Book Description
#1 National Bestseller!
The amazing inside story about a gambling ring of M.I.T.
students who beat the system in Vegas -- and lived to tell how.
Robin Hood meets the Rat Pack when the best and the brightest of M.I.T.'s math students and engineers take up blackjack under the guidance of an eccentric mastermind. Their small blackjack club develops from an experiment in counting cards on M.I.T.'s campus into a ring of card savants with a system for playing large and winning big. In less than two years they take some of the world's most sophisticated casinos for more than three million dollars. But their success also brings with it the formidable ire of casino owners and launches them into the seedy underworld of corporate Vegas with its private investigators and other violent heavies.
Filled with tense action, high stakes, and incredibly close calls, Bringing Down the House is a nail-biting read that chronicles a real-life Ocean's Eleven. It's one story that Vegas does not want you to read.
Download Description
"It's Friday night and you're on a red-eye to the city of sin. Strapped to your chest is half a million dollars; in your overnight bag is another twenty-five thousand in blackjack chips; and your wallet holds ten fake IDs. As soon as you land in Las Vegas, you are positive you are being investigated and followed. To top it all off, the IRS is auditing you, someone has been going through your mail -- and you have a multivariable calculus exam on Monday morning. Welcome to the world of an exclusive group of audacious MIT math geniuses who legally took the casinos for over three million dollars -- while still finding time for college keg parties, football games, and final exams. In the midst of the go-go eighties and nineties, a group of overachieving, anarchistic MIT students joined a decades-old underground blackjack club dedicated to counting cards and beating the system at major casinos around the world. While their classmates were working long hours in labs and libraries, the blackjack team traveled weekly to Las Vegas and other glamorous gambling locales, with hundreds of thousands of dollars duct-taped to their bodies. Underwritten by shady investors they would never meet, these kids bet fifty thousand dollars a hand, enjoyed VIP suites and other upscale treats, and partied with showgirls and celebrities. Handpicked by an eccentric mastermind -- a former MIT professor and an obsessive player who had developed a unique system of verbal cues, body signals, and role-playing -- this one ring of card savants earned more than three million dollars from corporate Vegas, making them the object of the casinos' wrath and eventually targets of revenge. Here is their inside story, revealing their secrets for the first time.
Customer Reviews:
Non Fiction.......2007-09-03
A look at the ever growing sophistication of the duel between casinos and the professional card counters who realise that they do, indeed, have an edge at blackjack.
Technology and increased surveillance is slowly and surely bringing this to an end. Where it doesn't, there is still the good old beat up the winners technique if you fancy try it in Uzbekistan or somewhere.
Great Book.......2007-08-04
If you like Vegas, Money, and an awesome time, read this book. I read it in 2 days, and I hardly read.
Dad's fathers day gift.......2007-07-22
Amazon website wouldn't let me type in a zip code; website defaulted the zip based on city name and the zip was incorrect. As a result, package couldn't be delivered. I was issued a full refund (I think).
Fiction.......2007-07-19
A reviewer below who gave this book 5 stars noted that it is a dramatization based on real events. There is a label for those types of books--fiction. It bothers me tremendously that this book is billed as non-fiction and was listed on non-fiction bestseller lists. As soon as it became obvious to me that the book was fiction (which should happen very quickly if you approach the book with any sort of a critical perspective), it became difficult for me to enjoy the book. If you can suspend disbelief and are interested in a story based on events the general framework of which I'm sure are true, then you will probably find this to be a quick, entertaining read.
I get it.......2007-07-08
This is an interesting story, but it would have been better as a feature article in a magazine, not a 257 page book. It was a ballsy thing for these geeks to do, but we didn't need to hear about every trip, and every close call. And where were the serious consequences besides getting banned from casinos, and audited by the IRS? I kept waiting for some real trouble for Kevin.
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I'll Be Watching You: Inside the Police, 1980-83 (Taschen Artists Edition)
Andy Summers
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The Police: 1978--1983
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One Train Later: A Memoir
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The Stewart Copeland Collection
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The Police - Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out
ASIN: 3822827649 |
Book Description
The insider: The Police on tour photographed by guitarist Andy Summers. In the early 1980s, The Police went on tour accompanied by a photographer who documented the band behind the scenes in a series of candid and striking black and white photos. This talented photographer also happened to be the band's guitarist, Andy Summers. Yes, it's true--the man responsible for the guitar lick from "Every Breath You Take" was not only the backbone of one of the most popular bands of all time, he also possessed a visual gift for composition and mood that allowed him to capture the spirit of The Police better than anyone else could have.
This book, somewhere between photojournalism and an illustrated diary, follows The Police around the globe between 1980 and 1983. From the American West to Australia to Japan, Summers recorded not only the band members rehearsing and partying--the proverbial sex, drugs, and rock and roll--he also photographed fans, landscapes, still lifes, and passersby in a reportage style reminiscent of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank. Containing over 600 photos and filled with diary-style entries, I'll Be Watching You is a sumptuous volume beating with musical energy, nostalgia, and atmospheric beauty. A must for photo buffs and Police fans alike. Collector's edition features: * Limited to 1500 copies, each numbered and signed by the artist * Packaged in a slipcase * Contains over 600 photographs personally selected from the photographer's archive of over 25,000 negatives (1980-83) * Most photos are previously unpublished, and many of them have never even been printed prior to this project
Book Description
From their gruesome, body-strewn lairs, to the darkest regions of their twisted psyches, Robert K. Ressler shows you serial killers as you've never seen them before.In his phenomenally successful Whoever Fights Monsters, Robert K. Ressler examined his brilliant twenty-year career hunting down killers for the FBI. Now, delving deeper than ever before into the criminal mind, Ressler recounts his years since leaving the FBI, working as an independent criminal profiler on some of the most famous serial murder cases of our day.Ingeniously piecing together clues from crime scenes, along with killing patterns and methods, Ressler explains his role in assisting the investigations of such perplexing international cases as England's Wimbledon Common killing, the ABC Murders in South Africa, and the deadly gassing of Japan's subway. We're also witness to Ressler's fascinating, in-depth interviews with John Wayne Gacy, the first and last one America's most prolific serial killer would ever grant, plus a shockingly candid discussion with "cannibal killer" Jeffrey Dahmer.Daring to understand the depraved minds of serial killers, Robert K. Ressler returns from the deepest abyss with an unforgettable account that is as riveting as it is shocking.
Customer Reviews:
Great Monster Book!.......2007-09-16
This book was wonderfully put together, and creepy as well. I loved the accounts of the the criminal behavior. It provides insight to the actions of the monsters themselves. It was chilling, exciting, and sick!!
Trying to understand serial killers.......2007-01-27
This was a trip into the minds of some of the most dangerous people, who might be your neighbor, your co-worker or even a friend. Step into the shoes of these diabolical maniacs and explores their homicidal rampages. I thought it was well done and a must read for any serious criminal justice fan.
Yes, Robert, you're good at what you do and we all know it.......2006-09-05
Despite his braggadocio, the stories he tells are chilling, especially the ones about the South African serial killers (I had never heard of either of them) and information about the Aum Shinrikyo cult that I had not seen elsewhere. Aum Shinrikyo, if you don't remember, was responsible for the Tokyo subway gassing in 1995. Its leader appeared to be a Jim Jones in the making, and that was the least of his danger.
John Wayne Gacy was always just plain unlikable, but I always thought Jeffrey Dahmer was sort of a pitiable character and never was this reinforced more than in the chapter about him.
great cases - bad egos.......2006-08-05
This book explored a lot of different cases and included a lot of material you don't find in other forensic/crime books, such as the interview with Jeffrey Dhamer. However, Robert Ressler has a HUGE ego problem and seemed to spend a lot of time boasting about himself and his work, his overwhelmingly large picture on the front of this book is just a small comparison to whats inside. ;)
101 Criminology.......2004-01-02
This book has great basic information on the most notorious murderers. If you are an experienced reader, you will see alot of basic information, but if this is your 1,2 or 3 book on the subject I strongly recommend it! His interview with Jeffrey Dahmer and his information regarding Dahmer is unique.
Again Robert Ressler takes about 1/5 of the book talking about his carrer, and it is easy to skip a few pages because he goes on and on about his career without making a constructive point.
If he would reduce needles carrer information and stick to the facts, he would be in no doubts and incredible writer.
But along with Roy Hazelwood, you have to filter through the egos.
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- Essential for Mac Programmers
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Apple Inside Macintosh, Volumes I, II, and III
Caroline Rose , and
Bradley Hacker
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Inside MacIntosh: MacIntosh Toolbox Essentials (Apple Technical Library)
ASIN: 0201177374 |
Customer Reviews:
Essential for Mac Programmers.......2000-05-07
Yes, it's true that Apple has all its "Inside Macintosh" books available online now. Or you could get the Inside Macintosh CD-ROM, which contains some 26 volumes of these amazing books.
But if you're like me, you aren't about to sit in front of your computer reading a book of this length and depth. This is one to curl up in a chair with and really get into.
Continuing where "Inside Macintosh: Macintosh Toolbox Essentials" left off, this book describes more Mac OS features, such as the Resource Manager(worth purchasing just for this chapter), Scrap Manager, and the Component Manager. Other chapters cover more obscure subjects, Like Icon Utilities, Translation Manager, and List Manager.
There's also a chapter on Control Panels, but Joe Zobkiw's book "A Fragment of Your Imagination" will help you a lot more in that direction. This book isn't so much about how you should implement, but about how things really work at the deepest level.
As the title of this review says, this is a book for programmers, not novices. If you're not intimidated by long code examples or explanations of OS behavior at the byte and bit level, you will not find a more thorough explanation of what's going on in Macintosh applications. Note that code samples are in Pascal, so some translation is required if you want to use them in your C/C++ programs.
(If you're just starting out, you're better off getting the previous volume, "Macintosh Toolbox Essentials," which covers more fundamental Toolbox features. That one is a five-star book!)
Amazon.com
Where does a Jedi go to unwind? Why, to a Contemplation Station, of course. The Jedi Temple on Coruscant has three of them.
But you'd already know that if you had Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I, yet another lushly illustrated and obscenely detailed Star Wars reference from the folks at DK Publishing. Much like their other excellent cross-section books, most of which focus on vehicles, this title pulls apart Episode I's exotic locales, from Otoh Gunga to the N-1 hangar in Theed to poor Anakin and Shmi's pathetic excuse for a home in Mos Espa.
Each illustration includes a few paragraphs of background information (along with some well-chosen stills from the movie in some cases), but the meat is in the copious call-outs pointing to minute details that would otherwise go unnoticed. In the honeycomb of "species-friendly" offices surrounding the Senate, for example, you can see the Wookiee napping rooms (oh, the Jedis only wish that they had hammocks in their Contemplation Stations) and learn about re-orgs in the Neimoidian diplomatic corps ("To enforce competitiveness, Neimoidians assign identical work to two teams of worker drones, with the incentive that the successful team eats the other").
The book's biggest set piece is a fold-out rendering of the Mos Espa Arena, but fans will likely enjoy the diagrammed blow-by-blows of Episode I's most dramatic scenes even more: What route did the Queen and her retainers take as they scurried through occupied Theed? Exactly how and where did the Trade Federation deploy its droids? And which turn is the tightest on the Boonta Eve Classic? Thanks to DK, it's all there in meticulously drawn detail. --Paul Hughes
Book Description
Uncover the inside story of all the amazing locations from Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace in this stunning new addition to DK's best-selling Star Wars series. Peer right into the buildings, trace the routes of the characters, and learn all the facts about the planets and locales of the movie. To produce this definitive guide, the DK team was given access to the original blueprints, scale drawings, and models for Episode I stored at Skywalker Ranch, Lucasfilm headquarters in California. Absolute accuracy and authority was ensured by the close involvement of insiders at Lucasfilm. With the addition of dozens of never-seen-before stills from the movie, illustrated maps and Kristin Lund's detailed, wide-ranging text, this book is the only reference work to provide Star Wars fans with all the background to the places and locations of Episode I.
Customer Reviews:
Great!.......2004-03-21
An excellent book! I have all of the titles in this series and plan to purchase Inside the Worlds of the Classic Star Wars as soon as it comes out. I think that they could have gone a little bit more in depth with this book, but you're talking to a Star Wars freak who could never get enough. I also think that The Attack of the Clones edition could have been longer, but overall, a wonderfull book of detailed maps and explanitory paragraphs.
Ahh thats where they went..........2003-09-11
An indepth review of the Episode 1 locations which are quite impressive, such as the Mos Espa arena and the Theed royal palace. An extention of the Pictorial Directory and Cross Sections, this book really explains alot of how why and where things happened in this first chapter of this tail.
Another cross-sections...another good review.......2002-06-29
Finally, a cross-sections that gives the audience a look inside the buildings of Star Wars! Why they waited so long to release it is anyone guess, but the wait is over. If you've read my reviews for the other cross-sections books then you know how much I love cross-sections. That said, Inside The Worlds Of Episode 1 breathes new life into The Phantom Menace. Particular favorites of mine include Otoh Gunga, Watto's junkshop, the Galactic Senate building, and the Jedi Temple. Not only does the book talk about particular locations in the movie, but also the very planets that the movie is set on: Naboo, Tatooine, and Coruscant. Inside The Worlds Of Episode 1 is full of wonderful illustrations and is packed with amazing information. Indeed, it's the chosen one...of cross-sections books, that is.
Extraordinary! An amazing idea for a book w/ incredible art.......2002-06-02
I just saw this book yesterday. I don't think it was marketed as much as the other books. That's a shame because it's magnificient.
I am truly blown away by the content and pictures of the locations from Episode I. The art is unbelievable. The detail level is extreme and it must have taken an enormous amount of time for these two artists to complete this work. Every detail you could possibly want is here.
This is a lot like the Star Wars Cross-Section books of the ships only it is not as technical. Imagine those books but for the locations and you have a pretty good idea of what this is.
What's really great is how you get to look at things from angles that the film doesn't show you. The long shots really put everything into scope. You also get to see areas that you can't in the movie such as this place Watto can fly up to above his countertop in the junk shop. I can't wait to study this book some more and then rewatch The Phantom Menace again. I believe I'll look at it in a whole new way.
My fingers are crossed for an Episode II version. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
Extends Your Knowledge of Star Wars Beyond the Movies.......2000-11-19
Have the ultimate experience of The Phantom Menace by extending your understanding with this book.
This book is an excellent expansion of the basic story line of Episode I. Based on reading it, you will have much more appreciation for that movie and the later ones in the series.
The book contains star charts to show you where key planets are located (like Naboo, Tatooine, Coruscant, Alderaan, Corellia), which makes many of the plots much easier to understand.
Beyond that benefit, you get detailed maps of each of the planets where action occurs in Episode I. This allows you to see how the various story lines relate to each other spatially. For example, you can see how the Gungan capital of Otoh Gunda relates to the Naboo capital of Theed. In the case of Naboo, this is supplemented with a geological cutaway of the planet to show you how the two capitals are connected by the ocean.
Next, each city is also mapped. So you see the details of Otoh Gunda, Theed, Mos Espa on Tatooine, and the central area of Coruscant. Then specific buildings and space ships are also shown in cutaways. These include the Droid control ship, Watto's junkshop, Anakin's hovel, the Jedi Temple, the Imperial Senate, and the arena for pod races on Tatooine.
Action sequences are then detailed so that you can see where and when each step takes place. This is done for the duel with Darth Maul and Jedi Qui-Gon Jiun and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Theed palace generator. You also get the battle between the droids and the Gungans. But the best is the full map of the pod race course, with annotations for where each major part of the race's events occurred.
All of these maps are enlivened by detailed notes on the geology, technology, and history of the places displayed. There are many references to Senator Palpatine and the sources of power on Naboo that will be of interest. I thought the expanded information about the Gungan city was especially well done.
The illustrations are new in many cases, which also adds to the reader's pleasure.
My only complaint is that there are several pages with no new information and no interesting detail. An editor should have taken this out or substituted better content. The only argument in their favor is that they help remind you of the story's continuity.
This must have been a lot of fun to create. My suggestion is that you take another story you like and make a similar series of maps and notes. If you have children or grandchildren, this could be a fun project to do together. You might consider Alice in Wonderland as a first subject. Or if you have a friend who loves Star Wars, you could expand on Episode I or any of the other stories in the same way.
May the Force be with you . . . always!
Book Description
In the 1970’s, the Swedish musical phenomenon known as ABBA—Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad—succeeded in reinventing the world’s perception of pop. They produced hit after catchy hit, each one instantly recognizable, infectious, and irresistible. Nearly a quarter of a century later, these beloved songs gave birth to the blockbuster musical MAMMA MIA!, which became a legend in its own right. It opened in 85 cities and has since been seen by more than 20 million people throughout the world. This officially sanctioned book tells the double story of the band and the play—and it’s told by those know it best: two of the group’s singer/songwriters and MAMMA MIA! producer Judy Craymer. It’s colorful literally and figuratively, and jam-packed with illustrations from the group’s own archives. Through first-person recollections from ABBA members, intertwined with commentary from the MAMMA MIA! team, Thank You for the Music cuts through the thicket of myths and misconceptions that have grown up around ABBA to reveal what actually happened.
Customer Reviews:
Mamma Mia!!! What a book!!!.......2007-07-13
After reading the 1994 book "ABBA-The Complete Recording Sessions" by Carl Magnus Palm, I thought I read all I ever would about how ABBA recorded some of their best known songs. However, this coffee table size book delves into greater detail on the origins of the 22 ABBA songs in the worldwide smash musical "Mamma Mia!" as well as great detail on the origins of the musical itself. It also goes into great detail on the foreign language versions of the musical. Any dismissive critics of ABBA (and you know who you are) would have to admit that Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (the two "B"s of ABBA) really knew what they were doing when they recorded all of those songs, based on all of the comments the 2 former ABBA members made regarding the ABBA recordings in this book. Hopefully it will be updated to include more info on the Russian language version that opened in Moscow in the fall of 2006.
And yes, the book contains plenty of photos of ABBA and the Mamma Mia! musical!!!
I also hope they update the book for the summer 2008 release of the film version. Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnin will star!!!
Mamma Mia, I LOVE this book........2007-07-06
I admit it. I love Mamma Mia! Nothing makes me happier than watching the show. Reading this informative and loving book about the show, its beginings and its ongoing success takes you right back to your seat in a theater where you first saw Mamma Mia! on stage.
The photos are lush, colorful and interesting. The text is easy to read and gives a thorough account of how the show came to be and how it remains a constant night after night success around the globe.
It isn't often that something so dear to me personally gets such a loving treatment in book form. This is one of those rare times and it allows the reader to enjoy the celebration that IS Mamma Mia! over and over at their fingertips.
The large book is very reasonably priced considering its quality and the fine color photos throughout.
If you love Mamma Mia! you'll enjoy reading and owning this wonderfully adoring companion piece.
Yes, I can resist you!.......2007-01-10
Initially I was excited to find out that a book on the long running musical Mamma Mia would be coming out. After purchasing and reading the book I personally did not find it interesting nor did I feel there were much material to offer the reader.
If one is a collector of theater coffee table books you may want to purchase this just to add to your library.
Book Description
Reflecting on a career that spanned from Little Rock to the South Pacific, from criminal probes to counterintelligence, Agent I.C. Smith tells all about the FBI's most historic cases-from Watergate to today-in this engaging and controversial book. With his characteristic candor, Smith recounts his colorful experiences with FBI and CIA directors, Supreme Court justices, Janet Reno, the spies Morris and Eva Childs, Cuban General Rafael del Pino, as well as Robert Hannsen and Kenneth Starr. Filled with startling new information (including seventy never-before-published revelations), this book gives behind-the-scenes details of FBI investigations, revealing untold secrets about the spy Larry Wu-Tai Chin, dealings with Cuban intelligence officers, the disbanded Arkansas cult known as Covenant Sword and the Arm of the Lord, and both of the Clintons. And it confronts head-on the errors inside the FBI, pointing out management failures-both at FBI headquarters as well as in the field offices-that led to the attacks of 9/11.
Customer Reviews:
Refreshing Truthfulness..........2007-10-06
Great Book. Anyone who's followed history and current events for any length of time must be aware of the FBI's arrogance, public failings, and history of horrible decision making (overall, in general terms..certainly not everyone in the oranization). Much (or most) of it through horrible management. It's documented nearly every day. I.C. Smith details just a few of these instances in his book (along with, of course, the ubiquitus political, white house, and DOJ interferrences). It's no wonder he left the FBI soured.
Interestingly, he even mentions the FBI's trend towards a paramilitary dress code and mentality. Apparently many individuals in the FBI feel cool wearing paramilitary clothing and brandishing automatic weapons. He says the FBI has changed a lot since he began...much of it not being for the better. As an aside, I'd like to hear his opinion on these "national security letters" and their publicized
abuses.
Great book for those who want a better understanding of the FBI and why they do the things they do.
Steady, Readable Account . Interesting but not Compelling.......2006-11-13
This is an interesting book with serviceable writing that will leave you uneasy about the state of our intelligence gathering and security. The 3 stars are more for writing style but there is a lot of merit in the content.
The author relays, at first, many good stories from what sounds like an honorable career with the FBI. Even as he wades more deeply into the swamp of corruption in the state of Arkansas these episodes have an almost folksy travelogue-esque style with a report-writing quality that is still readable enough to do the job. I had to remind myself that his manuscript was scrubbed through a sanitizing process by at least FBI and CIA agency reviews before publication.
Still we see interagency rivalries, incompetent bureaucrats, inappropriate political interventions, the ever-dysfunctional state department along with internal agency problems. He closes with some sobering observations on crisis of leadership and the FBI's drift away from its mission and missteps that made it a less than stellar player in the road to 9/11 and after. I found the last chapters most worth the read for this.
Taken in conjunction with the excellent (and highly recommended works) Terrorist Hunter, and the Third Terrorist, this book completes a picture of an agency in trouble.
I recommend these latter 2 books first for more info on the war with terrorists, but if you have time, Mr. Smith's memoirs are a nice read. And his book does, indeed, have a treasure trove of insights into the headlines of the 90's and bureaucratic bungling that will drive you crazy.
Best FBI Memoir in Decades.......2006-10-18
Not often does a career FBI manager write his uninhibited expose of the FBI. Street agents will stand up and applaud loudly. FBI deskjockeys will cringe behind their desks preferring to believe FBIHQ press releases. I so enjoyed the book I attempted to get my copy autographed but the author's email address is no longer in use. Nota bene: SAC Smith's comments on the Squiggly Box (aka polygraph) is alone worth the price of the book-----and is a chilling caveat to those who might even consider having their lies detected by wires, waves and wiggly lines. Suggest a followup: the 9/11 books by Peter Lance.
Great Read - Highly Recommended .......2006-09-28
Smith's autobiography of his career with the FBI provides an outstanding view of many faces of the FBI. Smith captures the good, the bad and the ugly. Reading the book helps the reader to understand some of the Bureau's great achievements and failures.
The book provides a useful look into the culture of the FBI, a culture that has both great achievements and failures. Like so many other governmental and private organizations as more information is passed to headquarters through the information highways, micromanagement increases and leadership decreases. Clearly this was the case at the FBI.
Published after 9-11 the author offers some very insightful comments on what could have been done and what should be done in the future. Smith also traces the debacles at Waco and Ruby Ridge to leadership failures at the FBI headquarters and the appointment of a HRT leader with no experience in the area of hostage rescues or swat operations.
Sadly these same institutional deficiencies would later prove to be part of the fabric of failure which allowed 9-11 to happen. The Marines stress a culture where the opinions and experience of the senior NCO's are respected and nourished. Sadly the FBI evolved to an organization that failed to maintain high ethical standards and leadership in its headquarters and in doing so betrayed the Nation and the great people in the field.
Smith wanders in and out of international intrigue and then returns to handling high profile domestic cases.
It is not a true history of the bureau, but, rather one agent's journey through a distinguished career at the FBI at a time when its leadership was not up to the quality of the men and women in the field and the challenges it faced.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspects of the book are the allegations that top management of the FBI lied to Congress and others on the issue of critical matters relating the 9-11. Perhaps this is part of the culture that grew after the Bureau promoted senior leadership that had lied under oath about Ruby Ridge and had destroyed documents relating the the issue. Smith points out that the FBI was warned years well in advance about the number of Muslim fundamentalist students taking flight training in the US and after the fact claimed not to have had the resources to have conducted an investigation. With warning from multiple offices, Smith believes that an average analyst would have concluded that there was a real threat. Hence the claim by Freh that there were no signals was simply false. Smith also asserts that the FBI never concluded a complete review of the many documents captured in Manila years earlier. Not only did these documents related to Al Qaeda plots to bomb American aircraft but they also had the potential to relate to the Murad office building bombing.
Highly recommended.
A very interesting insider's view. Not to be missed........2005-04-30
If there's one thing that can be said about the FBI it is that they try to keep a spotless image with the public. What exactly goes on inside the FBI? I. C. Smith comes forward with this account of his personal experiences as a Special Agent in Charge. Mr. Smith takes the reader on an autobiographical tour around the world including diplomatic experiences, terrorism, and the many times the FBI ignored mounting internal evidence that could have prevented tragedies. This is the inside story told from his point of view. It not only exposes bungling within the FBI but also examines some of the corrupt systems in which the FBI must work. As Special Agent in Charge of the Arkansas office he had unique insight into and a lot of problems dealing with the corrupt political system through which Bill Clinton rose to become governor and then president. Mr. Smith pulls no punches and includes lots of names in the book including Janet Reno, Rafael del Pino, the Clintons, and Kenneth Starr. Inside: A Top G-Man Exposes Spies, Lies, and Bureaucratic Bungling Inside the FBI is highly recommended, entertaining, and enlightening.
Book Description
But inside I'm screaming is one woman's unforgettable story about what it is to lose control as the world watches, to figure out what went so very wrong and to accept an imperfect life in a world that demands perfection.
While breaking the hottest news story of the year, broadcast journalist Isabel Murphy falls apart on live television in front of an audience of millions. She lands at Three Breezes, a four-star psychiatric hospital nicknamed the "nut hut," where she begins the painful process of recovering the life everyone thought she had.
But accepting her place among her fellow patients proves difficult. Isabel struggles to reconcile the fact that she is, indeed, one of them, and faces the reality that in order to mend her painfully fractured life she must rely solely on herself.
Customer Reviews:
Made ME scream.......2007-07-10
This book has been my biggest reading disappointment this year. With such a promising plotline, and the interesting backdrop of a psych hospital I was expecting an illuminating and compassionate read. But as many others have noted, the book is full of psychiatric cliches, and the superior attitude of Isabel, the narrator, grates. Flock fails to gain compassion for any of her charaters, and while she seems to have researched the medications relevant to depression and anxiety, her portrayal of a psych hospital seems unrealistic. If Isabel is a voluntary patient, why does she have the ECT treatment? And what hospital has intense night time group therapy sessions that bring up each patient's most crucial (and confidential) issues? I also feel that Flock wormed her way out of a more complex ending - what does happen with Isabel's job and marriage? Overall a very superficial and disappointing book.
Are you all blind?.......2007-06-18
I had to check on Wikipedia to make sure that Elizabeth Flock wasn't a mentally challenged person who somehow managed to write coherent sentences.
I can't figure out why everyone is rallying around this book. I read the reviews and was interested, but the tone of this "novel" reads like a piece in a whiny 14 year-old's blog, not an acclaimed piece of fiction by a New York Times bestselling author and former "journalist". Whoever edited this book should be fired , and Flock needs to take an intro course in lit. I want to lock her in a room with Chuck Palahniuk for a week. Honestly, a first grader could write a better novel than this dribble.
If you generally like this genre, try some books that are written with style. "Wasted" by Marya Hornbacher; "Girl, Interrupted" by Susanna Kaysen; "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb; "Smashed" by Koren Zailckas, or hundreds of others.
But Inside I'm Screaming.......2007-06-16
Predictable and boring. Nothing exciting. Here I am buidling up for a great read but this wasn't it. All these characters a lot of build up and then nothing. Don't waste your time with this book.
Nothing new, fresh, or even thought-provoking.......2007-06-15
This book owes a large debt to Girl, Interrupted, a medium debt to The Bell Jar, and even a small debt to the Lifetime movies at which the main protagonist, Isabel, sneers.
None of the characters are more than two-dimensional, even Isabel. We're given flashes of her unhappy childhood with daddy issues, her unhappy adult relationships, her unhappy professional life...okay, we get she's depressed. But it all feels like a thin veneer to excuse the "shocking" (not) look inside mental institutions. The author would rather throw a few extra stereotypical patients in than explore any of the very real and very deep emotions and thought processes suicide attempters go through. Oh, here's a babykiller! Oh, here's a Daddy's Girl! But don't come any closer, they're CRAAAAAAZY. Sigh. The plot is so very thin that nearly every paragraph is a chapter break, apparently in order to stretch it from novella length to novel. So much space could have used so much more constructively!
At the very least, the author seems to attempt some sort of empathy in the end for the patients, and bring it back to how we're all snuggly humans who just need love, which I guess is better than openly mocking them and their supposedly-Lifetime-ready foibles...so the second star is for attitude. But I'm still not going to bother passing it around any book clubs.
Isabel is easy to identify with.......2007-06-08
How many of us have been on the edge of erupting, while looking all put together on the outside? More than will admit it, I'm sure. This is an enthralling story about a woman whose facade crumbles in a very public way and she must either put the pieces together, or start a completely new puzzle. But Inside I'm Screaming is really well written and compelling.
Book Description
HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES is a fascinating account of a dark side of American history. The book’s title comes from the first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank “the Irishman” Sheeran. To paint a house is to kill a man. The paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors.
Frank Sheeran lived a long, violent, passionate life. As a boy he took on older kids in bar fights so his dad could win free beer. During World War II he was a highly decorated infantryman with 411 days of active combat duty and a willingness to follow orders. “When an officer would tell you to take a couple of German prisoners back behind the line and for you to ‘hurry back,’ you did what you had to do.” He became a hustler and hit man, working for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino and eventually becoming one of only two non-Italians on the FBI’s famous La Cosa Nostra list. He was also a truck driver who was made head of the Teamsters local in Wilmington, Delaware, by his good friend Jimmy Hoffa. When Hoffa disappeared on July 30, 1975, Sheeran became a leading suspect, and every serious study of the Hoffa disappearance alleges that Sheeran was there.
For the first time the Irishman tells all — a lifetime of payoffs (including hand-delivering bags of cash to Nixon’s attorney general John Mitchell) and manipulation (supporting Joe Biden’s election to the Senate with a Teamster action) — for the book that would become his deathbed confession. He died on December 14, 2003.
Sheeran also provides shocking new information on notorious mob hits: Joseph “Crazy Joey” Gallo — blown away as he celebrated his forty-third birthday in New York’s Little Italy; Salvatore “Sally Bugs” Briguglio — long suspected of being a player in the plot to kill Hoffa. And offers new insights to the crusading of Robert Kennedy and the death of John F. Kennedy.
This historic account is based on interviews of Frank Sheeran by Charles Brandt, who researched, cross-checked, and illuminated what Sheeran told him and turned it all into a gripping narrative that is sure to become an instant true crime classic.
Customer Reviews:
chilling.......2007-07-03
A depressingly credible and compulsively readable tale of a hit man. While most attention has gone to his role in the Hoffa hit, this is only one in the long litany of crimes, at levels high and low, laid out in the book.
This book depressed the daylights out of me, as it paints a picture of a thoroughly corrupt world, with bags of cash flowing at all levels. It also paints a picture of a man who (I think from his WWII experiences) placed no value on human life - he treats murder as like plumbing - just another day at the office.
Finally, one note that did make me question things a bit - Sheeran says he carries a heavy bag ("musta weighed 100 pounds") of cash to John Mitchell in a hotel lobby. Mitchell then picks up the bag and walks away. 60-something John Mitchell is going to nonchalantly carry a 100 pound bag? And forget about the weight - why would John Mitchell do something like this in person?
I really really hope a lot of things in this book are exaggerations/lies, otherwise boy is it depressing.
I Heard You Paint Houses.......2007-05-07
"I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa I found this book very interesting to say the least. I enjoy a book that raises questions about history.
Mafia Books.......2007-05-07
This book was very interesting and factual. Well written and recommended for those who enjoy reading about the Mafia and the disapppearance of Jimmy Hoffa.
I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES.......2007-01-16
I find this book to be very intriguing. Easy to follow along with plot
as it unfolds. I never would have imagined, the name of the book would
uncover but happend to Jimmy Hoffa.
You can't put this one down.......2006-08-23
The story of an insider hit man for the Mafia. Why hasn't this been made into a movie? As much about the mob as it is Hoffa's death.
Book Description
"Stalag Wisconsin: Inside WW II prisoner-of-war camps" is a comprehensive look inside Wisconsin's 38 branch camps that held 20,000 Nazi and Japanese prisoners of war during World War II. Most worked on farms, harvesting peas and other crops. Many of these prisoners blended with the local community, drinking at taverns and even dating local young women. Some returned and settled in Wisconsin after their release. Their familiarity with local residents caused resentment by returning soliders who had battled them in Europe and Asia.
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- Brother Odd (Odd Thomas Novels)
- Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century
- Conservation of Stained Glass in America : A Manual for Studios and Caretakers
- Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis
- Deviant Desires: Incredibly Strange Sex
- Doctor Strange: Beginnings and Endings (New Avengers)
- E.T.The Extra-Terrestrial: A Novel
- Eat Smart in Turkey: How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure, Second Edition (Eat Smart, 3)
- Echoes in Time (Time Traders)
- Edwardo: The Horriblest Boy in the Whole Wide World
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