I loved this book. It features recipes from some of my favorite restaurants. I loved the Chicken and Black Bean Quesadilla. Simple ingrediants that I can find anywhere in great combinations.

For those who love to eat good food, yet don't enjoy slaving all day in the kitchen, this one is for you. The directions are clear and concise, even I can follow them. And the results... Marvelous.

Recently, I had the honor of meeting David at a Book Signing of Vietnam Era helicopter Pilots. David is as delightful and faithful man as his writing. Prior to meeting him, I had purchased his book and read it advidly. He writes a completely different Vietnam Novel whereby he mixes his faith experience and combat experience with a moving story of the devotion that people can have towards each other in the world of combat. While this is fiction, I have spoken with him at great length and know his work reflects his own faith journey and personal morays. Keeping the action moving, David manages to also convey more important things than a simple "shoot em up" novel would attempt. I highly recommend this to people who are interested how men of faith struggled in the "apparently Godless" world of war. This is anovel that you can feel very comfortable in allowing your children to read.

Bruce E. Carlson M. Div. author of "Red Bird Down."

This is fantastic little pocket carryall book for cycling San Juan, Gulf and Vancouver Islands. Small, 3-D maps, elevation gain, mileage. They just dont make them anymore,

I could not find it to buy in USA since they are out of print, so I checked out of Library. Now I have found it on-line...

Hunter S. Thompson has made a career out of becoming a part of his journalistic endeavors. He has dived into his stories so frequently and so deeply that he has developed his own character in them, the gonzo journalist. The Rum Diary, thankfully, gives us a different look at Thompson: the quiet observer. Quiet, that is, relative to the other characters in this book.

The Rum Diary chronicles Hunter's own time spent in Puerto Rico. The book itself is a pretty wild ride. After arriving in Puerto Rico, Thompson goes to work for a newspaper that is in the midst of a protest. The reporters risk mugging just to enter the building. Thompson soon meets a couple of friends and drunken hijinks ensue with Thompson and everybody else gorging themselves on the local drink, Rum (hence the title). Think of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but take away the drugs and add more booze. That would be close.

This book isn't nearly as vital or symbolic as some of Thompson's more famous works but for true Thompson fans it offers an insight into the man, not the myth.

I enjoyed "The Rum Diary" though it was my first HS Thompson book. The first point in my rating is Thompson's unique ability to describe landscapes, be they the crowded silling infested streets of St. Thomas to the beautiful landscape of the surreal Vieques (sp?). The imagery was painting beautifully through prose in The Rum Diary. The second point is character development.... This book could have been a bit better if the characters/professions were discussed a little more in depth. As a non-journalist, I felt I didn't know enough on journalism in the late 50's to know any hardships of that career choice, but as the story goes, it seems it (as anything else) has it's political hurdles/hardships. Some of the characters are more impressionable and better developed than others. Sala gives the reader feelings of responsibility/truth/sarcasm; Yeamon gives a feeling of irresponsibility/intimidation/carpe diem; Chenault emotes classic femme fatale feelings; Moberg represents the "the lowest of low"/nothing to lose which by the way is already lost; Lotterman as the classic example of bureaucrat; Sanderson as a star of hope waiting to be embraced! Enjoy, it is a good read.

Also recommended if you enjoy this or have read the following:
On The Road (Kerouac)
Green Hills of Africa (Hemmingway)
To Have and Have Not (Hemmingway)
Huckleberry Finn (Twain)

This is the "lost novel" by Hunter S. Thompson, a book that he started writing in 1959 to make a quick buck. He struggled all through the sixties to get this thing rewritten and published, but because of its quality and Thompson's legendary shakedowns with agents, publishers, and contracts, it died on the vine - until a few years ago. This quasi-fictional account of a New York reporter drifting into a job at the San Juan Daily News is somewhat based on Thompson's experience on the Carribean island in the late 1950. Trying to put Puerto Rico on the literary map like Hemingway did for Paris, he spells out a story of corruption, boredom, and alcohol in a more simple San Juan, before the big booms of the travel booms and technology of the sixties. Paul Kemp, the fictional narrator, describes the coworkers, women, natives, and insane government, riddled with syndicates and kickbacks. The writing here isn't like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - it's more of the Orwell/Mailer/Miller genre, and does a good job of painting memorable scenes of the insanity, camaraderie, poverty, and drunkenness on top of the tropical backdrop. It's not bad stuff, and I wonder if it recently went through heavy rewrites, or if there just wasn't a market for it back in the sixties. Either way, it's a light, fast read at just over 200 pages, and made me wonder if Thompson's other unpublished work would be as satisfying in a trade hardcover. Maybe someday?

The book has been interesting since its inception.The author conjured it from a mass of interviews during a summer some years later. Granted, the book is haunting, tragic and disturbing. The text, failed to understand the horror and confusion of the Anglos. I am well aware of this. Ronny Haynie, 3601 Sunset Ave. 1974....Farmington, New Mexico

I read a review of this book some years ago when it first came out. It sounded like a fascinating story so I made a mental note to keep an eye out for it at the book stores. Time went on and I still hadn't come across it so I ordered it off Amazon.com. When I got the book I was a little aprehensive at first. The subtitle, "A True Story of Murder and Magic in Indian Country" made me wonder if I was going to get the facts or the myth. When I started reading the first few pages, I was worried that I was going to get a skewered perspective of the events. As it turned out, none of my concerns were realized and, instead, I got an excellent review of a sordid event in recent history.

The main events of this story take place in the early 1970's. Three Native Americans were brutally murdered by three White teenagers in Farmington, NM. The author introduces us to the story through his own eyes as he discovers the tense aftermath of the murders and the reaction to the light sentencing that the youthful murderers received. Although just passing through Farmington, Rodney Barker finds himself suddenly involved in the turmoil. The events are etched in his mind and, when he dicovers more about it some years later, he decides to investigate the whole story.

Mr. Barker does a very good job in telling the story and trying to do so from all available perspectives. He is sensitive to the Navajo's point of view and goes to great lengths to bring that perspective to the reader. Yet, despite his partisan introduction to the story, he seems to have done a pretty good job of getting the "Anglo" perspective as well. There are times when there doesn't seem to be a reasonable response to some of what has happened. Yet the author often brings us just such a response. He follows the lives of the perpetrators and we find ourselves actually starting to care about them in their later lives. He leaves not with answers but with an awareness instead.

People not familiar with the tension of communities that border Native American reservations will find these events hard to believe. For that matter, so will those who do live in such communities. I read a Native American columnist once who said that the worst racism against Native Americans can be found in those communities that border reservations. Mr. Barker's book is an example of that statement at its' worst. Unfortuanately, while it makes us aware of this problem, it leaves an emptiness as we look for a solution to the problem. Why was it that the teenage activity of "rolling" intoxicated Indians in Farmington was allowed to happen? Was the author's explantion of the problem overstated or was the community's response to it understated? I live near an Indian reservation and I can attest to stereo-typing and tension between the races. However, it is nothing like the description of the situation in Farmington. Thus I am wondering about many things as a result of reading this book. The success of this book is that it has made me thing about things that need to be thought about.

Very well written, gripping, and entertaining despite the gravity of the subject matter. Well worth reading.

This book is a marvel.... all those years and who knew he could write. Joe is an excellent cardiologist and writer, ought to know my Dad was a patient for years. This book amazed me. Congratulations on a well done job.

Vladimir Nabokov said a good novelist has three facets: story teller, teacher, and, most important, enchanter. In the Moro (retrospectively a perfect title) is a compelling story, with lessons of western history. Joe Wise is a shrewd observer, as are all good story tellers, and has curious insights into fly fishing, small towns, cafes, and such. "The best food is brown", says David, the protagonist. He's talking about chicken fried steak, enchiladas, barbecue, and peach cobbler. But this book should be read because it apprehends the grand magic of the Rocky Mountains. That's not possible without enchantment.

The story is set in roughly modern times but analyzes an event that took place in 1874. The clues that develop the story as well as the character development make for a good read.

I have found this book very useful on 3 cruises through the San Juans and Vancouver Island. Information on each marina includes: area map, harbor layout, address, phone #, VHF channel, Marina services, photographs and a general discussion of the marina and surrounding area.

As the title suggests, this book accurately describes the attractions in the San Juan Islands and does so for those traveling by boat or by car. I consider this book critical to planning a trip to the islands and important to have on board the boat when traveling there. Safe harbors, hikes, history, public parks, marine and bird life for all the accessible islands are included. Detailed, hand drawn maps of all areas of interest are in the book. Hundreds of excellent photographs. 255 pages of valuable and interesting information that is well organized and illustrated.

This is a great guide tot the coastal waters of Washington and the Puget Sound. It gives you information about anything such as where to eat to where to get gas for your boat, as well as details on mooring and boat launching. This is an essential book for the weekend excursion boater.

Martini was beginning to stretch his courtroom characters a little too thin in The Judge; I'm glad he went off in a new direction in this book. It's as full of unexpected turns as all his previous whodunits, but this time with domestic and international terrorists. Its basic plot is believable (even if there are a few too many miraculous escapes) and it'd make a great movie. Don't start this book at bedtime because you won't put it down. Martini is to be commended for having a strong woman as protagonist; I only regret she never got her "constitutional rights". In the end Martini kills off the wrong character, the character I had really bonded to and wanted to see in future books. (Or, did he really die? In this book you're never sure!) A great trash read for a beach day, an airplane flight, or a lazy Saturday.

The story is gripping. Many twists and a surprise ending. Unlike Grisham, who writes complex stories with too many characters for me to keep track of, Martini keeps down on the number of characters and still makes the story compelling to read. Although the main character is a woman, it's the kind of book men would like as well. In fact, I mailed it to my brother -- and I've never given him a book to read before. I know he'll absolutely enjoy it. I'm also recommending Critical Mass to female friends. Get a copy.

Wow! What a wonderful book to read. When I finished reading this book (in one 4-hour setting), I put it down feeling completely mentally refreshed - it was that good! The first 6 chapters or so develop the plot while introducing the characters. Many books just dump the characters in your lap, but Martini weaves their introductions into the development of the plot, possibly better than any other book I've read. Our heroine, a lawyer who recently set up shop in Washington, gets pulled into the middle of a national security crisis when she gets retained by an arm's smuggler who has been hired to smuggle a nuclear bomb into the U.S. and blow up a city. But where is the bomb, who is the smuggler, and what city is targeted? Just when you think you're on to the plot and you know what is going to happen, the plot twists, and you are left in amazement. This is one of Martini's strongest books, and it was a pleasure to read.