Product Description
An experienced professional counselor offers an understanding of common nervous disorders--from mild anxiety and stress to severe agorophobia--and shows how they can be controlled. Originally self-published. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

Good primer for learning more about anxiety and panic attacks, etc.


My 88 year old mother started having panic attacks a few months ago. This book was excellent in helping me to develop a basic understanding of what the heck is happening to her.
Easier to understand than others I've looked at. Just a good reference book.

Look No Further! Author/Therapist Reneau Z. Peurifoy is the Doctor House of Psychologists
I met Author/Therapist Reneau Z. Peurifoy in Sacramento, California almost 20 years ago. I used his book faithfully and met with Mr. Peurifoy for therapy sessions once a week over a two year period. I was insured through Kaiser Permanente and diagnosed with Depression and Panic Anxiety Disorder. I was an absolute basket case at the time and continued to get worse while be treated by a Kaiser psychiatrist. Unexpectedly, a Kaiser employee, seeing that I was abnormally distressed, approached me and said that I would never recover if I continued getting treatment at Kaiser. I was then referred to someone out of their network: Mr. Reneau Z. Peurifoy who was one of the few therapists back then that really knew anything about Panic Anxiety Disorder. I didn't have medical insurance that would allow me to see Reneau Peurifoy and had to pay out of pocket. He let me pay what I could afford and continued to help me. I think the most I paid him was $20 a session which was cheap even in the late 80's. Needless to say, this man saved my life.
He saved my marriage and kept my family together. He was always there for me and I am forever thankful. Every now and then I think about how he helped that younger version of me who was an absolute lunatic. He gave me the courage to move forward and made me see that the world wasn't as scary as I thought it was. Buy his book as it is well worth the investment. However, you must do the exercises as he suggests and endure the discomfort that he will challenge you to overcome. He speaks the truth and really has a deep understanding of human behavior. He really is the Dr. House of
psychologists and I thought that I would pay him this compliment because I accidentally came across his book while browsing through Amazon's Listmania.

Please consider reading this book.
It is the best book for anxiety. It has helped me overcoming my social anxiety by eliminating my self-defeating habits and becoming a positive realist. I highly recommend this book.

Excellent tool
This is an easy read and nice format to read and to go back and research specific concern and how to work through to a resolution.The specific exercises provide a direction to the greater work in progress.Confidence is stronger just with the effort to begin with the suggestions.

Wonderful Book
I have had problems with anxiety for a few years, and this is definately the most helpful book I have read. It is easy to read and it gets to the point, which I appreciate. ... Read more

Product Description
"Sociologist Victor began his involvement with satanic-cult phenomena by investigating a local panic centered in southwestern New York state. After an introductory section, his book begins with a description of this research, then proceeds with an excellent general review of recent fear about satanic cults in the U.S. He concludes that there is no evidence for the actual existence of organized satanic cults". -- Choice ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Bad Sociological Explanations for Christian Hysteria

It was good that the Satanic Cult hysteria of the 1980s was brought to light in book form but he fills this book with boring and in my opinion incorrect sociological explanations for the "devil worshipper" witchhunts of the 80s. He loves to point fingers "white", "blue collar", and "uneducated" types. In other words he's a typical academic ivory tower type that blames everything on working class white peoples intolerence and stupidity. He fails to mention, or doesn't realize that this whole pathology is caused by Christianity. Even if all the claims about underground Satanic cults murdering people and sexually abusing children were true it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the pedophilia that is rampant in all Christian churches. A young boy would be safer at a Nambla meeting than a Christian church.

More has come to light....
I lived in Jamestown at the time. Took classes (Human Sexuality) from Jeffrey Victor at Jamestown Community College. Good guy, good teacher, but he doesn't have all the facts in this book on the Jamestown events. Not many do, actually. Though it is a good general study on the manifestations of crowd hysteria. We do need to thank Jeffery for making a decent start at bringing calm to a county (and country) that still shivers over this stuff. It's an impossible task, but ya gotta start somewhere.

As for the facts, for one, the cat impaled on the stake was a prank by some stupid rich kids who were not satanists. And they didn't kill it. It was found road kill.

The "Jamestown Satanists" were not the Manson Family. The "Jamestown Satanists" were bored wannabe punk rockers on welfare passing the time in a very very boring town....People who didn't have the life skills to move elsewhere. They still live there. And several of them took classes from Jeffrey Victor, before dropping out of JCC.

I hung out with those people. I left the state because even those people bored me, and they were slightly more entertaining than most other people in Chautauqua County. If Dungeons and Dragons had been invented then, they would have played that instead of playing Satanists. There was no true satanic scene in Jamestown.

Most "satanists" are just Catholics with poor potty training who want to shock their parents.

"Chautauqua" is said to be Native American for either "bag tied in the middle" (the shape of the lake) or "place where one was lost" or "place of death". These all fit. The whole county probably IS a cursed Indian burial ground. But breeding ground for Satanists? Nope.

Victor has written a compelling read for something based on entirely second- and third-hand research. But if you weren't at that keg party on the broken-down flatbed truck in Panama, New York, you don't have all the facts. If you never hung out at a rehearsal of the punk/death metal bands Flat Head Dog, The Accused, Mutanis, or the Ice Cream Demigods [sic], you don't REALLY have the whole story.

And the real danger wasn't the "satanists" in their silly purple capes, but the rednecks showing up everywhere with shotguns saying "Where the satanists at?" The only murder in the 80s in Chautauqua County even remotely connected with Satanism was the redneck who murdered a self-professed Satanist punk rocker because the redneck was in a panic about the Satan talk. And if it's really true what they say that the killer did write "666" on the wall with blood, it wasn't because he was a Satanist, but probably because he wanted people to know his victims were Satanists. He was terrified of that sort of talk. And so sure of what he did that he turned himself in that night, but only after stopping off for a hot chocolate. (It's been 24 years, is that guy out of prison yet? I'd recommend you interview him for an appendix in the second printing. It would prove your whole thesis.)

-- Two recovering metalheads who were there.

p.s. The "punk rockers" were rednecks too, albeit rednecks with funny haircuts and clothes.

The 80s?!
The 80s was ruined by this satanic panic. LaVey could've put up an intelligient argument for Satanism as a religion, but he allowed himself to get slandered by countless online sources and the Christian media. They're way behind using the Holy Bible because it's not at the college level. It's not devil worship- that's what they want is a cult. Because Crowley had it clear it WAS NOT a cult, he didn't have that many followers. I worked for a record company, and they jumped at the chance to exploit these trash. If you didn't have videos played on MTV during the day after school, the album had no chance. So they decided on quitting videos on MTV. That doesn't work, either. Where's the charisma? Where's the quality control. The whole idea of MTV videos was quality control. No satanic group has ever had more than 300 members, and they never got past the debate stage. The bottom line is they jumped right into it too quick, they haven't got past the debate stage and they didn't get the whole idea is so you're not deoendant on mom.

Good, but not the needed definitive treatment
It is frustrating that we still don't have the definitive work on the Satanism scare of roughly 1980-1995.It's a big story.It was a gigantic urban legend, and a costly one.Careers were ruined.People went to jail.Large numbers of "victims" were left confused and traumatized.The press either fell asleep at the switch, or in the case of ABC's 20/20, Gerald Rivera and others, actively participated in the spread of this destructive panic.

This book is accurate and courageous, published as it was when the scare was still very much alive, if in decline.Unfortunately, the timing of its publication and some weakness in writing and editing keep it from being the definitive text that remains needed.There's no mention of the Paul Ingram case and it predates the West Memphis 3 case which, of course, is ongoing.

But, it's a fine introduction to the kind of psychological and sociological factors that lead to this kind of large scale panic.

Diabolically dull
The 1980s and 1990s were a frightening time in America. A seeming wave of child kidnappings had swept the land. Bizarre mutilations, in which all the blood had been drained from farm animals, made many newspapers. Drug use, pornography, marital breakdown and gender wars made it seem that the world was going to hell in a handbasket. Was it crazy to blame for this seemingly unconnected cauldron of woes on the Devil?

Jeffrey Victor trains a sociologist's spotlight on Satanic rumors and reports of Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s. He meticulously (though not engagingly) lays out the reasons for American's susceptibility to such panics: economic and social stress and fear of the novelty that came with various youth movements like heavy metal music and punk styles of hair and clothing styles. He discusses the carriers of such panics, noting especially the importance of authority figures -- fundamentalist preachers, police and teachers -- in lending credence to otherwise bizarre conclusions.

Victor makes it very clear that there is next to no evidence for the supposed cannibalism, child kidnapping, sexual deviancy and ritual abuse that are the supposed hallmarks of Satanism. Cattle mutilations had prosaic explanations known to ranchers for decades. The rash of kidnappings and abductions were a myth -- most were (and are) the result of run-away children or parental kidnappings during divorces. Victor also discusses research that shows the complete benignity of fantasy games like Dungeons & Dragons and the relative harmlessness of heavy metal music. In spite of repeated alarmist rumors to the contrary, D&D and heavy metal do not cause teen suicide.

But since many people did not know the facts, "experts" rushed in to fill the knowledge vacuum. For reasons the author did not explore, a number of men and women made careers and reputations from explaining these events as the result of a new, immense and previously-unknown group of devil worshippers. It would have been interesting had Victor detailed whether these self-styled experts acted out of greed, a desire to bolster their own religious faith or an appalling lack of analytical skills. In any event, Victor quotes enough wild statistics from these people (there are 1-2 million Satanists in America!) to make me wonder about their sanity and that of their listeners.

Victor examines the link between reports of Satanism and SRA with Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). One "expert" lecturer claimed that 40% of MPD patients had experienced SRA, implying that the abuse caused the disorder. Left unstated by the author was the perfectly logical (and more likely) scenario that the experts had the causality backwards: mentally ill people report SRA tyhat never occured. Victor also discusses the ritual behavior of some teens, who dabble in occult-oriented behavior as a rite of passage, or in the time-honored game of "Annoy the Parents."

"Satanic Panic" is timely. It is informative and accurate. Unfortunately, it is also a colossal bore. It is repetitive, it does not follow up on threads it takes up, and it as dry as a textbook. After 70 boring pages, I skimmed the rest of the book looking for nuggets of interest, most of which I have discussed here. A good editor or a ghost writer with a decent grasp of narrative would have made this book a better read.

Or did the devil make me say that? ... Read more

Product Description
On this much, the financial analysts agree: global capitalism is in crisis. As Asianeconomies were thrown into turmoil in the late 1990s, even ber-capitalist GeorgeSoros could not ignore the flaws in the system. Yet a truly radical analysis of theglobal crisis has yet to be heard in the mainstream debate over what went wrongand how to curtail the damage-until now. Economist Robin Hahnel's guide to thenew world economy brings the financial crisis down to earth and makes it relevantto the everyday, working public (who have little wealth to lose in the first place),not just the well-to-do. He breaks down the concepts that get glossed over in the mainstream presscoverage of global financial collapse, outlining the fundamental flaws in the creditsystem, the inevitable dangers of rampant speculation, and the laws of survival ofthe richest (Rule #1: Don't panic. Rule #2: Panic first.). But Hahnel goes beyond mere critique to offer important alternatives both practicaland visionary for a more just world economy. The solution of the pundits seems tobe more of the same bitter medicine, or stricter enforcement of the same old laws.In sharp contrast, Hahnel makes the case that much more radical reform isnecessary to prevent future crises and ensure equitable outcomes for all. In accessible, conversational style, Hahnel takes on the finance managers at theirown game and reveals the empty illusions that prop up the bubble ofprosperity-until it must burst, with dire consequences worldwide. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fine small book!
I'll be brief - I concur with the other positive reviews.I came across this three or four years ago and I've really remembered it.Having given to a friend, I thought it was important enough to get a replacement copy recently.Another book in the vein is Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel economist), "Globalization and its discontents".Hahnel gives the better job of pointing out WHY some of the discontents happen - like water flowing down hill or balls falling downward through a pinball machine.

Gives a pretty solid understanding of the global economy
Professor Robin Hahnel of the American University in Washington D.C. presents some interesting statistics. He notes that from the early 80's until the Asian economic crises hit in July 1997, much of the world economy was said to be in the midst of an economic "boom" caused by the implementation of neoliberal policies (deregulation, removal of tarrifs and restrictions on capital flows,etc.). Well, according to figures compiled by the Organization for Economic and Commercial Development (OECD), from 1950 to 1973, the year the Bretton Woods system was dismantled and the process of neoliberalization (globalization)began, the average annual gross domestic product per capita of Western European countries was 3.8 percent. From 1973 until 1992, their average annual per capita Gross Domestic product was 1.8 percent. From 1950 until 1973, the average annual per capita gross domestic product in the U.S.A., New Zealand, Australia and Canada was 2.4 percent. From 1973 until 1992 their average annual per capita GDP was 1.4 percent. In Latin America from 1950 to 1973, the average annual per capita GDP was 2.4 percent. From 1973 to 1992 it was .4 percent. The only countries that increased economic efficiency between 1973 and 1992 were the East Asian "tigers" who combined harsh repression of labor, with tax credits and subsidies to export-oriented industries and severe restrictions on inflow and outflow of capital and foreign ownership.

Another statistic. He shows that the annual flow of capital around the world has vastly increased by a large margin since the beginning of neoliberalization in the early 70's; he also shows that whereas before that time, capital was largely used for investment and other long term activities, international capital is now largely used for speculative purposes.

So he shows very clearly that the Bretton Woods period was far more productive for the world economy than the period since 1973. He notes that in the U.S. wages have been stagnant or declining and that while a relatively large number of Americans own stocks, most of it is concentrated in 401k and other retirement accounts, pretty small stuff and that the wealth from the stocks is overwhelmingly concentrated in the top ten percent of the population.

He analyzes what caused the East Asian crises. The East Asian "tigers," under Western pressure, removed restrictions on capital flows, and cut back environmental and labor laws in the late 80's and early 90's and Western capital, mostly speculative, flowed in. Western banks made short term loans to the banks in these countries who made high interest long term loans to export-oriented local businesses. But as one "tiger" deregulated, cut environmental regulations,etc. to compete for Western capital, so did all the others and the boom that many businesses felt was relatively short lived as they faced increasing competition in other countries and were forced to lower prices. They began to have trouble repaying their loans to their local banks who in turn had trouble repaying international creditors. Then Thailand began to wobble and investors, following what Hahnel says is rule one of international finance ",panic first," rapidly sold off its currency, then investors in Malaysia panicked and did the same and then Indonesia and then South Korea..... The economies plumetted and foreign companies were allowed, as a condition for IMF rescue packages, unrestricted access to rush in and buy up local businesess and bargain basement prices. Hahnel presents a particularly interesting article from the New York Times alleging that Robert Rubin and Larry Summers blocked Japanese efforts to create a sort of Asian monetary fund to try to avert the crises at its beginning on the ground that it would interfere with U.S. "influence and interests" and that Japan would not insist on the draconian IMF-style reforms.

He also makes some good points about how the true health of a nation can hardly be measured by the common economic efficiency numbers, noting for instance that a small farmer in the third world ussually lives very poorly and contributes almost no value to the overall economy but still manages to feed himself and his family and is protected by the social safety net of his village. But when his landlord kicks him off the land because the landlord wants to grow expensive export crops and he is pushed into a diseased infested slum in the big city, this will probably increase the GDP.

Unlike the other reviewer, to some extent I really didn't find this book "easy-to-read" and certainly didn't understand everything the learned professor wrote but I feel I have a much more solid grasp of the fundamentals of the economy.

Superb treatment of globalization
This is an excellent, easy-to-read, and compelling account of the role international finance played in the Asian Financial Crisis.Hahnel also demonstrates the deficiencies in the IMF response to the crisis.Overall,a superb introduction to globalization, the destructive nature ofunregulated capital flows, and the irrationality and instability of thecurrent global economy.

Remarkably comprehensive
In a little more than 100 pages Hahnel does an astonishingly impressive job in setting out global economic theory and its current political situation. This is a very informative work.

Hahnel gives us his view ofhow the global economy works, who benefits from the rules as they currentlyare, and who loses. He goes on to suggest solutions to what many peopleperceive as terrible inequality, not only between rich countries and poorcountries, but between the wealthy and the not so wealthy across theglobe.

He spends some time explaining how the current economic order cameabout, and what's been happening since "globalization" (as wecurrently understand it) started about 25 years ago. He explains the Asianfinancial crisis of 1997/98 and shows how it could happen again.

Thisbook starts with the supposition that one of the primary concerns of thosethat are wealthy is figuring out ways to hold on to their wealth andincrease it if possible.

He does a very lucid job of transitioning fromeconomics to politics and explaining the motivations behind financial andeconomic political decisions, the effects of which most of us don'tunderstand or see as unimportant.

In short this is a wonderful book forfiguring out how globalization effects us, why it's important in oureveryday lives and what we can do to make it work for us, the people.

Themost engaging book on economics in years, up-to-date and an eye-openingread ... Read more

Product Description
What's A Father To Do ?

New fathers have come a long way from a generation ago when they were shut out of the delivery room. Today's new father is encouraged to participate in his child's birth by offering support and comfort to his wife, yet little has been done to prepare him for the total process of becoming a father. This book will tell Dad everything he needs to know about pregnancy, delivery, and infant care and give him the confidence to experience all the joys of getting to know his new baby. Get Straight Answers About:

Customer Reviews (4)

Nothing for new fathers in here
The title is great and seems to indicate that you as a new father can learn something from this book.

I did not find that to be the case. It lacks structure and doesnt present information in an interesting way. The actual information is also scarce and nothing new is added to the "normal" books on this topic. As a new father you will not be much wiser on your new role after reading this book.

I found Christine Harris's books to be much better and would recommend those.

too much misinformation
This book is O.K. for people who don't mind being stuck in the system. It discourages or prohibits home birth, sleeping with your baby, and 100% breastfeeding, without a shred of evidence. Of course, not all parents-to-be share the same principles, but it would be more fair for a book that claims to be "for fathers" to present the viewpoints of more than one "type" of father.

Maybe someone can write a better book for fathers later on. It is a good idea.

Useful tool to new fathers!
My wife bought me this book a few weeks after we found out she was pregnant.I didn't have a clue about anything and this book really gave me so much useful information that it made the pregnancy and birth of our sonso easy for me to handle.We took a parenting class and so much in the classthat we leaned I was already familiar with because of this book.I didn'tfreak out about certain things because I knew what to expect.This bookhelped me understand the different phases my wife would go through and itallowed me to have a more understanding and patience with things.Thedelivery was a snap because of what this book prepared me for, along withclass.This book is well worth it and I highly recommend it.Don't panic,get the book!

Great idea, but too repetitive, no news, disappointing.
What a great idea, a book for the lads ! Although there is plenty of useful information in here, the style and the endless repetition makes it almost unbearable to plough through.Did the author get paid by the word ? There is also too much arse-covering concerning advice. I couldn't finishit, I went back to Miriam Stoppard. Disappointing ! ... Read more

Product Description
The runaway hit manga series continues with even more comedy, action, and military hardware than ever! With a teenaged commando-turned-bodyguard and the beautiful high school girl he's sworn to protect, America's #1 teen comedy blows up the competition! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

ISLAND GETAWAY
When Sosuke invites Chidori to an island getaway for a few days, Chidori masks her excitement about getting into a romantic relationship and nervousness about a first kiss, but she doesn't have to worry, the tropical vacation is not exactly what she planned. She finds that out when her and Sosuke sky dive out of a plane and parachute into the ocean and then submerge to link up with the Danaan, the super secret Mithril sub. But actually, it's not all bad as the crew is celebrating the Danaan's first birthday. But the fun is interrupted when environmental terrorists take over an island serving as a dismantling site for chemical weapons. If their demands are not met, they will detonate the stockpiled missles! But they're not just any terrorists. They appear to be led by Gauron, whose mecha is virtually invulnerable to attack. Only Sosuke and the Arbalest has any hope of defeating him. So much for Chidori's thoughts of romance!

The first half of this volume is taken up with light-hearted humor while the second half deals with Gauron and the assault on the terrorist-held island. The art is great and disparate elements are handled well by the author and illustrator. It would be nice if the two main characters developed their romance a little beyond Sosuke not even recognizing there IS a romance and Chidori hitting him over the head with a fan because of his ignorance. But I guess this is what supplies part of the charm of the book. If they ever get together that would be boring. Good book.

I would highly recommend the two anime series, Full Metal Panic and Fumoffu.

I can`t wait for the next volume
I really recommend this story for all of those people who likes the histories with action, comedy and drama ... Read more

Product Description
A classic sociology book of the 1970s, this book offers an account of the social reaction to deviant behaviour, using a detailed case study of the Mods and Rockers phenomenon which hit Britain in the 1960s, but also paying attention to the general processes which generated other "folk devils" such as Teddy Boys, Hell's Angels, football hooligans, skinheads and punks. The book's conclusion is as applicable today as it was when first published: "More moral panics will be generated and other, as yet nameless, folk devils will be created ...our society as presently structured will continue to generate problems for some of its members - like working class adolescents - and then condemn whatever solution these groups find." ... Read more

Product Description
"In Financial Shock, Mr. Zandi provides a concise and lucid account of the economic, political, and regulatory forces behind this binge."

Customer Reviews (8)

Excellent Overview of the Current Economic Crises.
This is an excellent overview of the Economic Crises of 2007 & 2008. It is accurate, fair and balance. It is well written and easy to read and comprehend. I plan to use it, along with the book AND THEN THE ROOF CAVED IN by David Faber as texts for a seminar class offered in the Fall.

Book Review from the Aleph Blog
Note to readers: for this review, I read the first chapter, and skimmed the rest of the book. (full disclosure)I usually read the entirety of every book I review, but I did not this time.Why?Chapter 1 is the backbone of the book, and tells the whole story in a nutshell.The remaining chapters flesh out Chapter 1.Most of my writings over the past five years shadow what Mr. Zandi has written, and he has created an integrated description that covers every major area of the crisis, with particular attention to mortgages, and the huge effect that the speculative mania in real estate had on the financial economy.

This is a serious book, one that explains the roots of our crisis.If you haven't understood it in a systematic way from reading my blog, or those that I recommend, this book will give you a coherent explanation of how we got here.

I do have some quibbles with the book.When he describes residential mortgage securitization on page 117, the mezzanine and subordinated tranches are too large, even for subprime.Also, his recommendations in the last chapter -- I can agree with most of them, but not with mark-to-market, and the uptick rule.

This edition of the book takes us up to the first quarter of 2009, allowing Zandi to comment on the initial actions of the Obama administration.

All in all a very good book.If you have a relative that doesn't understand the crisis, this will explain it to him in a simple way.

A thorough explaination of how we got here
Mark Zandi's book takes you inside the mortgage industry,where the greedy use their creativity to take advantage of the population while the government looks the other way.

Zandi explains the changes in the system over the last few decades that allowed for such a disaster to happen. And, like all things economic, it's complicated. And, like all disasters, hardly anyone could see it coming, because nothing quite like this ever happened before.

If you want a thorough and accurate understanding of what caused The Great Recession, read Financial Shock.

easy to read
This is a great book for an overview of the housing bubble and its effects.

It is short and very easy to read.My only problem with it, besides his weak recommendations to avoid another bubble, is that the book is basically the first twenty pages repeated over and over again.

It is worth the read, however.

No good for beginners
I had to purchase this book for a college political science class.The professor assured me that even with no background in economics I would be able to understand it, but this is NOT so.Even supplementing it with internet research on things I don't understand I still find this book completely incomprehensible.Zandi uses figures of speech and terminology with the assumption that the reader knows exactly what he's talking about without needing any sort of explanation.I think if you have the background knowledge necessary to comprehend the book this is probably an excellent analysis of what has happened to the economy, however one should avoid falling into the trap that just anyone can pick up this book and get it. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1869, Jay Cooke, the brilliant but idiosyncratic American banker, decided to finance the Northern Pacific, a transcontinental railroad planned from Duluth, Minnesota, to Seattle. M. John Lubetkin tells how Cooke's gamble reignited war with the Sioux, rescued George Armstrong Custer from obscurity, created Yellowstone Park, pushed frontier settlement four hundred miles westward, and triggered the Panic of 1873.

Staking his reputation and wealth on the Northern Pacific, Cooke was soon whipsawed by the railroad's mismanagement, questionable contracts, and construction problems. Financier J. P. Morgan undermined him, and the Crédit Mobilier scandal ended congressional support. When railroad surveyors and army escorts ignored Sioux chief Sitting Bull's warning not to enter the Yellowstone Valley, Indian attacks--combined with alcoholic commanders--led to embarrassing setbacks on the field, in the nation's press, and among investors.

Lubetkin's suspenseful narrative describes events played out from Wall Street to the Yellowstone and vividly portrays the soldiers, engineers, businessmen, politicians, and Native Americans who tried to build or block the Northern Pacific. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

The Merging of Four Rivers of History
History tends to be written in "silos:" there is political history, military history and so forth. If a history in one sphere incorporates history in another, the other sphere tends to get short shrift. But real history isn't like that. Political history begets military history which in turn is influenced by the history of technology which itself is determined by financial history.

Mr. Lubetkin has chosen a seemingly minor historical event - the surveying expeditions of the Northern Pacific Railroad - and created an engaging combination of numerous areas of history, in the course of which he illustrates how minor events have a ripple effect which can have a major impact on the course of nations.

One of the authors real skills is the ability to think through the motives of historical characters. Sometimes the historical record is clear, sometimes the author has to resort to speculation (always clearly marked as such, unlike the tendency of a lot of modern historians). This makes the narrative very alive and places the reader into the middle of the events described.

Like most books today, the editing leaves something to be desired and the author makes some intriguing charges about J.P. Morgan which I would have liked him to document better (a photo caption alleges that Morgan aided the South during the Civil War - everyone knows about the Hall Carbine scandal, but that was just a classic example of shoddy; was there more? - and claims that Morgan may have deliberately undermined a US government bond sale in order to damage Cooke).

But these are minor quibbles in a book which takes the reader from the Big Horn River to Washington DC to Philadelphia to Burlington Vermont and manages to pull them all together.

A Fascinating New Light
Every so often a new author plumbs old tales with fresh insight, interpretation and newly discovered research and does so in a way that his analysis intertwines biography with the totality of the historic events and times that were the person's life. Such is the case with John Lubetkin's Jay Cooke's Gamble. As the book's subtitle describes, who would have thought Sitting Bull directly contributed to a severe US financial panic. But that is exactly what happened: Jay Cooke's Northern Pacific Railroad touched off a Sioux War that caused the Panic of 1873.

Seeking a new challenge after financing the North's portion of the US Civil War, Cooke embarks on a new undertaking that is nothing less than the construction of a second transcontinental railroad, a northern route stretching from Duluth, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington. In the process he reignites war with the Sioux, rescues George Armstrong Custer from obscurity, creates Yellowstone National Park, sets off a wave of Northern European immigration, pushed frontier settlement 400 miles further westward, halted western Canada's drift into the US orbit, triggered the Panic of 1873 and spurred JP Morgan's rise.

This is an absolutely wonderful story, excellently crafted, beautifully written and supported by quality maps. It manages to fit the construction of the Northern Pacific within the environment it transcended, the West, with the East, the area within which it was managed and financed. It includes ugly politics, shady dealing, illegal activities, larger than life personalities, Indian warfare, dishonesty and all of the other negatives one could expect from a swashbuckling story that spans not only a continent but the Atlantic Ocean as well. Lubetkin's suspenseful narrative describes events played out from Wall Street to the Yellowstone and Germany's Paletine while vividly portraying the soldiers, engineers, businessmen, politicians and Native Americans who alternately seek to build, stop or destroy the construction of the Northern Pacific.

A good tale well told make no mistake: This man can write!

Jay Cooke's Gamble
Jay Cooke's Gamble covers important background into the North pacific Railroad's history.It does not focus much on the actual railroad operations, but rather the financing and surveying behind the scenes.The author writes in a very readable style and does his subject justice.

The reader will be transported to a time when railroads determined settlement of the American interior.But before the roads could be built, the land had to be surveyed, and in this case the land was also still occupied by natives who wished to preserve their traditional way of life.The reader will encounter a cast of characters ranging from the venerable Jay Cooke himself, to General Geoerge Armstrong Custer, and all the important NP company engineers and surveyors in between.Some were drunkards (the author appears to have a strong bias against alcohol), some prone to mismanagement, and some, like Cooke, never set foot in the land where the action took place.All of this makes for a very entertaining and informative read.One statistic does stand out as being a possible typo: the author on page 274 states land in Bismarck, Dakota was selling for as much as $8000/acre.That figure appears high.

But this is a very good book.One hopes the author will continue on and write the history of the railroad after Cooke's demise and the Northern Pacific's ultimate completion and beyond to its eventual merger with the Great Northern and CB&Q.

Readable History
This is one of those special books that is virtually impossible to put down once you start reading. Written in a highly readable, narrative style that puts the reader in the time and place being depicted, this book is the story of Jay Cooke's attempt to build a second transcontinental railroad, known as the Northern Pacific. Present readers may recognize its successor, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad that just happens to be the largest private landholder in the United States. An integral part of the story is the creation of Yellowstone National Park, the forced Canadian-British effort to build the Canadian Pacific transcontinental railroad, the Panic of 1873, the instigation of the Great Sioux War, and most interestingly, the link between Cooke and George Armstrong Custer that brought him back from the South and, as is said, the rest is history. This is a worthy addition to both national and regional history.

A Tough Comparison...
Mr. Lubetkin's work is well researched and well written. He's able to weave a narrative together that brings the beginning of the Gilded Age to the Indian Wars and railroad construction... frankly, I had never made the connection between the Northern Pacific and Sitting Bull until I read this book.
However, the final conclusions made me question the depth of the research. Lubetkin identifies the completion of the Northern Pacific several years later, and its competition with the Great Northern, whose surveyors "found" Marias Pass. There is no mention of the railroads' cooperation and attempted merger, nor the landmark Sumpreme Court case concerning Northern Securities and the creation of the ICC. Oh yes, and with reference to the previous review of the map quality, it would have been nice had the book included a larger map or two of the entire proposed routes.
I still believe Pierre Berton's The Last Spike (Canadian Pacific) to be the standard against all railroad construction history books should be measured. If Berton rates a 10, this book is an 8. ... Read more

Product Description
The traumas of childhood neglect and sexual abuse cannot be left behind when victims mature into adults. Too often, those adults repeat the crimes once perpetrated against them, depend on substances to dull the pain of memory, or choose partners similar to the adults who once abused them. Is there a way out of this darkness? Carol D. Levine, in her heartrending and yet hopeful memoir, Panic Child, reveals her childhood of parental neglect, sexual abuse, and the stranger who raped her, and her ascent from the depths of this terrible childhood to a life of service to children who suffered their own nightmares. The strong and steady voice of author Levine is the most powerful reminder that nobody is obliged to repeat the sins of those who harmed us, and that with support and a will to overcome trauma, we can heal from the deepest wounds and live loving, healthy, productive lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A thoughtful and poignant read that seeks to inspire those who have been hurt
Abuse all too often sends children on the wrong paths in life. "Panic Child: A Harrowing True Story of Sexual Abuse and Neglect" reflects on her own terrors as a child growing up and the tragedies visited upon her. Hoping to inspire her readers and other people who have had these atrocities inflicted on them, she wants them to break the all too common pattern. "Panic Child" is a thoughtful and poignant read that seeks to inspire those who have been hurt.

Eye-Opening Book - Highly Recommended!
Being a survivor of sexual assault myself, I was blown away by Carol Levine's book, "Panic Child". She wrote the book with such vivid detail that you felt you were right there with her. Like others said, while reading the book, there were times you cried, times you screamed, and times you laughed. Unfortunately, for me, there were many instances that were way too familiar from my past. For many years, I wasn't able to open up about my sexual assault, and to say it took courage for Ms. Levine to write this book, after everything she has had to live through, is an understatement. I would highly recommend this book to any counselors/therapists, educators, or women's shelters/groups that deal with sexual assault survivors...with the hope they pass it along to other survivors (especially immediate survivors) to not only show them that they aren't alone and that sexual assault is way too common in our country (and the perpetrators do not get the sentencing they deserve), but to understand how extremely important it is to open up and talk to someone, instead of hiding in fear. I commend Ms. Levine for publishing this book and for sharing such a horrific part of her life. I hope she knows that she IS helping others through the coping/healing process. She should be very proud.

such a sad story for such a nice lady
I have known Carol for several years, I had no idea what her life was like before we meet, until I read her book.
No one should ever have to live as she has.Thank God that Carol became the person she has, she is a kind and loving person.
Being in the childhood that she was could have made her turn out like those that abused and neglected her, but she is not like that at all.Carol is an amazing women, read her book and see what she has endured to make her as strong as she is today.

RIVETING
What a great story of survival! Levine endured things no child should ever have to
but she stayed strong and grew into a caring, compassionate adult. I cried, I laughed, I got mad but, most of all, I felt much admiration for this person to hae endured all that Levine did but still rise above it and become an adult that has helped so many others. This book is well worth reading.

Glad I read It!
I'm not someone who writes reviews often but I had to go out of my way on this one. I just finished reading Panic Child by author Carol Levine. Unlike stories that offer hope and inspiration after enduring terrible circumstances this story takes your emotions one step further. While reading the heartrending story of a little girl who's been molested you are also being drawn into the mind of a child who's maturing and realizing the affects of her rape and neglect. The story is written with honesty as she recounts alcohol abuse and panic attacks. It must have taken a lot of courage to put pen to paper to write out the details. And Levine did so in a flowing manner and at times with humor that makes you want to read more.

There's a real lesson to be learned from this story. After reading it you become conscious of your own responsibility to making sure the laws that protect the public from sexual predators are tough and more importantly enforced to the fullest. ... Read more

Product Description
A classic sociology book of the 1970s, this book offers an account of the social reaction to deviant behaviour, using a detailed case study of the Mods and Rockers phenomenon which hit Britain in the 1960s, but also paying attention to the general processes which generated other "folk devils" such as Teddy Boys, Hell's Angels, football hooligans, skinheads and punks. The book's conclusion is as applicable today as it was when first published: "More moral panics will be generated and other, as yet nameless, folk devils will be created ...our society as presently structured will continue to generate problems for some of its members - like working class adolescents - and then condemn whatever solution these groups find." ... Read more

Product Description
"In Financial Shock, Mr. Zandi provides a concise and lucid account of the economic, political, and regulatory forces behind this binge."

Customer Reviews (8)

Excellent Overview of the Current Economic Crises.
This is an excellent overview of the Economic Crises of 2007 & 2008. It is accurate, fair and balance. It is well written and easy to read and comprehend. I plan to use it, along with the book AND THEN THE ROOF CAVED IN by David Faber as texts for a seminar class offered in the Fall.

Book Review from the Aleph Blog
Note to readers: for this review, I read the first chapter, and skimmed the rest of the book. (full disclosure)I usually read the entirety of every book I review, but I did not this time.Why?Chapter 1 is the backbone of the book, and tells the whole story in a nutshell.The remaining chapters flesh out Chapter 1.Most of my writings over the past five years shadow what Mr. Zandi has written, and he has created an integrated description that covers every major area of the crisis, with particular attention to mortgages, and the huge effect that the speculative mania in real estate had on the financial economy.

This is a serious book, one that explains the roots of our crisis.If you haven't understood it in a systematic way from reading my blog, or those that I recommend, this book will give you a coherent explanation of how we got here.

I do have some quibbles with the book.When he describes residential mortgage securitization on page 117, the mezzanine and subordinated tranches are too large, even for subprime.Also, his recommendations in the last chapter -- I can agree with most of them, but not with mark-to-market, and the uptick rule.

This edition of the book takes us up to the first quarter of 2009, allowing Zandi to comment on the initial actions of the Obama administration.

All in all a very good book.If you have a relative that doesn't understand the crisis, this will explain it to him in a simple way.

A thorough explaination of how we got here
Mark Zandi's book takes you inside the mortgage industry,where the greedy use their creativity to take advantage of the population while the government looks the other way.

Zandi explains the changes in the system over the last few decades that allowed for such a disaster to happen. And, like all things economic, it's complicated. And, like all disasters, hardly anyone could see it coming, because nothing quite like this ever happened before.

If you want a thorough and accurate understanding of what caused The Great Recession, read Financial Shock.

easy to read
This is a great book for an overview of the housing bubble and its effects.

It is short and very easy to read.My only problem with it, besides his weak recommendations to avoid another bubble, is that the book is basically the first twenty pages repeated over and over again.

It is worth the read, however.

No good for beginners
I had to purchase this book for a college political science class.The professor assured me that even with no background in economics I would be able to understand it, but this is NOT so.Even supplementing it with internet research on things I don't understand I still find this book completely incomprehensible.Zandi uses figures of speech and terminology with the assumption that the reader knows exactly what he's talking about without needing any sort of explanation.I think if you have the background knowledge necessary to comprehend the book this is probably an excellent analysis of what has happened to the economy, however one should avoid falling into the trap that just anyone can pick up this book and get it. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1869, Jay Cooke, the brilliant but idiosyncratic American banker, decided to finance the Northern Pacific, a transcontinental railroad planned from Duluth, Minnesota, to Seattle. M. John Lubetkin tells how Cooke's gamble reignited war with the Sioux, rescued George Armstrong Custer from obscurity, created Yellowstone Park, pushed frontier settlement four hundred miles westward, and triggered the Panic of 1873.

Staking his reputation and wealth on the Northern Pacific, Cooke was soon whipsawed by the railroad's mismanagement, questionable contracts, and construction problems. Financier J. P. Morgan undermined him, and the Crédit Mobilier scandal ended congressional support. When railroad surveyors and army escorts ignored Sioux chief Sitting Bull's warning not to enter the Yellowstone Valley, Indian attacks--combined with alcoholic commanders--led to embarrassing setbacks on the field, in the nation's press, and among investors.

Lubetkin's suspenseful narrative describes events played out from Wall Street to the Yellowstone and vividly portrays the soldiers, engineers, businessmen, politicians, and Native Americans who tried to build or block the Northern Pacific. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

The Merging of Four Rivers of History
History tends to be written in "silos:" there is political history, military history and so forth. If a history in one sphere incorporates history in another, the other sphere tends to get short shrift. But real history isn't like that. Political history begets military history which in turn is influenced by the history of technology which itself is determined by financial history.

Mr. Lubetkin has chosen a seemingly minor historical event - the surveying expeditions of the Northern Pacific Railroad - and created an engaging combination of numerous areas of history, in the course of which he illustrates how minor events have a ripple effect which can have a major impact on the course of nations.

One of the authors real skills is the ability to think through the motives of historical characters. Sometimes the historical record is clear, sometimes the author has to resort to speculation (always clearly marked as such, unlike the tendency of a lot of modern historians). This makes the narrative very alive and places the reader into the middle of the events described.

Like most books today, the editing leaves something to be desired and the author makes some intriguing charges about J.P. Morgan which I would have liked him to document better (a photo caption alleges that Morgan aided the South during the Civil War - everyone knows about the Hall Carbine scandal, but that was just a classic example of shoddy; was there more? - and claims that Morgan may have deliberately undermined a US government bond sale in order to damage Cooke).

But these are minor quibbles in a book which takes the reader from the Big Horn River to Washington DC to Philadelphia to Burlington Vermont and manages to pull them all together.

A Fascinating New Light
Every so often a new author plumbs old tales with fresh insight, interpretation and newly discovered research and does so in a way that his analysis intertwines biography with the totality of the historic events and times that were the person's life. Such is the case with John Lubetkin's Jay Cooke's Gamble. As the book's subtitle describes, who would have thought Sitting Bull directly contributed to a severe US financial panic. But that is exactly what happened: Jay Cooke's Northern Pacific Railroad touched off a Sioux War that caused the Panic of 1873.

Seeking a new challenge after financing the North's portion of the US Civil War, Cooke embarks on a new undertaking that is nothing less than the construction of a second transcontinental railroad, a northern route stretching from Duluth, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington. In the process he reignites war with the Sioux, rescues George Armstrong Custer from obscurity, creates Yellowstone National Park, sets off a wave of Northern European immigration, pushed frontier settlement 400 miles further westward, halted western Canada's drift into the US orbit, triggered the Panic of 1873 and spurred JP Morgan's rise.

This is an absolutely wonderful story, excellently crafted, beautifully written and supported by quality maps. It manages to fit the construction of the Northern Pacific within the environment it transcended, the West, with the East, the area within which it was managed and financed. It includes ugly politics, shady dealing, illegal activities, larger than life personalities, Indian warfare, dishonesty and all of the other negatives one could expect from a swashbuckling story that spans not only a continent but the Atlantic Ocean as well. Lubetkin's suspenseful narrative describes events played out from Wall Street to the Yellowstone and Germany's Paletine while vividly portraying the soldiers, engineers, businessmen, politicians and Native Americans who alternately seek to build, stop or destroy the construction of the Northern Pacific.

A good tale well told make no mistake: This man can write!

Jay Cooke's Gamble
Jay Cooke's Gamble covers important background into the North pacific Railroad's history.It does not focus much on the actual railroad operations, but rather the financing and surveying behind the scenes.The author writes in a very readable style and does his subject justice.

The reader will be transported to a time when railroads determined settlement of the American interior.But before the roads could be built, the land had to be surveyed, and in this case the land was also still occupied by natives who wished to preserve their traditional way of life.The reader will encounter a cast of characters ranging from the venerable Jay Cooke himself, to General Geoerge Armstrong Custer, and all the important NP company engineers and surveyors in between.Some were drunkards (the author appears to have a strong bias against alcohol), some prone to mismanagement, and some, like Cooke, never set foot in the land where the action took place.All of this makes for a very entertaining and informative read.One statistic does stand out as being a possible typo: the author on page 274 states land in Bismarck, Dakota was selling for as much as $8000/acre.That figure appears high.

But this is a very good book.One hopes the author will continue on and write the history of the railroad after Cooke's demise and the Northern Pacific's ultimate completion and beyond to its eventual merger with the Great Northern and CB&Q.

Readable History
This is one of those special books that is virtually impossible to put down once you start reading. Written in a highly readable, narrative style that puts the reader in the time and place being depicted, this book is the story of Jay Cooke's attempt to build a second transcontinental railroad, known as the Northern Pacific. Present readers may recognize its successor, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad that just happens to be the largest private landholder in the United States. An integral part of the story is the creation of Yellowstone National Park, the forced Canadian-British effort to build the Canadian Pacific transcontinental railroad, the Panic of 1873, the instigation of the Great Sioux War, and most interestingly, the link between Cooke and George Armstrong Custer that brought him back from the South and, as is said, the rest is history. This is a worthy addition to both national and regional history.

A Tough Comparison...
Mr. Lubetkin's work is well researched and well written. He's able to weave a narrative together that brings the beginning of the Gilded Age to the Indian Wars and railroad construction... frankly, I had never made the connection between the Northern Pacific and Sitting Bull until I read this book.
However, the final conclusions made me question the depth of the research. Lubetkin identifies the completion of the Northern Pacific several years later, and its competition with the Great Northern, whose surveyors "found" Marias Pass. There is no mention of the railroads' cooperation and attempted merger, nor the landmark Sumpreme Court case concerning Northern Securities and the creation of the ICC. Oh yes, and with reference to the previous review of the map quality, it would have been nice had the book included a larger map or two of the entire proposed routes.
I still believe Pierre Berton's The Last Spike (Canadian Pacific) to be the standard against all railroad construction history books should be measured. If Berton rates a 10, this book is an 8. ... Read more

Product Description
The traumas of childhood neglect and sexual abuse cannot be left behind when victims mature into adults. Too often, those adults repeat the crimes once perpetrated against them, depend on substances to dull the pain of memory, or choose partners similar to the adults who once abused them. Is there a way out of this darkness? Carol D. Levine, in her heartrending and yet hopeful memoir, Panic Child, reveals her childhood of parental neglect, sexual abuse, and the stranger who raped her, and her ascent from the depths of this terrible childhood to a life of service to children who suffered their own nightmares. The strong and steady voice of author Levine is the most powerful reminder that nobody is obliged to repeat the sins of those who harmed us, and that with support and a will to overcome trauma, we can heal from the deepest wounds and live loving, healthy, productive lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A thoughtful and poignant read that seeks to inspire those who have been hurt
Abuse all too often sends children on the wrong paths in life. "Panic Child: A Harrowing True Story of Sexual Abuse and Neglect" reflects on her own terrors as a child growing up and the tragedies visited upon her. Hoping to inspire her readers and other people who have had these atrocities inflicted on them, she wants them to break the all too common pattern. "Panic Child" is a thoughtful and poignant read that seeks to inspire those who have been hurt.

Eye-Opening Book - Highly Recommended!
Being a survivor of sexual assault myself, I was blown away by Carol Levine's book, "Panic Child". She wrote the book with such vivid detail that you felt you were right there with her. Like others said, while reading the book, there were times you cried, times you screamed, and times you laughed. Unfortunately, for me, there were many instances that were way too familiar from my past. For many years, I wasn't able to open up about my sexual assault, and to say it took courage for Ms. Levine to write this book, after everything she has had to live through, is an understatement. I would highly recommend this book to any counselors/therapists, educators, or women's shelters/groups that deal with sexual assault survivors...with the hope they pass it along to other survivors (especially immediate survivors) to not only show them that they aren't alone and that sexual assault is way too common in our country (and the perpetrators do not get the sentencing they deserve), but to understand how extremely important it is to open up and talk to someone, instead of hiding in fear. I commend Ms. Levine for publishing this book and for sharing such a horrific part of her life. I hope she knows that she IS helping others through the coping/healing process. She should be very proud.

such a sad story for such a nice lady
I have known Carol for several years, I had no idea what her life was like before we meet, until I read her book.
No one should ever have to live as she has.Thank God that Carol became the person she has, she is a kind and loving person.
Being in the childhood that she was could have made her turn out like those that abused and neglected her, but she is not like that at all.Carol is an amazing women, read her book and see what she has endured to make her as strong as she is today.

RIVETING
What a great story of survival! Levine endured things no child should ever have to
but she stayed strong and grew into a caring, compassionate adult. I cried, I laughed, I got mad but, most of all, I felt much admiration for this person to hae endured all that Levine did but still rise above it and become an adult that has helped so many others. This book is well worth reading.

Glad I read It!
I'm not someone who writes reviews often but I had to go out of my way on this one. I just finished reading Panic Child by author Carol Levine. Unlike stories that offer hope and inspiration after enduring terrible circumstances this story takes your emotions one step further. While reading the heartrending story of a little girl who's been molested you are also being drawn into the mind of a child who's maturing and realizing the affects of her rape and neglect. The story is written with honesty as she recounts alcohol abuse and panic attacks. It must have taken a lot of courage to put pen to paper to write out the details. And Levine did so in a flowing manner and at times with humor that makes you want to read more.

There's a real lesson to be learned from this story. After reading it you become conscious of your own responsibility to making sure the laws that protect the public from sexual predators are tough and more importantly enforced to the fullest. ... Read more

Product Description
Her first novel, Topping from Below, was a cause celebre of erotic fiction. Now, in Panic Snap, Laura Reese once again crosses the boundary between pleasure and pain with a story of extreme sexual obsession and one family's terrible secret.

The accused murderess in a sensational trial, Carly Tyler waits outside a California courtroom as a jury decides her fate: Is she the depraved Madame de Sade of the newspaper headlines or the innocent victim of one wealthy family's gothic past? Left for dead by the side of a road fifteen years earlier, she emerged from a coma with no memory and a face completely altered by the plastic surgery need to repair her injuries. Who is she and what happened to her? The trail leads her to a magnificent vineyard and its mysterious owner, James McGuane, a man of wealth and immense sexual charisma who holds the key to her past. But to unlock it, she must risk her life on a terrifying erotic journey that tears apart a dynasty and reveals the truth about an appalling murder.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (40)

(2.5)
I read this one immediately after the author's first novel, Topping from Below. Perhaps I would have liked Panic Snap better if Topping from Below hadn't been so fresh in my mind, because the first thingI noticed was that the plot was pretty much the same. Woman, trying to solve a heinous crime, enters into a Dom/sub relationship with the prime suspect in order to glean clues.

And as before, he doles out the clues slowly, over a period of months, so that he can gradually break down her psychological barriers and make her submit utterly to him. As before, be warned that the sexual scenes are not for the squeamish, though thankfully she mostly left out the bestiality this time.

In addition to the too-similar plot, I also found this novel disappointing on the level of character. I don't know why, but I never felt that I knew Carly, James, and Gina the way I knew Nora, M., and Franny. I believe Topping is by far the better book.

Disappointing

Topping From Below was much more interesting. Panic snap has a slow start and not much to keep the pages turning.Somewhat disappointing.

Rawr!
I enjoyed this book and thought it was a pretty creative bend on the whole domination/submission s&m type thing.All in all, the "mystery" got a little tedious...Laura Reese has sort of a Dean Koontz writing style wherein you want to reach in and smack the main character for being such a knob about things that are completely obvious to the reader.The erotic bits of this book were absolutely haunting, however...stuff that sticks with you for a long time, be it good or bad!Unfortunately, I read this book prior to reading Ms. Reese's first book (Topping from Below) and ended up sorely disappointed in that book.If you've read Topping from Below, don't bother with this one at all.They're nearly the same book, with the exception being that "M" or "Michael" in Topping From Below is easily, incredibly hate-able.There's a finer line with the male lead character in Panic Snap.He's less hate-able...but still not terrifically like-able.

For folks who want to make the argument about the portrayal of the s&m lifestyle in Ms. Reese's books, I have this to say: No one said these were MANUALS.They're works of FICTION and last time I checked, FICTION didn't have to follow any rules because it's, well, MADE UP!

At any rate, it's an enjoyable read as an erotic novel.As a mystery novel, well, it really leaves a lot to be desired.

Another disturbing edition
I am not straightlaced or prudish (why would I read this book if I were?) but the activities represented in this novel as erotic only made me feel ill.Are there really people that find the use of farm animals in sex play exciting?Okay, maybe I am naive to some degree, but that is just plain icky!Reading this book is like looking at road kill, somewhat compelling but still an unhappy experience.

Just A Dull Clone of the first book...
The first book was excellent.Panic Snap was a complete failure.I greatly anticipated this book, but it was nearly identical to Topping From Below, yet boring, if that makes any sense.(I hate to think L.R. lacks real imagination!)
James and Carly were almost identical in personality to Michael and Nora.I also thought the end result of the plot very lame.There were so many wonderful ways the author could have solved the mystery of Carly's attack that would have been a lot more interesting than what she gave us.
This novel was no match for the first one. I was totally disappointed. ... Read more

Product Description
McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Provides information for clinicians and advanced students in the treatment and assessment of phobic disorders, including panic disorder, social phobia, and specific phobias. Reviews the literature pertaining to biological, combination, and psychological treatments. DNLM: Phobic disorders. ... Read more

Product Description
Sousuke has finally lost his mind, and it's up to Kaname to keep him in line! So what's new? Plenty! Check out this laugh-out-loud sequel to one of ADV's best-loved manga series. Featuring more bombs, more laughs and more Panic than ever before! ... Read more

Product Description
Financial markets have an impressive history of gains and progress for prudent and judicious investors. But these advances are often interrupted by powerful and sudden setbacks or forward lurches. What is it about investment psychology, and the structure of financial markets, that causes this? How should we react to short term gyrations that can excite or frighten? And what is the role of government regulation in stabilizing financial markets?

Secrets of the Great Investors series is a collection of audio presentations that explain, in understandable language, the strategies and principles that have produced great wealth. History's greatest investors used powerful investing philosophies to produce superior results, and we can learn from their successes and mistakes. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume was first published in 1978, and dealt with financial crises that were, for the most part, before World War II. Black Monday of October 1987, along with other factors, indicated a need for further research. The third edition had its stimulus in the Japanese crash of January 1990, the effects of which carried through to decade. This new fourth edition covers the striking troubles of Mexico in 1994-95 and East Asia in 1997-98. ... Read more

Product Description
A searing account of how vaccine opponents have used the media to spread their message of panic, despite no scientific evidence to support them. ... Read more