Gary

Absolutely superb, again

Revisado: 11-11-23

I have read every book in this series, but I believe this is my favorite. I found the book compelling, well paced, thoughtful and clever. I love excellent writing, and this book was incredible. What didn't I like? Tough to think of anything. The story involves some graphic content that I would not share with young readers, but it was certainly fine for adults who can deal with some sexual content. It is not overdone. The description of a cult environment was nerve wracking, but again, it was just the right amount of tension to keep you on the edge and reading. I really, really liked the book. I did "see" the clues in the text, and by the end, everything came together. Perfect for this genre. I really admired everything about this offering. And, don't peek, but the ending was very, very satisfying. I highly recommend this book to all who love excellent writing, a great story, and very believable characters. Now, I have to be patient until the next one.

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Even Better The Second Time

Revisado: 06-17-23

For many years after Watergate, I refused to buy this book as I did not want to give any money to anyone involved in the Watergate scandal. I was a young man when Watergate happened and I watched all the hearings and read multiple histories. However, several years ago, I decided, after listening to John Dean on TV, that I didn't care if he made a buck or two from my purchasing the book. So, I finally read it. I really liked the narrative, and I actually liked him. Not because what he did was admirable, at all, but rather because I felt he was honest about his own drives and flaws that led to his own downfall and the downfall of the Nixon Presidency. And again recently, I decided to download it from Audible and read it one more time. Wow! It really is a great book and I recommend it highly to anyone who loves a good history, and I recommend it to anyone trying to make sense of the years between 2016 and 2023. History is a show that does seem to repeat itself. I recommend this book to folks who want to understand how absolute power really can absolutely corrupt. Thank you, Mister Dean for an important book.

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Interesting, but scattered

Revisado: 06-12-23

I am grateful to the author for sharing his vision and views, and I do believe that presenting solid data does a beter job of telling the truth than just yelling what others have said on TV or the Web. And, I believe he was very careful in delivering a rational analysis of what he and his team discovered. I would have liked to read a great deal more about their data analysis and I would like to have more deeply felt the excitement when discoveries were made. Although his personal story was moving, there was quite a bit of personal detail that pulled me away from what was learned about the January 6 attack and who was involved. A few too many distractions with what I did not consider important detail. Even so, I learned some new facts, but not as many as I had hoped. But, I do appreciate every attempt any author makes to share their viewpoints without dismissing everyone else as wrong or misguided. I did not find the book as compelling as I would have preferred, but I did finish it, which was a good sign that it did read intellectually honest. So, although I would have liked to give it a stronger review, because it took courage to write, I will give it a passing grade this time and be ready to read his next book when it comes out.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Short on details, rich with Lincoln

Revisado: 12-21-22

I gave this book top ratings for many reasons. First, it was very well written and Jon Meacham did a phenomenal job of portraying Lincoln, the man, flaws and all. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a relatively quick synopsis of a great American man who gave his all, morally and intellectually, to save his country and those who lived within it. Meacham's narration was excellent, which only made his prose all the finer. I found the book shorter than I would have liked, but what was written was excellent, well researched and a great history.

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Interesting, but dated

Revisado: 12-13-22

I had heard this was an excellent dystopian piece and that it was worth the time reading. I agree, mostly. I didn't find the character development as rich as I had hoped and that left me without strong feelings for any of the characters. And, if a reader doesn't feel a connection to some of the characters, it is hard to care about them or their plight. Still, I found the story interesting enough and I did finish it. Overall, I cannot recommend this as a great book, but it was still worth completing.

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Social shmedia

Revisado: 12-11-22

I have enjoyed all the books in this series, but I did find this one the most difficult to read. So much of the text were excerpts from online conversations that I got bored with the triteness of so much of that textual dialogue. Still, I loved the character development and the scenes that were meant to be exciting or nerve-wracking were excellent. I do look forward to the next book in this series, but I do hope we see more characters portrayed "in real life" and less focus on social media.
as the premise of this book had much to do with an online game, I suspect we will not find ourselves mired in so much social media jabber again.

I'm glad I read the book. As usual, the author's writing was excellent.

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Historically significant and a great read

Revisado: 09-15-22

Holding The Line was a really insightful and clearly written book about the SDNY during the term of Geoffrey Berman's tenure as the head of that office. He did an excellent job of narrating his own book and I found his style fair, reasonable and honest. I appreciated not only his observations of others, I also appreciated his own critiques of himself. No person gets everything right and his plain talk and honesty in presentation left me impressed. I also felt like I learned a great deal about the SDNY and am glad I took the time to learn more about how justice is supposed to work. Thank you for such an interesting and informative read.

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I tried, and learned nothing

Revisado: 07-22-22

My career was in research university hard sciences. I love books that really get me to think about something in the sciences that was not a part of my own background. Although not a physicist or cosmologist, I do find myself drawn to books that promise to teach me something new. So, I bought this book. I'd read a good review, and although the book was relatively short, it sounded quite promising.

For me, I was disappointed. The book felt more like an autobiography. There was a tremendous number of "I," "me" and "my" in the text. I learned about the author's life in Albania, the focus in school on Communist history and Physical Education. I learned that the author would go outside for fresh air and cigarettes. I learned way more personal stories than the science I wanted to discover. I finally had to give up with only one hour and 42 minutes left in the text, only because I really wanted to learn something new.

The author could very well be brilliant and a great scientist who is an inspiration to all their students. I am leaving this book early because it was too much about the author and not nearly enough about the science. I do wish the author well and do hope that they are on the path to something new and exciting for all of us. I would not recommend this book to anyone serious about cosmology or physics, but I would love to see the author offer something that really focused on their work and less on their life. I do wish the author greater success in their next book.

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A truly superb piece of research and writing

Revisado: 07-21-22

Bottom line: This is a truly excellent piece of research and well written prose. I like studying certain bits of history, such as Hitler's Germany, the Lincoln and Kennedy years, the United States early space program, the Watergate mess along with the nixon and Trump Presidencies. I've also enjoy studying the Secret Service and this is the finest book I have read on the topic. I knew most of the stories in this book from other books and past news accounts, but this was a truly thorough compilation of both older and newer stories. It was refreshing, scary and just plain excellent reporting. I am grateful to the author, and all those who helped along the way, for a great history book, on a very important topic. Very well written and worth reading. I love great books, and this is one of them. I recommend this book to anyone interested in US Presidential history. Thank you!

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Absolutely excellent, with caveats

Revisado: 05-18-22

I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to know about how our government reacted to the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020-2022. I thought the book was insightful, thoughtful and intellectually fulfilling. I really liked learnning more about how things really progressed in the United States of America. And, I learned a great deal of very valuable material in the first 90% of the book. I must admit that I had to drag myself through the end of the book as the conclusions were stated, restated and restated again. Perhaps I am wrong with suggesting I was slammed with the same conclusions over and over again, but I really did read the book carefully and had already internalized the conclusions. Still, it was a very worthwhile read that helped me much better understand what had happened and how we could and should have done a better job. The author should be commended for writing a very important historical document with truthful observations doring a difficult time in our history. Thanks for this book. It was well worth my time and I did learn much.

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