I love every single book in the Lieberman series but this one is a particular favorite. As always, Lieberman is both worldly wise and all too human, with weaknesses that make him just that more believable and strangely lovable as well.
This time around, Lieberman and his associate, Hanrahan, are trying to guard the ex-wife and son of a mob informant while juggling the daily frustrations of their own lives. While the mystery will keep your attention, what is equally wonderful, to my mind, are Lieberman and Hanrahan, two guys who jump from the pages in vivid detail. Kaminsky is a wonderful writer and I hope more than mystery buffs discover him. He deserves the attention!

Dark, yet humorous. The entire Lieberman series is fantastic (I've read them all) but this one is the best. The plots are complex yet they move at breakneck speed. You really get involved in the characters and their lives. This cop series focuses on the minds and lives of the police, rather than focusing on the criminals. This series is tops. The only other writers that come close are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane and S.J. Rozan.

Chicago police officers Abe Lieberman and Bill Hanrahan are partners affectionately dubbed by their peers as the "Rabbi and the Priest". Their latest case involves mob accountant Mickey Gornitz willing to testify against his boss if certain conditions are met. Mickey insists he will only talk with Abe, who was a high school classmate several decades ago. Mickey also demands that his ex-wife and teenage son receive full protection though he has not seem either of them in fifteen years until the informer disappears into the witness protection program. Reluctantly, the Cook County District Attorney's Office agrees.

However, almost immediately after the moment that the Boston cop handed over the former wife and son to Bill, thugs kidnap the duo. When the abduction includes murder, Bill blames himself and not the brass who thought the wife and kid were low priority. As Abe works on a couple of cases and some personal shtick, he tries to help his partner deal with a severe case of depression caused by deep feelings of guilt.

The Abe Lieberman police procedural series is constantly one of the best the sub-genre has to offer. The current tale, THE BIG SILENCE, is an intriguing look at Chicago, various ethnic groups, and relationships. The police investigation is engaging because no great revelation occurs, just hard work. Stuart M. Kaminsky other sleuths (see Rostnikov and Peters) are very good and deserve fan accolades, but clearly neither one holds a candle to the Lieberman books.

Harriet Klausner

A fabulous book for beginning birders, Birdscaping your Garden acts as an all-purpose guide to identification, habitat, and feeding habits. Identification is aided by a short description as well as a black and white sketch and a full-color photo. Each two-page spread discusses one bird with details including migration and winter range, breeding range and behavior, nesting, and a short list of plants to use for bird food.
The feeding guide is garden and plant focused (rather than the typical hanging birdfeeder type focus) with the idea of using native plantings to attract and feed birds. Purchased seed options are rarely mentioned.
As organized and helpful as the individual page layouts are, the overall organization of the book is lacking. The reader is forced to browse through all 64 birds in the directory section to find what is being sought since the birds are not listed in any particular order. The book's lack of regional focus is also limiting and reduces the number of relevant entries to about 30 if you live in New Jersey, for example.
The final section of the book is a plant directory which is organized alphabetically by scientific name. The section includes photos and general cultural guidelines for plants that will shelter and feed the birds previously discussed. A list of "Birds Attracted" within the individual plant descriptions is a nice cross-reference with the bird directory section.
The dichotomy of the book should not put you off - it is clearly written and useful despite its overall lack of organization. There is no doubt it is valuable for creating a native, bird-friendly garden.

I first found this book at our local library and when I went to photocopy "a few pages" I realized I was about the copy the whole book so I decided to just buy the book for myself. It's terrific! It goes through all sorts of species of bushes and trees, indicates what type of wildlife is attracted to it, how they use it, etc. It has good pictures too. A real must have for the backyard gardener who wants to have some wildlife in their life. Highly highly recommended

Want to "reform" your backyard? This book is a great place to start. A wonderful primer on birds and plants, this book is also a solid reference book. I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in, or is serious about, creating a great place for the birds and the bees to hang out.

Born Free And Equal: The Story Of Loyal Japanese Americans is an impressive combination of historic photographs and writings about the Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned in Manzanar, one of ten such relocation camps, as a result of wartime fears regarding possible sabotage by members of the Japanese and Nisei (American-born men and women of Japanese ancestry) living along the American west coast. During the era of World War II, virtually all the American people of Japanese descent in the states of California, Oregon and Washington (most of them citizens), were interned in relocation camps scattered through the Midwest. Born Free And Equal captures memories of this prison community and how the families in it lived in broad, sweeping, black-and-white photographs. Born Free And Equal is a powerful, highly recommended, historically factual book, accurately capturing with poetic realism a dark and controversial aspect of America's WW II effort, which, along with such horrors as the European Holocaust and the Japanese atrocities in the Far East, must never be forgotten.

In the autumn of 1943, the eminently talented photographer Ansel Adams traveled to the Relocation Center at Manzanar, California. This was one of the camps where the United States government relocated (some would say "imprisoned") the many people of Japanese descent who lived in the western, Military Zone 1, so that they could not assist Imperial Japan in its war against the United States. Among the many people sent to this camp were men, women, children and the elderly; immigrants from Japan, the children (born in the U.S.) of Japanese immigrants, and the those even farther removed from Japan; not to mention a decorated veteran of the Spanish-American War (Seaman 1st Class Harry Sumida of the U.S.S. Indiana).

It was here that Ansel Adams set up his camera, and put a human face on this tragedy. This is his book; the pictures he took, and the text he wrote. Originally published in 1944, this newer edition (published in 2001) contains all of the original photos, several additional photos that Mr. Adams took but didn't include in the original, and several fascinating introductions written by Japanese-Americans.

Considering the topic of this book is something of a cause celebre, one might imagine that this book was something of an anti-American screed. Well, if you thought that, you would be wrong. This book is a very balanced look at what happened, and the people who were caught up in it. Mr. Adams wanted the book to be factual, so both the good aspects and bad aspects are covered. That said, though, the book was something of an expose of what happened, and is not a whitewash. Therefore, if you are looking for a book that will tell you about this historical tragedy, then I highly recommend this book.

Finally, I was able to pick up a copy of this long-awaited book. The original is extremely expensive to pick up, and with the additional introductory information, this is an improvement. A fascinating read, fantastic print quality... A must have!

Since I have read this book my life has changed. I have lost inches and gained energy and motvation. Donna has done a great service and I appreciate the understanding that comes across in the book. It is fuuny and tells my story alot. Finding the foods that don't work for me has been a great help and I am able to finally get a good nights sleep. I could go on and on but theres too much to be excited about. The book is a must have !!!

Review for Burn Fat for Fuel Fat to Fabulous in Only 28Days

My husband and I are both "into" this book and its"Live It or Diet System." We are both over fifty, and aware thatwe need to eat right,watch our weight , get more exercise - and weneed inspiration.Donna.Michaels-Surface inspires us in her new book"Burn Fat for Fuel.

With her example, her stories,and her greatsense of humor( one of her chapters is called " 'A Little Behindin a Big Hurry' Lower Body Routine"), she is able to communicate tous in simple terms complex information.

As a breast cancer survivorand one of the many perimenopausal women of today, I personallyappreciate her explanations of cellulite and what todo about it ( HereI was thinking it was hopeless!), estrogen,testosterone etc. She alsohas inspired meto lift those weights and offers great instruction andphotos of howto do those lunges and other exercises correctly.

What a wonderful book. Such insight and wonderful information presented in a fun and easy to read format. Donna and Dr. Snyder really hit home with their diet program... especially their information regarding food allergies. This is a must read for anyone who wants to live a longer, livelier and healthy life.

Christabel, from the prolific Karin Kallmaker's Laura Adams persona, is a gothic romance, a tale of the supernatural and how an evil entity torments one woman's soul through generations. There are two stories told: first, how the evil found and took a young woman, Christabel, for his own in colonial New York. The second story is of the modern la Christabel, supermodel, spinning out yet another life to provide the suffering that the evil thrives on.

In Coleridge's version of this tale, even nature itself is evil (so green, so female), as is the witch Geraldine, who bewitches young Christabel with veiled references to lesbianism. Christabel is just a victim and the rescuer is Sir Leoline, who must fight both the witch and nature for Christabel's soul.

Laura Adams turns this story upside down. Geraldine represents the peaceful, natural world of the native Manhattans, and when the young Christabel meets the native woman, passion soon follows. Their joyous happiness is discovered and fouled by a demon Puritan preacher, who contrives Geraldine's downfall. Easy to do when Halley's Comet has appeared overhead -- blame it on the nearest nonconformist female and call her a witch. As the preacher takes possession of Christabel in the past, the modern day Christa has adopted desperate measures to try to break the cycle. An investment banker, Dina has renounced the part of her heritage that has passed down over time, but one touch of Christa's hand brings the power -- and the passion -- surging back. Defeated in the past, she arms herself for another battle in this lifetime.

The story weaves back and forth in time with perfect clarity. Minor characters from the past have their roles to play in the present. Even an ancient tree contributes -- significantly -- to the link between the two stories.

The plot makes for a good read, and the writing is pure Kallmaker/Adams -- prose matching time period and, of course, unbelievably erotic tension between her characters. The reality of life on the island of Manhattan in the late 1600s is well researched. The resolution is electric and quite, quite satisfactory. Once you start, you won't put it down until the last page.

Love can conquer anything, even time and always evil. That's the message of this book, which I could not put down. Two timelines are intertwined to tell a story of two women who must defeat a powerful evil that has captured and tormented one of them through centuries. I was completely captured by the concept and fervently pulling for these women, right to the very last page.

I enjoyed Night Vision so much that I ordered this book as soon as it was available. It is so different from Night Vision in subject, but the belief in lesbian magic that reaches beyond space and time is as pervasive here, as healing and as vastly enjoyable! I recommend this book to anyone who believes that love can trescend any pain and any evil.

This work is the best overview of classical architecture that the reviewer is aware of. While most such works concentrate on the five orders, usually in traditional "parallel" format, this work shows all five orders, variations of each, and how each is used. The work shows the various other pieces making up the "kit of parts" of Classicism, and how they are used. In short, a one-book guide.

This is the best recent book I've seen on classical architecture. It doesn't get into every possible nuance, but is graphically very rich and clear... well worth the price.

This is a brilliant book. Derek Brentnall's illustrations are superb. What makes this book a joy is that it really opens a world for anyone who wants to know more about why so many of our banks, office buildings, schools and halls of government look the way they do. And it really gets detailed - not in an overwhelming or pedantic way - but in a fun, informative and artful style that calls out the venerable ghosts of our classical past for a festival of discovery.

A few of my favorite painters are contemporaries of Still, so I saw it as my duty to see the Hirschhorn exhibition. Well, I picked a dead day and had the show to myself and simply put I am now a fan. The book is great and David Anfam's addition to the book is especially enlightening about the work of Still.

I am a painter who has largely avoided Clifford Still but this book has turned me into a great admirer. Particulary influential was the contribution by David Anfam, the art historian who was responsible for the magnificent, award-winning Mark Rothko catalogue raisonne. Anfam's essay is insightful, far-reaching, beautifully written with poetic underpinnings, a pleasure to read. All you'll ever need to know about Clifford Still, his work, and his place in art history is covered in this essay. The color plates are also wonderful and, even as reproductions, offer a great chance to appreciate the paintings.

Clyfford Still is one of the giant figures of the art world and this book puts his paintings in a proper perspective. The book contains many color reproductions of his large non-objective canvases. Still himself wrote the book and gives us a very good insight into his life and thinking process. He discusses what went into his paintings and how his unique canvas numbering system worked absent dates and titles to identify his work. It is also a journey through his body of work. His paintings were skillfully balanced with positive and negative spaces and his unparalleled use of color is well documented. This book is a must for any art lover in general and for students of American art in particular. I liked this book not only for the well reproduced paintings in color but also because it let's us into the painter's mind to get a glimps of his true genius.

This book got it all. If you only want one book on Coldfusion MX, this is the one to get. It's also a great reference book, so it's nice to have in your collection even if you are seasoned developer.

Comes highly recommended!

cheers

Back in the day, the only CF books available were the WACKs by Ben Forta. They quickly became the 'must have' books for any serious CF developer, largely because Ben is...well, he's Ben...but also because there was very little competition. As CF has grown in popularity, other publishers have released CF books...but none have ever seriously challenged the WACKs...

...until now. The MX Bible will undoubtedly be regarded as the premiere CF reference. Unlike so many others, this is definitely NOT a simple regurgiation of the docs. The authors are all very well known, respected CF developers who are obviously teaching from their own (real world) experiences...not simply expanding on existing documentation. They explain what works and what doesn't...and why.

This is not really a book for beginners (IMO)...but anybody who's been using CF for at least 6 months or so will find this to be an invaluable, ALL INCLUSIVE (cf, homesite/studio, XML, XSLT, SQL, triggers, stored procs, fusebox, etc) resource that should never be far from the keyboard.

You won't find this much (quality) information anywhere else for close to this price. Do yourself a favor, and make a small investment that will yield huge returns.

I am a self-taught application programmer with 20 years of experience - starting with the AS/400 then PC's and finally coding applications in a web browser. I have so many books on programming I could start my own library. This is one of those rare books that moves from the realm of dispensing information into the world of teaching. This book is loaded not only with "how to" examples (learning comes through hands you know) but also with "why to" and "why not to". And the clear examples and guidance are not only given for the easy and obvious but also for the difficult and obscure.

From the simple demonstration of creating a basic application (add, update, display delete) along with provided sample data to use to using web services, components, xml, and regular expressions - these guys cover it all.

But wait - there's more. They teach you in context leading you not only through why and how but show you the whole picture, the application framework, proper documentation, testing, errors, and exception handling. They even include a language reference.

If I could only have one book on ColdFusion - this is the one.

Ramon Adams has an encyclopedic knowledge of the social life of cowboys on the range. In this one of his many books, he describes the role of the chuck wagon cook on the cattle drives and roundups. Adams is a great collector of amusing stories and colorful cowboy slang. If he knows one word for something, he probably knows half a dozen.

The book provides a detailed description of the chuck wagon itself, how it's constructed and its contents organized, how it's cleaned and maintained, who has responsibilities for what. The chuck wagon was both the nerve center and social center of a trail outfit. Besides getting three meals a day, the cowboys also laid out their bedrolls nearby, and the wrangler's remuda of horses was close at hand. In many cases, the cowboys' bedrolls made the trip to the next night's camp in the back of the chuck wagon.

Of most interest to this reader was the actual fare, typically fried meat, beans cooked for many hours, and sourdough biscuits made in Dutch ovens, all washed down with strong coffee. Depending on the talent and disposition of the cook there were also treats and "sweets," such as pies made from dried apples. An outfit depended for morale and productivity on a cook who kept the men well fed and happy. This gave a well-liked cook a tremendous amount of leverage in the all-male hierarchy of tough cowboys. A man who complained about the chuck or didn't respect the cook's camp rules would soon be sorry.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and while I've read extensively about the cowboy West, it taught me a lot I didn't know, and in a very entertaining way. It belongs on anyone's "Lonesome Dove" bookshelf.

For anyone unfamiliar with the Ol' time cattle drives, this book does a wonderful job enlightening from the point of view of the Ol' Cowboy Cook. I recommend this title to any reader interested in cattle drives

This book is highly recommended for those who follow the arcane art of chuckwagon cooking. Adams displays an excellent, first-hand grasp of the subject and writes with wit and style. Buy it now!

This is a collection of stories, all true, about Sheila Kay Adams' childhood in the kind of North Carolina mountain community that is fading fast, if it hasn't already disappeared. Her warm voice, fine sense of comic writing, sharply-drawn characters, and lovely descriptions all contribute to a collection that is simply but elegantly conceived. The snapshots of life presented here--tragic, hilarious, wondrous--are engaging and moving. It's the kind of book you'll return to. Highly, highly recommended.

Loved this book. Ms. Adams writes just like she talks. The stories she tells are wonderful. The story of Bertha and the snake handlers is priceless. If you are looking for a good book to share with ever member of the family, as I have, this is the book.

I love this book and have used it to read to nursing home folks. They have enjoyed these often outlandish tales as much as I. True life is often better than fiction they say, and I would agree. All short but entertaining tales.