Average customer rating:
- Great start at blown film
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Blown Film Extrusion: An Introduction
Kirk Cantor
Manufacturer: Hanser Gardner Publications
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Plastics Extrusion Technology Handbook
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ASIN: 1569903964 |
Product Description
From hardware and materials through processing and properties, a broad coverage of blown film extrusion is presented. A primary objective of this book is to ensure a useful balance of theory and practice. The reader will find the answers to Why? they encounter certain effects in the blown film process so that they are better able to troubleshoot and improve their operations. At the same time, current practices and equipment are emphasized to keep readers up-to-date with the most productive and efficient technology. The companion CD-ROM, The Blown Film Extrusion Simulator, is provided to enhance the learning process. This software was developed specifically to teach blown film extrusion equipment operation and processing principles. The realistic graphic interface and intuitive operating techniques were designed to emulate actual processing methods so that learners can quickly move from the simulator to real production equipment. Throughout this book, exercises using the simulator are described to complement the methods and principles explained and to enhance the readers understanding of the content.
Customer Reviews:
Great start at blown film.......2007-05-16
Very good book for those who wants to know how to run a blown film extruder.
Basic learning.
Amazon.com
Philip Evans and Thomas S. Wurster think that the Internet can blow away practically any business, and in Blown to Bits, they examine how the new economy is "deconstructing" industries such as newspapers, auto retailing, and banking while creating new opportunities for others. They write that the "glue that holds today's value chains and supply chains together" is melting, and that even "the most stable of industries, the most focused of business models and the strongest of brands can be blown to bits by new information technology."
Evans and Wurster, both executives of the Boston Consulting Group, argue that the Internet demands new business strategies because it provides companies tremendous "reach" for customers without sacrificing "richness," or the quality of the information about products and services. The book shows how some businesses--Microsoft and Intuit in personal finance, Dell Computer in retailing, and the Automotive Network Exchange in manufacturing supply--are thriving amid a rapid expansion of connectivity and the widespread acceptance of new technical standards on the World Wide Web. Clearly written and tough-minded, Blown to Bits is required reading for business leaders, entrepreneurs, strategists, and others concerned about the new economics of the information age. --Dan Ring
Book Description
Richness or reach? The trade-off used to be simple but absolute: Your business strategy either could focus on "rich" information - customized products and services tailored to a niche audience - or could reach out to a larger market, but with watered-down information that sacrificed richness in favor of a broad, general appeal.
Much of business strategy as we know it today rests on this fundamental trade-off.
Now, say Evans and Wurster, the new economics of information is eliminating the trade-off between richness and reach, blowing apart the foundations of traditional business strategy.
Blown to Bits reveals how the spread of connectivity and common standards is redefining the information channels that link businesses with their customers, suppliers, and employees. Increasingly, your customers will have rich access to a universe of alternatives, your suppliers will exploit direct access to your customers, and your competitors will pick off the most profitable parts of your value chain. Your competitive advantage is up for grabs.
To prepare corporate executives and entrepreneurs alike for a fundamental change in business competition, Evans and Wurster expand and illuminate groundbreaking concepts first explored in the award-winning Harvard Business Review article "Strategy and the New Economics of Information," and present a practical guide for applying them. Examples span the spectrum of industries--from financial services to health care, from consumer to industrial goods, and from media to retailing.
Blown to Bits shows how to build new strategies that reflect a world in which richness and reach go hand in hand and how to make the most of the new forces shaping competitive advantage.
Download Description
The new economics of information is blowing apart the foundations of traditional business strategy. According to Blown to Bits, your business definition, industry definition, and competitive advantage are simultaneously up for grabs. Evans and Wurster argue that with the spread of connectivity and common standards, your customers will increasingly have rich access to a universe of alternatives, your suppliers will exploit direct access to your customers, and focused competitors will pick off the most profitable parts of your value chain. With an uncompromising clarity and vivid examples, Blown to Bits is targeted squarely at today's practicing business and corporate leaders. This groundbreaking book shows how to build new strategies that reflect the new economics of information, and explains how to take advantage of the forces shaping today's competitive advantage.
Customer Reviews:
"New economics of information" or new business of information?.......2007-01-29
"Blown to Bits" is a book about the "new economics of information technology" and its impact on businesses. The "morals" of the story include the fact that traditional business entities are increasingly being destroyed by newer and technology-based competitors. The destruction is happening because some old-style firms, after years of dominant positions in the market, have rested too comfortably on their laurels, unaware of emerging competition. Other firms are simply locked-in old technologies either because their investments are irreversible, or because changing old models of doing business may hurt stakeholders without guaranteeing future success.
The preceding statement suggests the difference between the "economics of information" and the "economics of things". Things and information are wed, but the marriage is fracturing, signaling an impending separation. The separation brings things and information is sharp competition, which increases the market value of information and tends to reduce the market value of things. The ensuing tradeoff between the quality of information (richness) and the quantity of information (reach) determines technical capability (production possibilities curve). However, with the value of information rising relative to the value of things, it becomes easy for "enablers" such as internet connectivity and standardized dissemination to shift the production possibilities frontier outward. The shift represents deconstruction defined as the "dismantling and reformulation of traditional business structures" (p. 39).
The flow of information in deconstructed enterprises is decentralized and orderly chaotic, rather than hierarchical. The benefit of deconstruction is the shifting out of the richness-reach tradeoff constraint; the corresponding cost is vulnerability and how to assess the level of vulnerability. Here the book does a good job of discussing possible outcomes, all of them indicating that deconstruction poses significant challenges for the incumbent.
As deconstruction succeeds, both richness and reach increase, which in turn permits disintermediation. So-called "navigators" replace traditional intermediaries which tend to reduce information, but with internet access and speedy information delivery, consumer surpluses rise. This is evident from the PC industry where consumers have gained as sales have shifted from the salesperson, to local superstores, to telephone orders, and now internet shopping.
Again with complete deconstruction competition comes to stand on three legs: richness and reach of information, and affiliation with consumers. Here dedicated communication lines replace old-style communication hierarchies. Intermediaries vanish and opportunities for outsourcing increase with all the pros and cons this implies. Moreover, once we change the supply chain, changing the organization is a natural consequence. The effect of organizational change on richness, reach, and affiliation has important implications for ownership, risk profile, control, as well as employment. Whether such implications are good or bad depends on the response of a business to organizational change. The author offers interesting concepts here like fluidity, flatness, and trust.
The book concludes with a brief chapter on what is needed to manage the deconstruction programs: new principles and new leadership.
This is clearly a creative effort - although it occasionally sounds preachy. Some examples like how Dell (the company maker) dealt with change are perfect; other examples like Silicon Valley may have been good during the dotcom years. By "new economics of information technology" the book really means "new business of information technology". If I am correct, it is easy to understand why the book does not mention groundbreaking work on the economics of information by Nobel Prize economists like Joseph Stiglitz, Michael Spence, and George Akerlof, even where it refers to information asymmetries. Regardless, I would still recommend this book.
Amavilah, Author
Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
ISBN: 1600210465
A knowledge economy classic.......2006-01-27
Traditionally, companies have had to focus their information strategy on either richness or reach.
Richness is a measure of the quality of the information. Richness concerns six aspects of information:
· Bandwidth: how much information can be moved in a given time.
· Customization: the degree to which the information can be personalized.
· Interactivity: the level of exchange possible between groups of people based on the size of the group.
· Reliability: reliability of information decreases with an increase in the size of the group in which it is exchanged.
· Security: a measure of the sensitivity of the information.
· Currency: a measure of how up-to-date the information is.
Reach is the number of people exchanging information. In traditional business, companies have had to compromise, sacrificing richness for reach, or reach for richness. However, the advent of the Internet, say the authors, has blown this traditional understanding of managing information to bits.
The compromises and trade-offs that existing companies have had to make between richness and reach, make them vulnerable to new competitors who are able to utilize the internet to step entirely outside of the richness/reach dichotomy. Until recently it has been impossible to share very rich information with as many people as one likes. The Internet has radically altered this equation. The consequences of unbundling information from its carrier, however, can be devastating for existing industries. The authors call this process Deconstruction. They outline four steps to understanding how deconstruction will play out in a particular industry:
1. Examine how informational economics shape your industry.
2. Consider how new technologies can shift those existing structures.
3. Analyze how the various players in the business system could create economic value as a consequence of those changes.
4. Lead the transition from the old business to the new one.
Learn from the past & avoid being swept-away by E-commerce 2.......2005-04-06
Although tempered by the DotCom bust, information technology is still very real and continues to shake up industry after industry, and an untold number of companies are being swept-away by the resulting riptides. Clearly written and tough-minded, Blown to Bits is required reading for entrepreneurs, and others wanting to transform their companies before it's too late.
Chapter 1: A Cautionary Tale
Chapter 2: Information and Things
Chapter 3: Richness and Reach
Chapter 4: Deconstruction
Chapter 5: Disintermediation
Chapter 6: Competing on Reach
Chapter 7: Competing on Affiliation
Chapter 8: Competing on Richness
Chapter 9: Deconstructing Supply Chains
Chapter 10: Deconstructing the Organization
Chapter 11: Monday Morning
Opportunities are everywhere. The problem is transforming ideas into reality. Blown to Bits is a hard-hitting book that will definitely open your eyes. The New Economy is literally pushing aside old line companies in favor of dynamic, new enterprises. Everyone aspiring to be an entrepreneur should read this book or risk climbing the wrong mountain.
Michael Davis, Editor - Byvation
A valuable e-business classic - but lacks an epilogue.......2004-08-31
This book is an important e-business classic. But despite the authors' clever recommendations, an epilogue is missing, as the Internet revolution they announced did not materialise. The Internet EVOLUTION, however, lives on.
Blown to Bits is about the consequences of the Internet for businesses.
The most important conclusion in the book is that the combination of increased bandwidth, global interconnected electronic network, faster computers and open standards are abolishing the requirements up to now of balancing information reach with information richness.
One example is the alternative media that a company can select when potential customers are targeted. Newspaper ads can reach a broad audience with a limited and static message. At the other end of the scale, a personal meeting with the customer gives the opportunity for deep, detailed and interactive information.
Businesses' supply chains include the same balancing act. When firms do business, the number of partners is inversely correlated to the richness in the information of the interchange.
The Internet removes this balancing act because you suddenly can reach many partners without compromising on the level of detail and complexity of the information (vast reach AND vast richness).
According to the authors, the consequence is that the value chain is blown to bits. They call it deconstruction, which happens when the things economy increasingly is separated from the information economy. "Information is the kit that binds the value chains and supply chains". But the kit is eroding. Information is no longer embedded in the physical units. The economy for physical things and the economy for information are fundamentally different. Unlike physical assets, information (an idea, illustration, checklist, article, etc.) can be reproduced costless infinitely. And where things are worn out, information remains their original form.
Blown to bits contains a wealth of well-described cases like newspapers, banks, car dealers, stock brokers, computer hardware and last not least Encyclopaedia Britannica. In addition, the book includes many interesting text boxes with questions the reader can use for further consideration.
In the bright light of hindsight!
Blown to bits was published in the roaring heydays of the dot-com wave ... and it shows. In 2001, two years after Blown to bits was published, the authors admitted their mistakes in an article for their employer, Boston Consulting Group. They summarised the evolution:
1) It is increasingly clear that the new economy is not displacing the old one. Instead the old is in the process of transforming itself from within.
2) The Internet is NOT proving to be a disruptive technology (i.e. characterised by eliminating the advantages for existing market players). Instead, incumbents are using it to challenge their own business models.
3) Information does not, in general, "want to be free"; instead, intellectual property rights are being extended.
This does not imply that the Internet won't change a lot. Nor can we all can return safely to the good old ways of doing business. Rather, it means that all incumbents have got a second chance to get e-business right.
This conclusion concurs with the view of strategy professor Michael Porter (quoted August 2001 in Business Week)
"We need to see the Internet as complementary to other things the company does rather than contradictory or cannibalistic. That was a really fundamental mistake that many people made. They assumed that this was a disruptive technology that existing companies could not embrace as efficiently as a new company coming in with a clean sheet of paper.
And Porter concludes: "The Internet as a family of technologies will have a very powerful effect on operational effectiveness. We'll see deeper integration among service, sales, logistics, manufacturing, and suppliers."
Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business
Internet Hype.......2003-12-10
The authors must be embarrassed. But they are probably too busy on their next bogus book full of more mananagement consulting buzzspeak and claptrap.
"Blown to Bits"?--perhaps they were referring to the bursting of the Internet bubble??
Average customer rating:
- Rolling Stone Lit at its best
- Rolling Stone Lit at its best
- Paint It Gray.
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Blown Away: The Rolling Stones and the Death of the Sixties
A. E. Hotchner
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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Customer Reviews:
Rolling Stone Lit at its best.......2003-01-11
This is an outstanding book that provides excellently written information on the world's greatest rock and roll band. Although i question some of the accuracy of the information, it is one of my favorite books.
Mick jagger ROX!!...
Rolling Stone Lit at its best.......2003-01-11
This is an outstanding book that provides excellently written information on the world's greatest rock and roll band. Although i question some of the accuracy of the information, it is one of my favorite books.
Mick jagger ROX!!!!!
Paint It Gray........2002-09-06
I really wanted to like this book. I saw A.E Hotchner on TV talking about Doris Day, and he just struck me as a likeable, earnest sort of guy. Unfortunately he didn't live up to his Tv-self in print. Most of the book is comprised of large chunks of interview material, both from Hotchner's own research and Rolling Stone magazine interviews you've probably already read. The rest is made up of highly subjective meanderings and vain attempts to link two ideas together.
It's hard to make this story dull, and some of the Marianne Faithfull stuff is good, but there are better books with less academic-sounding titles about the same subject. Or you could just watch "Gimme Shelter" for the condensed version.
Book Description
A controversy that has divided America for decades.
A decision more women must confront every day.
In the long-standing and heated debate between gun-control advocates and supporters of the Second Amendment, the perspective of women has often been overlooked in what most perceive to be the "masculine" world of firearms. This is the subject journalist Caitlin Kelly was motivated to explore after she was threatened by a stalker and contemplated acquiring a gun for her own protection.
Through interviews and firsthand accounts, Kelly probes the many issues affecting women who own guns and influence gun policies, to those whose lives are most affected by gun violence, and our society's conflicted views on women who acquire guns for sport and self-defense. Voices include activists and legislators such as Representative Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband and son were the victims of a shooting rampage; Patty Varone, who served Rudy Giuliani as a bodyguard for nine years; Mary Leigh Blek, founder of the Million Mom March; and Paxton Quigley, a modern-day Annie Oakley who teaches women how to shoot in the name of empowerment -- as well as insights on guns and violence from such high-profile women as Halle Berry, Madonna, and the late Katharine Graham.
Brutally frank in its description, yet balanced in its analysis, Blown Away is an up-close and unflinching look at guns in America -- and the women who live with them.
Customer Reviews:
Blown Away will blow you away.......2004-11-06
Caitlin Kelly is a gifted writer. I have read many of her articles and news stories in such newspapers and publications as, The New York Times, the New York Post, Chatelaine and the Wall Street Journal. Buy this book and you will get an unbiased view of every woman's right to bear arms -- if she so chooses. This book is a "must-read" for everyone.
A different prespective on gun ownership.......2004-08-11
I very much enjoyed this book. I found the balance refreshing. I also greatly appreciated the different perspectives on gun ownership the book brought out. These are things I wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise.
Blown away by Blown Away.......2004-07-14
I challenged myself to read a book about a subject I'm not comfortable with and then couldn't put it down. What a great Journalist and Storyteller Ms. Kelly turned out to be. I particularly enjoyed reading the history of women and guns in America. It gave me much food for thought. I highly recommend it for everyone on either side of this issue.
Great Insight into Why Women Buy and Have Guns.......2004-04-08
I found the book very powerful. The author's interviews with women of all walks of life were very interesting. You really understand that a gun is seen as a guard against violence towards women. The book was well written and not full of opinions by the author. Just real people talking. Great Book.
amazing woman.......2004-03-04
Although I have not read this book I have met the author! while in Las Vegas promoting her book I had a chance to meet her,(a truly amazing individual), she told me many details about this book and I can't wait to actually read it! if the book is as fascinating as she was I would have to say it is worth the read.
Book Description
In the 36-foot ketch SEA FOAM, Herb and Nancy Payson and their large brood of teenaged children cruised the Pacific for six and a half years. They experienced a certain amount of stark terror, but the delights far outbalanced the drawbacks. The result is Blown Away, a kind of Swiss Family Robinson with overtones of the Marx Brothers. The situation aboard SEA FOAM may frequently be desperate but is seldom serious as Herb Payson carries his readers to Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand and dozens of other islands.
Customer Reviews:
WONDERFUL SAILING ADVENTURE .......2005-06-18
This book is one of my favorites. If you love true adventures, and real-life drama, read this book! Herb Payson does a wonderful job in drawing the reader into his boat and taking us for a ride! You will have a mixture of dread, excitement, and anticipation as they cruise along from island to island. This book will make you want to sell everything you own and move into your own boat. But don't let their setbacks discourage you. They have several mishaps while out at sea... But I won't spoil the fun and tell you what happens ---- This is good reading and I dare you to put the book down before you are finished!!! Happy armchair sailing!
Great read for the Landlocked.......2002-02-21
I'm landlocked in Colorado, with no real desire to cruise on an ocean or even a bay, yet I really enjoyed reading this book. Herb and his wife, Nancy, were ordinary people except with perhaps even more limited funds than most Americans. Yet they impulsively decided to take to the sea. Somewhere along the way Herb started writing articles about his adventures (they almost always needed extra money because something else on the boat had broken). Eventually that led to this amusing, laugh out loud while reading it, book.
Herb displays a fine sense of humor that never comes across as mean, just amusing as he describes himself and the people he meets along the way. This is a good book for sharing with others, then tucking it away on the bookshelf for another read next year. And if any cruiser is trying to explain to a landlubber what it's like on the water, this book would be the perfect gift to share both the bad (lost in the middle of a pitch black night surrounded by dangerous coral heads) and the glorious (a village throwing a party in honor of your visit). A charming book that is aging extremely well.
Living a dream, an honest and fun look........2001-02-06
Both of these books ("Blown Away" and "You Can't Blow Home Again") are great and should be read one after the other (The second is the continuing saga). The true story of a family that sells everything to buy a boat and sail around the world. They only make it as far as the south pacific, but it makes for year after year of adventures. As a sailor myself (coastal, not blue water) I felt he did a great job of capturing the sharp contrast between the elation, exhilaration and sheer terror that can be found in sailing. Mr. Payson's honest, care free and "oh well" attitude is something that I wish I could capture for myself. Someone who does not mind laughing at himself.
I only have one critique of the books. Mr. Payson uses nautical terms and the names of boat parts as if they are a part of everyone's daily vocabulary. I sail a simple sloop configuration and can name every component that is applicable to our boat. But his repeated use of terms unique to multi-masted, wooden masted, bow-sprinted boats kept sending me to the nautical dictionary. Since the book does not appear to be targeted at highly experienced sailors, a little more explanation would have been nice.
Hope for us all.......2000-12-31
This book is one of the best all-around, just-your-average-guy, kind of sailing story. There are many, many books about guys who have been sailing their local waters all their life. They have always owned a sailboat and have always known that some day they would take off over the horizon. That is not the kind of guy Herb Payson was.
The author and his wife just happened to decide that sailing was the answer to a life that did not seem to be giving them the joy they were seeking. Nevermind that between them they had very little sailing experience. It's this type of spirit for adventure and desire to explore the unknown that many of us aspire to.
The book is well written and truly a joy to read. The author takes a witty and low-key approach to their sometimes eventful escapades. What this book represented most of all, however, was that you don't have to have decades of sailing experience or incredible endurance to take to a life of cruising. It is an inspirational piece and required reading for anyone thinking of doing the same.
If you love sailing, you'll love this book........1998-07-02
My dad gave me this book to read during our first week-long cruise on the Chesapeake with his new 34 Catalina. Not only was this book an instant favorite of mine, it was a perfect selection while I was enjoying the sea myself. It made me want to buy a boat and cruise the world. I'm envious of his travels! It's an endearing and hilarious read.
Book Description
While working in a classic tradition inspierd by the art of ancient and Renaissance Italy, Marioni has invented fresh forms and color combinations that carry the art forward into a new millennium. This stunning volume brilliantly captures the beauty of Marioni's art.
Customer Reviews:
An informative text and commentary.......2001-10-15
Showcasing Dante Marioni's glassblowing with 139 colorplates and four black/white photographs, Tina Oldknow (Curator of Modern Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York); Joseph Marioni (twice artist-in-residence at the Pilchuck Glass School); and Edward R. Quick (Curator, Presidential Materials Staff, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.) offer an informative text and commentary that enhances our understanding of this truly gifted man and his work. Very highly recommended for all serious personal, academic, professional, and community library collections, Dante Marioni: Blown Glass provides a "reader friendly" step-by-step depiction of the process used in the making of a blown-glass vase, a list of public collections, solo and group exhibitions, bibliography, biography, and index.
Book Description
Ready to risk it all
Three men come face-to-face with physical danger
Their courage, their choices, will make these men heroes. . .
Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton Wulf's career ambitions cost him the one woman he ever wanted--Liv Avery.Now he's determined to win back her love. . .even if it means risking his life.
Helicopter pilot Wyatt Stone attempts to rescue his former high school sweetheart, Leah Taylor--stranded on a houseboat in the path of a tornado.And vows he'll give their love another chance. . .if they make it out alive.
Tornado chasers Cooper Harrison and Marty McKenna once spent an incredible night of passion taking shelter from a twister. Now a tornado has Marty in Cooper's arms again. Only this time Cooper isn't about to let her go.
Customer Reviews:
This is a must have.......2005-03-08
Men Of Courage II has three extraordinary tales of heroes and their struggles.
Lori Foster's An Honorable Man has Lt. Colonel Hamilton Wulf coming back to offer Liv Avery comfort at the loss of her military father. Liv was raised by a military man you never put her first and she has vowed never to live that life again. Hamilton is back to help Liv but also to win her back. When a tornado hits town they both realize that love has a place in their world. Lori Foster has written a story that is uplifting to the soul.
Blown Away by Donna Kauffman has tornado chasers Cooper Harrison and Marty McKenna trapped again by a vicious storm. Six years ago they shared an incredible night and the next day went their separate ways. As they find themselves trapped again can they both work through their past to a future? Donna Kauffman's story you feel like you are really a part of the storm.
Jill Shalvis tale Perilous Waters has old high school sweethearts stuck together during a tornado. Helicopter pilot Wyatt Stone was just recovering from Leah Taylor being back in town, when he is sent to rescue her from a boat on the river. Leah Taylor came back to town to forget and to start over. Can her and Wyatt put their history behind them and begin anew. Jill Shalvis story make you experience the trauma of being in a tornado.
This is an excellent anthology. It makes you appreciate the people that put their lives on the line each and every day to make the world safer. Great job ladies.
Three times the Excitement!.......2005-02-16
Man against nature is a fascinating subject, and these three talented writers will keep you turning the pages with their heroic tales involving some of nature's most volatile and unpredictable weather.
Lori Foster brings us a story of Liv and Hamilton, two people meant to be together, despite their different beliefs about life in the military. Liv grew up with distant, cold memories of her family because of her father's military career, and is determined not to follow that path for herself, even if it means she can't be with the man she loves. Ham is just as determined that Liv is the woman for him, but will having her mean he must give up the career, the life, he belongs to? When a deadly tornado puts them in danger, will Liv be able to let go of the past and let herself be happy with the man of her dreams, who happens to be career military? Ms. Foster tugs at your heartstrings with this emotional journey of the heart.
Cooper and Marty are fearless storm chasers who've worked together in the past, even experiencing a passionate interlude while seeking shelter from a deadly twister, a fierce force of nature that calls to their adventurous spirits like a siren song. After the encounter, they both go their separate ways, believing they are each at different points in their lives. The wedding of a mutual friend brings Cooper and Marty back to a familiar place, yet they never expected to see each other under the same exact circumstances -seeking shelter from a deadly tornado. This time, will they make it out alive, and if so, will it be so easy to walk away from each other?
Wyatt and Leah were high school sweethearts, and Wyatt believed that they would be together forever, until Leah decides to leave smalltown life for the excitement of the big city. When Leah returns years later, this time back to stay, Wyatt can't help but feel resentful of the way she waltzes back into his life so easily, like she never broke his heart. But when a deadly storm strands them on a houseboat, Wyatt realizes he's never stopped loving her, and can think of only getting them out alive so he can spend the rest of his life proving it to her.
Lori Foster, Donna Kauffman and Jill Shalvis delight with their heartfelt writing, wonderfully capturing the essence of some truly brave heroes and heroines. Whether in the military or some other dangerous occupation, heroes are all around us.
These are Men to love!!!.......2005-02-05
An Honorable Man by Lori Foster. LT Colonel Ham Wulf returns to his first love, Liv Amery to inform her of her father death from a heart attack. Colonel Weston Amery was all air force and did not have time to raise a little girl after the death of her mother. Always feeling alone Liv did not want any part of being a military wife. But Ham came with a plan to convince Liv that they can have a life together. But Liv is confused and leave right as a tornado hits town. They have to courage to fight the tornado but do they have courage to find a life together? Ms. Foster has never disappointed. And she has another winner with me. *** Blown Away" by Donna Kauffman is about tornado chasers Marty Mckenna and Cooper Harrison. Six years ago they shared passion as big as the tornado they escaped from. Now Cooper wants her back. *** Perilous Waters" by Jill Shalvis. Leah Taylor steps back in helicopter pilot Wyatt Stone' life. Now they have to work together. Leah broke his heart 10 years ago when she left to follow her dreams. When a tornado threatens Leah and others on a houseboat Wyatt pulls out all stops to save her. And to rescue their lost love. I loved all three love stories. These stories are about three men and lost first loves and their courage to recapture the loves of their lives.
Also recommended: Lori Foster's Visitation Series
Men of Courage II - romance done right, very sweet.......2005-02-05
Men of Courage II contains stories by three of the heavy hitters in women's romance today - Lori Foster, Donna Kauffman and Jill Shalvis.
Lori Foster's AN HONORABLE MAN has Lt. Col. Hamilton Wulf trying to win the love of Liv Avery, the only woman he has ever wanted to call his own. Liv has reservations because of Ham's dedication to the Air Force, the same dedication that kept her father from being a part of her life. Ham is so sweet in his determined pursuit of Liv that you can't help but hope she will give in and accept his love.
Donna Kauffman's BLOWN AWAY gives an inside look at storm chasers Cooper Harrison and Marty McKenna, two very gutsy and determined individuals who shared intimacies years before. The two of them have never forgotten each other; it seems that fate is determined to bring them together once again.
Jill Shalvis' contribution of PERILOUS WATERS is the story of copter pilot Wyatt Stone and reporter Leah Taylor. The two of them were sweethearts several years before and Leah broke Wyatt's heart when she left for higher aspirations in New York City. Now she's back, and Wyatt wishes she had stayed in New York . . . or does he? After saving her life during a violent storm, he's not so sure.
These three stories are all very sweet with comfortable characters; all three have just enough heat to keep things hot. I am sure you won't be disappointed, these three authors always please their readers.
Book Description
With each riveting new thriller, author G.M. Ford garners more critical praise for the breakneck, revved-up, nonstop style that has catapulted him into the upper echelon of contemporary crime writers. Now he returns with his most harrowing novel to date—based on an incredible but true unsolved case—as he plunges his dark and complex protagonist, disgraced journalist Frank Corso, into a lethal morass of revenge and conspiracy.
The nightmare began a year ago with the curious and unfortunate death of a delivery driver—blown to pieces. With a little prodding from the media, the terror spread, burning a bloody swath from East Coast to West.
Bodies are piling up as a series of deadly bank robberies rocks the L.A. area. Where federal agencies see nothing but the random hand of a bomb-tossing lunatic, rogue journalist turned bestselling author Frank Corso sees the tracks of something more sinister—something with a motive and a message. And it's not going away.
Forced to work within the system, Corso and research assistant, Chris Andriatta, are never-theless ready to pull out all the stops to halt a time bomb of terror. But the closer they come to a maniac, the more a shocking and devastating truth comes to light—that the fuse to the horror that has killed many times over and will kill many times more may have been inadvertently lit by Frank Corso himself.
G.M. Ford delivers an edge-of-your-seat thriller that's gritty, harrowing, timely, and explosive—as past and present, fact and fiction crash head-on. You will be . . . blown away.
Customer Reviews:
Starts Great...Ends Insultingly.......2007-10-09
G.M.Ford`s latest Frank Corso novel left me shocked and resentful. After discovering this series a couple years ago, I have read all the Corso books. This one began with great promise as I wondered where Frank was going with his investigation and who might be behind the cover up and the violence directed at Corso. It was headed in an intriguing direction.
But the middle third of the book slows down into a procedural mainly noteworthy for the way Corso loses control of the direction of the investigation and becomes a spectator in an interagency taskforce. During this whole section of the book, all the interest generated by the opening of the book is not only lost...but not even pursued or revisited until the last 40 pages.
And without going into detail, the real "ending" occurs or should have occurred earlier in the Sacramento scene. The last 30 pages or so represent an extension of the plot that ultimately leads to one of the poorest, lamest, and personally unfulfilling endings I have ever read. As another reviewer stated on this book, I feel so strongly, I may never read another Ford novel---at the very least, I will never "trust" his perspective of his readers again.
HORRIBLE Ending!!! Insult To Readers........2007-10-02
If I were to give the ending the full review rating, it would be one star, but I decided on 2 since up to that point the book was an interesting read. There were some flaws with the characterizations and plotting, such as the behavior of the hero's associate and that of the town's residents, particularly the sheriff, but generally the plot and dialogue were fast-moving and held your interest.
The ending: SIMPLY HORRIBLE! The last scene/word left the reader totally hanging in a jaw-dropping way, and eliminated this as a stand-alone book - the 'cliffhanger,' necessarily resolved in another book, made it impossible for closure for those who would not read a sequel, and screwed those who would by having to wait a year or more to find out what happens. That is insulting to the readers, and totally unworthy of a good author. Shame.
Twists and turns to delight you.......2007-07-17
In this sixth book in the series, Frank Corso, the true-crime bestselling author, is sent by his publisher to the small town of Edgewater, Pennsylvania to solve a very strange crime.
Slacker Nathan Marino had staggered into a bank and shoved a note at the teller that says he will be blown up if they do not follow his directions. Through a series of mistakes, including the late arrival of the bomb squad, he dies in the resulting explosion.
This case does not interest Corso at all, but he is forced to investigate it. The price of fame and his recent huge advance is that he must investigate what his publisher wants. As he begins to make inquiries, he realizes his fame (he was recently on the cover of People magazine) is a hindance, and both the Chief of Police and the local newspaper publisher seem to sincerely want him out of town. The more he is urged to leave-by some thugs who try to beat him up in his hotel room, and by a raving snow plow, that shoves him and his car into the freezing river-the more he wants to stay and figure it out. Was Marino innocent? Or was he part of the scam?
Corso demands assistance on site, and his publisher sends out a freelance writer, Chris Andriatta. He needs someone to research who is not well known and not connected to him.
Suddenly Chris and Frank Corso are seized by the FBI as "material witnesses" and flown to L.A., where similar bomb-rigged bank robberies are taking place. The robber/victims are kidnapped by several masked men, then drugged, rigged with a bomb around their neck, and set off to follow directions over an earpiece. Is the only motive money? What is the possible connection to the robber/victims: a Latina nurse and a psychologist originally from Iraq? How on earth does this relate to the Pennsylvania case from a year earlier?
The breathtaking pace and the very surprising twists will astound you.
Armchair Interviews says: If this case sounds familiar, it was patterned on a similar real crime.
Bad Ending.......2006-11-16
Having read all the Frank Corso series, as well as the Waterman series, it never occurred to me to check the last page to make sure the book ended OK (i.e., is the main character alive and expected to survive?); something I always do before I read any unknown author or a book without a continuing character. Therefore, although I enjoyed the book up until the end, I would strongly recommend against anyone reading it who wants a satisfactory ending, because I was devastated by the ending. If his next book is not a Frank Corso, or if he does not continue his Frank Corso series, we will never know whether Frank Corso lived another hour or not (which logically, he should not, based on the circumstances). This is a very bad ending which I resent, and has almost put me off ever reading anything by G. M. Ford again. I wish G. M. Ford had a personal website so that I could contact him directly to express my annoyance.
Not worth reading.......2006-10-20
G.M. Ford has written some really fine Corso novels in the past (Fury and Red Tide) come to mind. This is the worst. I read suspense novels for a good read and a good ending. It's a typical writer's technique to end a chapter with suspense, begging the reader to keep going to find out what happens next and how the tension will be resolved. Ford and his publisher have apparently lost their collective minds by ending the book on such a note. As a reader he's lost me for good. There's too many good writers and good books out there to waste hours on a writer who's too gutless to deliver an ending.
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