The Site Book : A Field Guide to Commercial Real Estate Evaluation (Mesa Professional Development Series)

Book Description

Written by an expert with 20 years of experience in commercial site evaluation, The Site Book is a practical book that takes a logical and process-oriented approach to site evaluation. Built around dozens of real-life examples of sites that work, sites that don't - and all the reasons why - this book explores the dynamic and sometimes complex relationship between site features and other factors that will ultimately determine the success of any restaurant or retail location. The Site Book features:

In depth discussion of the major areas affecting a site evaluation including customer sources, usage patterns, demographic reports, day parts, linkages, drop-in features, physical surroundings, image, trade area, growth strategies, competition, and cannibalism.

A step-by-step guide through the site evaluation process using a unique site evaluation worksheet.

Strategies for measuring and weighting the relative importance of each site feature and calculating a final site score.

Practical tips for specific concepts and varying market conditions - such as opening a first destination in a new market, adding a second store, or backfilling in a saturated market.

Strategies for site selection in competitive markets where the best locations are in short supply.

Customer Reviews:

Should be titled Site Book For Retail.......2007-03-11

This is a good, pratical book- although it only focuses on retail development. No mention of office, multifamily, industrial, etc. Still worth it though.

Great Resource.......2007-01-19

This book is a great resource for even the most seasoned real estate professionals. It is refreshing to see a scientific approach to site selection that successfully integrates the art of real estate qualitative analysis.

easy to understand and easy to apply.......2005-07-29

This book analyzes the the factors that go into choosing a good site for a commercial venture.

This alone would have been enough to earn 5 stars. The book goes on to present a system for rating potential sites that uses the factors explained in previous chapters. You can customize the process by changing the importance each factor carries.

A software package is offered for sale that provides templates and performs calculations. However, if you are handy with Excel, you should be able to recreate the template/calculations within a few hours.

This excellent book promises to be a guide to choosing commercial real estate. It delivers, in spades, on that promise.

It's a Roadmap for Site Selection!.......2003-04-04

This book was referred to me by a co-worker (who happened to be an expert in real estate). Thanks!! I only wish I'd stumbled upon it years earlier.

After struggling with a homegrown spreadsheet modeling approach in my first retail business, this book brought together all the missing pieces in a way that made perfect sense. It gave me a framework to account for the qualitative site feature data that is so important, yet so difficult to deal with. It became my roadmap for site selection.

The logical model outlined in this book comes to life through Fenker's humorous examples of tips & traps.

If your business depends on good sites, you must read this book!

Great for everyone.......2002-04-27

This book is great for everyone from the beginner to the seasoned sales forecaster.

I browse it every now and again to remind myself that there are fundamentals to this business, and we know how costly veering from those can be.

It's a fast read, and I highly recommend it to those doing site selection.

Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook: Explosive Flavors from the Southwestern Kitchen
Average customer rating:
Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook: Explosive Flavors from the Southwestern Kitchen
Bobby Flay
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Barbecuing & Grilling | Outdoor Cooking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Southwest | U.S. Regional | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0307351416
Release Date: 2007-10-16

Book Description

Smoky, earthy, fruity, and spicy, the flavors of the Southwest have intrigued Bobby Flay ever since he was a young chef, eventually serving as the inspiration for the menu at his first restaurant, Mesa Grill. Now sixteen years later, Bobby’s bold and vivacious take on this cuisine has made him a fixture on America’s culinary scene and turned Mesa Grill into a veritable institution. In Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook, the celebrity chef invites you to join him in the kitchen of his famous restaurant to learn the secrets of his of his signature contemporary Southwestern cuisine.

Here are 150 recipes for the drinks, appetizers, soups, salads, main dishes, sides, sauces, desserts, and brunch dishes that have earned Bobby his reputation for creating innovative combinations and big, rich flavors, including:

- Grilled Asparagus and Goat Cheese
- Quesadillas with Tomato Jam and Cilantro Yogurt
- Queso Fundido with Roasted Poblano Vinaigrette
-Sweet Potato and Roasted Plantain Soup with Smoked Chile Crema
- Grilled Shrimp Brushed with Smoked Chile Butter and Tomatillo Salsa
- Seared Tuna Tostado with Black Bean Mango Salsa
- Coffee-Rubbed Filets Mignons with Ancho-Mushroom Sauce
- Spicy Coconut Tapioca with Mango and Blackberries

Complete with a guide no tequila lover should be without, a list of must-haves for the Southwestern pantry, menu suggestions for festive occasions with friends and family, Bobby's pointers on basic cooking techniques, and 100 full-color photographs, Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook helps you re-create the fun and flavors of Mesa Grill in your own kitchen.

Average customer rating:

A cross-cultural, cross-issue discussion on gender, race and class

Homegrown: Engaged Cultural Criticism
Bell Hooks , and Amalia Mesa-Bains
Manufacturer: South End Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations (Routledge Classics)
From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism (Politics History & Social Chan)
Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope
The Will to Change : Men, Masculinity, and Love
The Color of Violence: The Incite! Anthology

ASIN: 089608759X

Book Description

Mainstream rhetoric has made a concerted effort to polarize African Americans and Latinos, emphasizing differences in language and religion, while designating one or the other as the "favored minority" at will. In Witness, Amalia Mesa-Bains and bell hooks invite us to reexamine this politically popular binary and consider which differences are manufactured and which are real.

In Witness, Mesa-Bains and hooks explore their own similarities and differences, sharing the ways their childhoods, families, and work have shaped their political activism, teaching, and artistic expression. Drawing on shared experiences of sexism, classism, and racism, hooks and Mesa-Bains show how people from divergent cultural backgrounds can work together for radical social change.

While the black/Latino divide and the increasing cross-community political collaboration has been addressed in progressive newspapers and magazines, Witness, an inclusive call to reflect and act, is the first of its kind to look at these issues in depth. And Amalia Mesa-Bains, a pioneer scholar and producer of Chicana art, with bell hooks, one of the most acclaimed of African American theorists-prove an unparalleled match for the job.

bell hooks is one of the leading public intellectuals of her generation. She has written extensively on the emotional impact of racism and sexism, particularly on black women, as well as the importance of political engagement with art and the media. In her recent work on love, relationships, and community, she shows how emotional health is a necessary component to effective resistance and activism.

Amalia Mesa-Bains is an artist, curator, and writer who has initiated comprehensive exhibitions of Latino art, including Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation and Mi Alma, Mi Tierra, Mi Gente: Contemporary Chicana Art. Her artwork incorporates various aspects of Chicano/a history, culture, and folk traditions, exploring religion, ritual, and female rites of passage. She won a MacArthur Fellowship in 1992.

Customer Reviews:

A cross-cultural, cross-issue discussion on gender, race and class.......2007-02-25

In "homegrown: engaged cultural criticism", black feminist intellectual bell hooks and Chicana visual artist Amalia Mesa-Bains challenge the mainstream media's attempt to polarize African-Americans and Latina/os. Exploring commonalities and differences, they insist on a radical women of color politic to confront male, white, heterosexual, ruling-class hegemony. In this short but informative text, these two brilliant thinkers discuss a broad range of social issues like immigration, Hurricane Katrina, multicultural education, the war, and interlocking systems of oppression like racism, sexism, and classism. They also discuss their childhood histories, family relationships, spiritualities, and views on art and culture as a means of contextualizing their oppositional politics. Read this insightful book, then begin the crucial work of building a truly meaningful multicultural feminism.

Average customer rating:

Great read
Boring
Nice Try, But....
Not Good
The Mesa that could have been more.

The Haunted Mesa
Louis L'Amour
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Comstock Lode

ASIN: 0553270222
Release Date: 1988-04-01

Book Description

The Navajo called them the Anasazi: an enigmatic race of southwestern cliff dwellers. For centuries, the sudden disappearance of this proud and noble people has baffled historians. Summoned to a dark desert plateau by a desperate letter form an old friend, renowned investigator Mike Raglan is drawn into a world of mystery, violence, and explosive revaltion. Crossing the border beyond the laws of man and nature, he will learn the astonishing legacy of the Anasazi -- but not without a price. Set in the contemporary Southwest, The Haunted Mesa draws on Louis L'Amour's extensive knowledge of Indian lore and mysticism. In this extraordinary book L'Amour tells a tale of epic adventure that takes his readers across the most extraordinary frontier they have ever encountered.

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

Great read.......2007-09-09

I got this book and was used to his Westerns, this story is anything but. It has it all in there. A great story. I would recomend it to anyone that likes to read.

Boring.......2007-08-29

I read this book because I am familiar with the Mayan stories of Xibalba (which L'Amour transcribes as Shibalba). He transfers the location to the American Southwest. Fine so far. But the plot is VERY thin. He repeats the same questions over and over and over - Who are these people? What are they doing? What do they want? What does it all mean? Etc. Etc. This becomes extremely tedious and boring. Also, I was expecting/hoping for some plot twists. Nothing. I could have guessed the outcome of the book after the first few pages. A complete waste of time.

Nice Try, But...........2007-08-10

The late Louis L'Amour is said to have written this present-day one-off genre tale based on eery stories, many alleged to be based on actual paranormal events, which he had heard in his travels while gathering ideas and ambience for the Westerns for which he is so noted. Perhaps he spun "The Haunted Mesa" as an experiment or as an exorcism of ideas that haunted him. Whatever the cause, it is good that he didn't try launching his writing career with this lone attempt at science fiction. The mysterious aspects are undermined by holes left to be filled, cues dropped or forgotten, promises that fall prey to cliches.

For the seasoned and literate SF -- or even horror -- reader, this story will be a big disappointment. For the undiscriminating reader, maybe it'll provide an evening's modest escape. This is more geared for an older juvenile reader used to video games or wanting a modest step up from badly boilerplated B-movies on the Sci-Fi channel.

I would recommend a direct beam-over to Colm Kelleher and George Knapp's "Hunt for the Skinwalker" for a thought-provoking, sleepless night in the West.

Not Good.......2007-07-20

I think the premise was good. The action hero protagonist was fine. The settings were interesting. But the plot was jagged, characters were underdeveloped, there was too much repetition, not enough plausibility in the relationships or character's motivations, and far too many coincidental happenings. It seems like the book wasn't fully completed. It's a great sketch that needs a lot of work.

The Mesa that could have been more........2007-07-13

I like a strong character that is prepared to fight the evil and bad in the world and has no "backdown" in them. Mike Raglan is all of that, but he is dragged down way to much in this story by his continued self doubt and always asking himself if he is doing the right thing. "Enough already" I enjoyed the story which has an exciting finish, but it could have been done in 100 pages instead of 427 pages. It was a struggle to stay with, but I did. This was my first LOUIS L'AMOUR book, but I will try another someday.

MESA and Trading Market Cycles: Forecasting and Trading Strategies from the Creator of MESA, 2nd Edition

Average customer rating:

Very Good Book
A Theorist with communication skills problems
Important Update of a Gem of a Book
More Obtuse than the Average TA Book

MESA and Trading Market Cycles: Forecasting and Trading Strategies from the Creator of MESA, 2nd Edition
John F. Ehlers
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471151963

Book Description

Makes one of the most popular tools of market analysis available to a wider audience of traders and technical analysts
Pioneered by John Ehlers in the late 1970s, the MESA method of price pattern analysis uses powerful wave theory analysis techniques, originally developed for the field of electrical engineering, to measure market cycles. MESA systems are currently used by technical analysts the world over. Top brokerages lease them and supply their clients with MESA signals and charts. And MESA systems consistently have been rated #1 by Futures Truth, the consumer reports organization of the futures industry. In this highly anticipated Second Edition of his classic work, Ehlers updates his MESA theories and makes them more accessible to a wider trading audience. Completely revised, featuring five new chapters, this new edition incorporates Ehlers's digital signal processing research into MESA. It also includes EasyLanguage programming code that makes it extremely easy for traders to take the leap from theory to practice.

Customer Reviews:

Very Good Book.......2006-05-08

I was a disciple of John Ehlers' in the early 1990s when I bought
the MESA3 and Epoch analysis programs (both for DOS) and my trading abilities improved greatly. I use those two programs to this day with superlative results.

I cannot give a similarly positive review to his newer software offerings as I have not examined them personally and information provided to be by users who have indicated that their results were less than satisfactory.

Ehlers' books are, in a large sense, amplifications of the instruction manuals of these progams and set forth the basis on which to study trading according to his ideas and theories.

This book is an excellent read for both the casual and professional trader regardless of whether or not one actually uses his software. Ehlers is highly intelligent, extremely experienced, and the practical application of his theories is adequately explained herein.

This work ranks as yet another significant contribution to the arena of securities trading by the author.

Professor John W. Kercheval, III
Georgetown
Washington, DC

A Theorist with communication skills problems.......2002-12-21

This book is just plain horrible. I am a trader and a cyclical investor. I am also an engineer with Engineering Mechanics background, and very familiar with the complex math explained by Ehlers. But let me tell you, for people without any background in math this book is an absolute waste of time.

The most important thing that Ehlers should have focused, he simply forgot or ignored. The book fails to show real life examples with buy-sell signals using the indicator. It goes on and on along the theoretical lines of cycle analysis and it stays at that throughout the book.

It would have been much more entertaining to explain the indicator and show real life examples. But from my experience as a researcher and writer of research articles, people from this field tend to embelish and emphasize the theoretical size while completely ignoring the pure and simple aspects.

A simple cycle analysis done with moving average detrending as explained by Pring is much easier. Also, a simple look at the charts and the drawing of a simple cycle lines is all that it takes to show you the turning points.

Important Update of a Gem of a Book.......2002-03-29

The broad trading public has been slow to recognize John Ehlers work to apply cycles methodologies (from the sciences) to trading markets .... which is good for those of use who have discovered Ehlers' work with MESA (Maximum Entropy Spectral Analysis).

The first edition of this book is still the clearest and most concise discussion of applying cycles theory to markets I've ever read. This new edition retains all of the content of the first edition, but updates it with a lot of new and additional information from Ehlers' recent research into cycles and his development of trading indicators and tools.

Many are familiar with the J.M. Hurst classic: "The Profit Magic of Stock Transaction Timing". Ehlers goes far beyond Hurst's pioneering work. Ehlers is an original thinker, applying new techniques and research using MESA to the market. Hurst was using a multi-million dollar mainframe in the 60's .... all of us have 10,000X more computer power sitting on our desktops than Hurst had .... Ehlers techniques can help the serious trader and investor turn all that "horsepower" loose on the market today, making it accessible to even us small traders.

Hurst was also constrained to using Fourier Analysis for cycles detection .... Ehlers' MESA overcomes the need of Fourier for long data spans to compute cyclic content.

If you're serious about the markets, this book needs to be part of your library .... along with Ehlers other book: "Rocket Science For Traders"

More Obtuse than the Average TA Book.......2000-06-25

Perhaps with time Ehlers writing improved but I found most of this book to be unclear - except the parts at the end about how to use the MESA cycles for trading. He has one idea, a ELI (Ehlers Leading Indicator), that sounds intriguing but darned if I can figure out how to calculate it based on his passing description of it. When he tries to explain phasors by "think of an engine" example, he only made me more confused. I really want to understand the mathematical ideas presented herein so I'll keep at it but I'm hoping I'll find a cycle writer with a style I can decipher better. Haven't read his later stuff yet though. Maybe he got alot more clear.

Average customer rating:

Great for Mexican Theme Entertaining.
The Pictures Make This Book
My Favorite Cookbook
Easy Recipes, Complex Flavors
Excellent for the hobbyist chef, but not everyday

Mesa Mexicana
Mary S. Milliken
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Mexican | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0688106498
Release Date: 1994-09-23

Book Description

An unerring feel for the tastes we love has made Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger's cookbooks and, restaurants havens for all who crave exciting,flavorful food. InMesa Mexicana,they offer their unique, interpretations of the tastes of coastal Mexico with a bold, colorful cuisine that excites the palate and satisfies our yen for earthy, rustic flavors, minus the heaviness of most standard fare. Best of all, the very healthy and inexpensive recipes in Mesa Mexicana can be made at home with minimal,fuss. There are salads, salsas, grilled meats and fish,the greatest collection of taco recipes in print, as well as the delicious vegetable dishes the authors are famed for-Braised Cauliflower with Parsley and Lime, Roasted Parsnips and Carrots with Cumin, and Red, White, or Green Rice. Desserts include a sensational Lime Coconut Pie and fabulous frozen treats, including KahlÚa chip ice Cream and Tamarind ice. There are also cooling beverages such as Limeade with Chia Seeds, the Border Sunset, and of course, a stellar margarita.

Customer Reviews:

Great for Mexican Theme Entertaining........2006-03-08

`Mesa Mexicana' and `too hot tamales' are the two books currently available from the chef / teaching / restauranteur team known as the `too hot tamales' of early Food Network fame, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. They recently went up against Bobby Flay on `Iron Chef America'. Not that it really matters, but I don't remember who won or what the secret ingredient was. What is important is that it was easily one of the most entertaining and memorable `Iron Chef America' episodes, comparable to the very first one featuring Chicago Mexican cuisine expert Rick Bayless and the competition featuring Oriental fusion master, Ming Tsai of `Blue Ginger'. What I do remember is the imprint of the iron on the back of Susan Feniger's blouse and the inventive recipe they did for Scotch eggs.

The first impression of both of these books is not inspiring. The layout is ordinary, leaning toward the garish. The photographs are in a grainy black and white and too small to easily make sense of what is happening, not to mention the fact that most are missing captions. In `too hot tamales', it is even difficult to tell which of these two delightful ladies is Mary Sue and which is Susan, from the lack of clear identification on the photographs. The flyleaf of `Mesa Mexicana' clears this up. Mary Sue is the taller with blond hair and Susan is the shorter with dark hair. They also neglect to give a good picture of co-author, Helene Siegel, whose voice seems to be strong in the prefaces and introductions.

Based on the strong `Iron Chef America' appearance, I decided to check out the books from this duo, even though their Food Network show was before my time. I figured two gals with this much energy and a strong showing against the indomitable Bobby must have something to say. At the outset, the book `too hot tamales' did not impress, until I got to the chapters on soups. At this point, the authors' observations seemed to come alive. This was not nearly as strong as what I saw in Deborah Madison's recent book on soups, but the comparison showed that Mary Sue and Susan clearly had something important to say. That is not to say that `too hot tamales' is the better book. `Mesa Mexicana' is actually the better of the two for anyone who is not familiar with Mexican cooking. Having determined that these books have something to say, the next big question is why get these books instead one from the heavy hitters of Mexican cuisine, Rick Bayless or Diana Kennedy.

For starters, both Bayless and Kennedy's best books are more strongly oriented toward teaching Mexican cooking, either by technique or by region. Milliken and Feniger's books are more for fun, without straying too far from strong roots in genuine Mexican cooking technique. If all you want are some good, snappy recipes without being tied to the grill (as you are with many of Bobby Flay's recipes), Milliken and Feniger may be your best choice. They are certainly your best choice if you are attracted to entertaining with a Mexican theme. I had an epiphany of insight when I realized that a rather large number of pages in both books, as well as many pages in many other cookbooks are dedicated to `starters', `finger food', `appetizers', `hors `d'ourves', `antipasto' and what have your. But if you live in a typical family, how much time do you really spend making `party food' in comparison to daily breakfasts, lunches, and suppers. Why don't cookbooks dedicate 20% of their books to breakfast and 35% of their books to brown bag food rather than giving so much room to entertaining food, which the average cook may make once a month, if they are inclined to entertain with food in the first place.

All this means is that these books are much more valuable to you if you do entertain often. This is especially true because both books are very reasonably priced, appropriate to their uninspired art work. It is also true because of the rather odd organization of the recipes. In both books, some chapters are organized by function or meal, some by style of cooking, and some by principle ingredient. This means neither book is especially good if you want to find a book to fit a particular function or to use a particular ingredient. The fact that both books are relatively short confirms that neither book may be very useful if you have room for only a very small cookbook collection. But if you can afford the money and space for a large cookbook collection, you will probably already have one or more volumes from Kennedy and Bayless, so why load yourself up with our spicy gals?

For most people, the answer is simply that they are great fun to read and their recipes get right to the point. If you are a foodie, you don't need another tutorial on technique. If you are a casual cook who entertains, you can go straight to the largely very concise recipes and get on with it. So, both books are easily worth the room they take up on your shelves.

As an aside, it is really interesting to see our gals' comments on the cooking talents of the Mexicans, which is very similar to Tony Bourdain's comments in `A Cook's Tour', where he states that almost all his line chefs at `Les Halle' are Mexican with practically no formal training, yet they are as capable as most French trained cooks.

If you really like cookbooks or you really like Mexican food, I recommend both of these books.

The Pictures Make This Book.......2005-07-22

The whole thing is illustrated in pen and ink, so you never have to worry if the food comes out like the picture or not. The pinto been looks like a bloated comma.

My Favorite Cookbook.......2005-06-04

I have made several recipes from this cookbook and have had loved them all. The salsas are now staples on my table as are the skirt steak, the flans (yum!) and the tortilla soup.

Many of the recipes appear on the menu at their restaurant, Border Grill. When prepared to specs, they taste just like the real thing. This makes me happy because Border Grill is one of my favorite restaurants.

Great Mexican cooking takes time, but as this cookbook shows us, it is not complicated. The book is beautiful, the recipes clear, and the results fabulous.

Easy Recipes, Complex Flavors.......2003-04-27

We love their restaurants and really love this book! The recipes are easy to follow and most are quite quick to make yet are complex in flavor. We particularly like their comments before each recipe that summarize the dish and make recommendations of other dishes that complement the flavors.

Excellent for the hobbyist chef, but not everyday.......2000-12-23

Mary Sue Miliken and Susan Feniger are two of the top chefs in LA. Their "Border Grill" in Santa Monica (4th and Broadway) is a noisy, splashy, foodie haven with superb drinks, a decent wine/beer list, and amazing food. Mesa Mexicana offers recipes that one might easily see on Border Grill's menu. For those of us who grew up equating Mexican food with Tex-Mex, Miliken and Feniger's inventive take on traditional Mexican cuisine is a revelation.

Book Description

Navajo Police Special Investigator Ella Clah is on the run. Justine, Ella's cousin and fellow officer, disappeared after the two women argued publicly over Justine's new boyfriend. Human bones are discovered at the spot where the younger woman had told her family she and Ella were to meet late one night. Suddenly Ella Clah, cop, is Ella Clah, murder suspect. Stunned by Justine's death, Ella has no time to mourn. Her former allies in the Navajo Police Department and the FBI are hot on her trail, using techniques she taught them to hunt her down. Ella has to find the real killers--and fast--before the Dineh act on a growing belief that Ella's mother, brother, and young daughter have become evil.

Customer Reviews:

Red Mesa (Ella Clah).......2006-11-03

I really enjoyed each of the Ella Clah series and forwarded them to my daughter in North Carolina. When she finished with them she passed them on to her daughter. 3 generations have had good clean reading enjoyment.
I grew up near the area so that makes the reading even more enjoyable as I picture the different areas.

Red Mesa.......2004-09-25

I felt that I knew the people being written about. I didn't want to put Red Mesa down. I am buying more of Aimee & David Thurlo's books.

Excellent.......2001-12-12

They don't come much better than the Ella Clah series. The authors keep this book on a personal level so that you feel you know and understand the character. You feel her pain and her joy. One isn't enough. Buy them all.

A long running mystery where the heroine becomes the villain.......2001-02-19

Navaho Police Special Investigator Ella Clah and her cousin, police officer Justine Goodluck loudly argue in public over a recent incident. When a few days later, Justine's burnt bones are found partially buried on the top of RED MESA, everyone, including some members of her own family, conclude that Ella killed Justine. Even Ella's beloved mother believes her daughter has turned evil and wants to protect her infant grandchild from her.

While Ella flees to buy time and the truth behind Justine's murder, the law chases after her even more convinced she is an escaping killer. As the law gets closer to capturing her, Ella begins to unravel a plot to eliminate her. Will she be able to expose the dastardly scheme before her time runs out?

The fifth Clah entry is a great tale because the talented duo, Aimee & David Thurlo never lose sight of the scheme or the personalities of the cast. Even on the lam, Ella remains Ella, as fans know her. The plot works because the "plot" against Ella still retains plausibility even with the villains known early in the tale. The Thurlos talent resides in deep and thorough characterizations that lift their Native American police procedurals to a plane shared by the likes of Hillerman.

Customer Reviews:

A rare example of a true Masterpiece........2007-10-17

The word masterpiece is too often used for all kinds of material that barely rises above the level of mediocrity. Selimovich is a master of the craft, and this is his great work. As simple as that. It should be apparent to those with a sense of literary merit from the first pages that this is an exceptional piece of writing. If however you don't like challenges I'd recommend lighter fare. Selimovich is intense to a point almost unbearable at times. The book is as internal as they come, but the narrative does move, and the characters that intrude on the tortured protagonist's awareness are well drawn. Which is an understatement. The penetration we get into diverse mentalities and the rendering of their physicality, awe the reader. If you are a writer this is an essential book. This is true for anyone who believes in the art of the novel. This will serve as an example of the highest order.

Heavy going.......2005-09-26

A book I can say I realy enjoyed (onced I had finnished) but I have to say it was HEAVY GOING! The author has the habit of many Eastern European writers in that he likes to go into the most minute detail of his characters which at times is quite pleasent in that it gives you a more detailed picture in your mind of the times he is writing about but at others makes you want to scream out GET ON WITH IT!!! Which is how I felt for the first 40 odd pages of this book after which it does start to get interesting. The character of the dervish is something of a reflection of the author whose own brother was executed by the authorities and he like the dervish in the book failed to to all that he could to prevent his execution. At times you simpathise with the character but at others he can discust you with his inaction and lack of determination. His encounters with the Islamic judges of the town are wonderful and realy give you a picture of life in Ottoman Bosnia and the corruption that had infected (some) of its officials although the author could equally be talking about the Yugoslavia in which he lived in.

I must say I read this book mostly because I was interested in Ottoman history and I seriously doubt that had I not such a strong interest in Ottoman history that I would have finnished this book.

This book stands as one of the few translations of Bosnian literature in the English language and though it is an exellent book it can also be a tiresome book.

Dervish and Death.......2004-09-19

Mesa Selimovic was a great writer and it's a pitty that he didn't win the Nobel Prize (to my knowledge, he was never even considered). A talent like his is rare. "Dervish and Death" is a book I enjoyed reading very much, for the first time, and each time afterwards I enjoyed it even more. Unfortunatelly, this is not the case with all of Selimovic's works, as some of them are, to put it plainly, boring.
What captivated me about "Dervish..." is Selimovic's sentence, which is so melodic that it almost seems like poetry.
This is a demanding book and not the easiest read in the world. Even though it is a simple story, it takes time and it must be consumed slowly. Recommended but only if you have a lot of time on your hands.

Wan Keeper of a Pale Flame.......2004-05-24

Imagine that justice flees your homeland. Imagine fair play the faint daydream of centuries, a spiritual aspiration carried as faintly as low flame into ever-present darkness. What if tending that flame became an unavoidable duty? What if you alone, held the last bit of light in bottomless evil?

What of your loved ones? What if they were carried off to hopeless imprisonment for the mere whiff of fortuitous knowledge, (knowledge obtained by awkward proximity but not involvement)? If you lived in a land wholly unacquainted with anything resembling justice and all was pervasively corrupt, diffident autocracy, would you, could you be . . .Courageous? Ethical? Forgiving?

Would you carry The Flame? What if the tables were turned and you suddenly, inexplicably were granted the power you assumed would always be beyond your grasp? How would you use it?

"Death and the Dervish" takes place in 17th century Bosnia, in the cruel, clumsy colonialism of an Ottoman "kasaba," a provincial outpost of enervated empire. The story's events occur in the ethical vacuum indubitably created by all over-extended empires.

Not enough has been said here about the spiritual nuance of Sheikh Ahmed, light of this sensitive novel and wan keeper of a pale flame. His is a beautiful, articulated and devoted character full of loftiness and sorrow born of his Muslim education, Sufi training and wordly experience. The Sheikh endures the greatest human test; unanticipated access to power. The price exacted is ultimate, but the inner battle for his wavering morality is affirmative.

The Sheik is at his finest facing the neglected avenues of public expression, a thing unknown in his lethargic town. The episode at the mosque after the Sheik's brother has been murdered in prison is beautiful close examination of the furious power of human conscience. Sheikh Ahmed's struggle contains deeply felt interior arguments directed at finding adequate expression for the precipitous outrage he shares with those around him. Unlike others, Sheik Ahmed neither deflects nor suborns even in the face of tyranny.

Should you desire exquisite writing and a moving story that contains a window to the thought behind Muslim belief (a humane belief, after all), this book is a fine portrayal of a man's struggle for justice; for The Lit Flame. "Death and the Dervish" broadens understanding of what is not actually so foreign. . . I say this because the book's Muslim characters are Europeans and keenly aware of western Europe.

I will remain attached to Sheikh Ahmed and miss the weight of his inner beauty. Mesa Selimovic has reached into the stream of human consciousness to find a good man caught in horrible circumstances. As the Sheik moves forward to face the temptations of power and the seduction of revenge, we are treated to the workings of an artfully-drawn psyche and its lonely power.

There but for grace . . . go we.

this is a great book.......2002-12-18

I think it is wrong to trivialize this book with arguements about Selimovic's nationality. It would be a shame, if we were defined simply by our race, ethnicity, or religion. I hope we all agree that is wrong to define (and confine) a person, or person's work, within the limits of political and geographical boundaries. Selimovic's novel was not meant to be a confirmation of Bosnian "greatness," merely because it was written by a Bosnian. I tend to believe that he had other, deeper, and more spiritual motives in his writing. I certainly gained much from reading this book, and I am a serb.

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