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The 85% Solution: How Personal Accountability Guarantees Success -- No Nonsense, No Excuses
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
1
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
1
Review Date: 4/28/2016
One of the worst books I have tried to read. After the first chapter, it is just a lot of the same self righteous garbage about how great and perfect the author is. Glad to have it out of my office.
Review Date: 2/7/2023
I wills admit I like the Dresden Files. Was assuming I would enjoy this book as well. Sadly, no.
Starting with the captain, Captain Grimm. I liked this character. Loyal even after being forced out of the military. It seemed like he took the fall for someone else. Basically politics kicked him out.
The cat I did like as well, he gave some comic relief to the story, for the most part. His human wasn't bad either. Logical and quiet for the most part. She was an enduring young lady who was trying to keep her house going. A very nice change from the over grown, spoiled, loud mouthed noble who seems to make things worse for the most part by not being able to shut up and feeling she is always right and has to stick her nose into everything. Characters like her often ruin a good book. A noble that feels she has to learn to be a soldier? Not sure where that is supposed to lead here. I found myself skimming over any part with her character talking.
The book started off all right, air ship battle, sounded like pirates in the sky with big sail ships with magic crystals.
I did enjoy the crazy magician and his apprentice.
The cities were decently described. In the sky, on spires, etc. Lots of back alleys and clear lines between slums etc.
The number of characters introduced at a time sometimes seemed to be a lot at once. Several times I went back to re-read things just to be sure I had it straight.
It was written well, didn't catch any misspellings, and it flowed smoothly. Just kinda...Blah.
Over all, not Mr. Butchers best work. Won't be bothering with the rest of this series.
Starting with the captain, Captain Grimm. I liked this character. Loyal even after being forced out of the military. It seemed like he took the fall for someone else. Basically politics kicked him out.
The cat I did like as well, he gave some comic relief to the story, for the most part. His human wasn't bad either. Logical and quiet for the most part. She was an enduring young lady who was trying to keep her house going. A very nice change from the over grown, spoiled, loud mouthed noble who seems to make things worse for the most part by not being able to shut up and feeling she is always right and has to stick her nose into everything. Characters like her often ruin a good book. A noble that feels she has to learn to be a soldier? Not sure where that is supposed to lead here. I found myself skimming over any part with her character talking.
The book started off all right, air ship battle, sounded like pirates in the sky with big sail ships with magic crystals.
I did enjoy the crazy magician and his apprentice.
The cities were decently described. In the sky, on spires, etc. Lots of back alleys and clear lines between slums etc.
The number of characters introduced at a time sometimes seemed to be a lot at once. Several times I went back to re-read things just to be sure I had it straight.
It was written well, didn't catch any misspellings, and it flowed smoothly. Just kinda...Blah.
Over all, not Mr. Butchers best work. Won't be bothering with the rest of this series.
Review Date: 3/31/2018
Really wanted to rate this one higher. It got off to a good start, then the author decided to toss in a lousy character. Spoiler alert on this one.
He could have made Kealeys girlfriend less of a insecure, manipulative, controlling, jealous, sugar daddy hunting witch. (Was going to use a different word...) Maybe he wanted his readers to hate her? If so, he did a great job on it. She was one of those self centered women that cries she loves you yet you have to change because she can't take what you are right now characters. Seemed like her goal was to make him feel guilty as much as possible so she could get whatever she wanted. Whether it was telling him what she wanted directly or dropping not so subtle hints, she was all about "me". I was so glad that she was killed at the end of the book. Every time I saw her name I started to just skim over the paragraphs until I saw she was gone. I kept hoping she would die in a big explosion or run off the road, she was a bad driver, or just leave and never come back. Of course she wasn't going to do that, she loved his money.
Okay, rant over the bad part over. The rest of the book was good. Moved along well, didn't get all bogged down in useless dialog with people. The back story came out as you went along instead of dumping it all at once and then trying to work a story off it. I won't give anymore of it away.
Overall it was a good book and I was glad I stuck with it to the end. I will give his other books a shot too.
He could have made Kealeys girlfriend less of a insecure, manipulative, controlling, jealous, sugar daddy hunting witch. (Was going to use a different word...) Maybe he wanted his readers to hate her? If so, he did a great job on it. She was one of those self centered women that cries she loves you yet you have to change because she can't take what you are right now characters. Seemed like her goal was to make him feel guilty as much as possible so she could get whatever she wanted. Whether it was telling him what she wanted directly or dropping not so subtle hints, she was all about "me". I was so glad that she was killed at the end of the book. Every time I saw her name I started to just skim over the paragraphs until I saw she was gone. I kept hoping she would die in a big explosion or run off the road, she was a bad driver, or just leave and never come back. Of course she wasn't going to do that, she loved his money.
Okay, rant over the bad part over. The rest of the book was good. Moved along well, didn't get all bogged down in useless dialog with people. The back story came out as you went along instead of dumping it all at once and then trying to work a story off it. I won't give anymore of it away.
Overall it was a good book and I was glad I stuck with it to the end. I will give his other books a shot too.
Review Date: 4/4/2014
Great book, good research and tells it like it is. Every American should read this, might open their eyes to what is really going on and has been for a long time. I have shared it with many co-workers and they agree.
Review Date: 9/3/2018
Usually I like Mr. Ludlums books. This one though, started off pretty good. By page 22 I think it was, I couldn't deal with it anymore. The dialog between the dead mans son and his adoptive parents is just simply over done. I've read law books that were easier to stick with than this. Maybe it got better farther into the book, don't know and not going to bother reading any farther. I have other books to read that will probably be better than this.
Review Date: 8/7/2019
This was the first book of short stories that I actually finished. Usually I read one or two, loose interest and put the book back on the shelf. Really enjoyed this one though. True, some I liked better than others, that is true with anything.
I will say the insight into his daughter was an interesting read. The part about hiding a wolf in plane sight as a assist dog was great too. (Different story, still good.)
I will say the insight into his daughter was an interesting read. The part about hiding a wolf in plane sight as a assist dog was great too. (Different story, still good.)
Review Date: 3/25/2021
Short review, it wasn't the worst book I have ever read. It wasn't far from that though. Well, I tried to read the whole thing. I stopped at about page 122 I think it was. I finally realized it wasn't going to get better.
Longer review...
Character development was at best choppy and slow. Not much you can do with one main character that is such a little softy (nicest way I could describe him). Another character was a cheating wife. You get the idea. Out of the initial characters there were only three that I had any interest in, and of them only one seriously. The other two seemed to be written in as filler to get the page count up.
Overall it was a promising story line that was believable, just wasn't executed well. About the only thing I could say that was good about it was how it presented New Yorkers when things suddenly go wrong. Most have a total lack of planning for when the lights go out and just cry to the government to take care of them. He got that right from what I have seen living in the city. Overall, just leave it on the shelf. Might make good kindling when the lights do go out.
Longer review...
Character development was at best choppy and slow. Not much you can do with one main character that is such a little softy (nicest way I could describe him). Another character was a cheating wife. You get the idea. Out of the initial characters there were only three that I had any interest in, and of them only one seriously. The other two seemed to be written in as filler to get the page count up.
Overall it was a promising story line that was believable, just wasn't executed well. About the only thing I could say that was good about it was how it presented New Yorkers when things suddenly go wrong. Most have a total lack of planning for when the lights go out and just cry to the government to take care of them. He got that right from what I have seen living in the city. Overall, just leave it on the shelf. Might make good kindling when the lights do go out.
Review Date: 7/27/2018
Spoiler in this.
Just a short review on this.
I have read several of Mr. Hunters books, enjoyed them to varying degrees. This one was good until the last 15 pages or so. When one of the heroes and main characters gets killed while a traitor lives, with her grief and that is all, I sort of loose interest. She was a traitor who gave up security plans to a nuclear weapons facility to another country and her only excuses are; they are our allies (They weren't), she was angry at him, lonely, and her husband shouldn't have left the plans laying around which made it so easy. Okay, I agree on the last part. Throughout the book she is nothing but arrogant, disdainful of anyone not a artist (and disdainful of many of them too), and self serving about whatever she wants. Yet she gets away with being the main reason over 200 solders, law enforcement and a mother die with just walking off to cry alone. At least have her swallow a bottle of sleeping pills and a glass of wine or something. Leaving her to cry just seems a lazy way to deal with her, specially when the good guy gets killed stopping the mess that his traitor wife created.
Okay, with that out of the way, I did enjoy the other 99% of the book. There were some twists I didn't see coming, and a good story line. Over all, a good book.
Just a short review on this.
I have read several of Mr. Hunters books, enjoyed them to varying degrees. This one was good until the last 15 pages or so. When one of the heroes and main characters gets killed while a traitor lives, with her grief and that is all, I sort of loose interest. She was a traitor who gave up security plans to a nuclear weapons facility to another country and her only excuses are; they are our allies (They weren't), she was angry at him, lonely, and her husband shouldn't have left the plans laying around which made it so easy. Okay, I agree on the last part. Throughout the book she is nothing but arrogant, disdainful of anyone not a artist (and disdainful of many of them too), and self serving about whatever she wants. Yet she gets away with being the main reason over 200 solders, law enforcement and a mother die with just walking off to cry alone. At least have her swallow a bottle of sleeping pills and a glass of wine or something. Leaving her to cry just seems a lazy way to deal with her, specially when the good guy gets killed stopping the mess that his traitor wife created.
Okay, with that out of the way, I did enjoy the other 99% of the book. There were some twists I didn't see coming, and a good story line. Over all, a good book.
Review Date: 4/9/2020
I made it to chapter two, hit one part and just put it down. The forced dialog was okay, things were getting interesting, then chapter 2. Didn't bother going past that.
Review Date: 6/22/2018
Pretty good book for a first time author I thought. Curious to see where the second book takes us.
Review Date: 6/19/2012
Was a good read, much like the first book.
Review Date: 5/22/2012
As usual, good book from Mr. Child.
Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists Criminals & Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
5
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
5
Review Date: 8/26/2018
Well written and researched book about the real issues with the soft view politicians take on illegals. Ms. Malkin did a good job showing the crime and issues illegals bring with them when they violate the USA's immigration laws.
This should be required reading for students in high school, along with the constitution.
This should be required reading for students in high school, along with the constitution.
Review Date: 1/13/2016
Good book, read it in one go while on a flight. Don't usually do that. Enjoyed the relationship between the man and his dog, and could empathize with the mans feelings about his dog(s). Don't want to give anything away. Was a good book. Looking forward to reading the next one.
Review Date: 6/22/2012
Pretty good book.
Review Date: 9/17/2018
This was a great book. If you are looking for a book that makes you laugh, if you have a military sense of humor, this is a good one. Keeps moving at a good pace too. This was one of those books that I wanted to ask the pilot to make a few turns around the airport before landing so I could finish it.
Just a good entertaining book. Looking forward to his next book.
Just a good entertaining book. Looking forward to his next book.
The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
5
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
5
Review Date: 6/18/2017
Let me start with, I have nothing but respect for these guys. They really deserve nothing but support and respect.
This was a interesting read, entertaining at times and funny at others. What really kind of ruined the whole thing for me was the Authors note at the beginning and near the end where he makes mention again of changing the elite warriors of the military. Both times the author had to toss in the unicorn drinking liberal social engineering garbage. I know it sounds petty, it just really ruined what would have been a good book.
The other thing that brought it down a little for me was the lack of actual time spent on the mission to kill the terrorist. Most of the book was around Mr. O'Neills time leading up to that. While this was interesting and well written, I was expecting more on the killing of OBL.
Overall it was a good book, and I enjoyed it for the most part. Was nice to read about Americans, the raid was a team effort, finally killing that terrorist that caused so much death in the USA.
This was a interesting read, entertaining at times and funny at others. What really kind of ruined the whole thing for me was the Authors note at the beginning and near the end where he makes mention again of changing the elite warriors of the military. Both times the author had to toss in the unicorn drinking liberal social engineering garbage. I know it sounds petty, it just really ruined what would have been a good book.
The other thing that brought it down a little for me was the lack of actual time spent on the mission to kill the terrorist. Most of the book was around Mr. O'Neills time leading up to that. While this was interesting and well written, I was expecting more on the killing of OBL.
Overall it was a good book, and I enjoyed it for the most part. Was nice to read about Americans, the raid was a team effort, finally killing that terrorist that caused so much death in the USA.
Review Date: 3/3/2016
Got this in a box of books I bought at a garage sale. Really tried to get get into it, couldn't get past page 9. Even tried starting it again a few weeks later. Nope.
Review Date: 9/5/2018
This was one of the better books I have read in the last year.
Started it on take off of my flight, finished it about an hour before landing and was mad at myself for not bringing the second one in the series.
One thing that was nice to see was the attention to detail on things. Not just attention to detail, getting the details correct. For example, his favored pistol is the 1911 from Wilson. (Lets not get into the debate of 1911 vs this or that.) Not only did he use correct terms for things, like magazine vs "clip", he describes it fully and accurately. It seems he actually went out and at least handled one, if not shot it. So many authors just toss a bunch of firearm terms together to describe something and just come across as sounding really ignorant. It wasn't just the firearms either. from the truck to the other characters.
Was a good read and looking forward to getting into the next book in the series.
Started it on take off of my flight, finished it about an hour before landing and was mad at myself for not bringing the second one in the series.
One thing that was nice to see was the attention to detail on things. Not just attention to detail, getting the details correct. For example, his favored pistol is the 1911 from Wilson. (Lets not get into the debate of 1911 vs this or that.) Not only did he use correct terms for things, like magazine vs "clip", he describes it fully and accurately. It seems he actually went out and at least handled one, if not shot it. So many authors just toss a bunch of firearm terms together to describe something and just come across as sounding really ignorant. It wasn't just the firearms either. from the truck to the other characters.
Was a good read and looking forward to getting into the next book in the series.
Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
7
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
7
Review Date: 11/1/2017
Well written book from the soldiers point of view about the war. Unlike so many that like to gloss over things, or not share what the enemy really does to people, this author shared it all. Enjoyable book. Several of my co-workers enjoyed reading it as well.
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