An Unacceptable Death (Munch Mancini Novels)

Book Description

The eighth book in this series finds Munch Mancini much removed from her former life of abuse and prostitution. She now works as an automobile mechanic, work she loves and does so well that even her male co-workers acknowledge her skill (if somewhat grudgingly). She has a daughter, a little girl left in her care by a dying friend. And she is about to marry a police officer whom she loves deeply. It all comes crashing down when a friend in the Police Department calls to tell her that her fianc is dead, shot down by his fellow cops in a drug bust gone wrong. Refusing to believe the explanation she is given, Munch goes on a dangerous mission, first for knowledge, and then for revenge.

Customer Reviews:

Series remains excellent read.......2006-04-27

The time is 1986 - Ronald Reagan is President - Munch Mancini, the series heroine, continues to lead a clean life with her adopted daughter, and steady job as a mechanic. She happily is planning her wedding to Rico, her cop fiance, when she receives word that Rico was killed under questionable circumstances. Munch, seeking to clear Rico's name of any doubt that he was a clean officer, gets caught in a 'sting' with DEA with drug lords. Munch retains her integrity, having learned hard lessons in the past. This book comes to terms with the loss Munch and her daughter Asia feel and the process as the reason for Rico's death is solved. Very moving yet not saccharin. The series has maintained its integrity and is true to reality and characters.

Well done!!.......2006-04-03

I hate when authors kill off the major love interest. But I do appreciate when the author does it well and the protagonist's reaction is convincing. Seranella has created great characters in Munch, her daughter Ellen, with excellent and realistic interaction between the two, and Munch's friend Ellen. I particularly liked that even the villains had balance as characters. The story is well balanced well sorrow, humor, determination and tension. For me, this was one of the better books in the series.

heart-wrenching thriller.......2005-12-27

Ex junkie, ex-con, ex prostitute Munch Mancini finally has her life together and it is a good one. She makes a decent living as an auto mechanic, has a side business as a limousine driver, totally adores her adopted daughter Asia and owns her own home. She is in love with police officer Rico Chacon and the two plans to get married very soon. Munch is not afraid to think of their future even though Rico is working undercover in a dangerous operation that he won't ever tell her about.

Word comes from her police officer friend Mace St. Josh that Rico was murdered and that she should be prepared to talk to Internal Affairs. Munch learns that his survivor pension and death benefits are up being withheld pending an investigation. The department claims that Rico in the company of two drug suppliers was shooting at police officers. Munch knows Rico was clean and she becomes a police informant to prove that Rico was working the right side of the law. This proves a dangerous position to be in because she is caught between cops with their own agendas and two Mexican drug traffickers who seek cocaine that was stolen from them.

Munch is the poster child for the bad girl turned honest citizen who obeys the laws and stays clean. Her ability to act the part of a criminal is only one of the reasons the police use her to find out what happened to Rico. She goes along with them because if she finds evidence he was a good cop, they will publicly exonerate him. Barbara Seranella has written a heart-wrenching thriller that looks at the politics behind police actions.

Harriet Klausner

An Unacceptable Death (Munch Mancini Novels)

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A POWERFUL MYSTERY SUPERBLY READ

An Unacceptable Death (Munch Mancini Novels)
Barbara Seranella
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Hard-Boiled | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Mystery & Thrillers | Books on CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0786173386

Customer Reviews:

A POWERFUL MYSTERY SUPERBLY READ.......2006-06-22

Those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting Miranda "Munch" Mancini are in for a treat and a surprise. She's nothing like the conventional female crime fighters; in fact, she's not very much like a "conventional" gal at all. She's a recovered drug addict and prostitute who now makes her living as an auto mechanic and limo driver. And, in the hands of Barbara Seranella, a writer with a gift for creating gritty but appealing characters in painterly detail, she has become one of the most popular protagonists in crime fiction.

With the opening of Seranella's eighth in her Mancini series we find Mancini in Santa Monica where she lives with Asia, her nine-year-old daughter. She's in love with a cop, Enrique "Rico" Chacon , who's on undercover detail charged with ferreting out narcotics dealers.

To get an idea of who Mancini is, this is the way her neighborhood is described as she strolls along the sidewalk with Rico: "If she had lived in a nicer neighborhood, she would have warned her neighbors that this vatto-looking guy was really a cop and in disguise. But between the bikers across the street, the houseful of probably illegal aliens next to them, the crazy okie next door with the in-bred daughter, and the alcoholic divorcee on the other side, it was probably safer for all concerned to say nothing."

Sounds like a savvy gal who can handle just about anything, doesn't she? There is one thing that she definitely cannot handle and that's the death of Rico. He's shot by fellow cops during a soured drug bust. Then, when officials hold back Rico's pension from his family and accuse him of corruption, she comes out fighting.

Enlisted by a detective friend to work in secret among the drug hustlers, she's the one who is now undercover in order to find out exactly who the bad cops are. That's a dangerous game, even for someone who knows that terrain as well as Mancini does. But, she's going to avenge Rico and clear his name, whether it kills her or not.

Anna Fields, winner of several AudioFile awards gives a sharp narration. Her voice is strong, firm, nothing soft about it, which is pinpoint casting for this powerful mystery.

- Gail Cooke

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An Unacceptable Death (Munch Mancini Novels)
Barbara Seranella
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VYNSJU
Release Date: 2005-12-27

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An Unacceptable Death
Barbara (Author) Seranella
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTGG3C

Book Description

1904. A prolific English writer, who published colorful novels set in unknown regions and lost kingdoms of Africa, or some other corner of the world such as Iceland, Constantinople, Mexico, Ancient Egypt. Haggard's best-known work is the romantic adventure tale King Solomon's Mine, which was inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. In Ayesha, guided by a vision, an Englishman and his companion search the mountains of Asia for the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian priestess.

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It was but a little while afterwards that once more we heard the baying of the death-hounds. Yes, they were heading straight for us, this time across country. Again the white horse and its rider appeared, utterly exhausted, both of them, for the poor beast could scarcely struggle on to the towing-path. As it gained it a great red hound with a black ear gripped its flank, and at the touch of the fangs it screamed aloud in terror as only a horse can. The rider sprang from its back, and, to our horror, ran to the river's edge, thinking evidently to take refuge in our boat. But before ever he reached the water the devilish brutes were upon him.

Customer Reviews:

Super Reader.......2007-08-26

Leo has left, and Ayesha, he thinks, is dead. Do immortal antiheros with superpowers stay dead? Only sometimes, would be the answer to that question. This is most definitely not one of those times.

Leo is a pretty hot guy, it seems, as the Queen of Kaloon falls for him, and he is in danger of yet another woman scorned. He now, of course, only wants Ayesha. Mortal types, in the end, can't handle the heat.

very poor edition.......2007-08-16

This review is not for the story, but the printing of this edition is terrible. There are an incredible amount of spelling an punctuation errors that really detract from the book.

Great Book - Poor Print Quality.......2006-11-25

H. Rider Haggard wrote amazing books that are still as deeply compelling today as they were when they were written in the 1900's. "She" and "The Return of She" are two of my favorites. Unfortunately, this publisher does not do justice to this great book. The print quality is extremely poor, particularly ruining the wonderful illustrations by Maurice Greiggenhagen. Anyone interested in this book should order a version by another publisher.

Terrific!.......2001-11-04

Second in the trilogy of "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed". Still terrific, still imaginative and thrilling. How does Haggard do it? The scenes and images he conjures up. The cliff-hanging(literally), Perils of Pauline adventures just fascinate. And yet again, the battle between the spirit and flesh, the mortality and divinity, of man. In this one, however, it began to slow about two-thirds of the way thru, as if Haggard were stretching at times. But then he roused himself magnificently to a thrilling finish! The scene of Ayesha and her army riding across the plain to save Leo is the stuff of movies. It is no less a book than the first, which is unusual for sequels. This one takes place in Tibet, rather than Libya, and Haggard foresees the importance of radium.

Haggard: a real avant-garde story teller.......2001-01-14

Ayesha is a beautiful and imaginative masterpiece. The radical beauty of this book is not merely that it is a "good" or "bad" sequel of She, but that it is the work of an open-minded writer. The plot is full of super natural and pre "new age" exoticism as well that 19th century romanticism adventures. Its naiveté and simplicity make this book a very enjoyable one. The best moment of the book is a incredible obscure scene in which Ayesha has a meeting with her "servants", shadows and ghosts from beyond and the past. I recommend this book only to real admirers of this kind of pulp-literature and to eclictic readers.

The Classic Adventures: Ayesha, the Return of She/Benita, an African Romance

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The Classic Adventures: Ayesha, the Return of She/Benita, an African Romance
H. Rider Haggard
Manufacturer: Olympic Marketing Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Ayesha. The Return of "She"
H. Rider Haggard
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NUSK0Y

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Ayesha the Return of She
Rider Haggard
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WCNLCK

Average customer rating:

Ayesha : The Return of She
H. Rider ; Haggard, Henry Rider Haggard
Manufacturer: Doubleday, Page & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NW6L0S

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Ayesha The Return of She
frontispiece,former owner name blank endpaper that has crease, possible page missing before one of blank pages H. Rider Haggard
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap, Ny
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JD9EA0

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Ayesha the Return of She
H Rider Haggard
Manufacturer: COLLINS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QBPU0I

Average customer rating:

AYESHA: THE RETURN OF SHE
RIDER HAGGARD
Manufacturer: WARD LOCK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S6GVLS

Average customer rating:

Ayesha: The Return of She

Manufacturer: Health Research
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000E0R4MS

Product Description

Photographic reprint taken from the 1905 Doubleday, Page 1st U.S. edition.

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Ayesha: The Return of She
H. Rider Haggard
Manufacturer: Ward
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ME1XVY

Product Description

A breakthrough approach that offers hope to exhausted parents looking for gentle ways to help their baby sleep without the heart-wrenching tears. Until now the only two ways to deal with sleepless nights were to let your baby cry herself to sleep or to become a sleep-deprived martyr and tough it out from dusk until dawn. The No-Cry Sleep Solution will show you how it is entirely possible and within your grasp to help your baby fall asleep peacefully--and stay asleep all night long.

Customer Reviews:

I could kiss her!.......2007-09-30

This book really helped us get our lives back into order after our baby was born. It gave us a bunch of different ideas to try as opposed to one dogma that we had to fit our family into. Thanks, Elizabeth!

A gentle, more sensitive and flexible Gina Ford approach.......2007-09-11

I followed Gina Ford's Contented Baby book The New Contented Little Baby Book schedule with our first child, but years later had some trouble letting our second child cry it out like we had done with our first since her cries seemed so much more urgent and needy. I have read through Elizabeth Pantley's no-cry sleep solution and 90% of the advice and creation of schedules (however flexible) is the same as in Gina Ford's books. No matter what the title says, there still is a bit of crying involved, but it is more focused on learning to tell the difference between different cries and leaving a child who is crying alone if it is part of her normal settling back down. All very similar to gina ford's information yet her books always get labelled as cruel (unfairly).

I really like the compassionate tone of this book and the practical manner she lays out the plan and strategies for getting your kids to sleep through the night no matter what bad habits they have become accustomed to. I think the fact that she is a mother of 4 that came by these techniques through trial and error with her own kids and then took on a trial team of mothers across the globe to try out her techniques gives the book a lot of validity and integrity.

I would highly recommend it to any mother or father struggling with a child's sleep difficulties, it will make life easier for all of you. I am not giving it 5 stars because of all the hype and advertising that describe this as a radically new approach that has never been suggested before, when in fact it is a very familiar, albeit successful approach, that has been injected with a more sympathic voice.

Didn't work for us..............2007-09-10

I tried this method for over two months with my then 11 month old son. We went exactly by the book and it didn't work at all. We didn't make ANY progress in the 2.5 months we attempted this method. Although it seems like a great approach for those who practice attachment parenting, such as I do; but as a full time nursing student and single mom~ I needed any extra minute I had to study. I attempted this method over my summer break, and like I previously stated, it didn't work for us, even though I did exactly as the book said. Good luck!

Useful, no new science.......2007-09-06

I bought this book because I thought my situation was desperate!!! By reeading this book I found out that I was much better of than most people, and in a much better situation than the examples she writes about in this book.

My starting situation was two (three rarely) awakenings every 3-4 hours, witch is completely normal and has been like that scince my baby was born. Now with 6 months I wanted a change and how I was determined not to let my baby cry it out I bought this book.

While I was reading this book I found out that I had been doing most of her ideas scince my baby was born!!! not because I read them, but because I had thought of them on my own.....(routine, music, bath, regular naps, early bedtime...) I even had given him a soft cloth to snuggle with that had my smell.....The pantley gentle pull off...I had been doing that too!!!!

So, my conclusion is that with common sense, great results can happen because now my baby is down to 1 awakening (totally managable)and sleeps sometimes 8 hours straight.

I think the book is educational if you don't know anything about babies or if you lack common sense. It is well written and easy to read. I would recommed for first time moms.

FINALLY - A METHOD THAT WORKS!!.......2007-08-27

What a fantastic book this is! I have read 2 other baby sleep books but this is the one. Many books just talk about theories and vague ideas. Elizabeth Pantley actually gives you practical advice that you can use and alter to your own needs! I was about at my wits end with our 15 month old son when I came across the NO CRY METHOD. I was so worn down and was always worrying about how long it would take to put him down at night. Elizabeth gives some wonderful advice on how to get through that while working through the METHOD. She gives a step by step process that you can try for getting your baby to sleep on his/her own and sleeping through the night. I even emailed Elizabeth and kindly returned my email with more wonderful advice or insight. My son isn't a perfect sleeper yet, but he's close! Thanks Elizabeth.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night

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I could kiss her!
A gentle, more sensitive and flexible Gina Ford approach
Didn't work for us.......
Useful, no new science
FINALLY - A METHOD THAT WORKS!!

The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night
William Sears Elizabeth Pantley
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000OG7QRA

Customer Reviews:

I could kiss her!.......2007-09-30

A gentle, more sensitive and flexible Gina Ford approach.......2007-09-11

Didn't work for us..............2007-09-10

Useful, no new science.......2007-09-06

FINALLY - A METHOD THAT WORKS!!.......2007-08-27

3-book Set; the No-cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child By Marc Weissbluth, M.d., Nighttime Parenting: How to Get Your Baby and Child to Sleep By William Sears, M.d, Mary White

Average customer rating:

3-book Set; the No-cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child By Marc Weissbluth, M.d., Nighttime Parenting: How to Get Your Baby and Child to Sleep By William Sears, M.d, Mary White
Elizabeth Pantley , M.D. Marc Weissbluth , and M.D. William Seas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000W4KWNY

Product Description

3-book set

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authentic, simple recipes

Good Flavors of Italy

Great Cook Book

The Best Of Italian Cuisine!

Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian: Savoring the Recipes and Traditions of the World's Favorite Cuisine
editors of Saveur magazine
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Italian | European | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Saveur Cooks Authentic French

Saveur Cooks Authentic American

Rustico: Regional Italian Country Cooking

The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens

The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food

ASIN: 0811832678

Book Description

Continuing the highly acclaimed cookbook series, Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian explores the world's most popular and beloved cuisine. Authentic Italian food is inspired by local traditions and relies on the freshest of ingredients. It's real food--unpretentious and casual--the ultimate in home-cooking. The renowned culinary experts at Saveur go straight to the source with recipes for perfectly prepared pasta and risotto, hearty meat and game, and irresistibly delicious desserts. Each colorful page is an invitation: share a seafood feast with a Venetian fishmonger, take a private lasagna-making lesson in Bologna, or discover the secrets for pesto buono in Genoa. Featuring award-winning writing, hundreds of stunning color photographs, and more than 120 recipes, Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian is a timeless celebration of the world's best-loved cuisine.

Customer Reviews:

authentic, simple recipes.......2007-04-08

If you are looking for modern Italian food, exclusively southern Italian food, or Italian-American food, this book is not for you. If you want authentic, simple dishes, this is an excellent resource. The recipes are very reliable. One of my favorite Italian cookbooks. Highly recommended.

Good Flavors of Italy.......2006-07-19

Saveur has run recipes from Italian cities and Italian chefs in their magazine over the years. This cookbook is a compilation of those articles. This is in no way a "knock" on this book. It actually contains the interesting parts of the stories told relating to many of the dishes. Many of the recipes are very traditional and not very "Italian American". I feel that this is a good thing because it will take the cook closer to Italy and the food served there.

Great Cook Book .......2006-03-13

What a beautiful cookbook - the recipes are not difficult to prepare and the colorful pages make you want to fly immediately to Italy. The Osso Bucco is one of the best I have ever had or made. I am trying the Risotto Alla Milanese tonight and have heard it was great. This is a great book for cooks who seek a flair with their meals.

The Best Of Italian Cuisine!.......2002-03-19

This is a wonderful reference book for anyone interested in traditional Italian cuisine. Saveur magazine captures the best of Italian food, by taking you into real Italian kitchens, both personal and professional to sample over 120 recipes made in the true Italian manner.

As well as stunning photographs of every dish, there are little sidebars of information on Italian history, regional differences, particulars about a recipes ingredients, and much more on almost every page. Even if you were someone who didn't like to cook, I think you'd find this book an interesting read. For anyone with a passion for good food however, particularly tradional Italian cuisine, this book will definitely be on your shelf of favorites.

I have tried many recipes from this book, and every one has gotten rave reviews from family and friends alike. I even made homemade trofie (Trofie al Pesto)for the first time after being inspired to attempt it when I came across the instructions in this book, and it was every bit as good as the dish I had sampled in Liguria many years ago.

Definitely a book I would encourage anyone with a love of Italian food to buy!

Average customer rating:
Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian: Savoring the Recipes and Traditions of the World's Favorite Cuisine

Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

Saveur Cooks Authentic French

Saveur Cooks Authentic American

Saveur Cooks Authentic French

Saveur Cooks Authentic American

Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian: Savoring the Recipes and Traditions of the World's Favorite Cuisine

ASIN: 0811850706

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