Amazon.com
Dr. Azor Moses Sparks is an extremely esteemed heart surgeon, a devout fundamentalist Christian, a cyclist, a friend of biker gangs; a friend to all. Until he is found dead in an alley with his chest ripped open, that is. Where does one go to begin in the investigation of a man who had no enemies? Lt. Peter Decker starts with the man's family, which he discovers is large and filled with strife and unstable characters. He also finds some problems in his own affairs, mostly involving religious beliefs--his own, those of his Orthodox Jewish wife and those of a Roman Catholic priest who plays a prominent role in the multilayered thriller.
Book Description
The brutal murder of Dr. Azor Sparks in an alley behind a restaurant is greeted with public outrage and a demand for swift, sure justice. But the investigation into the well-known surgeon's death is raising too many questions and providing too few answers for homicide detective Lieutenant Peter Decker.
Why, for example, would the family of a man so beloved respond to his slaying with more surprise than grief? And what linked a celebrated doctor with strict fundamentalist beliefs to a gang of outlaw bikers? But the most unsettling connection of all is the one that ties the tormented Sparks family to Peter Decker's own -- and the secrets shared by a renegade Catholic priest...and Decker's wife, Rina Lazarus.
Customer Reviews:
The weakest link so far in the Decker/Lazarus series.......2006-08-03
The book starts off well, as a mystery should, with the events of the murder of Dr. Sparks. But then it spends the next 300 or so pages batting back and forth, and not really going anywhere. Plus the relationship between Rita Lazarus' deceased husband and the priest are totally incongruious, as I'm sure Kellerman realized when she threw in this rather burdensome plot twist.
However, the end of the book really does pull some surprises. You just have to plod through the middle to get there. Not her best work.
Absorbing Read and Series.......2005-12-18
This was my first Faye Kellerman novel involving Dectective Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. I thoroughly enjoyed it, read the sequel, and then the first novel in the Peter Decker/ Rina Lazarus series, Ritual Bath, piqued by how these two characters met, and how their relationship evolves.
The best novels in this series employ gripping, page turning mysteries, the human aspect of the evolving relationship between Peter and Rina, and explanations of Judaism in somewhat the same way as Harry Kemelman's Rabbi David Small mysteries, or the older G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries, the latter combining great mysteries with interesting explications of Catholicism.
Warning: You might get hooked to the series!
Suspenseful to the last!.......2005-12-02
WOW! This is my second Faye Kellerman, and I didn't like the first, but THIS was absolutely wonderful! Faye really got the reader into the character's minds and released information about their dark and stormy pasts at just the right time, like when you would find out more personal details about a friend.
The pace is incredibly quick. I couldn't put this one down. She has a delightful talent for characterization. Suspense was killing me. I look forward to reading more from this author!
boring.......2005-01-19
The religious lessons, theology, rites and ritual one is forced to endure while reading Faye Kellerman's books completely destroys any enjoyment of the mystery--threw it in the garbage after 100 pages. There's too many other interesting writers out there!!
Pretty Good.......2004-03-08
I wanted to give this book 3 1/2 stars. It was good but very slow in starting. I felt like we went all over the place and got to know some characters pretty well while others were pretty much ignored. We find out who did it but I thought it was pretty much ignored in the end.
I did enjoy the relationship between Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. I even liked the religious aspect of the story. But it was dragged on for way too long.
This was my first novel by Ms Kellerman. I might give another one of her book a try, hoping it will move a bit faster.
Product Description
3 Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Noves by Faye Kellerman
Average customer rating:
- Not Free SF Reader
- Poetic...Very Clearly Robinson's Work
- Pretty darn good for an early work
- interesting, confusing and pointless - good mix
- Pretty, but random and unsatisfying
|
A Short, Sharp Shock
Kim Stanley Robinson
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Robinson, Kim Stanley | ( R ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
( R ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
-
Icehenge
-
Fifty Degrees Below
-
Escape From Kathmandu
-
Pacific Edge: Three Californias (Wild Shore Triptych)
-
The Gold Coast: Three Californias (Wild Shore Triptych)
ASIN: 0553574612
Release Date: 1996-02-01 |
Amazon.com
Kim Stanley Robinson, justly famous for his science fiction, has created a mesmerizing fantasy work in A Short, Sharp Shock. Each brief chapter (with evocative titles such as "Beauty Is the Promise of Happiness") explores a little further along the path of the amnesiac protagonist, Thel. Thel finds himself on an amazing world, which has just one narrow ridge of land encircling the globe, with endless ocean on either side. And Thel is on a quest, searching for the woman who was with him when he first awakened, but who was taken by the murderous spine kings. In his travels along the ribbon of land, Thel encounters exotic local peoples and their legends of the origin of the world, and learns more about his companions and himself. Robinson's imagination is far-ranging and he has a pointed way with words: in a scene where Thel is slowly pushed through a magical mirror, Robinson's evocation of pain is unforgettable. A Short, Sharp Shock is guaranteed to haunt the reader for a long time. --Blaise Selby
Book Description
Kim Stanley Robinson, award-winning author of the bestselling Red Mars, Green Mars, and the soon-to-be-published Blue Mars, was called "a literary landscape artist, creating breathtaking vistas" by The Detroit Metro News. Now he confirms his reputation for brilliance and for the unexpected in this luminous short work.
A Short, Sharp Shock
A man tumbles through wild surf, half drowned, to collapse on a moonlit beach. When he regains consciousness, he has no memory of who he is or where he came from. he know only that the woman who washed ashore with him has disappeared sometime in the night, and that he has awakened in a surreal landscape of savage beauty -- a mysterious watery world encircled by a thin spine of land. Aided by strange tribesmen, he will journey to the cove of the spine kings, a brutal race that has enslaved the woman and several of the tribesmen. That is only the beginning of his quest, as he struggles to find her identity in this wondrous and cruel land -- and seeks out the woman whose hold on his imagination is both unfathomable and unshakable.
Haunting and lyrical, filled with uncommon beauty and terrible peril, A Short, Sharp Shock is an ambitious and enthralling story by one of science fiction's most respected talents.
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03
A man wakes up on a beach, and has no idea what is going on. He meets a woman, and must struggle to find out where the hell he is, and what is going on with this society, as the pair quest to find out who they are, what they should do, and where they should be.
All this while avoiding being eaten, or torn apart, and other nasty things.
Poetic...Very Clearly Robinson's Work.......2007-07-31
A man ends up washed up on a beach, next to him lies a mysterious woman. When the man regains full consciousness, the woman is gone and the man soon discovers that he cannot remember even his name...but soon finds himself to be on a world that is hugged by a single strip of land wrapped around an ocean-planet.
This man's exploration of this strip of land, and his hunt for the woman who washed ashore with him, provides the setting and plot for what turns out to be a beautifully written short work by the author who is more famous for his Mars Trilogy. Though at times the plot can be a bit thin, there is no shortage of peculiar people for this man to meet and, it would seem more important for the author, no shortage of exquisite scenery for Robinson to immortalize with a writing style quite unique to any other author.
Ultimately, the ending is a bit of a disappointment, however, this work should not be read for ending, but for the process that gets the reader to the end. For it is filled with haunting, elegant, ephermeral prose that isn't easily forgotten.
Pretty darn good for an early work.......2007-07-18
KSR is one of the better contemporary writers around. His Mars series and the California trilogy are tremendous modern fiction works - full of imagination, humanity, hope, and intelligence.
This book, one of (if not the) first he published, shows many of recurrent concerns apparent in later works. It is rather stark - as the title would suggest - and has much influence from his friend and fellow writer, Ursula K LeGuin. In fact, the tone and conceit of the book are much like her Rocannon's World.
The plot doesn't really come to much in the book - a man (we suspect a space traveller) ends up on a planet without recall of how he got there or who he is. He meets various people and dangers while hiking along the Spine, which is the only landmass on the planet, apparently. The book's not so much about the plot as it is about exploring this man's existential "being-in-the-world" or becoming against nothingness that typifies KSR's other thought-experiments. One of the questions posed is who is this man - not so much who-he-was, as who he wishes to become as a kind of tabula rasa in a world alien to us.
As such, and as an initial work, the reading can come off a bit sterile at times. But as a package it's readable, indeed short (if I may say so), and as a work stands alone. It makes more sense, though, viewed as a window into KSR's overall project as a writer.
interesting, confusing and pointless - good mix.......2007-04-29
Being a fantasy based book, I wasn't drawn to it very much but the author has other excellent books to his name, so I thought I'd try it out. The planet in which the story takes place is set on a large planet with a ring of earth around its belt. The characters deduce that this is geologically impossible and can offer no explainations of this or of why they have come to this planet. The journey around the ring of earth is interesting at times (crossing the submerged part of the ring), confusing (being drawn into the mirror) and pointless (the country of the queen and sex with the queen). All in all, a very strange read. A book which will finish before you know it and you'll think very little of it.
Pretty, but random and unsatisfying.......2005-08-30
This fantasy story (it's in no way SF) kind of drifts along, collecting random scenes and images, which while often pretty never amount to much, and are often just plain daft. The plot is almost non-existent, which while I enjoy sometimes is not pulled off particularly well here. Nothing is resolved, and nothing really 'happens'. The protaganist is almost characterless, as is his female companion, and they essentially wander through the book in the only direction they can waiting for things to happen.
Robinson is obviously a nature lover and this is the strongest element of the story. But pretty pictures alone, a good story do not make.
I don't blame Robinson for writing it, it was probably a good exercise, but I can't believe it ever got published, let alone reprinted.
Average customer rating:
|
Short Sharp Shocks
Julian Lloyd Webber
Manufacturer: Weidenfeld & Nicholson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Composers & Musicians | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
ASIN: 0297811479 |
Average customer rating:
|
Short Sharp Shocks
Webber J L
Manufacturer: Orion Publishing Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORQIRS |
Average customer rating:
- Easy to Follow Recipes / Practical Applications
- Great for external injuries
- Old but Still Good
- Perfect for the TCM Practitioner
- Interesting subject matter
|
A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth: How to Treat Your Injuries with Powerful Healing Secrets of the Great Chinese Warrior (Fireside Books (Fireside))
Tom Bisio
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Healing
| Alternative Medicine
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Herbal Remedies
| Alternative Medicine
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Chinese Medicine
| Alternative Medicine
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Disorders & Diseases
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Training
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Shaolin Secret Formulas for the Treatment of External Injury
-
The Warrior As Healer:A Martial Arts Herbal for Power, Fitness, and Focus
-
Combat Techniques of Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua: Principles and Practices of Internal Martial Arts
-
Scholar Boxer: Cháng Nâizhou's Theory of Internal Martial Arts and the Evolution of Taijiquan
-
Xingyi Boxing Manual: Hebei Style's Five Principles and Seven Words
Accessories:
-
RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device
-
Airborne Effervescent Health Formula, Original Orange, 10 Tablets (Pack of 3)
ASIN: 0743245512 |
Book Description
A renowned expert in Chinese sports medicine and martial arts reveals ancient Eastern secrets for healing common injuries, including sprains, bruises, deep cuts, and much more.
For centuries, Chinese martial arts masters have kept their highly prized remedies as carefully guarded secrets, calling such precious and powerful knowledge "a tooth from the tiger's mouth." Now, for the first time, these deeply effective methods are revealed to Westerners who want alternative ways to treat the acute and chronic injuries experienced by any active person.
While many books outline the popular teachings of traditional Chinese medicine, only this one offers step-by-step instructions for treating injuries. Expert practitioner and martial artist Tom Bisio explains the complete range of healing strategies and provides a Chinese first-aid kit to help the reader fully recover from every mishap:
cuts, sprains, breaks, dislocations, bruises, muscle tears, tendonitis, and much more.
He teaches readers how to:
- Examine and diagnose injuries
- Prepare and apply herbal formulas
- Assemble a portable kit for emergencies
- Fully recuperate with strengthening exercises and healing dietary advice
Comprehensive and easy to follow, with drawings to illustrate both the treatment strategies and the strengthening exercises, this unique guidebook will give readers complete access to the powerful healing secrets of the great Chinese warriors.
Customer Reviews:
Easy to Follow Recipes / Practical Applications.......2007-05-28
I especially like Mr. Bisio's non-dogmatic approach. For example, many Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner's refuse to use ice based upon their principles of TCM. Tom's attitude is - use what works with the understanding of possible draw backs. This respects the reader's intelligence to come to their own informed decision.
The resources appendix is extensive and useful.
I plan on using several of the formulas in my massage and martial arts businesses for myself and clients.
Great for external injuries.......2007-05-18
This is a must have in any TCM practitioners office. Helpful and quick references. You can also buy Tom's dit da jiu formulas if you don't want to soak, mix, and wait as he indicates. If you are into martial arts or athlete, you must have this to prevent serious injuries or heal old ones.
Old but Still Good.......2007-04-16
This book is about how to treat injuries that an athlete might experience while competing or training to compete. The theory, the treatments and the materials used in the treatments are based upon Chinese traditional medicine which the author learned in his almost 30 years practicing martial arts in the United States and China. The author is highly qualified to write on this subject. He is a licensed practitioner of Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and herbalism.
The book is presented in four parts. Part I deals with the Principles of Chinese Sports Medicine; Part II deals with Injury Prevention by Exercise, Diet and Life Style; Part III summarizes the Therapies of Chinese Sports Medicine; and Part IV covers Treatments for Common Sports Injuries. Appendix 1 lists the components of a Chinese Sports Medicine First Aid Kit, and Appendix 2 lists sources for acquiring Chinese Herbs and Equipment.
Treatments, which cover 33 areas in alphabetical order, begin with Achilles' Tendonitis and end with Wrist Strain. Detailed information is provided on liniments, poultices, plasters, herbal soaks, acupoints, and massage.
In a number of instances, the Chinese treatment approach is at odds with Western medicine -- for example, to reduce the inflammation of a sprained ankle that is swollen, Western medicine recommends ice. Chinese medicine, which recommends using a Trauma Liniment, avoids the use of ice because ice has the side effect of reducing blood circulation and dissipating energy sent by the body to heal the damage done by the sprain.
A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth is a reference book for dealing with common injuries using methods that have proven their worth over hundreds of years; it is a book that all martial artists should have in their library.
Perfect for the TCM Practitioner.......2007-04-09
Chinese medicine at its finest, this reference guide offers a complete at various injuries and treatments. The herbal formulas alone are priceless.
Interesting subject matter.......2007-01-31
This book covers external injuries from a TCM perspective. This is a neglected area within TCM and there are very few TCM books devoted to bruises, tendon trauma and ligament damage. This book covers a very important, but under served area in TCM. The book includes an overall look at traumatology. It compares eastern and western concepts and finds extensive common ground. The book describes treatment methods that include Chi Gung, exercise and herbal treatments. The herbal treatments are both internal and external. The best part of the book in my opinion, are the herbal formulas. The author doesn't pull any "ancient secret" nonsense. The formulas for all of the herbal treatments are explicitly laid out with both Chinese and botanical names. Full preparation instructions are included. This is a great book and should serve to raise the bar for other authors.
Customer Reviews:
I miss Don's.......2007-04-13
It is the best book about Don the Beachcomer and his wonderful style. Great to have recipes of both the food and the drinks. What a treat! Sadly, they missed "Don's Speial Daiquiri" but, luckly, I have it. What great places they were. I visited all of them. You were transported to a different era and a different world. The book also transports one back in time - We were happier then. We who remember, remember well and thank you.
A bit of nostalgia.......2006-03-16
This is a great book to have for your bar, but also a bit of nostalgia for those of us who went to Hawaii in the 50's when it truly was a paradise. I remember drinking those Vicious Virgins at the Moana in Waikiki. And who could forget Don the Beachcomer! This is a beautifully done collector's book.
More than just a recipe book.......2005-09-29
I like to know the history behind a cocktail. This is a fun little book with pictures and stories about Don The Beachcomber. It is concise with recipes for a perfectionist. If you like Rum based cocktails then this is the ultimate guide.
A partially fulfilled legacy.......2005-02-24
Don the Beachcomber deserves, at long last, his own book of food and drink. His longtime friendly-rival and occasional plagiarist Trader Vic (Bergeron) happily pumped out a number of food and drink guides during his lifetime, while Donn Beach notoriously guarded his recipes.
Unfortunately, while nice to look at and of legitimate pedigree (Donn's widow is a co-author), this book could have done with a stronger editing job and concept. The book tries to claim a a legit Hawaiian cultural affiliation even though the Beachcomber was originally a mainland Californian phenomenon later exported to Hawaii. Even the infamous Zombie recipe, the holy grail of all tiki formulas is confusing, as it calls for Pernod twice - is it a misprint? This Zombie is totally different from another recipe in Jeff Berry's excellent "Intoxica" that also came directly from the Beachcomber himself. No one is ever going to know what was REALLY in that sucker. There are also confusing rum substitution suggestions in the book. Sometimes when 3 obscure rums are called for in a drink, only 2 are given as alternates - and they may or may not be in the correct order for substitution as given in the recipe. The "original" Mai-Tai recipe is also bizarre, atypically calling for grapefruit juice and no orgeat syrup. I'm going to have to put the classic recipe for that one in Vic's column.
If this sounds like a lot of kvetching, it really isn't. Still a better book than any number of lousy nouveau cocktail guides that just blasphemously add "-tini" onto a fruit and call that an exotic cocktail. It's affordable, attractive, and is well within the ballpark of the classic tiki world. Just not the masterpiece it could have been.
Between the drinks and the stories, it's a great book.......2004-12-15
I've always been a fan of the Zombie. It's just a great tropical drink. When I decided that I had had enough of paying $7 for them at restaurants, and that I wanted my own at home, I looked up Trader Vic's recipe. It was okay, but it really was geared more for a sort of "Zombie Punch" -- where ratios were expressed in fifths (entire bottles) rather than ounces.
Later, I happend upon Suzanne Matczuk's Cocktail-o-Matic, which had a much more approachable recipe for Zombies. I began to make those, and was happy.
However, this year I spent two weeks on O'ahu. I became totally hooked on the atmosphere (one could say the entire island made a left turn at 1968, and has just sort of "lived tiki" since), the people, and the drinks and cuisine. So while I was in Hilo Hatties, I picked this book up on a whim.
I was totally impressed. Where I thought I would be getting a book full of touristy BS, I got a book with authentic (one of the authors is Donn's widow, these recipes were taken from his belongings) recipes for both drinks and food.
The drinks are quite palatable. Many of them (such as Beachcomber's Gold and Rum Barrel) are just classic. A couple are "out there" (such as Test Pilot), but you can really taste and feel what the author was going for. I feel I must mention the Zombie recipe from this book. Not only is it authentic -- the man invented the drink -- but we learn that it contained Absinthe! Also, that it was prepared at least a couple times with added glycerine. Wow. This explains the drink's somewhat evil reputation.
If all you got in this book was the drinks, it would be worth the price. However, you gain priceless insight into the culture, and into Donn himself. Of particular interest was the conversation between Donn and Vic about the Mai Tai. Additionally, the story of his shipping gardenias from hawaii (daily!) and his experience in the Army during WWII.
Highly recommended. I'd also recommend the Suzanne Matczuk book, as it is told in the same way (plenty of culture with the drinks), and it is instructional to see the difference in the drinks as she writes them, and the way they were originally... "prescribed."
Books:
- Prevention's the Healthy Cook: The Ultimate Kitchen Guide to Great Low-Fat Food : Featuring 450 Homestyle Recipes and Hundreds of Time-Saving Tips
- Reflections under the Sun: The Brightest Collection of the Best Recipes from the Junior League of Phoenix (Cookbooks and Restaurant Guides)
- Reversible Errors
- Ripley Under Water
- Robert Ludlum's The Lazarus Vendetta - A Covert-one Novel
- Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary Of A Southern Woman
- Shadows Over Baker Street: New Tales of Terror!
- Shoes To Die For (A Jaine Austen Mystery)
- Shooting Elvis
- Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Lessons for Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Classical Living: Reconnecting With the Rituals for Ancient Rome
- A Charmed Death
- The Compassionate Brain: A Revolutionary Guide to Developing Your Intelligence to Its Full Potential
- The Surface Science of Metal Oxides
- Trust the Process
- 2006 International Building Code - Softcover Version: Softcover Version
- We Approach Our Martinis With Such High Expectations
- Origins: Egypt, West Asia and the Aegean
- The Splendor of France: Great Chateaux, Mansions, and Country Houses
- Love Is the Bond: A Rowan Gant Investigation
Justice (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)
Serpent's Tooth: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)
Sanctuary (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)
Jupiter's Bones: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)
False Prophet (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)
