has disappeared from her life, and she struggles to go on amidst all the pain and agony. Suddenly, Bret shows up again and she's swept into a whirlwind of events in the espionage ring again. She stays at the Blaine House with Sarah Blaine and there seems to be an invisible, mysterious intruder watching her every move! When seemingly innocent people are murdered brutally, Allison and Bret must look deeper...who can they trust? No one is who they seem to be...

This book will kep you thrilled till the very end. I highly recommend it!

I bought a copy of this because I thought it was going to be about the desert fathers. I was wrong, but not dissapointed! Walters' book is one of the best books on mysticism and spirituality I've ever read. I especially like the early chapter on idols that we worship as God. This book is one that every religious library needs!

This is the first book on spirituality I've ever read in one sitting (an all-nighter!), and I plan to read it again. It's a beautiful and insightful book, in spite of the author's modest claim that he's not a poet (he is, in this and his other books). Walters teaches us how to sink into the inner desert (the soul), discover our true selves and God there, and return to the world as prophets on fire with divine love. He says that human existence is a koan, a riddle that can only be cracked if we dare to go beyond the safe boundaries we've drawn for ourselves and jump into the desert. He's especially good at describing those "safe" places--all those "churchy" feel-good dens we burrow into to keep away from the fiery desert God. A frightening thought, but one (if he's right) that eventually frees us to become full fledged individuals. This book isn't for the timid--or maybe that's exactly who it's for. Reading Walters is a little like reading Kierkegaard. Be prepared to be shook up.

Soul Wilderness is one of the best books in spirituality I've read in the last ten years. Using Joesph Campbell's typology stages in the sacred journey, Walters shows how we can pass in and through our own inner deserts to discover and become one with God. The first and last chapters are particularly insightful: the first on the reasons we hesitate diving into our souls, the last on what it means to be a mystic/prophet. Reading this book could change your life. Its certainly in the same camp as anything Tom Merton or Henri Nouwen wrote.

This is one of the greatest books I've ever read in the last twenty years! Find it anyway you could and after finished it, try to find the sequal SLEEPING DOGS, kill both with one shot, please! This book almost became a bible to modern day thriller writers and it's plots and scenario had been sneakly if not consciously copied by many recent writers such J. Finder(the Zero Hour) and B. Branon(Devils hole). Thomas Perry is one of the great treasures in American literature(although I don't like this serious word). Mr. Perry is a most talented but sometimes with weird writing directions. If you enjoyed his BUTCHER'S BOY/SLEEPING DOGS, then please try to read his new DISAPPEARING ACT series, you will be so happy to find a great writer who obviously never lost his MUSE to find a different Hero or Heroine to entertain himself and us. A MUST READ ALL WRITER!

I read this book in one sitting, something I've haven't done since. It always amazed me that a movie hasn't been made out out this great story line: Hit-man on the run, young female FBI agent and Mafia hit-men on his trail. What fascinated me was the detailed picture that Perry paints on the need of a person in a business such as the 'Butcher's Boy' to blend into the background and, by all means, not get noticed. He's carried this on somewhat in his later books, which are all very good, but this is, I believe, his masterpiece.

Thomas Perry's first novel is a Killer-Thriller! I had read "Sleeping Dogs"(the sequal) before I read "The Butchers Boy". Both books are great. I am glad they re-printed "The Butchers Boy" because it explains a lot I missed when reading
"Sleeping Dogs". However, each book can stand alone without the other. The "Butchers Boy" is about a hitman that is double crossed by the mob after he completed some contract(killing) work for them. It also tells the story of the Department of Justice Field Agent that is trying to tie all the killings together. It is a race to the end to find the missing link that will tie the knot to this killer-thriller. Also don't miss the few chapters that introduces us to the much loved "jane whitefield series" the lady that can make you disappear. I hope Perry brings that series back-it was one of his best. "Butchers Boy is a good read!

This book totally captivated me. I was familiar with most of the areas traveled and found him to be right on target with his descriptions. I love Baja and enjoyed learning the experiences he encountered and how he tackled all the many hardships he faced.

Travel books about daring trips to places filled with hardships erupt like volcanic ash from the "featured on sale" sections of bookstores. Authors fill the shelves, as they have for a dozen decades, with endless sagas of how they climbed-a-mountain-and-everybody-died, why they sailed-the-Pacific-in-a-sea-of-storms, and even all-the-good-reasons-why-people-should-not-do-the-dangerous-pastime-the-author-does.

"Into a Desert Place" features many of the hallmarks of this unfortunate genre of "we nearly died" non-fiction. Baja California's alien landscapes, spiked with impassable mountains, rattlesnakes and boojum trees, certainly qualifies in many regions as a "need a sense of high adventure and a contempt for danger to tour there" area. Yet, "Into a Desert Place" does not repel in the way that "body count on Mount Everest" books can. On the contrary, this book simply charms. "Into a Desert Place" is a complete revelation--an accessible, winning account of how adverse conditions can be met by those most basic values--determination, a good attitude and, indeed, a good heart.

Mr. Mackintosh manages to convey the hardships of the trip, the kindness of most of the people he met along the way, and his own struggles to complete his quest, all without undue sentimentality or boastfulness. The book has a folksy, simple feel about it, but it is anything but a simple book. Instead of the usual travel book conceits based on machismo or "sheer pluck", we see Baja through the eyes of Everyman. We need more books like "Into a Desert Place" and fewer books about how many innocent tourists drowned at sea. We all belong in the desert place to which this book removes us. After reading this book, the reader may not wish to walk around Baja, but the reader might well wish to find that place of quiet, and think a bit.

I bought this book years ago, after reading a typewritten review in one of those "Doomsday Is Comming--Soon!" 'zines. Most of the books reviewed in it were those grim tomes about how to survive by eating nuts and berries after The Big One gets dropped and wipes out 50% of our population. Mr. McKintosh's book proved to be a pleasant suprise--a well- written account, an out-and-out adventure, a walk across the remote desert of Lower California on a shoestring budget.

When he got the idea to actually Do It, McKinstosh was slightly pudgy Scottish college professor whose main exercise seemed to have been lifting a bottle of beer to his lips while he watched football (that's soccer to us Yanks) on the telly. By the time he completed his several month journey, he was lean and sun-baked, the antithesis of his former couch potato self.

In the process, I'd say Mr. McKintosh grew, and actually "found the handle". He figured out what he was about, and what he wanted to do with his life.

For me, some of the most enjoyable parts were those describing how he begged equipment from manufacturers and outfitters, and how he raised funding along the way by writing accounts that he posted to newspapers and magazines.

Of course, there's The Adventure itself, including an amusing account of how he got sloshed from booze he obtained from gathering whiskey bottles that had washed ashore after being thrown overboard from cruise ships. (He sagely notes that staggering around in the boonies at night is risky business.)

Along the way, McKintosh gets befriended by all sorts of interesting, impoverished, and invariably generous folk. Those accounts have a Beginner's Mind freshness to them as well.

Since his original trek, McKinstosh has acquired a modicum of fame. He lectures and writes for the Baja Travel Club, and has since written another book about a second journey with a burro for company. That's a nice piece as well, but I prefer the freshness that only comes from seeing things for the first time.

I'm an old Baja hand myself, and over the years, I've collected a lot of books about Lower California. This one ranks at the very top.

So buy it, read it, and enjoy the photographs. I'm sure you'll find the money well spent.