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Jasmine Chheun jhuey1989d41e — The remarkable thing about this book is that the author, Steve Fainaru, is able to move the focus off of the larger issues of the military's use of so-called mercenaries in the gulf war and get you interested in the actual people who spent time under these circumstances trying to make a living there in these roles as well as the hazards that they faced. While it is easy to paint the picture with a broad brush that says, Blackwater is bad and should be vilified and all contractors are just as bad as Blackwater, Fainaru shows that it isn't such an easy thing to make sense of if you look past the surface. By focusing on the minor players in the conflict, The Crescent Group, he is able to highlight the fact that many of these companies were understaffed, under-supported, under-manned, under-prepared, etc. with very disastrous results. The rules of the party were laid out on a contract by contract basis and the entire substructure of the military contract business was allowed to run amok because there simply was no desire for anything resembling oversight by the military or the state departments. In fact, the exact opposite proved to be true, that the these entities were often given carte blanche in certain situations to behave with absolute impunity, and without any American dignitary, VIP or lawmaker ever wanting to accept a hint of responsibility. But Fainaru doesn't let you forget that mostly, these are Americans in these roles. And as that, we cannot see them solely as the bad guys and bogeymen. There are some whose actions probably proved unstable at best and criminal at worst, but given the circumstances it is easier to see them in context and understand what they were up against. When you see a group of mercs from Crescent get kidnapped, you cannot help but feel that these are still American men who although they put themselves in harm's way, probably did not deserve anything near the fate that they got. When you understand that many of these men went to Iraq as contractors because it was going to allow them to more easily meet their financial obligations, when you see that many of these men had children getting ready to go to college, or to get their families out of debt, or whatever the reasons for needed financial support back home, you get a much better picture of who these soldiers of fortune really are which is not that different from you or I. I recommend the book to anyone trying to understand what has happened in Iraq over the past years. Mostly I recommend it to anyone who is trying to understand why the war cost so much money. It becomes clear in these circumstances that not only was their absolutely a bit a financial discipline in the way that the Iraq war was run, but that the the outcomes of the money spent were almost wholly disastrous, corrupt, and fraudulent. In other words, we did not get what we paid for. In a funny way, this book reminded me A LOT of Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. The set up is the same, professional men of adventure coming together to test their mettle in the ultimate conflict. The money is right. Rival companies spring up to get these jobs done in the face of improbable odds. The teams are a mix of savvy vets and johnny-come-latelys. The teams are probably not outfitted properly in the event of a real disaster. There are unforeseen elements that occur again and again. Ultimately, tragedy rears its ugly head and only a few of the original cast limp home to tell the tale. Overconfidence reigns supreme until it doesn't and the results are terrible.

Matthew Matthew matthewbennink — I really enjoyed this book, and appreciated the Orwellian state in which the characters exist. Definitely YA style, simplified. Great pace, entertaining writing, perfect amount of detail and emotion. My only two complaints are: 1) Jonas's 'rebellious' questions/statements are a bit outlandish, particularly since he's never had any reason/opportunity to question the way they live. It came a bit too easily. 2) HOW DID GABRIEL NEVER NEED A DIAPER CHANGE when they are on the run?!? ;) I look forward to reading the rest of the series!

Hanhee Lee hanee — I thought this was a heartwarming, but sometimes heart rendering, story of a young girl (Lily) coming to terms with what's left of her biological family and choosing a new extended family. I like books that tie the "message" of the story into a larger story of daily life and I thought that the author's choice to use beekeeping as the backdrop for this story worked well. The style of writing in this book is quite lyrical and easy to read and while the message is no longer cutting edge, and therefore didn't stem a new line of thinking for me, those who haven't read extensively about personal stories of the civil rights movements may find it more mentally stimulating than I did. For me, the strong point of the book was the characters. I seem to be gravitating towards stories of strong women this year, and this book was no exception. The cast of characters provided many unique examples of how to be a positive and strong role model to a troubled young girl, without preaching about it. I liked how the author attached an every-day mysticism to her characters, so that you got the feeling that there was meaning in the most mundane activities during the story.

Izmír König malonko — 40 cameras, 40 articles and a whole bunch of example photographs. Lomokev is back again with his third book of photography. This time he's concentrating on explaining the possibilities that each of the different 'toy' cameras offers the photographer. Covering the Holga, Diana, most of the Lomography canon, as well as some other oddities and even a digital toy camera. Each article provides a good overview of the camera, its specifications, strengths and weaknesses. But the majority of each article is really the selection of photographs that Kevin has selected to represent each camera. Mostly they are photographs by the author, but he's not shy of using the work of others when he thinks they provide better examples of the camera's capabilities. Sadly, although I bumped into Kevin in Barcelona when he was shooting the photographs for the book, his presumably dreadful photo of Louise and I with the split cam didn't make it into the final book. As with all Lomokev books, I made sure to get a nice signed copy direct from the author.

Marcos Barroso marcosbarroso — Now that his brothers, Eidolon and Shade, have found mates and their evil brother, Roag, has been dealt with, Wraith can get back to doing what he does best—think of himself. Except now he knows the effects his past transgressions have had on his brothers and maybe, just maybe, they're the only people he cares about enough to try and curb his bad-boy ways. Now post s'genesis he should be controlled by just one urge. But when he's poisoned and no cure exists the one thing he should be obsessed with has to hit the backburner. He has to find Serena Kelley, a human marked by angels, and get her to willingly give up her virginity to him. If he can do that the charm that protects her will be passed to him saving him from death. The only problem is that once he does that, the illness her mark protects her from will kill her. As if that isn't enough trouble, someone else wants Serena's charm and there's mysterious unrest within Sheoul (hell). Something cataclismic is brewing and only Wraith and Serena can stop it... if they live long enough. In the end the human and demon races may just have to put aside their differences to save the world! There is so much plot packed into this book that giving a decent summary without too much spoilerishness was tough. If you've been reading the Demonica series already you've probably been looking forward to seeing how Ione would settle down her devil-may-care brother. Fortunately, she's found an excellent way to deliver a great urban fantasy story with touches of Indiana Jones-esque adventure that makes the romance between Wraith and Serena come together very seamlessly. At first I will admit I wasn't so sure about the pairing based on personalities but as the story went on they grew on me a lot. I'm not a big fan of 'virgin' plot devices but this one really suited the Demonica realm. Once again, Ione does a fabulous job of keeping the romance and the adventure parts of the story in balance, a feat not easily done but becoming more and more popular in paranormal romances. For readers who prefer a straight-up romance where outside plot is secondary this book might be a stinker, the romance does occasionally feel secondary to the saving-the-world story. What really won me as a reader this time around was the surprises Ione threw in. Once you read the book you'll probably know exactly which ones I am thinking of and enjoy them as well. Any reader who likes not seeing a little something coming will be happy to know there were a few here. Overall, I loved Passion Unleashed. It was filled with romance, adventure and loads of sexual tension (and yes, hot sex too!). If this was the end of a trilogy I'd say it ties up the trio nicely but I'm glad to say this one leaves us with plenty of room for more Demonica novels to come.

Luzeth Cordova luzethco — Another fascinating book in the series by Brandon Mull.

Julie Berdou julieberdou — A Michael Chabon novel always is transporting. However, I found this one a little bit less transporting than the others I have read. The first two-thirds of the novel were wonderful -- especially the musings of the old man and the layered details so characteristic of a Chabon descriptive sentence. I swear I learn big chunks of encyclopedia knowledge each time I read one of his books. But I found two fundamental problems with the book. First, and probably the more egregious, was that Chabon did too much literary tinkering. This is truly a novella. A short 131 pages, with some backstory here and there for a few characters, but no subplots to speak of, meant that the point-of-view changes (which I felt to be largely unnecessary) seemed to come at breakneck speed. Just pick a narrative angle and stick with it, please. Second, I know that this novella is basically an excuse for Sherlock Holmes fanfiction, but the actually resolution of the mystery, the key clue, is one so common and see-through I had it figured out as it happened in the novel -- before the detective himself thinks back and realizes the true meaning of the scene. It's the kind of thing that would happen in an episode of Scooby-Doo, simplistic and certainly beneath even an aged Holmes. But Chabon is Chabon, and if he wrote the side panel copy on cereal boxes, I'd read that, too. So, small quibbles. -cg Edited to add: The edition of the book I had included a few (no more than a half-dozen) drawings accompanying the text. Perhaps someone felt they were needed to add the short manuscript. But aesthetically, I was not interested; nor did they supplement the narrative for me in any significant way. So, another small quibble. -cg