The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks

Amazon.com

In a post-Jaws/Discovery Channel world, unearthing fresh data on great white sharks is a feat. So credit Susan Casey not just with finding and spotlighting two biologists who have done truly pioneering field research on the beasts but also with following them and their subjects into the heart of one of the most unnatural habitats on Earth: the Farallon Islands. Though just 30 miles due west of San Francisco, the Farallones--nicknamed the Devil's Teeth for their ragged appearance and raging inhospitality--are utterly alien, which may explain why each autumn, packs of great whites return to gorge on the seals and sea lions that gather there before returning to the Pacific and beyond. That Casey, via her biologist buddies Peter Pyle and Scot Anderson, can even report that sharks apparently follow migratory feeding patterns is a revelation. Throughout The Devil's Teeth, Casey makes clear that year upon year of observing the sharks have given Pyle and Anderson (and by extension, us) insights into shark behavior that are entirely new and too numerous to list. The otherworldly Farallon Islands, meanwhile, also dominate Casey's engaging tale as she charts their transformation from ultradangerous source of wild eggs in the 19th century to ultradangerous real-life shark lab and bird sanctuary today. Despite the plethora of factoids on offer, Casey's style is consistently digestible and very amusing. She also has a knack for putting things into perspective. Take this characteristic passage:

The Farallon great whites are largely unharassed. They might cross paths with the occasional boatload of day-trippers from San Francisco, but they're subjected to none of the behavior-altering coercion that nature's top predators regularly endure so that people can sit in the Winnebago... and get a look at them. This is important because despite their visibility at the Farallones, and despite the impressive truth that sharks are so old they predate trees, great whites have remained among the most mysterious of creatures."

By book's end, it's hard to know what's more captivating: The biologists' groundbreaking data, Casey's primer on the evolution of the Farallones, the islands' symbiotic relationships with the sharks, the gulls and sea lions they attract, or the outpost's resident ghosts. Frankly, it's a nice problem to have. --Kim Hughes

Getting to Know the Great White
It was a BBC documentary on great white sharks visiting California's Farallon Islands that turned Susan Casey from an editor of adventure and outdoors stories in such magazines as Outside to a journalist obsessed with an outdoors adventure of her own. In her Amazon.com interview, Casey recalls the fascinations and the follies of her time with the sharks in the Farallones and discusses everything from the ethics of adventure journalism to the stunning silence and size of nature's perfect predators. And in her answers to the Significant Seven (the seven questions we like to ask every author), she reveals her admiration for both Joseph Mitchell and Johnny Knoxville (once you've read her book, both choices seem appropriate).

The outer edge of the fearsome Maintop Bay, a spooky, boat-eating stretch of water that makes everyone uneasy. Not surprisingly, the sharks seem to love it. (Susan Casey)
An 18-foot shark investigates a 6-foot surfboard. (Peter Pyle)
A shark attack at the Farallones is not usually a subtle event. (Peter Pyle)

Scot Anderson (in orange) observes a feeding. Also in the boat are director Paul Atkins and cinematographer Peter Scoones of the BBC film crew that visited the Farallones in 1993 to film The Great White Shark. (Peter Pyle)
The Farallones researchers see some action from a shark named Bluntnose. (Peter Pyle)
An unquiet cove: Just Imagine (Casey's temporary home) at its moorage in Fisherman's Bay, 150 yards west of Tower Point and 200 yards east of Sugarloaf. (Susan Casey)

Book Description

Since Jaws scared a nation of moviegoers out of the water three decades ago, great white sharks have attained a mythical status as the most frightening and mysterious monsters to still live among us. Each fall, just twenty-seven miles off the San Francisco coast, in the waters surrounding a desolate rocky island chain, the worlds largest congregation of these fearsome predators gathers to feed. Journalist Susan Casey first saw the great whites of the Farallones in a television documentary. Within months, she was sitting with the programs two scientists in a small motorboat as the sharkssome as long as twenty feet, as wide as a semitrailercircled around them. From this first encounter, Casey became obsessed with these awe-inspiring creatures, and a plan was hatched for her to join the scientists and follow their research. The Devils Teeth is the riveting account of that one fateful shark season. An exhilarating adventure story, The Devils Teeth offers a glimpse into a violent, uncivilized world ruled by natures most powerful and mysterious predators, a world where man is neither wanted nor needed.

Customer Reviews:

Great topic but self absorbed writer.......2007-09-22

Positives: stories about history of the Farallones and too-brief summaries of scientific information about white sharks.

Negatives: way, way too much information about her own personal struggles. Also, she seems to semi-idolize the scientists in a way that struck me as groupie-like: "He was a striking person, in his early thirties and athletically built, with jet-black hair and dark eyes and a smile that could light up a small midwestern city."

The author picked a great subject, and was clearly willing to do whatever it took to get a story, but she would have been better served by focusing more of her attention on the sharks and the islands. Nothing that happened to her personally seemed all that interesting to me.

Disappointing.......2007-09-20

- Subject: fascinating
- Author's writing style: disjointed and self-focused anecdotes
- Tone of writing: whiny

- Wanted to put it down after 20 pages.
- Despite effort to get through it, did put it down about halfway through.

the book you buy for everybody you know.......2007-09-12

I'm stunned that anybody gave this book less than five stars. Seriously. It's not just a story about sharks hovering around an inhospitable island like savage school buses, tearing apart unhappy sea lions and bubbling up buckets of frothy blood for three months out of the year -- it's an adventure tale, it's a biological mystery, and ... i suspect it's a love story. sharks, yachts, desert islands, divers, journalists ... it's hard to come up with a more gripping page turner. It's one of those books that you give to everybody you know. "Oh, it's your birthday is it, Horace, well, I know what you're getting! Har har har!" And so far, nobody's come back with less than a face of pallid horror, clutching my shirt and saying "I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!!" -- really. it's that good.

Good read.......2007-07-23

I just picked up this book in a discount bookstore in Orlando while on vacation for 4$ not expecting it to be such a great book. While learning about both the animal and natural world, I got to revel in Susan's destruction (of both herself as well as about anything she touched). She is the classic white hunter of years past. In short, it was extreme and I loved it. I recommend folks read it - but only with the attitude of looking for entertainment value.

Not a good ending.......2007-06-11

And not because of anything the sharks do.

Read between the lines and the obsession is not what the author claims. Not a bad first half, but, as other reviewers point out, the latter part of the book is an example of journalist endeavors gone wrong.

Did not leave me happy I had read it. There are too many great books to waste time on anything less.

Angels in the Wilderness: The True Story of One Woman's Survival Against All Odds

Average customer rating:

Inappropriate Marketing
Wonderful Read!!
An amazing story of survival
An inspirational survivor story
Capricious disaster and indominable endurance

Angels in the Wilderness: The True Story of One Woman's Survival Against All Odds
Amy Racina
Manufacturer: Elite Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Survival Skills | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0971088896

Book Description

This first-person account tells how author Amy Racina survived for four days and nights, both legs badly broken, in a remote valley in California's Sierra Mountains after a sixty-foot fall during a solo hiking trip. Battling pain, fear and exhaustion, she pulled herself along with her hands, and refused to give up, even when her chances of salvation were remote. The book chronicles her miraculous rescue, and describes her dramatic airlift out of the canyon, swinging helplessly from two straps, dangling fearfully beneath a helicopter high above the ravine where she had lain.

It is an amazing tale of despair and courage and hope. It speaks of incredible strength and heartbreaking weakness as it details what one woman believed might be the last days of her life. It is a memory of the darkest of times—and an affirmation of miracles. It is a celebration of a life almost snatched away, of survival against the odds.

- The book includes deeper spiritual reflections, the heartwarming story of "Helping Amy," the organization set up by the author's friends to aid her recovery, plus tips for wilderness survival.

Customer Reviews:

Inappropriate Marketing.......2007-09-27

I have not read the book and do not intend to. I am posting this review to express my disapproval of the marketing material I found for this book while hiking the John Muir Trail. A card promoting this book was left at the John Muir Hut in Kings Canyon National Park. The park service (and common sense) prohibits such marketing efforts.

Wonderful Read!!.......2007-09-20

I could not put this book down Iam an avid reader and I read it in one day. What a wonderful testament to the human spirit. Amy has such a special gift of telling her story and the people who were key in her survival. Also, her rehabilitation and most of all her own spirit to raise above her situation and overcome so much.
Bless her and her Angels in life.
Thank you in writing the story.

Diane

An amazing story of survival.......2007-07-11

This is surely one of the great stories of survival, on par with `Into Thin Air', `Alive' and `Touching the Void'. A story of heroism, survival and recovery. Amy Racina is an ardent hiker who enjoys great solo journeys in the Mountains of California. She planned a 162 mile journey in Kings Canyon National park in 2003. This was to be in one of the most remote parts of the park, Tehipite, many miles from the nearest hikers, well beaten tracks and worn trails. In this brilliant account the author tells the tale of her tragic accident, a terrible fall, and the rescue at the hand of three `angels' and her subsequent recovery. It is a harrowing tail of someone approaching death in the wilderness, alone. The only downside of the tail is that a majority of it deals with recovery and less of it with hiking. It would have been more interesting to learn more about the great outdoors. However this book will be of great value to anyone recovering from any form of injury. Nevertheless the author provides interesting insights into the `spiritual tools' for survival and interesting stories of her family history and its relationship with the Sierra.

An inspirational survivor story.......2007-05-24

There is something fascinating about wilderness survival stories. Perhaps it's because they offer such stark lessons of despair, courage, and hope. Amy Racina's tale of her falling accident while backpacking solo in a remote valley in California's King's Canyon National Park is no exception. It is harrowing, inspiring and beautifully written. She has a spiritual perspective on her accident that is unique.

I just noticed that Amy has a list here on "Listmania" of her "Favorite True-Life Adventure Books," but I would add her book to the following, as superb survival stories in the wild:

Touching the Void, Joe Simpson
Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Aron Ralston
Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival, Yossi Ghinsburg
Shattered Air: A True Account of Catastrophe and Courage on Yosemite's Half Dome, Bob Madgic
The Bear's Embrace: A Story of Survival, Patricia Van Tighem

Congratulations, Amy, on your recovery, and on writing such a magnificent book. Here's to many more years of hiking in the Sierras.

Capricious disaster and indominable endurance.......2007-03-31

I enjoyed Amy Racine's chronicle of an unexpected, capricious incident that alters forever the life and outlook of a freedom-loving independent woman. Amy Racine shows remarkable introspective self-awareness as she analyzes who she was and why she was so comfortable hiking alone for days and weeks in the wilds of the Sierra Nevadas. Its is a special kind of free spirit that is both independent and trusting, also with a deep love for the quiet solitude of the outdoors. And into this carefully constructed independence comes disaster, and near death. There is no metaphysicial transport here, or mysterious lights or voices in the wilderness. There is pure pain, agony and grit with the will to survive. And suddenly there are also people and relationships and inter-dependence that make survival a possibility. With this comes the awareness that we are not alone, and that people who are perfect strangers can come out of the wilderness or out of a hospital or the city to reach out and touch us and change our lives forever. I've read many out door wilderness epics, many very skillfully written, and epic in their scope. But Amy Racine has a kind of honest vulnerability about herself and what happened that is very refreshing, and you will thoroughly enjoy the read.

Pierce E. Scranton Jr. M.D.
author, "Death on the Learning Curve"

Dead Bank Walking: One Gutsy Bank's Struggle for Survival and the Merger That Changed Banking Forever

Average customer rating:

If you are a Security Pacific Alum -- READ THIS BOOK! -- Thanks, Bob!
A Good Read; Good Lessons
A Good Quick Read for Current/Former Employees...
If You Were There......
Informative, engaging, insightful, authoritative account.

Dead Bank Walking: One Gutsy Bank's Struggle for Survival and the Merger That Changed Banking Forever
Robert H. Smith , and Michael K. Crowley
Manufacturer: OakHill Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Company Profiles | Biography & History | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1886939330

Book Description

Dead Bank Walking is a stunningly candid portrait of the historic merger between Security Pacific Bank and Bank of America, a combining of two giants that set in motion the fever of banking marriages we now witness. This book not only answers the WHO, WHAT and WHY of the mega-merger, but stands alone as an object lesson on all mergers. It evokes the humor and frantic chaos surrounding a deal that is still regarded as either a brilliant coup or a tragic swan song to banking sovereignty and independence. In Dead Bank Walking, Robert H. Smith, former Chairman and CEO of Security Pacific (and later President of Bank of America) spins a tale that will enthrall business people and mesmerize readers who never thought they could be interested in an epic about bankers. Part business thriller and part interpersonal drama, the story details the final paroxysms of a 120 year old institution revered by Wall Street for its leading edge thinking and entrepreneurial spirit--until it got into trouble.

Dead Bank Walking begins innocently enough when Smith assists real estate developer Charles Keating in his acquisition of Lincoln Savings. This act and the resulting S&L crisis trigger a chain reaction of legislation, regulatory crackdowns, and economic difficulties that threaten the very existance of Security Pacific.

The story includes a virtual Who's Who of politics and Wall Street: Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, Alan Greenspan, Bill Seidman, Carl Reichardt, Pete Wilson, Bob Campeau, Chris Hemmeter, Peter Ueberroth and many other movers and shakers.

Dead Bank Walking shuttles the reader from elaborate bankers conventions in Hawaii to contentious Board Rooms. It peeks through the crevices of high finance, as Smith and Richard Flamson--an outspoken and gutsy chairman dying of a rare blood disease--embark on a strategic acquisition spree that ultimately extends the bank's vision to include worldwide securities companies and a controversial and ultimately dangerous Merchant Bank.

Too far too fast? Absolutely. When economic recession pounds California and Security Pacific's stock slides, consultants warn management to halt the acquistions and if possible locate a merger partner. If Smith can't, the Board will find someone who can. A potentially momentous merger with Wells Fargo Bank falls through at the eleventh hour and an uncanny sequence of events brings Security Pacific to the brink of disaster. Smith's colorful management team labors to solve the problems and ultimately embarks on a year-long odyssey with Richard Rosenberg, Chairman and CEO of Bank of America.

Smith recounts in vivid detail, the triumphs, disasters, mind-games, insults, ego trips, walk-outs, and layoffs as he and Rosenberg work, sometimes at cross purposes, to create the most powerful bank in the United States, often in the face of ridiculous forces that seek to derail the merger at every juncture. Near the end, Smith realizes that he stands to lose everything--from his personal wealth to his reputation--should the deal collapse. In a final life and death episode, he faces a potential $1 billion penalty that may represent a material breach of the merger agreement. Smith partners up with brilliant attorneys for an almost hallucinatory last dance with the Internal Revenue Service in order to preserve the merger and save his own scalp. And lingering beneath the deal is the unfathomable bureaucracy of Bank of America, a foreboding maze of committees which in the end destroys the most unique and valuable assets of the institution it works so hard to acquire.

Fifty percent comedy, fifty percent tragedy, Dead Bank Walking is an exhilarating, timely and supremely unique business story populated by a cast of characters one would expect to find only in a work of fiction. Read it, and never think of your bank--or the people who run it--in the same way again.

Customer Reviews:

If you are a Security Pacific Alum -- READ THIS BOOK! -- Thanks, Bob!.......2006-02-05

It's been 6 years since this book was published, and I finally felt compelled to read it. I started at Security Pacific in 1984 and worked in Security Pacific's Community Relations department for 8 years working my way up the corporate ladder to Vice President at SPC's headquarters building in Los Angeles. I also held a similar Public Relations position in the "New BofA" and relocated my family from LA to San Francisco in 1992. I worked for BofA in SF until the year 2000. When NationsBank bought BofA in 1998, I was offered a job in Charlotte, NC. I chose not to relocate to Charlotte and I left BofA in 2000.

In my Community Relations position, I had access and worked with Bob Smith, Dick Rosenberg, Dave Coulter, and Hugh McColl. Many of you from the SPC/BofA family will disagree with me because you want to "point fingers" at someone for the sale of SPC to BofA in 1992 and the sale of the ol' BofA to NationsBank in 1998. But, let me tell you, Bob Smith at SPC and Dave Coulter at BofA were the BEST CEO's to work for. They cared about the company, the employees, the community, and the shareholders. Bob Smith and Dave Coulter are leaders who I admire. I watched all four of these CEO's closely "in front of the cameras" and "behind the scenes." I would want my teenage children to live the values of Bob Smith and Dave Coulter. Bob and Dave taught me valuable life-long lessons. As for Dick and Hugh...

It's been 14 years since the merger. If you ever worked at SPC -- or if you worked at BofA in the 1980's or 1990's - READ THIS BOOK!

A Good Read; Good Lessons.......2000-06-05

While Dead Bank Walking was an enjoyable and stimulating read for anyone in the corporate world, it doesn't stop there. It's packed with great lessons for executives, particularly in the financial services industry.

If you have ever faced mergers, regulators, stockholders and/or employees during difficult times, you can relate to Smith's story. If you haven't, read the story! There are great lessens here.

A Good Quick Read for Current/Former Employees..........2000-05-29

3-1/2 stars.

Mainly of interest to people employed in the banking/financial services industry, especially those with some connection to Bank of America or Security Pacific - like me. Don't imagine this book would thrill the average reader; agree with comment that potential buyers should wait for the book to end up in the bargain bin.

If You Were There.............2000-05-03

In general, I agree with all of the reviews by the folks who understood Security Pacific, and, disagree with all of those who had no other knowledge of Security Pacific than Bob's book. I do agree that the book did read like a novel and it did sound like Bob, who at times was a likeable person to be around, however that doesn't offset the many "un" and "half" truths potrayed in this book.

I was very surprised to find out just how bad off we were, so I do agree with the person that said Bob did a good job of keeping that information from the troops. But to what avail? Bob did sell the employees down the river. If you didn't get layed off, you were very poorly treated by B of A employees and management, and it's unbelievable that Bob didn't forsee that.

I believe that, with all of the innovation exhibited by Security Pacific employees in the past, in both financial and technical aspects, had Bob been a forthright and competent leader, Security Pacific would not have failed.

Informative, engaging, insightful, authoritative account........2000-04-06

Dead Bank Walking showcases the historic merger between Security Pacific and the Bank of America which combined to financial corporate giants and set in motion an avalanche of banking marriages and mergers which continues to the present time. In Dead Bank Walking, Robert Smith explains the causes and rationales of this mega-merger which is an exemplar of all corporate merger strategies, objectives, and hazards. Smith evokes the humor and frantic chaos surrounding the deal that is still considered as either a brilliant coup or a tragic error of judgement with lasting implications and effects on banking sovereignty and independence. Dead Bank Walking will prove informative, engaging, insightful, authoritative, explanatory reading of interest to students of economics, the banking system, and the phenomena of the mega-merger.

In the Mix: Struggle and Survival in a Women's Prisonn (Suny Series in Women, Crime and Criminology)

Average customer rating:

STEPHEN C. RICHARDS, PROFESSOR OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN OSHKOSH
Understanding Women in Prison

In the Mix: Struggle and Survival in a Women's Prisonn (Suny Series in Women, Crime and Criminology)
Barbara A. Owen
Manufacturer: State University of New York Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 079143608X

Book Description

The first book-length treatment of the nature of prison culture among women in thirty years, "In the Mix" describes the prison culture in a large California prison, from the point of view of the women themselves. Based on three years of study, including participant-observation, in-depth interviews and surveys, this book describes the daily life of the prison from a variety of perspectives, with an emphasis on the gendered nature of its social organization, roles and normative frameworks.

The title, "In the Mix," describes the contours of prison culture and its themes of trouble, programming and relationships. Common themes, such as the impact of substance use, limited economic opportunity, patriarchy, survival on the streets and in the prison, thread through the individual chapters. Owen argues that prison culture for women is tied directly to the role of women in society as well as a dynamic social structure that is shaped by the conditions of women's lives in prison and in the "free world."

Customer Reviews:

STEPHEN C. RICHARDS, PROFESSOR OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN OSHKOSH.......2007-10-17

THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST RECENT ACCOUNT OF WOME IN PRISON, WOMEN IN CALIFORNIA PRISONS, AND WOMEN STRUGGLING WITH CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT. I USE THIS BOOK IN MY WOMEN AND CRIME COURSE WHERE IT IS WELL RECEIVED BY UNDERGRADUATE CJ STUDENTS.

Understanding Women in Prison.......2001-07-23

This is a fascinating book about women in prison and the different world they inhabit. Author Barbara Owen, a criminologist and experienced prison researcher, used a quasi-ethnographic method to study a large prison for women -- in her words, she did a lot of "hanging around." While doing so she talked in great depth to both inmates and prison staff, and we learn a lot from those conversations and her insightful analyses of them.

This book helps us to understand the lives of women inmates and what led them to prison. Many suffered abuse and trauma of various kinds, and most would be considered "marginalized" women in society. Owen explores the contexts of the choices the women made as each progressed down her "pathway to prison." The author illuminates how the prison experience is much different for women than for men prisoners. While men often "do time" on their own, women emphasize relationships, both with other inmates as well as with family members left behind. A prison for women is much safer than one for men. Most women inmates seek a useful way to structure their lives in prison and prepare for a better future, though some do not. Those who want to continue the way of life that led them to crime and prison become involved "in the mix", prison slang for the negative side of the culture and activities there.

Amazon.com

Legendary L.A. psychologist-turned-novelist Kellerman raids real life when inventing the adventures of his psychologist sleuth, Dr. Alex Delaware, and some of the scariest parts of Survival of the Fittest are historical. Eugenicists lurk behind a murder spree Alex must solve, and he notes that the eugenics movement involved one elite U.S. college professor who advocated castration of ethnically lesser men, a forced sterilization ordered by Supreme Court Justice Holmes that Hitler used as a precedent to sterilize millions, and the pre-Holocaust coinage of the phrase "final solution."

Besides a truly horrifying theme, Survival of the Fittest boasts sharp but not arch dialogue; savvy psychological insights into stressed-out cops, suicides' loved ones, and malevolent therapists; and a sense of place so vivid that the Los Angeles Times has rated Kellerman the most evocative L.A. author since Raymond Chandler.

The plot's as twisty as a canyon road, and it's great fun to ride along with Dr. Alex and his sidekick, the burly, gay LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, as they dodge large red herrings and strive to find out why mildly handicapped kids are suffering "gentle strangulation" by killers who sign their handiwork with the mysterious letters DVLL, and what the devil this has to do with the high-IQ group Meta. Bonus for Kellerman fans: his Israeli serial killer catcher, Daniel Sharavi, star of his 1988 bestseller The Butcher's Theater, joins the sleuth team. But in the gory finale, Dr. Alex faces absolute evil all alone. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

In this riveting follow-up to the New York Times bestseller The Clinic, Jonathan Kellerman proves once again why he is "crime fiction's hottest author."  And psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware confronts an almost unimaginably cruel, arrogant, and obsessed killer who takes as much pleasure in matching wits with the police as in robbing human life.

The slightly retarded fifteen-year-old daughter of a diplomat dies on a school field trip--forced or lured into a deserted corner of the Santa Monica mountains and killed in cold blood.  Her father adamantly denies the possibility of a political motive, which leaves LAPD detective Milo Sturgis and his longtime friend psychologist Alex Delaware to pose the question: Why?

There are no signs of struggle, no evidence of sexual assault--and there are no easy answers.  Just one innocent youngster...dead.

The victim's father is so intent on controlling the investigation that Alex and Milo start to wonder if he wants to bring out the truth--or make sure it stays buried.  Then there is another killing, and within days Alex finds himself ensnared in one of the darkest, most menacing cases of his career.

Driven to find answers, he and Milo will work closely with Inspector Daniel Sharavi, the brilliant Israeli police detective introduced in Jonathan Kellerman's The Butcher's Theater.  In the end, though, it is Alex who will go undercover, alone, to expose the smug brutality of a murderous conspiracy and a terrifying contempt for human life.  Weaving together the threads of a mystery that lead from a child's murder to a young scientist's suicide, Jonathan Kellerman draws one of the most chilling, frighteningly realistic portraits of evil you will ever experience.

Download Description

The daughter of a diplomat disappears on a school field trip -- lured into the Santa Monica mountains and killed in cold blood. Her father denies the possibility of a political motive. There are no signs of struggle, no evidence of sexual assault, leaving psychologist Alex Delaware and his friend LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis to pose the disturbing question: Why?

Working together with Daniel Sharavi, a brilliant Israeli police inspector, Delaware and Sturgis soon find themselves ensnared in one of the darkest, most menacing cases of their careers. And when death strikes again, it is Alex who must go undercover, alone, to expose an unthinkable conspiracy of self-righteous brutality and total contempt for human life.

"Feverish in pace and rich in characters... This is a chilling and irresistible thriller."
   PEOPLE

"An original and gripping tale that is one of his best."
   CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"Why is it so hard to put down a Kellerman thriller...? It's simple: the nonstop action leaves you breathless; the plot twists keep you guessing; the themes... are provocative."
   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Customer Reviews:

Solid Suspense and Intrigue w/Comic Relief.......2007-10-08

Kellerman's Alex Delaware novels never fail to deliver entertainment. Survival of the Fittest is no different. The plot carries a sustained suspense to the climax that will satisfy all the amateur detectives amongst you. The special treat for readers of Delaware novels is the comic relief provided by the interactions of Milo Sturgis and Alex Delaware...or for that matter Milo Sturgis and just about any other character. Have fun with this and get your dose of intrigue, too. Recommended by R.J. Estko, the author of Evil, Be Gone, a John "Lilly" Lelankevitch novel available on Amazon.com.

Great purchase!.......2007-01-12

Thank you for this great purchase! The book is in great shape and I couldn't beat the price!

OHMYGOSH!.......2006-06-09

This one is sooooooo GOOD! First off, several characters from other book
series pop up in this one. We meet an Israeli detective named Daniel
Sharavi who first appeared in J Kellerman's non-Delaware novel The
Butcher's Theater; we meet Hollywood detective Petra Connor who would go
on to have her own series (well, two books of her own so far: Billy
Straight and Twisted), and there is even a mention of detective Peter
Decker who was created by JK's wife, Faye Kellerman. I love a good
crossover, so this was fun. This is the first Delaware novel I've read
that switches POV. Most of it is still told in the first person by Alex,
but there are some chapters told in the third person from other
character's POV. That's the way Billy Straight is told and it kind of
irritated me with that book, but really didn't bother me as much with
this one. Plus, we get an actual description of Alex, who never
describes himself.

It starts with a young policeman killing himself in public. This
policeman's sister is a nurse at Cedars-Sinai, where Rick (Milo's lover)
works and Rick asks Alex to talk with her because she is really shook up
by it all. But then, Milo asks for some help with a cold case he's been
assigned - a case with international overtones. The daughter of an
Israeli diplomat was murdered and the original investigators got
nowhere. This is where Daniel Sharavi comes in.

The investigation leads to some shocking revelations and Alex agrees to
go undercover to investigate. This almost gets him killed. MAN, does he
come close to kicking the bucket in this one! Both Daniel and Milo are
more-or-less abducted by their respective superiors, which keeps them
from backing up Alex and there is a BRILLIANT scene where Milo fakes a
heart attack to get away. I mean it - who knew Milo was such a good actor? And we've
never seen Milo so frightened and upset and flat out angry because, of
course, he blames himself for endangering Alex in the first place, even
though it was Alex who talked him into it.

All's well that ends well, though, so I won't give anything else away.
These books just keep getting better!

Well Done!.......2006-05-21

I disagree with many of the other reviews. I think this novel was very well done, and Jonathan Kellerman delivered--like usual!
This novel starts out with a policeman that commits suicide--in public--which comes together much better later in the novel.
Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis go on an unbelievable journey to solve their mystery of a murderer killing people who are mentally challenged! This novel's plot will keep you guessing until the very end!

A puzzle.......2006-01-26

This book IS a page-turner, and has many commendable qualities.

The characters have substance and are believable and varied and interesting. The plot is unusual, although pretty far-fetched. The twists and turns keep you guessing, and there is considerable suspense.

But it also has some strange flaws.

The ending is strictly Deus ex Machina--just when all hope is lost, ta-DAH!, superheroes materialize out of nowhere and save the day.

Also, there is the odd and intrusive (and unnecessary) Pro-Israel undercurrent.

This is counter to the main theme, which is, Everyone Is Deserving of Respect--the opposite of the ideology of the book's fascist eugenics nuts.

And yet Israel is somehow portrayed as superior to other countries (and heavy slams are laid against Palestinians--gratuitously, because there are no Palestinians in the book). Individual Israelis (like Zev) may have their faults, but Israel is unstintingly held up as a paragon.

That would be easy to ignore, but the entire ending hinges on it.

So why all the Pro-Israel propaganda?

How would people feel if Kellerman suddenly started singing the praises of Germany--what a great, embattled country it was, how heroic its people were, how awesome its culture, how superior blah blah blah? He would rightly be condemned as a proto-fascist himself, like the eugenics nuts in his book.

Another flaw, maybe inherent in the genre, is the pervasive idea: The World Is Full of Psycho Killers. This is nonsense, of course, and leads to paranoia and the police state.

Average customer rating:

Comprehensive review of Native California Life Ways
Thorough look at California Indian life
Unique, invaluable contribution to Native American studies.

Survival Skills of Native California
Paul Campbell
Manufacturer: Gibbs Smith, Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Instructional | Hiking & Camping | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0879059214

Book Description

8 1/2 X 11 In, 320 Pp, 500+ Photos, 200 Illustrations In The Most Comprehensive Work of Its Kind Today, Author Paul Campbell Reveals The Knowledge He Has Spent 20 Years Learning and Reproducing From California Natives. Included Are Sections On The Basic Skills of Survival, The Tools of Gathering and Food Preparation, The Implements of Household and Personal Necessity, As Well As The Arts of Hunting and Fishing. Sample Topics Include: * Shelter: A Continuum of Simplicity * Greens, Beans, Flowers and Other Vegetables * Meat Preparation * How To Make and Shoot An Indian Bow

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive review of Native California Life Ways.......2004-11-03

The author covers a wide range of survival skill subjects from the use of an atlatl to how a boat was made from tules. The book is filled with detailed information with cited sources. The table of contents is hefty and an excellent bibliography is provided. A must for anyone interested in survival skills of Native Californians from the past.

Thorough look at California Indian life.......2001-08-15

This book provides a fascinating and comprehensive glimpse into the daily lives of pre-contact California Indians. It is laid out in easy to use chapters that provide just enough information to be complete, but still include local examples and myths to add flavor to the narrative. My only complaint is that some of the skills are a bit complicated and are confusing to read. I guess you just have to go out to the wilderness and try it out! This is a must-read for anyone interested in California Indians and their history.

Unique, invaluable contribution to Native American studies........2000-04-06

Pual Campbell's Survival Skills Of Native California is an impressive, scholarly, exhaustive, detailed compendium surveying more than 2000 California-based Native American tribal skills. Survival Skills Of Native California is superbly enhanced for readers, students, researchers, and scholars with almost one thousand instructional illustrations. Included are informative sections on all the basic survival skills, the tools of gathering and food preparation, the implements of household and personal necessity, as well as the arts of hunting and fishing. Survival Skills Of Native California offers the reader comprehensive, authentic, detailed information and instruction on how to live off the land and capably employ all of the varied resources of earth's bounty that enabled the survival of California's native population for millennia. Survival Skills Of Native California is a unique and invaluable acquisition for personal, academic, and community library Native American studies collections reference collections.

Average customer rating:

Mixed feelings
One of the finest books ever written about the West
Snow Mountain Passage
Very good read!
Hunger has no boundaries

Snow Mountain Passage
James D. Houston
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0156011433

Amazon.com

Snow Mountain Passage is a novel about the Donner Party. Still reading? Never fear, this is no corpse fest along the lines of Piers Paul Read's Alive, and its concerns are anything but prurient. For James Houston, who has written movingly about California in the past, the Donner Party's experiences exemplify the ambition, the courage, and the sheer hubris of those who ventured into territory as unfamiliar to them as the moon. His book is not just a blow-by-blow account of what went wrong and who ate whom, it's a searing portrait of both the promises and the perils of the American dream.

Houston follows the events of 1847 through the eyes of James Reed and his daughter Patty. Exiled from the party after he accidentally killed one of its members, Reed made it over the Sierras before snow locked what is now called Donner Pass. His family, however, did not. Along with more than 80 other stranded emigrants, they erected crude cabins below the summit and settled in for a long winter of hunger, cold, madness, and cannibalism, chronicled by Patty Reed in prose of uncommon urgency and even beauty. Here, for instance, she watches as her mother walks away with the first rescue party, leaving her by the shores of Truckee Lake:

My body was like an empty bottle sitting on a dark shelf in an empty cupboard. A cold sun was shining. While we stood there the wind came up, rushing through the pines with a sound like surf, a gushing roar like water on the rise, as if an ocean of ice water had begun to pour across the world.

In contrast, the book lags while James Reed crisscrosses California, attempting to scare up a rescue party for his family. And the author spends far too much time describing the landscape. This reader found at least half her attention back at Truckee Lake with the starving emigrants, wondering guiltily, "Have they eaten anyone yet?" Still, the book generally moves along at a terrific clip, its characters sketched with swift, sure strokes, and their disastrous decisions depicted without excuses or blame. "You couldn't have stopped him," Patty thinks about her father, who persuaded his traveling companions to take the fatal route. "Or stopped any of it." The Donner Party's fate, Houston implies, was as inevitable as America's great westward expansion. But like that epic movement, Snow Mountain Passage highlights both the best and the worst in human nature. --Mary Park

Book Description

Snow Mountain Passage is a powerful retelling of our most dramatic pioneer story--the ordeal of the Donner Party. Through the eyes of James Frazier Reed, one of the group's leaders, and the imagined "Trail Notes" of his daughter Patty, we journey along with the ill-fated group determined, at all costs, to make it to the California territory.
James Reed is a proud, headstrong, yet devoted husband and father. As he and his family travel in the "Palace Car," a huge, specially built--and ultimately cumbersome--covered wagon, they thrill to new sights and cope with conflict and constant danger. Yet when a fight between Reed and another driver ends in death, Reed is exiled from the group and heads over the mountains alone. The fate of the other families, including Reed's wife and four children, is sealed when they set out across a new, untested route through the Sierra--their final mountain pass. Arriving at the foothills just as the snows start to fall, they are left stranded for months--starving, freezing, and battling to survive--while Reed journeys across northern California, trying desperately to find means and men for a rescue party.
An extraordinary tale of pride and redemption, Snow Mountain Passage is a brilliantly imagined and grippingly told story straight from American history.

*National Bestseller

Customer Reviews:

Mixed feelings.......2007-07-16

I admit to being a bit disappointed, as this book turned out to be more about Jim Reed and less about the Donner party. The first part of the book was very entertaining as it dealt with the Donner/Reed group on the trail to California. A disagreement arises between Reed and another leading to a fight and Reed has to leave the wagon train and strike out on his own towards California on horse ahead of the others. Once the wagon train reaches Truckee and snow hits and they realize they can go no further, the story leaves them and the middle third of the book is about Reed's travels on the other side of the Sierras. I found this part to be quite boring and I was literally skimming and skipping chapters. I just wasn't interested (nor expecting) to read about the US/Mexican war in California nor Reed's involvement with same.

Interspered with the author's writings of Reed's story are Notes from the Trail by his daughter Patty that were written when Patty was much older. Those were the chapters that held my interest, especially the story of the rescue and getting the survivors out of their winter camp and over the mountains to safety.

All in all a reasonably interesting read, but I'm glad I got it from the library as it's one I'm not likely to want to read again. Four stars for Patty's Notes from the Trail, two stars for the story of Jim Reed and the US/Mexican war.

One of the finest books ever written about the West.......2007-05-13

This is simply an awesome display of storytelling, combining historical "fiction" with non-fiction (the latter derived from the actual notes and writings of a real survivor of the incident), and illustrating the incredible power of James D. Houston's mind and writing talent!

If you want to actually imagine and feel and understand what it was like, to cross the western half of this country in an immigrant wagon train, including experiencing the vast power of winter in the California Sierra, then read this book! It is much more historical fact than historical fiction, but beyond this, it is highly "real", and says more about the discovery of the American West than any other book I've ever read (and I've read a lot about this topic).

Snow Mountain Passage.......2007-01-06

Excellent book centered around the recollections of one of the Donner Party. Author did a terrific job of integrating the actual events with the very lucid memoirs of one of the Reed daughters.

Very good read!.......2006-11-03

The book starts out in Santa Cruz California with Patty Reed recalling her memoies of the "Ordeal by Hunger" (another book) Many times I had to remind myself that Patty herself did not write the words I was reading - it is so good. If you like Historical novels or if you are from the Bay Area (or both) this book is for you. Fast read. I couldn't put it down.

Hunger has no boundaries.......2005-10-09

An historical novel about the Donner Party is of interest. Tales of cannibalism and other kinds of deprivation make the rest of us grateful to be living in the modern era. Lewis Keseberg has Sioux burial robes. He is told by George Donner to give them back. It is feared the Indians will demand retribution. Keseberg has imperiled the safety of everyone.

Jim Reed does not remember Ireland at all, but he remembers crossing the Atlantic. Jim and his wife read about California and it sounded too good to be true. Game is scarcer the higher the party climbs. Tempers are tested. Reed kills Snyder and suffers banishment from the group. Reed is given a young man as a companion to cross the desert.

Fort Laramie is a sort of outpost of civilization. Where Laramie Creek spills into the Platte it looks like a park. Half way across the Rockies the Donner Party takes the southern route. Near the Humboldt Sink the Reed draft animals give way to exhaustion. The Reed provisions are loaded into the Graves family wagons.

Except for berries and wild onions, Jim Reed and his companion, Walter, are out of food when they set out from Truckee Meadows. Walter wants to shoot a horse. (Snyder was killed because Reed was furious with him for abusing animals.) Charlie Stanton and McCutcheon find them. Walter is too sick to travel. He is taken in by an Illinois family. Jim goes off with two traveling men. It has been ten weeks since Jim left Fort Bridger.

Coming overland the Johnson cabin is the first stop. Land costs less than a penny an acre. Jim arrives at Captain John Sutter's place. He explains that his wife and children are suffering in the mountains. Supplies have run low. McCutcheon arives.

The Donner Party, traveling, is isolated. The party has turned into a scattering of wagons and there is the snow. The Summit Trail is too deep in snow for the oxen. Jim and others start out on a rescue mission. They have to turn back. Sutter is moved by the gall and the plight of the two men, Reed and McCutcheon, the husbands. McCutcheon sets out for Sonoma to seek the help of ranchers there. It is known in the area that the Donner Party was the last group to set out that year.

The Donner Party reached the Summit Trail twenty four hours too late. People in the party moved into cabins. When snow went up to the roofs there was not more hunting and there was no more game to eat. There was no leader because George Donner was five miles back. A snowshoed party of fourteen people left Donner Lake to try to get through the pass. Hunger has no boundaries. The Reed party at the lake suffered hunger.

Belatedly four rescue teams arrived at the behest of Jim Reed and Bill McCutcheon. The Reed family survived the ordeal entire, an unusual result. This is a good retelling of the Donner Party tragedy.

Survive!: My Fight for Life in the High Sierras

Average customer rating:

Honest, Accurate, Riviting
be better if it was true
Gratuitous and Self Serving
survival fairy tale
Amazing!!!

Survive!: My Fight for Life in the High Sierras
Peter DeLeo
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Hello to All That: A Memoir of Zoloft, War, and Peace
The Last Season (P.S.)
The Western Limit of the World: A Novel
House of Tears: Westerners' Adventures in Islamic Lands (Explorers Club Book)
Devil's Teeth, The: A True Story Of Survival And Obsession Among America's Great White Sharks

ASIN: 0743270061

Book Description

When Peter DeLeo set out one Sunday morning on a sightseeing and photography trip over the central Sierra Nevada mountains in California, he had no idea that he would soon be fighting for his life with the odds stacked very much against him. DeLeo's single-engine plane encountered turbulence, and he and his two passengers crashed in the mountains. All three survived the accident but sustained multiple injuries. DeLeo had broken ribs, a shattered ankle, and a badly damaged shoulder. After assessing their situation, they decided that the passengers should remain with the plane while DeLeo would hike out to bring back help. It was already winter; he left the limited emergency supplies with the plane's passengers; and he was hampered by his injuries, but DeLeo was determined to get help. He found or improvised shelter at night, carefully warmed himself during the daytime, drank from small pools of melted snow and ice, and slowly but steadily made his way toward civilization. Suffering from exhaustion and on the verge of collapse, he found a hot spring that provided him with temporary warmth and insects to eat. Injuries, dehydration, malnutrition, and a two-day blizzard slowed him, and a rockslide nearly killed him just as he glimpsed the valley and highway that he so desperately sought, but DeLeo's courage saw him through.

Meanwhile, Civil Air Patrol planes searched fruitlessly for the lost plane and for survivors; twice, DeLeo frantically tried to signal the search planes, but to no avail. When DeLeo finally reached a highway, he found it almost impossible to convince the authorities that he was the lost pilot who had been all but given up for dead. His astonishing survival, one of the most remarkable feats of endurance on record, made national and even international news.

Now, for the first time, Peter DeLeo tells his remarkable story in gripping detail. His amazing saga is destined to become a classic.

Download Description

"When Peter DeLeo set out one Sunday morning on a sightseeing and photography trip over the central Sierra Nevada mountains in California, he had no idea that he would soon be fighting for his life with the odds stacked very much against him. DeLeo's single-engine plane encountered turbulence, and he and his two passengers crashed in the mountains. All three survived the accident but sustained multiple injuries. DeLeo had broken ribs, a shattered ankle, and a badly damaged shoulder. After assessing their situation, they decided that the passengers should remain with the plane while DeLeo would hike out to bring back help. It was already winter; he left the limited emergency supplies with the plane's passengers; and he was hampered by his injuries, but DeLeo was determined to get help. He found or improvised shelter at night, carefully warmed himself during the daytime, drank from small pools of melted snow and ice, and slowly but steadily made his way toward civilization. Suffering from exhaustion and on the verge of collapse, he found a hot spring that provided him with temporary warmth and insects to eat. Injuries, dehydration, malnutrition, and a two-day blizzard slowed him, and a rockslide nearly killed him just as he glimpsed the valley and highway that he so desperately sought, but DeLeo's courage saw him through. Meanwhile, Civil Air Patrol planes searched fruitlessly for the lost plane and for survivors; twice, DeLeo frantically tried to signal the search planes, but to no avail. When DeLeo finally reached a highway, he found it almost impossible to convince the authorities that he was the lost pilot who had been all but given up for dead. His astonishing survival, one of the most remarkable feats of endurance on record, made national and even international news. Now, for the first time, Peter DeLeo tells his remarkable story in gripping detail. His amazing saga is destined to become a classic. "

Customer Reviews:

Honest, Accurate, Riviting.......2007-10-22

Having extensively visited this area (also participating in US Forest Service planning efforts and Congressional Wilderness proposals) this part of the Sequoia/Inyo National Forest(s) since about 1969, I have a keen knowledge of this area.

Several months after the author's adventure, I had an opportunity to speak with him at length about the same - due in large part to being a customer of Hypersoft. The motorcycle his brother rode in an effort to access Sherman peak was purchased and maintained at our dealership.

Still broken and battered from this adventure, Peter spoke with me for nearly three hours in the parking lot of our dealership and I heard this fascinating account - first hand. As Pete spoke, I clearly understood where he was during most of his hike out of the mountains. I found myself captivated as to what was being said.

This was LONG before the book even thought about being written.

I purchased this book a couple of weeks ago and closely compared what I recall of his personal account with me in the parking lot, what was told to me from US Forest Service personnel, from both folks I know at both Jordan Hot Springs and the Olivias cow camp (where Pete spent the night in the outhouse) and the this book.

Without a doubt, the book is right on and accurate.

I cannot recommend this book enough for those who wish a true story of human courage and survival.

Well written and worth every penny.

be better if it was true.......2007-10-09

I am a pilot and this story was great until I really started to think about it. First off, the crash didn't sound very likely. Turns out it did NOT happen that way at all.
Then after the crash some things just didn't add up. The pilot, with 16 broken bones and NO FOOD, does a 2 week long hike in the middle of winter over terrain and in weather that would likely kill most people in good health that did have adequate supplies. He repeatedly does things that sound beyond impossible for someone with so many injuries and starved as well.
Why did he take off on this hike and leave an UNINJURED man behind? Wouldn't it have made more sense for the guy with no injuries to be the hiker? Why didn't they have adequate supplies for flying in this kind of remote terrain. A handheld radio would have had them out in a day or two. Two close enocunters with aircraft are described where it sounds like the pilot could almost have hit them with a stick and no one saw him with a red coat against white snow? The "rescue mission" by his brother riding a motorcycle on closed icy mountain roads sounds stupendously idiotic. Why not take a Jeep? This guy was very lucky not to be SAR mission #2 himself. Then at the end of the story he finally gets to a hospital with 16 broken bones and nearly dead from starvation and they put a cast on his ankle and SEND HIM HOME? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, as the saying goes.

Gratuitous and Self Serving.......2007-02-18

It's nice to see that other readers of this book share my skepticism of the story. I was first struck by his strange obsession with crash landing a plane in the mountains. In fact, he seems to have chosen this type of plane (a Maule) specifically because it could fly low and slow, giving the pilot a greater chance for a controlled crash landing. When in the air with his friends, he mentioned that he would often look for small patches of land in the mountains in which to crash land the plane. Honestly, I think he wanted to crash and be a hero- his "friends" be damned. The best chance for his and Wave's survival would obviously have been to first wait a few days near the wreckage (especially if the EPIRB was working as he implied). Then, the obvious choice would have been to have Wave try to hike out and bring back help, or to take Wave along with him. Frankly, had he taken his FAR less injured friend with him, they would probably both be alive today. I dont for one minute believe he ran into any black bear or mountain lion because his descriptions of the encounters were totally over the top. I dont believe he slid over any cliff and wound up hanging by a forearm. I dont believe he climbed any trees and I dont believe he found "donuts" of bear scat and used them to insulate his fort or to use as a "pillow". Total nonsense. A total jerk that, rather than thank his sister and girlfriend for their TLC, scolded them by saying "Dont touch me, if you touch me you will hurt me".

survival fairy tale.......2006-06-30

other reviewers have pointed out that the author of this book lied about the reason for the crash and provided government website links to prove it. i am not a pilot, but i have to bring up other points that just do not make sense. keep in mind, the author tries to portray himself as having some knowledge of survival and even states that his friends described him as a survivalist.
shortly after crashing the author decides that their only chance to be rescued is if someone sets off on foot to look for help. one passenger is trapped in the plane. one has, according to the author, one bruise on his forhead. peter, the author, has seven broken ribs, a shatterd left ankle, a broken shoulder and this is how his friend describes his head: "...your eyelid is torn, and your face and head are starting to swell real bad. you've got cuts and gashes on your face and head, too." he also says he no longer has the full use of his fingers or hands. the obvious question is, why was peter the one to set off on foot? the author never gives us any insight as to the decision making process.
the author tells us what supplies they had: 2 large camping tarps, 20 feet of rope, 3 flares, a lighter, a knife, 2 flashlights, assorted tools, a loaf of fruit bread, a jug of water, a jug of juice, and a couple of apples. feeling that their survival may depend on him succeeding, the author chooses...nothing!
during his trek through the wilderness he encounters a black bear, which he says average 300 to 400 pounds. i almost laughed when he said he could feel the ground tremble when the bear took a step! we have a lot of people in this country that weigh that much, and the ground never trembles when they walk past! i am sure anyone that has been to the circus and gotten close to elephants that are walking will tell you that something as small as a black bear will not make the ground tremble! but, i guess peter's goal was to tell an exciting tale, not an accurate one.
after being rescued, and suffering the pain of all those broken bones along with fingers and toes that are black from frostbite, the author decides to go home for a night or so and get some good reast before going to a hospital for treatment. is this supposed to convince us how tough he is, or how stupid?
other reviewers have already pointed out that his passengers did not survive, so i need to touch on this point. the one passenger that was not trapped in the plane had plenty of supplies to make shelter with, to make fire with, and enough food to have survived on, yet he died due to exposure to the elements.
there are many things in this book that simply do not make sense, and the author makes no attempt to explain any of it.
is the book at least exciting to read? from a fictional standpoint, maybe. but if you have ever read real survival stories, or if you have some common sense, the complete lack of believability will keep you from enjoying this.

Amazing!!!.......2006-05-22

The fact that Peter Deleo survived the 1994 small plane crash in the Sierra Nevadas is incredible enough, but to struggle day by day, walking toward what you hope is civilization despite painful injuries is mind boggling! Through a series of intelligent decisions, determination and perhaps a bit of luck, one man's journey through a wilderness in winter in an attempt to bring back help to his two seriously injured companions is an amazing story from start to finish. Told in heart-wrenching detail, this survival story isn't one that just 'limps along'.
Chrissy K. McVay
author of 'Souls of the North Wind'

How To Probate And Settle an Estate in California (Legal Survival Guides)

Average customer rating:

Not for the complicated estate
This book can save you thousands of dollars

How To Probate And Settle an Estate in California (Legal Survival Guides)
Douglas Godbe , and John Talamo
Manufacturer: Sphinx Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Estate Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Estates & Trusts | Taxation | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Practical Guides | Law | Subjects | Books

How to Probate an Estate in California
Probate in California
Executor's Guide: Settling a Loved One's Estate or Trust (2nd Edition)
How to Settle an Estate (How to Settle An Estate)
How to Probate & Settle an Estate Yourself, Without the Lawyer's Fees: The National Probate Kit

ASIN: 1572484640

Book Description

While probate is a complicated court process, How to Probate and Settle an Estate in California can help you understand, prepare for, and work through the steps necessary to handle both property that is subject to probate and property that is not subject to probate in the state of California.

Written in an easy-to-understand manner, this book will give you confidence as you navigate the probate court system. From dealing with creditors' claims and changing property ownership to transferring assets and handling estate taxes, How to Probate and Settle an Estate in California covers the essentials you need to close an estate.

Customer Reviews:

Not for the complicated estate.......2005-02-11

This book is an excellent guide if you are settling an estate where there is a will, no messy record keeping, and no lack of attention by the dead person to their assets, and absolutely no complications. If anything is outside the perfect Stepford-like world then this book is likely to mislead you. It is too simplified to make you aware of the nuances of California Probate Law. A better resource is How to Probate an Estate in California by Julia Nissey.

This book can save you thousands of dollars.......2002-07-22

If you have the patience to go through a loved ones mail, keep track of all the phone calls and paper work, this book is for you. Instead of paying an attorney thousands of dollars to do "paperwork" this book will guide you through the tedious probate process. Even if you make a mistake, the court will let you know what was incorrect. (The courts paralegal may even assist you at no charge.) You can then go back to the book and correct the error and resubmit your paperwork. Think about it... you will have to provide an attorney with the loved ones documents and then the attorney gets paid to fill in the blanks. But if YOU file for probate, you can be fully in charge, keep track of information and keep the money the attorney probably has a paralegal prepare. This book is easy to follow and well worth the investment. This book can not be rated high enough.

How to Make a California Will: With Forms (Legal Survival Guides)

Average customer rating:

How to Make a California Will: With Forms (Legal Survival Guides)
Kerri D. Stenson , and Mark Warda
Manufacturer: Sphinx Publishing Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books

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