This particular book was a exciting and action packed. This book, like the rest of series, leaves one yearning to see the next issue. This book was one of constant action and adventure. I can only hope that there will be more in the Guardian series.

If you want a good old-fashioned action/adventure series that stands alone and reads better than most action movies - get any of these books. They all stand alone, you don't have to read them in order. Post-holocaust adventure at its finest!

I didn't know if I was going to enjoy this book. But once I picked it up, it just grabbed me from the beginning. Mike is a WWII avaiation vet who has just recieved notice that he has 3 to 6 months to live. Mina is a professor who has just been forced to retire after 41 years as a music teacher at a college. Fate brings them together and forces them to acknowledge their own shortcomings and accept their faith in God's methods. Mina forces Mike to look to God for the answers and Mike forces Mina to actually live.

The story has wonderful characters--especially the grandkids. The world does look different through the eyes of children.

I would recommend this book to anyone--but have a box of kleenex near by--one just won't cut it!

The humanity of the characters allows each of the readers to identify with one of them. Is faith enough to stir us to action, to get us through the rough times and to help us encourage others? After reading "Fly Away" there will be no doubt about the strength and faithfulness of our God. You don't have to be a 'Super Christian' to share your experience and to lead someone to the Lord. A quick read and definitely not a "romance" story. Do remember to pick up at least one kleenex though

I am an American, living overseas, in Africa, and am in the process of designing my own home. The building standards here are far lower than the standards in America, and I'm looking to educate myself before hiring an architect.

This book is the product of an interested layman's research, based on his own interest in finding out why some older, very unusual-looking fireplaces (by modern standards) seem to produce better, non-smoky fires than the modern fireplaces built in this century. The author researched the historical documents and designs left by the famous early-American fireplace builder Count Rumford. He shows us through explanations and diagrams the principles of Count Rumford's designs, and he does explain these principles clearly.

I have two criticisms of the book. The first is that he spent the first 35 pages talking about Count Rumford and his life (obviously of great personal interest to the author, and of less interest to me). He spent only the last 20 or so pages specifically on the principles of fireplace design. Secondly, as a layperson, he has had to include in the book a disclaimer for the information. Therefore, this book is useful, but your architect or builder would have to read through it (it's short, and could be done) and pass his judgement upon the principles. Therefore, I don't know if the book will be that useful to me here in Africa, as I am in a French-speaking country. The book could have been greatly improved just by the addition of some comments by various architects added to it, in a separate section.

Having seen and admired Leeds' work over the course of two decades, I consider him a master among master masons. I have also enjoyed his wit and wisdom as an author.

Orton was wise to include Leeds in this book.

The author is an excellent chef at the Lake Austin Spa and Resort. In his cookbook, he details low fat/low cal recipes he has created and served to the patrons of the resort. He stresses the use of the freshest ingredients (having an extensive kitchen garden at the spa) to enhance the flavor of the dishes. He has compiled a collection of appetizers (such as Texas Caviar); his delectable and fat-free salad dressings; fish, meat and meatless entrees; veggies; and , YES, luscious pies, cakes and other desserts. The food is delicious, healthful, and believe-it-or-not quite filling. Includes tips on how to cut calorie and fat by, for example, making your own baked tortilla chips (super easy and tasty).

Recipes have nutritional content on each. Take home message stressed to spa-goers at Lake Austin Spa and Resort is...portion size, portion size, portion size!

Terry Conlan has taught several cooking classes in my area and I have taken two. His cookbook is an extension that I can have with me at all times. His recipes are tasty and don't taste "low fat". Whoever would have thought that lima beans could have been made into a delicious soup? Even my SON-IN-LAW liked it!

This is a delightful addition to my collection of cookbooks and one that I use often.

The book is good at going over the details of migration. It discusses the details about going from Oracle7.3.x to 8i and 8.0.x to 8i. It also has a section on errors you could encounter and what to do. It is good, it is just not great.

A big challenge in the UNIX area, is the new Universal Installer, and all the fun X-terminal issues. I did not see much about that here. I don't remember anything about Kernel issues.

It does not have a CD. This is important for things like examples of how new features are to be used. It also is VERY light on topics like the new locally managed Tablespaces. That, Transportable Tablespaces, other new storage topics deserve more coverage, maybe even another chapter. RMAN was new in 8.0, I failed to see why it needed a full chapter here.

It did help identify the issues I need to be concerned about. I expected more of a let-me-walk-you-through-a-real-life-example in the book book. Given its price, no CD, and coverage (beyond what is in the doc) I was not overly satisfied.

This book is truly worth considerably more than the publisher's list price. The authors of this book have done an absolutely first rate job! I have never seen a book with as much detail about the steps and "gotchas" on Oracle database migration as this book. The authors cover in terrific detail the migrating from Oracle7 to both 8.0 and 8i, and they address the detailed steps for upgrading from 8.0.x to 8i as well. Also, this book covers migration from non-Oracle databases to 8i. A large number of migration-related issues are presented which you will NOT find in Oracle's documentation. The second half of the book covers the new features of Oracle8i and how they can be used by the DBA, including numerous practical examples and source code. No administrator should be without this valuable reference!

While we owe Vrest Orton a big "thankyou" for helping to resurect the Rumford fireplace, which was all but forgotton, as he said, in 1969, he got a lot of the history and details wrong - mostly slanting the fireback and neglecting to round the breast. I have no doubt that Orton accurately described the fireplace in his home in Vermont. I have seen many fireplaces said to be Rumfords which had slanted backs. While it's a common variation, it's not a Rumford. Read Rumford's own essay reprinted in The Collected Works of Count Rumford Vol 2 edited by Sanborn C. Brown for the real stuff. But Orton wrote an engaging little book. I'll give it a "3". - Jim Buckley

The simple practicality contained in the premises of this book are so obvious as to be overlooked, ignored, or even disbelieved. Believe them! Mr. Orton presents in clear, concise, diagrammatical presentation the WAY A FIREPLACE SHOULD BE BUILT. To all the masons out there who have at one time or other in your career felt that the true art of masonry is dying, read this book for the inspiration that yours is a craft more ancient and solid than any other. Easy to read, entertaining and to the point.

I heard from a friend this is Haynes's first novel. If this is true, I can't wait for his next book! Like Haynes, I too served in the mideast. His discriptions of the deserts and the Lebanese mountains brought back memories!
This story is a kind of different twist about the Arabs than I expected. I was stunned by who the real antagonists in the story turned out to be. I was very surprised by the ending. This isn't a story that's easy to out guess before you're done reading it!
I liked it. It started off a bit slow, but then really picked up pace till the end.

What was really neat about this book is the woman hero, Karen Anthony. I like her! She's not some trumped up supergorgeous superwoman like in most books. She's a real person. I was in Lebanon too once. The way Haynes describes the battles in the hills and the setting sun on the Lebanese mountains brought chilling memories back to me! I really enjoyed the feeling of actually being there again! I could practically see the massive tank armies rumbling across the desert!
For a first time writer, Haynes does a really good job presenting this conspiracy. I can actually see this happening. I hope his next book is coming out real soon!

If you've gone this far, you must have an above average interest in the Civil War and, to you, I'd recommend this book. Stearns was a bootmaker from outside Boston who managed to be in just about every important battle in the Eastern theater from 2nd Bull Run until he musters out during the Siege of Petersburg. After reading Last Full Measure and other 3rd person accounts of the war, it is interesting to read an account from someone who was there. I found it interesting that Stearns barely references the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg when I would have thought it was a major event for anyone who was there. Otherwise, a fairly quick and interesting read.

This is one of the better Civil War memoirs written by an enlisted man. Stearns was from Hopkinton, Massachusetts and served three years in the 13th Massachusetts Infantry. Unnoted by the "careful" reviewer of the previous review is the fact that Stearns had been mustered out after three years of service three weeks prior to the Battle of the Crater, so he would have been there in a civilian capacity. Stearns illustrated his accounts with sketches, many of which are reproduced in the text. This is an important book for Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and especially Gettysburg. The 13th Massachusetts fought on the first days fight as part of the First Army Corps and when the Corps fell back to Cemetery Hill, many of the men, like Stearns, got caught in the town itself. Stearns thus provides the insights of a Federal sergeant wandering through the Army of Northern Virginia for two days as the rebels fail in their attempt to dislodge the US Army. When Lee fell back on July 4, Stearns went to ground and avoided capture. I rate this as one of the best of the thousands of memoirs written by Civil War soldiers as Stearns gives great insight into the life and combat of frontline troops.

Compline (or night prayer) was significantly revised in the Liturgy of the Hours revised after the Vatican II Council. This volume is the pre-reform text i.e. the 1960 version of rubrics and breviary. The chant is from the Roman Antiphonal of 1919. While the introduction is sufficient for the celebration of compline by those familar with the structure of the Liturgy of the Hours, others may struggle to make the appropriate seasonal adjustments. The text includes rubrics in italics. The text is given in Latin and in English. The music is provided in traditional Gregorian chant notation. This requires an additional level of expertise by the reader. The seasonal adjustments require an Ordo to identify feasts and seasons. The printing is satisfactory but I prefer clearer and large print in prayer books commonly used in dimly lighted rooms. It is for this I deducted a star. Otherwise, if you want a copy of the pre-Vatican II compline service, this is a reliable and complete source - complete with the short lesson 1 Peter 5:8-9.

This excellent report scrutinizes two Demonstration Programs initiated by the Austin Police Department (APD) under the auspices of a U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Service grant. These were 1) the assignment of District Representatives (DRs) across the city, and 2) the development of a Citizen Academy for Problem Solving (CAPS) wherein community members and police Officers would team up to learn community oriented approaches -- including the SARA model -- to resolve local difficulties such as patterns of crime, fear of crime, or persistent community disorder. In order to have a general context from which the researchers could understand these Demonstration Programs, the research team also conducted a study of Patrol activity by APD officers not involved in either program as a control sample. Recommendations based on the research are short and well formulated.

What is critically valuable about this work are the appendices. While the "ride-along" with Patrol Officers is considered a basic, even initiatory activity for students of policing, little significant data about Officers' attitudes is ever published from this activity. In contrast, Gowri's is a fine example of the richness of information that can be derived from Officer (or other subjects') responses when one keeps good field notes and organizes observations and responses by emergent category codes. When paired with passive observation by professionally trained (but not embedded) observers, the reader can see the congruencies and disjunctures between Officers' understandings of routine activities on one hand, and citizen understandings on the other. In all, the appendices provide almost 100 pages of data which is not entirely raw (names, routine locations, and characteristic expressions have been carefully excised), but nevertheless provides insight into the Officers and the Department which are unparalleled in the scholarly literature.

These congruencies and disjunctures are important, reports Gowri, because the devil is in the details of policing. To a great degree, the report is for, about, and by the "good guys." Under the direction of Chief Stan Knee, the Austin PD has retained a reputation for being the most effective, scandal free, and progressive big city police department in Texas. Presumably that reputation is one of the reasons it won a COPS office grant in the first place. The second group of "good guys" were the officers and APD staff who worked directly with the evaluation team. District Representatives, patrol Officers, and trainers for the Citizen Academy (CAPS) were all selected by the APD. It is to be assumed that these men and women are, in large part, dedicated to the principles and goals of Community Oriented Policing. Third, the evaluation team itself was a model of "good" citizenship: mostly middle-class, mature, articulate graduate students of the LBJ School of Public Affairs with no visible axes to grind. It is in light of this apparent harmony that the reader should pay close attention to Appendix G, which presents APD department managers' responses to aspects of the report and Gowri?s rebuttals and (occasional) emendations in light of APD remarks.

What is most troubling about this report is the degree to which the APD seems to have ignored it. Gowri makes clear and substantive recommendations as to how District Representatives can be made more effective: examples include having their own vehicles and computers, rather than signing out equipment on a daily basis; better DR training including public speaking, writing, dispute resolution, etc; modes of reporting which are based on narrative and problem assessment, rather than "incident based" reporting deployed by almost all police departments. Likewise, she recommends reinstitution of the CAPS program, this time with explicit, active support from commanding officers. Of course, things have changed since Gowri's report. The APD's apparent unwillingness to improve their community-oriented policing policies may be nothing more than a reflection of Texas's economic woes combined with the Federal (DoJ) shift of emphasis to counter-terrorism training. If so, we can hope that when quieter and more affluent times return to the Lone Star State, police managers will be able to refer to this report and consider how best to make policing more truly community oriented.