First Family
Posted by HDTV in eBooks May 20th, 2009 | No Comments
Following the instant #1 New York Times bestseller Simple Genius, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell return in David Baldacci’s most heart-pounding thriller to date . . .
FIRST FAMILY
It began with what seemed like an ordinary children’s birthday party. Friends and family gathered to celebrate. There were balloons and cake, games and gifts.
This party, however, was far from ordinary. It was held at Camp David, the presidential retreat. And it ended with a daring kidnapping . . . which immediately turned into a national security nightmare.
Sean King and Michelle Maxwell were not looking to become involved. As former Secret Service agents turned private investigators, they had no reason to be. The FBI doesn’t want them interfering. But years ago, Sean King saved the First Lady’s husband, then a senator, from political disaster. Now, Sean is the one person the First Lady trusts, and she presses Sean and Michelle into the desperate search to rescue the abducted child.
With Michelle still battling her own demons, and forces aligned on all sides against her and Sean, the two are pushed to the absolute limit. In the race to save an innocent victim, the line between friend and foe will become impossible to define . . . or defend.
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Star poorly done, certainly not worth hardcover price…..
Doesn’t belong in any top list of “thrillers”; unbeleivable plot; no character development; no purpose for 2nd plot; no reason for or interest in sex on final page. Why? This “best seller” is one reason why book business is on a slippery slope. Happy it was a gift. Almost ashamed to give to it to the VA.
4 Stars Another adventure for Sean and Machelle
I enjoyed these two in their previous novels and this one didn’t dissapoint.
This time its all about the First Family, and Sean has to investigate. Some parts of this story take a slight suspension of reality… They’re a little far-fetched even for an action thriller.
I dont like to give too much away in my reviews, but suffice it to say, if you like Baldacci, I think you’ll enjoy this book.
I can’t fathom why some people gave this one star, even reading their reviews…
Will this book be read by generations to come? Not a chance. Is this the best book Baldacci ever wrote? No way. Is it the worst? Nope. Is it fun, enjoyable, quick read? Absolutely.
The action and suspense almost never stop and there is a twist or two even the most quick witted fiction fan might miss. Its a solid, if not remarkable, addition to his works.
5 Stars FIRST FAMILY SATISFIES BIG TIME
David Baldacci has written another page turner featuring Michelle and Sean, and a host of plot twists that keep us riveted to the unfolding events. Baldacci is masterful at tying things together that seem to just hang there unrelated to the main story. There are no loose ends or unnecessary plot lines. As one travels through FIRST FAMILY the connections become clear.The pace quickens. We can feel the heart throbbing excitement as characters plunge headlong into their destiny-good or bad. Those who have read all or most of Baldacci’s books don’t need much motivation to read FIRST FAMILY. They will not be disappointed in his latest. Enjoy !
5 Stars Capitol Hill lies
I retired from Capitol Hill so I know first hand about the lies and cover ups and back room deals – but Baldacci is an expert at putting them on paper and in your mind. If you are interested in politics at all – in tea parties and the lying pablum that citizens are fed every day then you will revel in this book. It is well written, excellent in suspense, accurate in political subterfuge and keeps you guessing until the end – when you shout YESSS, because for once the bad guys get hurt and not the public. Great book – excellent author – do not miss.
1 Star flimsy family
as a long time fan, this is his worst book yet. the author tries to fit an uworkable plot with predictable characters…
Three Cups of Tea One Mans Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One School at a Time
Posted by HDTV in eBooks May 19th, 2009 | No CommentsThree Cups of Tea One Mans Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One School at a Time
Starred Review. Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse’s unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world’s second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town’s first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Coauthor Relin recounts Mortenson’s efforts in fascinating detail, presenting compelling portraits of the village elders, con artists, philanthropists, mujahideen, Taliban officials, ambitious school girls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way. As the book moves into the post-9/11 world, Mortenson and Relin argue that the United States must fight Islamic extremism in the region through collaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access to education, especially for girls. Captivating and suspenseful, with engrossing accounts of both hostilities and unlikely friendships, this book will win many readers’ hearts. (Mar.)
Copyright
Corsair
Posted by HDTV in eBooks May 19th, 2009 | No Comments
In the sixth entry set onboard the Oregon (and the third cowritten with Du Brul), Juan Cabrillo, the one-legged “chairman” of the ancient but technologically sophisticated ship, is hired to dig up the remnants of a crashed plane. But this wasn’t just any plane crash: on board was Fiona Katamora, the U.S. secretary of state, who was on her way to a summit meeting in Libya. Although Cabrillo and his crew are able to recover the wreckage, there is no sign of the secretary. The Libyan foreign minister seems to have plans of his own, which is why the CIA thought to hire Cabrillo rather than to trust the Libyans to investigate the crash. A corsair is a variety of pirate, known for fights off the Barbary Coast more than 200 years ago. But they’re back with a vengeance here, infesting the waters of Asia and Africa and becoming a terrorist threat like no other. The Libyans are after something, something centuries old, and only Cabrillo can find the answers. The action, suspense, and drama are full throttle throughout. Cussler fans used to international intrigue and battles at sea will not be disappointed.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars A great outing for Juan and The Corporation…
The perfect Summer Read. Maybe it was the Sea of Cortez, maybe it was the poolside cerveza’s but I loved this book. Pirates, gun fights, terrorists, attempted assasinations it had it all… A great read on the beach!
1 Star I struggled to get through it!
Far-fetched escapes, heroes who seem to be constantly in danger but always get away, and a setting that was hard to understand – that’s my impression of the latest Clive Cussler. This is SO far away from the early Dirk Pitt novels!
5 Stars Wow! DuBrul (and Cussler) knock this one outta the park!
I have noticed several reviews which acknowledge Clive Cussler’s writing on Corsair–but I would like to clear something up: the Oregon Files books are NOT written by Cussler…NONE of them were. The first couple were written by Craig Dirgo (and were abysmal btw), and the rest have been authored by Jack DuBrul. Sure, Clive comes up with the story outline and makes suggestions here and there, but the ACTUAL novel is written by DuBrul.
Okay–enough of that…on to the review: Jack has outdone himself here with Corsair. This is one of those books where you either like it or not (for the most part anyway). Face it, some people have a talent for accepting a story, whether outlandish or not, and some want 100% authenticity throughout or it borders on pure drivel. While I’ll admit that there are some places where authenticity are stretched a bit thin–but honestly, I don’t CARE. Cussler has written several novels that border on outright science fiction (the base on the moon comes to mind…) and yet nobody seems too concerned with that…so perspective, folks…perspective.
DuBrul is a great writer and I’ve said for quite some time now that I’ve felt that if ANYONE in the action/adventure arena has the writing chops to de-throne Cussler, it’s him…and I’d say Corsair goes a LONG way towards proving my point. Paul Kemprecos has managed to mirror Cussler’s writing style MUCH better than Clive’s son has in the last several Dirk Pitt stories. Reading the NUMA Files books are (for ME anyway) as close to reading a Cussler novel the way he USED to write back in the day as you can find. DuBrul’s style is certainly every bit as cinematic as Clive’s but also quite different. He places his own imprint on each story making it as unique to him as the earlier Pitt novels are to Cussler.
Again, the story is well told if not a bit far-fetched in a few places, but for THIS reader, that did NOTHING to alter my pure enjoyment of the latest Oregon Files tale. DuBrul really IS one of my favorite authors writing today and while I really, REALLY like his books with Cussler, I’m waiting to read another thriller featuring Phillip Mercer and his elderly half-drunken sidekick. Please tell me I won’t have to wait much longer…???
Jack: WELL done! Now GET BUSY and bring back Mercer, dangit!
4 Stars well written
I wouldn’t have thought I’d be hooked, but I am. I’m a major fan of Dirk Pitt, Austin and NUMA so a one-legged superhero? Seemed too much of a reach, but it worked; so you write them and I’ll read them. Thanks again.
2 Stars disappointment
I am a casual fan of Cussler and have enjoyed everything of his I have read up to this point. This one is a stinker. It was obviously written to be adapted into a screenplay and unfortunately it leans heavily on action and adventure and less, if any, on character development.
It is just a series of chase scenes and rescue scenes. One after another with little story development in between. When the good guys get into what could be an interesting jam, that invites the reader to imagine the clever way it would be resolved, Cussler simply invents some ridiculous new technology or capability never before seen on planet earth.
The hallmark of a good novel is that it is believable. This one is a far cry from that description. The ship the Corporation uses is too fantastic to be believed. The “PIG”, a terrestrial vehicle they use in the desert is impossible. Any one capability this vehicle has might be believable but add them all up and you have a monster truck on steroids that would, for one, not be affordable and for another, is just stupid.
Wait for the movie.
The Alchemyst
Posted by HDTV in eBooks May 19th, 2009 | No Comments
Twin 15-year-old siblings Sophie and Josh Newman take summer jobs in San Francisco across the street from one another: she at a coffee shop, he at a bookstore owned by Nick and Perry Fleming. In the vey first chapter, armed goons garbed in black with “dead-looking skin and… marble eyes” (actually Golems) storm the bookshop, take Perry hostage and swipe a rare Book (but not before Josh snatches its two most important pages). The stolen volume is the Codex, an ancient text of magical wisdom. Nick Fleming is really Nicholas Flamel, the 14th-century alchemist who could turn base metal into gold, and make a potion that ensures immortality. Sophie and Josh learn that they are mentioned in the Codex’s prophecies: “The two that are one will come either to save or to destroy the world.” Mayhem ensues, as Irish author Scott draws on a wide knowledge of world mythology to stage a battle between the Dark Elders and their hired gun—Dr. John Dee—against the forces of good, led by Flamel and the twins (Sophie’s powers are “awakened” by the goddess Hekate, who’d been living in an elaborate treehouse north of San Francisco). Not only do they need the Codex back to stop Dee and company, but the immortality potion must be brewed afresh every month. Time is running out, literally, for the Flamels. Proceeding at a breakneck pace, and populated by the likes of werewolves and vampires, the novel ends on a precipice, presumably to be picked up in volume two. Ages 12-up. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars LOVE this series!
I am a Potter fan and was having geek withdrawals and needed a new adventure type series to get into and I found these on Amazon and I love them. All of the characters exist in real mythology so it’s fun to learn about them and study them separately. A great adventure, I have already pre-ordered the Sorceress.
5 Stars The Alchemyst: the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
A fast paced exciting read for grades 5-8, it moves quickly and has lots of action. Characters are interesting and hold readers attention, but you are left hanging and can’t wait for the next book, The Magician, which is of equal quality. A student of faith might come away with some quesitons, just remember it is “ficiton”, but a great read.
5 Stars The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the BEST book you haven’t read!
Sophie Newman is at work when the world changes forever. Across the street from her, a sleek black car pulls up outside the book shop where her twin brother Josh is working over summer for Nick and Perry Fleming. Moments later the shop appears to explode, sending Sophie racing across the road to her brother and directly into the pages of history. For the owner of the shop isn’t Nick Fleming but Nicholas Flamel, better known as the Alchemyst, and the Codex he has been guarding for centuries has been stolen by Dr John Dee, former magician to Queen Elizabeth the First.
Except this is happening in modern day San Francisco and Sophie and Josh have never dealt with magic before.
The Alchemyst doesn’t stop, right from the very first pages the characters are given no opportunity to rest and neither is the reader. From meeting a 2000 year old Warrior Maiden who looks like a 17 year old girl to meeting the Goddess Hekate living inside the World Tree, the book keeps going and every page bring an ever increasing sense of danger and urgency to the storyline.
Characters from mythology and history are bought to life and fleshed out and set loose on the modern world, some hell bent on bringing about the destruction of humanity and some desperate to save it. Could Josh and Sophie be the twins of legend, the two that are one and the one that is all? Could these two teenaged humans have enough magical power within them to prevent Armageddon? Only time will tell, but the next instalments of this book will not come out soon enough.
It’s rare to find a book that sucks you in so completely, even stranger to find one that sends you racing into other books to find out everything you can about the people in it. Every single character in The Alchemyst is real, apart from the Twins. From millennia ago to the recent past, names you’ve heard, names you’ll know will leap out at you.
If you like mythology, history, danger, drama, death, sadness, love and above all, magic, you need this book in your life. Now.
4 Stars The Alchemyst
Anyone who enjoyed Harry Potter will enjoy the adventures of these teenagers. This is a good and easy read; I look forward to reading the next 2 books by this author.
5 Stars Mysterious and Magical
The Alchemyst is a wonderful start to what I am sure will be an absolutely amazing 6 book series in total. The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series has 2 books out so far and the third due out at the end of May 2009. This series contains magic, mythology, adventure and mysteries yet to be solved.
Twins Sophie and Josh, two ordinary teenagers in current times, find themselves in a world they thought they understood. They quickly learn that many mythological beings and people from history that are thought were long dead or never existed, are alive today with magical abilities. Guided by the 500 plus year old Nicholas Flamel, Sophie and Josh begin to learn that they are perhaps the twins prophesied about in an ancient book called the codex, which has been stolen from Flamel, by the devious Dr. John Dee. Flamel believes if he can awaken the twins magical powers and can get them trained in the elemental magics they may be able to find the codex and save the world from the dark elders.
I highly recommend this series to anyone, especially if you are looking to add a little magic and adventure into you life. The Alchemyst is a must read for all ages!
How to Win Friends and Influence People With easy click Table of Contents
Posted by HDTV in eBooks May 19th, 2009 | No CommentsHow to Win Friends and Influence People With easy click Table of Contents
This grandfather of all people-skills books was first published in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million copies. How to Win Friends and Influence People is just as useful today as it was when it was first published, because Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated. Financial success, Carnegie believed, is due 15 percent to professional knowledge and 85 percent to “the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people.” He teaches these skills through underlying principles of dealing with people so that they feel important and appreciated. He also emphasizes fundamental techniques for handling people without making them feel manipulated. Carnegie says you can make someone want to do what you want them to by seeing the situation from the other person’s point of view and “arousing in the other person an eager want.” You learn how to make people like you, win people over to your way of thinking, and change people without causing offense or arousing resentment. For instance, “let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers,” and “talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.” Carnegie illustrates his points with anecdotes of historical figures, leaders of the business world, and everyday folks. –Joan Price
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars This book is a manal for success!
I have read this book twice. Coming from someone in the political realm, this book has numerous useful applications. Of course not every maxim or suggestion will work for everyone, Carnegie illustrates the fundamentals of building and maintaining relationships. I plan on reading this work yearly.
5 Stars AMAZING BOOK
This is a book i highly recommend to anybody and everybody. It teach great communication skills that can be used to succeed over a lifetime.
4 Stars Very Informative
Very easy read… Dale’s techniques are applicable to everyday work and family life. Highly recommended!
5 Stars Brillaint book
This is my first book about self help, which give me all directions which I needed.
Viva this book!
5 Stars A must have…
…for anyone looking for advice to enhance their communication skills. The principles in this book will enrich both your love life and your social and professional life. Keep it as a desk reference; just as the intro. suggests. I’m in management and I got more out of this book than I have gotten out of all of my professional development courses over the past two years combined!
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