Product Description
Set in the visionary future of Atwood’s acclaimed Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood is at once a moving tale of lasting friendship and a landmark work of speculative fiction. In this second book of the MaddAddam trilogy, the long-feared waterless flood has occurred, altering Earth as we know it and obliterating most human life. Among the survivors are Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, who is barricaded inside a luxurious spa. Amid shadowy, corrupt ruling powers and new, gene-spliced life forms, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move, but they can't stay locked away.Amazon.com Review
Book Description
The long-awaited new novel from Margaret Atwood. The Year of the Flood is a dystopic masterpiece and a testament to her visionary power.

The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners--a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life--has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatments are edible.

Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the shadowy, corrupt policing force of the ruling powers...

Meanwhile, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: the lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through this strange new world, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move. They can't stay locked away...

By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most brilliant and inventive.

Margaret Atwood on The Year of the Flood

I’ve never before gone back to a novel and written another novel related to it. Why this time? Partly because so many people asked me what happened right after the end of the 2003 novel, Oryx and Crake. I didn’t actually know, but the questions made me think about it. That was one reason. Another was that the core subject matter has continued to preoccupy me.

When Oryx and Crake came out, it seemed to many like science fiction--way out there, too weird to be possible--but in the three years that passed before I began writing The Year of the Flood, the perceived gap between that supposedly unreal future and the harsh one we might very well live through was narrowing fast. What is happening to our world? What can we do to reverse the damage? How long have we got? And, most importantly--what kind of "we"? In other words, what kind of people might undertake the challenge? Dedicated ones--they’d have to be. And unless you believe our planet is worth saving, why bother?

So the question of inspirational belief entered the picture, and once you have a set of beliefs--as distinct from a body of measurable knowledge--you have a religion. The God’s Gardeners appear briefly in Oryx and Crake, but in The Year of the Flood, they’re central. Like all religions, the Gardeners have their own leader, Adam One. They also have their own honoured saints and martyrs, their special days, their theology. They may look strange and obsessive and even foolish to non-members, but they’re serious about what they profess; as are their predecessors, who are with us today. I’ve found out a great deal about rooftop gardens and urban beekeeping while writing this book!

Another question frequently asked about Oryx and Crake concerned gender. Why was the story told by a man? How would it have been different if the narrator had been a woman? Such questions led me to Ren and Toby, and then to their respective lives, and also to their places of refuge.A high-end sex club and a luxury spa would in fact be quite good locations in which to wait out a pandemic plague: at least you’d have bar snacks, and a lot of clean towels.

In his book, The Art Instinct, Denis Dutton proposes that our interest in narrative is built in--selected during the very long period the human race spent in the Pleistocene--because any species with the ability to tell stories about both past and future would have an evolutionary edge. Will there be a crocodile in the river tomorrow, as there was last year? If so, better not go there. Speculative fictions about the future, like The Year of the Flood, are narratives of that kind. Where will the crocodiles be? How will we avoid them? What are our chances? --Margaret Atwood

(Photo © George Whiteside)

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Customer Reviews (145)

I loved my first Atwood experience!
This was my first Atwood novel. I stumbled across the book on CD at the library and took it on an solo road trip.I have never before read a book of this genre and was skeptical for the first 20 minutes of the reading but then I became hooked.Atwood's writing style was beautiful and her choice of words felt so deliberate and thoughtful, plus I greatly enjoyed the sound of the 3 voices chosen to read the novel (Toby, Ren, and Adam1).I returned home from my road trip before finishing the CDs and found myself desperate to get back in my car to run errands just so I could listen and see what happens next.I enjoyed this so much that I immediately borrowed the book on CD of The Handmaid's Tale from my library and started that today.

A euology before the funeral
I wonder if Atwood's was a bit squeamish when writing the sequel to Oryx and Crake. That novel was flawless in every respect. Having been written in 2003 - before Facebook to put it into perspective - O & C foretold a deeply corporate culture devoid of ethics and rife with materialism. It was a unique vision of the near future that echoed into the subconscious long after you were finished.

How do you follow-up to a masterpiece? Year of the Flood is not as good as O & C but it comes damn close. This time the story revolves around a green cult named "God's Gardeners." These people have given up on buying and taken up recycling. If you think the Hare Krishna's are weird in public imagine a bunch of people who only wear hand me downs brought together out of necessity instead of fashion. Instead of XBox their youths learn survival skills.

The title is a bit deceiving - there is no flood of the Noah kind. Rather it's a term used by the Gardeners to denote a time in the near future when humanity will wipe themselves out. Atwood has created a religion here that is somewhere between new age, evangelicalism, and quantum physics. The book itself is separated by short sermons and hymns. Where O & C dealt with characters on the inside of society, the Year of the Flood deals with those on the fringe.

Where the first book was driven by a character study the second is more documentary. It is far less dirty and disturbing as well. However it is still engrossing from start to finish. The poem at the end is a lament for civilization if we don't give up on our egotistical ways.

I can't help wonder, as Atwood ages, if she is indeed writing our eulogy before the funeral. If so it resonates deeply.

Rating (Gouge my eyes out, below average, average, above average, more please)
Above average

Liked: probes at the role of religion at the end of civilization; continuation of the story that started in Oryx & Crake

Disliked: ended with a cliffhanger for the next book; sometimes the religious content is a bit much

allright book
i think i should have stuck with oryx and crake after reading the back cover. the year of the flood is a decent book. i just dont like how she is pro god or anti god. i cant tell if what she is saying by each of the chapters religious introductions.
other than that this is a good book. just skip all of the songs and introductions.

Doesn't hit the sweet spot
Far be it from me to suggest Margaret Atwood doesn't write well. This is the first of her's that I've read (a late adopter!) and she is clearly a clever and imaginative writer. The book is clearly part of an anthology, so it might be better to start at the beginning. On the other hand, as a standalone novel it suffers (maybe just for me) in plotlines that seem to meander from distant sources before the first pages towards distant resolutions beyond the last pages. The story doesn't really come to a single climax but moves from crisis to resolution again and again. This keeps your interest up, of course, as does her technique of beginning at the end and then moving around a 25 year span to fill in character and plot gaps. Read it over a few days and you won't get lost as she structures the pace and connections brilliantly.

But the reason for my title is my reaction to Atwood's quirky sense of humour. The novel is funny in a way that (for me anyway) undermines itself. The way she creates silly names for products and companies is on the one hand amusing, but also made me not take her story seriously. Maybe that's what she intended? I can see she is satirising many of present-day trends and actions, and it works. But I wanted to leave the present-day and immerse myself in her dystopia more.

not on par with "Oryx and Crake"
I liked this book because you find out about what the "pleeblands" are all about (very scary) and it also ties the both books together.

I didn't like the songs in the audio book and ended up fast forwarding through the last few.The songs had little information as far as I was concerned.

I am glad I listened - makes oryx and crake more enjoyable!Oryx and Crake ... Read more

Product Description
The Human-Covenant War, a desperate struggle for humankind’s very survival, has reached its boiling point on the mysterious, ring world called Halo. But the fierce Covenant warriors, the mightiest alien military force known, are not the only peril lying in wait.

As the fortress world of Reach and its brave defenders were bombarded to rubble, a single cruiser fled the carnage with the battle’s only human survivors—Captain Keyes, his crew of a few hundred Marines, and the last remaining SPARTAN super-soldier, the Master Chief.

With the cruiser’s artificial intelligence, Cortana, concealed in his battle armor, the Master Chief crash lands on Halo in the midst of a massive Covenant occupation. Curiously, the alien soldiers appear to be searching for something hidden on the ring. Built by a long-dead race, Halo harbors many deadly secrets, but one overshadows them all. Now the Master Chief must lead the scattered troops in a brutal race to unravel Halo’s darkest mystery—and unleash its greatest source of power. . . .

This novel is based on a Mature-rated video game.
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Customer Reviews (136)

Almost Halo 1 word for word...
If you played Halo: Combat Evolved, do not read this book! While it provides so side stories, it is basically Halo 1 in written form.Throughout the entire story you will be telling yourself "no that's not what happened, in the game I did..."

It was not an enjoyable read.

Halo - The Flood
This Halo novel covers the time period of the actual gameplay covered in the first Halo game.But the novel tells so much more about the other heros involved in this epic story. The Halo universe, games and novels, tells one of the top 5 greatest sci-fi stories of all time, in quality and quantity.This is a must have for TRUE Halo fans, and simply a really good sci-fi novel for those that aren't.This novel and all of the others in the Halo universe are fantasically written and are very easy reads.Each novel tells a truly awesome story and blends the action, drama, and even comedy very well.Kudos to this author and the others that have contributed to this amazing tale.I hope the Halo franchise and universe continue to evolve for a long long time.

Great Book
If you love the games, and like to read you have to read this book along with the rest of the serious as I did, as I was reading I could picture every character and place in my head and when I was done I had to play the games again LOL

OK Companion Book to Halo Game
"The Flood" is the second book in the Halo series, following the much better Halo prequel The Fall of Reach (Halo, Bk. 1). Since this book has to follow the plot line of the game, the author (William C. Dietz) was somewhat obliged to add a lot of the repetitive sequences that are part of the game but unfortunately significantly slows down the book.

All of that being said, I highly recommend that you play the game all of the way through before reading this book to avoid spoiling the surprises in the game.

No spoilers from me, the plot again centers on the super soldier "Master Chief" (one of the last surviving member of the Spartan II program) and the Artificial Intelligence Cortana, as they battle the Covenant and "other" enemies on the artificial Halo world. One of the more interesting aspects of book is a sub-plot that follows a Covenant Elite officer, giving us insight into the workings of their odd hierarchy. The book is almost worth reading for this alone.

While not great, it is a must read if you are planning on going through the series. The sequel is First Strike (Halo #3), which sets up Halo 2.

CFH

Very weak compared to the Fall of Reach
Compared to The Fall of Reach, this was a pretty bad book.It did add a bit of light to what happened between some of the levels, and on parts of Halo where other people landed, but even those parts were mostly in the same style as game play.The covenant were also portrayed as a lot weaker here, with almost no mystery about them.How can a group of grunt marines take over a covenant cruiser, when in the first book only a party of Spartans could barely land on a severely disabled one with great loss of life?How can an ODST captain, with no flight training fly that thing?How did stranded humans learn perfectly how to operate such complicated covenant machinery, when in the first book humans knew almost nothing about this mysterious foe?Why would an assassination party for Master Chief consist of a single Elite on a shade gun with a few supporting grunts, when such a situation had never phased him before.Lot of unnecessary detail from the most repetitions Library level was retained, but the most interesting fight (the massive Flood assault, just before you recover the index) of that level was omitted. The emotional turmoil of a conscripted child soldier, which was such a compelling part of the first book, was all gone, and John 117 now felt like a robotic protagonist.Why did they mention nothing about how these people felt after having seen Reach just fall, and barely escape the battle?I actually listened to the audio version of this, and it is made doubly worse because the person doing that irritatingly yelled into the microphone all the time, when there is supposed to be a loud Boom, or when someone is supposed to shout something. ... Read more

Product Description
David McCullough is known to millions as the author of the critically acclaimed, best-selling books The Great Bridge, The Path Between the Seas, and Mornings on Horseback, and as host of the popular PBS television series "Smithsonian World?' The Johnstown Flood, David McCullough's first book, was praised by Time magazine as a "meticulously researched, vivid account of one of the most stunning disasters in U.S. history."

At the end of the last century, Johnstown,.Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hard-working families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity: among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam. Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Johnstown, and killing more than 2,000 townspeople. It was a tragedy that became a national scandal.

From research in the voluminous records, diaries, letters, interviews with numbers of survivors, and a rare, previously unknown transcript of a private investigation conducted by the Pennsylvania Railroad, David McCullough vividly re-creates the chain of events that led to the catastrophe, and then unfolds the incredible story of the flood itself and its aftermath.

Graced by David McCullough's remarkable gift for writing richly textured, sympathetic social history, The Johnstown Flood is an absorbing, classic portrait of life in 19th-century America, of overweening confidence, energy, and tragedy. It also offers a powerful historical lesson for our century and all times: the danger of assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility they are necessarily behaving responsibly.Amazon.com Review
The history of civil engineering may sound boring, but inDavid McCullough's hands it is, well, riveting. His award-winninghistories of the BrooklynBridge and the PanamaCanal were preceded by this account of the disastrous dam failurethat drowned Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1889. Written while the lastsurvivors of the flood were still alive, McCullough's narrative weavesthe stories of the town, the wealthy men who owned the dam, and theforces of nature into a seamless whole. His account is unforgettable:"The wave kept on coming straight toward him, heading for the veryheart of the city. Stores, houses, trees, everything was going down infront of it, and the closer it came, the bigger it seemed togrow.... The height of the wall of water was at least thirty-six feetat the center.... The drowning and devastation of the city took justabout ten minutes." A powerful, definitive book, and a tribute to thethousands who died in America's worst inland flood. --Mary EllenCurtin ... Read more

Customer Reviews (106)

Riveting
David Mccullough's style is conversational and he does a great job of building suspense throughout the tale.The length is very appropriate to the subject.If you enjoy Erik Larson, especially "Isaac's Storm", you will enjoy this book.If like me, you have spent a few years living in Pittsburgh you will be able to place many of the club members names in the form of university buildings and museums etc.

Kindle Short Changes us
McCullough's writing is, as usual, detailed and compelling. But in this dramatic telling of the story of the flood, the Kindle version gives us no diagrams, no maps, and for an event at which hundreds of photographers showed up and of which there are thousands of photos available there is not a photo included. Very disappointing.

Well Written
Lake Conemaugh was a scenic man-made mountain lake retained by an aging 72-foot earthen dam.The lake and acreage around it was owned, maintained and enjoyed by the wealthy members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.On May 31, 1889, at 3:15 p.m., the 1 mile wide, 2.5 mile long, 60 foot deep lake emptied completely into the valley below.The South Fork dam, weakened from days of unusually heavy rains, caved as the lake water crested over the top of the dam, spilling a wall of water into the narrow Conemaugh River valley.About 20 million tons of water raced towards Johnstown, 14 miles West and 450 feet below the dam.Five towns built along the Conemaugh River were obliterated and each town added to the debris that quickly churned its way towards Johnstown.Within an hour, a massive wall of debris - hundreds of shattered houses and buildings, uprooted trees, boulders, miles of barbed wire from the Woodvale Wire Company, several locomotives weighing 170,000 pounds each, railroad tracks and hundreds of animals and humans both dead and alive, reached Johnstown.

David McCullough's book details one of the most devastating disasters in U.S. history.Although difficult to read in parts, this horrific and haunting true story of the 1889 Johnstown, PA, flood is a page turner.McCullough's writing is profoundly descriptive in a manner that the reader can easily imagine the era and understand the character of the hardworking townsfolk of the prosperous steel and coal town of Johnstown.

Was this a natural disaster or human error due to the arrogance of a few wealthy people?You decide.

Gripping and Alive! Amazing Representation of History!
I bought this as an Audiobook in CD, because I enjoyed David McCullough's two books on "Truman" and "John Adams," also on Audio CD. I believe, however, "The Johnstown Flood" was the best of the three. I listened to it while driving in my car. McCullough style and his ability to create action and imagery were wonderful. A few times, I kept driving because I did not want to stop listening.

This was a story I had never heard of before, but McCullough brought it to life in a way that I shall not forget it. He makes you feel as if you were there as an eyewitness. He not only did a masterful job of describing the disastrous flood, but also the facts and events that led up to it, and the humanitarian efforts that followed it. Maybe the latter was the most amazing, because he showed how human goodness, generosity, and courage triumphed over almost impossible conditions that followed in the wake of the flood and its destruction.

I cannot recommend it too much! I did not want to finish it. But that encouraged me to buy another book by David McCullough: "The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge," also on Audio CD. I can't wait to finish what I'm reading now to start that!

Flood's 'Night to Remember'
I have just re-read `The Johnstown Flood,' and it brought to mind how similar in structure and narrative methodology it is to Walter Lord's classic account of the Titanic disaster, `A Night to Remember.'Both treat with relatively brief periods of time which are dissected hour by hour. Both recount the respective disasters by carefully setting the stage with principal actors and pivotal events, those of a night and those of a day.Both were due to natural occurrences which could have been avoided, but were not.And both are even similar in the number of lives lost.And both are simply wonderful reads.

Among the crucial differences between them, of course, is that History lovers can actually visit Johnstown relatively easily and see for themselves the setting of the calamity and the efforts that have been made to memorialize it.First, the site of the erstwhile lake is readily accessible and the trip gives some sense of the changes in elevations between it and the town, although the long-gone body of water is difficult to visualize.Then there is a fine museum downtown which very innovatively displays the course and ferocity of the watery onslaught in pictures and interactive models.The highlight is a solid wall of the museum space covered with the kind of debris that would have accumulated at the bridge and elsewhere throughout the town, uniformly colored the inevitable, doleful brown of earth-and civilization itself-disrupted.Then go to a restaurant at the top of a hill overlooking the town and accessible by a funicular.The location provides a perfect view up the valley and I guarantee will send chills down your spine as you picture the flood cascading down and destroying just about every living and standing thing in its path.

Finally, travel to the Grandview Cemetery where most if not all of the victims are interred.The 777 unidentified bodies are buried together in a semi-circle of modest markers overlooked by a marble figure of a watchful angel.My wife and I visited several years ago in early June and there remained at the site a beautiful standing flower arrangement with a ribbon saying, "You are not forgotten."McCullough and the memorializations of the town's residents ensure they are not.
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Product Description
The "deeply scary"(BBC Focus) new novel from a national bestselling and critically acclaimed author.

Four hostages are rescued from a group of religious extremists in Barcelona. After five years of being held captive together, they make a vow to always watch out for one another. But they never expected this...

The world they have returned to has been transformed by water-and the water is rising. As it continues to flow from the earth's mantle, entire countries disappear. High ground becomes a precious commodity. And finally, the dreadful truth is revealed: before fifty years have passed, there will be nowhere left to run... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (49)

Anyone for Doomsday?
Take a look at my bookshelf or my collection and you will see that while Zombies tend to be my favorite literary genre, I also have a vice for anything post-apocalyptic. I've read my fair share of them (The Stand, Lucifer's Hammer, Titan, Moonseed), and "Flood" ranks up there among the best.
Stephen Baxter has really outdone himself with this one. Rather than a world decimated by nuclear war, or global warming, or asteroid impacts, "Flood" is a novel in which our beloved planet Earth, slowly, over a period of 50 years, drowns in rising flood waters.
Like I said, I'm a huge fan of PA novels, so with each new one I start, I'm always a bit weary, always comparing each novel to the ones I've read in the past. Now, I believe I will have to compare all novels to "Flood". This book was, for lack of a better word, outstanding. It wasn't just the story, the characters, and the impecable, easy to understand science, but it was also the attention to detail, the rich emotions, and the epic length of time Baxter was able to cover in only 480 pages. It was also the originality as well. Global Warming as a means to an end is no longer scary. Nuclear war is tired and overused. But what happens when our worst fears (the extinction of mankind) are brought on by something we can't stop? What do we do when our world is flooded and we can do nothing about it?
"Flood" was an amazing look at that very question and an amazing novel as well. My only problem? Too short. I easily could have continued to read for hundreds more pages!

A sleep aid, in printed form
I will end up reading around 100 or so books this year, and, barring another printed and bound catastrophe entering my life, this will have to go down as the worst I have read this year.Characters, such as they were, never really developed, the dialog was painful and predictable, and there was very little scientific explanation for the flooding besides water just coming up from the inner parts of the earth.Besides the main characters in the book, (who get frisked about the drowning planet by some Haliburton version of Greenpeace), the rest of the world is described in no real detail besides suffering and wet.If I purchased this in paperback form at an airport before an international flight, I would leave it on the aircraft after my tray is in the full upright position before landing.Cheers.

Weak concepts, characters
The main concept of this book might work in a quick two hour movie with lots of special effects that don't give you time to evaluate the possibilities of the plot. However, it's not easy to ignore the laws of physics entirely over the course of reading a book. The main protagonists start out with some appeal, but they seem to lose their ability for independent thought almost immediately. The standard response when someone appealed to their sense of morality was "you're an idiot". The detailed descriptions of English geography took a toll on my attention span as well. I admit that I did make it through to the end of the book, but I was relieved when it was over.

Helluva book
Frightening. Plausible. Sad. I couldn't stop reading, until the Kindle battery ran down and I had to let it charge for a while. Like no flood story ever. I liked the characters, well, the likable ones. But even the unlikable ones resonated. No question I'll be moving on to Ark. And many more of Baxter's works.

Pure boredom
I was hoping for something interesting. This book was pure boredom. The characters seemed superficial and artificial. The descriptions of the floods are repetitive. I stopped reading one quarter through the book, looked at the end and saw nothing redeeming there either. A few-pages essay or short story might have been better. ... Read more

Product Description
Flood Your Body With Oxygen is "Mr. Oxygen" Ed McCabe's follow-up to his best-seller Oxygen Therapies, and is the seminal work on the subject and encompasses its' entirety. DISEASES CAN'T LIVE IN ACTIVE OXYGEN. Proven safe solutions for all the major problems facing our health, our animals, our food supply, and our environment are explained simply and backed up with testimonials and industry and medical cites.Complete explanations and usage of all known Oxygen Therapies. Referrals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (73)

Fabulous Book!
Wow...this a great book to read; it is jam packed with oxygen info...I keep re-reading it because it has so much valuable information that I want to make sure that I didn't overlook.An awesome resource to have in your health arsenal!

Cult of personality
Based on the reviews i purchased this book. I admit i was a little concerned the author had his picture on the cover. It looks kind of like a cheap infomercial, and implies the book is about him as much as Oxygen therapy.

Unfortunately, this seems to be true. Further, McCabe seems paranoid and a little nutty. He implied his tax evasion imprisonment might have been due to his promoting H202. It seems he thinks the whole world is out to get him. He should just leave his life and fears out of the book.

Further, this book is in dire need of a good editor. McCabe jumps around in his writing. It seems like he likes to randomly repeat himself from paragraph to paragraph. There is a lot of good information in the book, but I just found it too jumbled.

Finally, have noticed the main reviews of this book are NOT even Amazon Verified Purchase. This doesn't mean the reviewer didn't read the book. It only means they didn't purchase it on Amazon. It's just a little suspicious.

I'm still interested in Oxygen Therapy. I just think I'll try a different book.

Be CAREFUL!
Oxidation is used to kill organisms. Ultraviolet light kills certain bacteria in kitchens; chlorine and ozone kill bacteria in pools; hydrogen peroxide kills mouth bacteria in mouthwash.

It kills humans too. Numerous scientific studies have shown that oxidation causes chronic destruction of tissues in humans. Cancers, chronic fatigue, age related blindness, liver damage and diabetes have been linked to oxidative damage. This is not even disputed.

What this product is advocating is increasing oxidation inside your body. This sounds like madness to me. It's almost certainly going to be bad for you long term.

Here's why I gave this book 2 stars instead of the 0 I think it deserves.

Science isn't king. In health I've learned to value testimonial evidence also. If testimonial evidence can convict a man in court it's good enough in health. So if some people here have said that this enabled them become healthy then OK, fine. I don't doubt them; this stuff would kill bacteria in your system because it does so in swimming pools. But is it really healthy to take in a disinfectant?

If this has helped you, I would suggest find a safer approach, long term. I would suggest you try an ANTI-oxidant that has this same effect for people like N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC). Another highly effective antioxidant that has produced good results for people is ionized water. You need to buy an ionizer and run water through it. Consider buying a "batch water ionizer" as it's cheaper and creates low PH, highly anti-oxidant water. I use both items I've mentioned here.

Best of luck.

Like 600 pages of blog posts without a search function
Although oxygen can definitely help with illness, overall I agree with the 1-, 2-, and 3-star reviews. While the author means well and seems knowledgeable, this book is poorly organized and poorly designed.

A lot of it is relentlessly self-promoting, both for the author and products he sells. A lot of it you could find on the internet or in a manufacturer's literature in the unlikely event you needed it--for example, an entire chapter on residential and commercial uses of hydrogen peroxide (bathroom, kitchen, animal husbandry, crops) and another on residential and commercial uses of ozone (aquariums, swimming pools, prison laundries). It has many pages of impenetrable reports and studies pasted in (e.g., 4 1/2 pages on "Ozone Physical and Chemical Characteristics," in outline form), along with 50 pages of testimonials for oxygen.

The illustrations are typically too small to be able to see any detail. The table of contents is 12 pages, because it lists every subsection. The index is useless--it has no second-level entries and lists every page on which a term appears, rather than page ranges (e.g., 71, 72, 73, 74, 75 instead of 71-75), so you have entries with 50 or 100 or more page numbers to consult.

When you do, unfortunately, there isn't much "there" there. Although the book seems to cover most relevant topics, you'll have to wade through a lot of stuff to find them, and even then they may be treated superficially. It's like 600 pages of blog posts without even a search function.

Heres what I think,,,,,
Book is packed with GOOD INFO!I'd suggest it to anyone who is into preventative NATURAL medicines / treatments.I honestly believe that if one follows the guidance as stated in this book there would be hardly ANY cancer and much less illness in the world. ... Read more

Product Description
Burke’s newest client is a woman named Flood, who has the face of an angel, the body of a high-priced stripper, and the skills of a professional executioner. She wants Burke to find a monster for her — so she can kill him with her bare hands.

In this cauterizing thriller, Andrew Vachss’s renegade private eye teams up with a lethally gifted avenger to follow a child’s murderer through the catacombs of New York, where every alley is blind and the penthouses are as dangerous as the basements. Fearfully knowing, crackling with narrative tension, and written in prose as forceful as a hollow-point slug, Flood is Burke at his deadliest — and Vachss at the peak of his form.

“An extraordinary thriller. . . . Vachss never flinches from the horror.” — Washington Post Book World

“Burke would eat Spade and Marlowe for breakfast, not even spitting out the bones. [He] is one tough, mean, pray-God-you-don’t-meet-him hombre.” — Boston HeraldAmazon.com Review
Book Description
In Vachss's acclaimed first novel, we are introduced to Burke, the avenging angel of abused children. Burke's client is a woman named Flood, who has the face of an angel, the body of a high-priced stripper, and the skills of a professional executioner. She wants Burke to find a monster -- so she can kill him with her bare hands. In this cauterizing thriller, Andrew Vachss's renegade private eye teams up with a lethally gifted vigilante to follow a child's murderer through the catacombs of New York, where every alley is a setup for a mugging and every tenement has something rotten in the basement. Fearfully knowing, buzzing with narrative tension, and written in prose as forceful as a hollow-point bullet, Flood is Burke at his deadliest -- and Vachss at the peak of his form.

An Interview with Andrew Vachss on Another Life, the Final Book in the Burke Series

Q:There has been some discussion that this might be the last novel in the Burke series. Do you see it that way? And if so, why?

Andrew Vachss: I don't just "see" it that way, I wrote it that way. Another Life is the coda to the Burke novels, the final chapter in a series that has been running since 1985. The timing was no accident. If I was to keep faith to those who gone the distance with me, I had to be true to my original promise: unlike some series in which the protagonist never ages, I set out to have each book show the main characters not only aging, but changing as well. Even dying. This series is all about "Family of Choice." All the members of Burke's family share this truth: The most righteous of parents don't want their children to "follow in their footsteps," they want their children to walk past those footsteps. Burke's family have always walked the outlaw road, and can never walk another. But as the children reach adulthood, it is the family's blood obligation to fork that road for them. And that time has now come.

Q:This is the 18th volume in the Burke series. How has the series changed? How have the issues you address in the novels changed over the years?

AV:I am not sure the series has changed... because all the changes depicted throughout have been part of the original concept. Of all of the descriptions of my books, Sonny Mehta dubbing them "investigative novels" is the one I am proudest of, because I wanted the books to be Trojan horses, a platform from which I could show people a world known only to the "Children of The Secret." I didn't know there was a name for such an intent until I won the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and a French reporter told me the Burke series was "littérature engageé." My goal was not to raise consciousness, but to raise anger. Ours is a country where anything can be accomplished if enough people get angry... because, in America, we act on our collective anger. If you want proof of how that works, just take a look at how New York State finally closed the hated (and virtually unknown) “incest exception.”When I first wrote about predatory pedophiles modem-trafficking in kiddie porn, reviewers condemned the book as a product of my "sick imagination." Who would say that today? Time and time again what I have written about has "come true." This is not because I am prescient, it is that my work takes me places most citizens never see. So the issues never really change, but as more and more folks become aware of the foundational truth in my "fiction," those issues no longer flourish in the shadows. Years after the series launched, enough folks focused their rage at how children are seen as property in America to form the first PAC (Political Action Committee) solely devoted to child protection.Anyone who says "books don't change anything," or--more commonly--that crime fiction is the wrong genre for promoting social change--should take a closer look.

Q:Burke has a very close family of choice. What drew these people together, and what do you see is the future for them, beyond the series?

AV:It would be easy to say that everyone in Burke's family was a "Child of The Secret," but that would not be true. What they have most powerfully in common is a marrow-deep hatred of humans who prey on children. The rest of the question is actually answered within the book itself, and I'm not a fan of "spoilers."

Q: Over the years, you're consistently ahead of the curve in terms of spotting cultural, political, and criminal trends before they become headlines. How are you constantly able to do this? And is there anything in this new novel that you think is likely to be in tomorrow's headlines?

AV:It's no great trick to spot things you see with your own eyes, which is why I wrote about predatory pedophiles deliberately seeking work in day care centers, or organ trafficking, or cults practicing "baby-breeding"... it's a long list. Most folks had never even heard the word "piquerist" before my novel on the subject. And although it looks as if I "predicted" the use of the Internet to lure children, or what I called "noir vérité," etc., I was functioning far more as journalist than a novelist when I wrote about such things. Burke has two extraordinary skills which set him apart from his contemporaries: the "pattern-recognition software" inside his mind, and his ability to extract information. Another Life is going to showcase both of those skills far more than any previous book. As for "tomorrow's headlines," you have to remember that I wrote the book over a year ago... so some have already surfaced. Ask my scalpel-penciled editor--Edward Kastenmeier--if you doubt my word. Many times we have had to alter a manuscript because what I was "predicting" had just come to pass. I don't know how long it is going to take for some of the truth revealed in Another Life to reach public consciousness. It may be "tomorrow's headlines"... or it may be another year or two. But if you look at my track record, you'll know where to put your money down.

Customer Reviews (50)

Perhaps the best novel in the Burke saga.
This novel is excellent from the first word to the last. Burke is one of the best first person narrator's in modern fiction.The anti-hero is not new, but Vachss takes Burke's character to the next level--and perhaps the best ever. Burke is tough,reminiscent of Raymond Chandler's characters, but has the most tender heart imaginable for the most vulnerable of our treasures: children.Burke is relentless, and so is Vachss.Read Flood, and then you'll have to read the rest of the Burke novels--like Burke protects children of the secret.

This is the one that started it all
I read this book when it first came out some years ago.I recently reread it and it lost none of it's impact.Gritty and exciting, it introduces Burke, a truely original character in the the hard-boiled detective genre, as well as Pansy, Max, Prof, Mole and Michelle. I have read all the Burke novels and enjoyed everyone.This series is highly recommended.

A fine mystery and thriller
Andrew Vachss' FLOOD receives Christopher Lane's smooth narration and background as an award-winning audio reader as it tells of a woman named Flood who wants Burke to find a monster for her - so she can kill him herself. A fine mystery and thriller evolves.

BabyBoyBurke/HardBoiled
I admit it,I am a huge mystery/police/detective genre fan.I have met along the way (and liked) Harry Bosch, Spenser, Lucas Davenport, Lincoln Perry, Elvis Cole, Smokey Barrett, Jonathan Stride, Bill Tasker and Alex Durate, Ray Dudgeon, even Jack Reacher, Myron Bolitar, Doc Ford, Elizibeth Waring and Patrick Bowers, plus I guess there are others.If you too are in my pool, try Andrew Vachss for something different.FLOODstarts the Burke series(always read them in order).Burke, one name, see the birth certificate, is hard boiled action and adventure in the under belly of New York, down and dirty.Burke and his crew, Mama, Max the Silent, the Prof and others, help situations.He is an ex-con and cannot be licensed to investigate, but there is so much more than investigating here.Funny too, a reoccurring theme against child molesters and a favoritism to dogs is very different. Wait till you meet Pansy.Vachss in the real world in a child advocate lawyer and his wife a prosecutor against sex crimes, this ads so much realism to these gutsy stories. If you like things on the dark side, try FLOOD and get hooked to Burke.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

A SIZZLING THRILLER TO HEAT THESE COLD DAYS
Amazing when you think that this iconic thriller was first written some 25 years ago.Since then there have been a number of copycats who have tried to imitate Vachss's tough guy narrative or replicate the jaw-dropping cast of characters who dwell in hero Burke's netherworld, but it can't be done.Vachss set the pace when he introduced his quixotic hero, a guy with a record and standards he's set for himself.Burke is a street wise (or more accurately dark alley wise) misfit who takes on cases that baffle the police.

A gorgeous gal named Flood comes to him asking for help in finding a child killer soas she delicately puts it she"can kill him with her bare hands."The search is on through some of the most dangerous places in New York City and among the lowest of the lowlifes, the desperate depraved denizens of the City.However, while police and other private eyes would be put off by the likes of these, they're people Burke knows and understands.

Vachss writes in a gripping almost staccato style, which is the way actor Christopher Lane narrates the story.It's a task to take on the voices of not only Burke but also his crew of pals, such as a panhandler dubbed the Prof and a genius in electronic who dwells under a pile of junked cars.

If you want a sizzling thriller to heat these cold days, FLOOD is for you.

- Gail Cooke ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

A great mystery
Newly demobilized from the WRNS (Women's Royal Naval Service) after World War 2, Lynn Marchmont is appalled to find what time has done to her family. After having married a young woman named Rosaleen, her rich uncle is killed by a German bomb, leaving the family cut off from the funds that they had grown accustomed to using. Now, the family hates Rosaleen and her brother, David Hunter, and David very much hates them. And when a man shows up claiming that Rosaleen long-lost first husband is actually alive and well, it seems to be the answer to the family's prayers. But, when people start dying, the whole situation turns terribly tangled. There is only one man who can untangle this mystery, and that is the great Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot!

This is another excellent mystery, of just the caliber that you no doubt expect from Agatha Christie. The mystery is nice and twisted, making it totally unclear as to whom the real culprit is, and what is truly going on. I really enjoyed the mystery, and the characters - David Hunter, Lynn Marchmont, and the whole Cloade clan. This is a great mystery, one that I highly recommend!

Fun enough, but not her best
As some of the other reviews have noted, the Christie writing about Rosaleen and the post-war money and "purpose" struggles of Britons are interesting and ring true.Very Teysian in a way...maybe Shutesian.

The mystery is diverting, but felt a teensy bit artificial.We get a new body dumped in every few chapters to keep things going.And a lot of twists on the motivations.It's a similar formula to Death on the Nile, but seemed more effecitve in that book.

Still, a good fun read.Beats 99% of the junk at Barnes and Noble or the new books being churned out.

In Christie's top ten percent, (details)
Prospective buyers will first note that this one, (like many Christie books) has been released under two different titles, "There Is a Tide" and "Taken at the Flood," which is always very confusing for folks who are trying to acquire all the Agatha Christie books. Here, I'm reviewing the 1984 Berkley paperback which is the one I own. The work was originally published in 1948.

The Cloades are a quiet family, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews... including a doctor, a lawyer, and a farmer. They all reside in their cocoon of a sleepy English hamlet dubbed Warmsley Vale; but their financial stability and all their futures are rendered to a shambles when the generous family millionaire, Gordon Cloade, dies suddenly during a German bombing of London, just after he had taken a youthful Irish bride (Rosaleen) and after having additionally neglected to write out a new will to meet his numerous pecuniary promises to his blood relations.

Rosaleen and her disruptive and controlling brother settle in at the Warmsley Vale mansion alongside the numerous remaining Cloades who have every reason to wish the new Mrs. Gordon Cloade dead so that the estate would return to them under English law. Rosaleen's brother, David, enjoys the good life until an ominous man appears at the local inn and who may be Rosaleen's supposedly dead first husband. And so, here we have all the stereotypical ingredients for murder most foul! Murders do subsequently occur (no surprise there!) and the world's greatest detective, Mr. Hercule Poirot, involves himself in resolving the mystery. (I actually think that Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Upfield's Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte were both better but this is the lofty title which Poirot confers upon himself.)

Of her 80 or so books, (and I've read them all, most multiple times), this is one of Christie's best efforts. It has layers of atmosphere, colorful characters, and never-ending surprises. And while I think that her best work was her first one, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, this one is still very strong amongst all the mysteries ever written by anyone.

It's 231 pages in paperback and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Christie's Taken at the Flood Kindle download
An OK story by Agatha Christie, not one of her best in my opinion. Nice read for a lazy summer day. As usual, Agatha Christie has an array of interesting characters and subtle plot twists. I do enjoy Hercule Poirot mysteries and this was one that I had not seen or read before!

In the Affairs of Men
TAKEN AT THE FLOOD is one of the last, and almost the best, of Christie's run of "psychological" novels that she wrote during the 1940s, including SAD CYPRESS, SPARKLING CYANIDE, FIVE LITTLE PIGS, THE HOLLOW, and TOWARDS ZERO.In them you can see her makingconscious effort to give her characters greater depth and emotional complexity, and in general these books, though not as fun perhaps as her earlier triumphs, repay the reader's attention with a rich array of situations in which life as it is actually lived rises to meet us as we go through each book.

FLOOD concerns the plight of one cosseted middleclass family, the Cloades, who are faced with a moral and financial emergency, when their leader, wealthy old Gordon Cloade perishes in a German sir raid in London during WWII, and leaves his money to a gorgeous young Irish girl whom none of them have ever met.Rosaleen is sweet and simpleminded, but her brother, nasty piece of work David Hunter, makes life miserable for the suddenly poor Cloade family.

Christie lets us see Rosaleen Cloade in all her dimensions--her beauty, her innocence, and coupled with those, her guilt and despair.In the opposite corner stands her opposite number, Lynn Marchmont, a country girl who's been overseas in the military and when she comes back home to her farmer fiance, suddenly finds him very humdrum, and David Hunter dangerously attractive.But it's not just the women that Christie writes well--David Hunter is as dashing a rogue as Tom Jones, and Rowley Cloade, the man Lynn left behind when war broke out, is also appealingly characterized.The plot is complicated, but when Poirot sorts it out, as dazzlingly simple as anything Christie ever concocted, all resting on one sinple trick of misdirection.The point is, it wouldn't even need the murder angle to succeed at being a first-rate story of passion and denial, upper class privilege and servant class resentment.But I have to say, every time I read it I fall for the same tricks over and over again.What is Lynn's choice?What does her choice of men say about her?

... Read more

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Customer Reviews (48)

Dark Tide
Very well written, interesting history of a little known event and great tie-in to political environment of the era.

Just as advertised
This book was in excellent condition. It arrived very quickly, I am very happy with this purchase.

READ THIS BOOK: informative & very interesting
I bought this book on impulse, because I had a vague notion that there had been a molasses flood in Boston and because I have family ties to Boston.

This extremely readable book is the product of the author's close reading of thousands of pages of primary sources, and is extremely informative about the flood.

Based on his own extensive knowledge of Boston history, the author was able to show the historical context of the event. For example, the company who owned the molasses tank that collapsed blamed the collapse on anarchists; the author fills us in on the genuine fear (and perhaps hysteria) about anarchists in the USA (and especially in Boston) in those days. He also shows, however, that anarchists were NOT involved in the collapse of the tank; as was determined in the lawsuit against the tank's owners, the cause of the collapse was poor construction and maintenance of the tank.

He vividly creates how 1919 was a terrible year for Boston in general (the molasses flood, economic problems, and the police strike, among other things, made it a terrible year).

He was also able to show how the working people who lived and worked in North Boston felt about the tank, and how they experienced (and suffered) the flood. (Their words & thoughts, he writes, are taken from transcripts of their testimony in the court records of Dorr v. United States Industrial Alcohol, the case that decided that US Industrial Alcohol was at fault for the disaster).

The 3 major divisions of the book are the building of the tank, the disaster itself, and the lawsuit that followed. Mr. Puleo tells each part of the story in a well-documented, readable, and very interesting way.

My conclusion: READ THIS BOOK.

engaging Boston history
Dark Tide is a short and very readable account of Boston's Molasses Flood of 1919. It does a great job of capturing the flavor of Boston life at that time by taking the reader into the lives of a number of people connected with that disaster. The book is in three parts: it follows characters leading up to the molasses flood; it portrays the day of the disaster; and it chronicles the court cases which determines liability. I enjoyed all three segments of the book. This book covers an amazing but little known chapter in American history. If you're wondering how molasses can kill more than 20 people, injure many more, and cause massive property damage, read Dark Tide. I read it for that reason, and was saddened and fascinated by the story.

Memories of New England
An excellent documentary of one of the great disasters of New England and the people who lived through it. This event is frequently lost in the events of Boston's history. ... Read more

Product Description
An American epic of science, politics, race, honor, high society, and the Mississippi River, Rising Tide tells the riveting and nearly forgotten story of the greatest natural disaster this country has ever known -- the Mississippi flood of 1927. The river inundated the homes of nearly one million people, helped elect Huey Long governor and made Herbert Hoover president, drove hundreds of thousands of blacks north, and transformed American society and politics forever.

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, winner of the Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the Lillian Smith Award.Amazon.com Review
When Mother Nature rages, the physical results are never subtle. Because we cannot contain the weather, we can only react by tabulating the damage in dollar amounts, estimating the number of people left homeless, and laying the plans for rebuilding. But as John M. Barry expertly details in Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, some calamities transform much more than the landscape.

While tracing the history of the nation's most destructive natural disaster, Barry explains how ineptitude and greed helped cause the flood, and how the policies created to deal with the disaster changed the culture of the Mississippi Delta. Existing racial rifts expanded, helping to launch Herbert Hoover into the White House and shifting the political alliances of many blacks in the process. An absorbing account of a little-known, yet monumental event in American history, Rising Tide reveals how human behavior proved more destructive than the swollen river itself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (121)

Poignant Historical Revelation
I'm Black and I live in Louisiana. I was born here. My parents were born here as well as my grandparents. In 1927 even white people with means barely made it during and after this flood. I could just imagine what it was like for my Grandfather and Grandmother as I'm reading Rising Tide.

Good grief, it's raining again
This book is more a history of southern political game-playing than that of a great flood, the latter being lost in a story of the political skullduggery of local, regional, and even national politicians who played a role, invited or otherwise, in the etiology of the flood and its sequelae. The tragedy of the flood, its human toll, and the devastation of the landscape are all clearly described. Still, it is difficult for the reader to comprehend the range and depth of the devastation, if only because of its immensity.Accountings of the flood itself and how it affected those in its path are well written, but all is overshadowed by the unbelievably self-serving actions of the political leaders of the area, their gross incompetency in providing leadership, guidance,and timely assistance to the untold thousands of their constituencies, and of similar failings in many of the flood control experts, no two of which seemed able to agree on the best way to handle the crisis. It seems that everyone inauthority was out to advance his or her career or in some way promote ther private agenda without regard for the thouands who were sick, injured, and/or had lost their land, crops, and personal possessions including their homes. On the positive side, the reader will learn a lot about rivers and their behavior patterns and personalities. Who knew? Dr. Gr.

All forest, no trees
Astoundingly, for a book that spends nearly a quarter of its length recounting the life stories of three engineers whose recommendations on how to prevent the Mississippi River from flooding the Army Corps of Engineers ultimately (albeit stupidly) rebuffed, John Barry's Rising Tide provides no background on sharecropping, and next to none regarding anything else about the lives of the black farmers who would suffer the most severely from the 1927 deluge.In fact, between (1) his repeated praise for "planter" LeRoy Percy's fairly enlightened--for his time, place, and station--attitude toward black people (he condemned race-baiting politicians and the Klan); (2) his (Barry's) utterly disingenuous claim that black farmers at the turn of the 20th century owned two-thirds of farms in the Delta (they certainly did not own two-thirds of the land); and (3) his practically total lack of discussion of the Southern black experience outside of Washington County, Mississippi (royal demesne of Percy and family), Barry almost makes it seem like things weren't so bad for black Southerners.

They were.When Barry wrote Rising Tide, he was at least familiar with Pete Daniels' The Shadow of Slavery: Peonage in the South, 1901-1969.It's listed in his bibliography.But not only does Barry fail to ever define peonage (it's enslavement for debt), he fails to take it at all seriously.But peons are exactly what altogether far too many black farmers in the South were before the flood, and what every black person was (if not an outright chattel slave) who was held in a Red Cross concentration camp during and after the flood and compelled at the point of National Guard rifles to labor without pay pending return to the plantation he or she came from.

But while Rising Tide lacks perspective, it does not lack worth.What it does deem important--viz., (1) the contest between the Mississippi River and its levees (and the black laborers forced to keep raising those levees ever higher), from the fall of 1926 through the spring of 1927; (2) the hyperexclusive white, male, gentile plutocracy of New Orleans, and how it ran roughshod over the muskrat trappers of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana; (3) Herbert Hoover's rise from Calvin Coolidge's flood czar to the presidency, through, in part, his manipulation of the African American levers of power (such as they were), and despite his heartlessness and incompetence (except in the immediate aftermath of the flooding); (4) Will Percy (son of LeRoy), and his abuse of the black flood victims of Washington County, whom the Red Cross had made his charges--it investigates in great detail, yet explains with ease and perfect clarity.With one exception: Barry never defines the word "flood." The reader is left to guess that a river floods as soon as it overflows its banks, i.e., that a river may be in flood whether it tops or punches through its levees or not. This is a critical issue, and the book should have dealt with it explicitly.

The big problem with Rising Tide, then, is that Barry chooses to tell the story of the 1927 flood solely through the stories of a small handful of personalities, all of them elites, all but one of them wealthy white men (the overly optimistic Robert Moton of Tuskegee Institute is the exception).The reader will thus learn precious little about the ways in which the great deluge harmed the average victim.Again, though, in spite of its want of comprehensiveness, Barry's book is worth reading, as it does at least seem authoritative on those matters which it does treat in depth.

(I should add, though, that, early on, Barry asserts a number of things which are simply not true. For example, he says that James Eads invented the diving bell, that the Eads bridge no longer carries rail traffic, and that Mary Grace Quackenbos was the first woman U.S. attorney.These errors don't necessarily mean that the rest of the book is not to be trusted, but they don't lend unwavering confidence, either.A somewhat slighter criticism is that the Atchafalaya River appears on none of the maps in Rising Tide, even though it plays a very important role in the story of the 1927 flood, and of the Mississippi ever since.)

A historical eye opener to the laws of physics vs. politics...
This book provides an eye-opening history of how our country began planning, designing, financing and building our nations infrastructure.It involves competing egos of brillant men who challenged one another through the laws of physics and politics that all came to reality during the Great Flood of 1927.The Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans in 2005 tells us we didn't learn our lessons in '27.Have we learned them now?Only time will tell. This book will continue to be a popular historical read as future floods challenge our levee systems and flood control projects across the nation.It should be required reading for anyone involved in public service; especially those who work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

a story of the flood, but not the aftermath
I highly recommend this book, but not for the sake of the subtitle. I expected a story of the flood and then a telling of the "great migration" that must have followed, but that is not this book. This riveting story begins about a few key men who tried to tame (direct) the river in good times and, more importantly, in flood times. In the beginning, the mid-1800s, rival engineers argue over and build various flood control systems. This part tells the tale of good science versus political connections. In the middle, mid-1800s to early 1900s, plantations are built in the Yazoo-Mississippi delta. Apparently the richest farmland imaginable on earth -- fortunes are made, slaves are kept, then sharecroppers are employed. Again, politics and flood control mix to mediocre effect. Last, the story of the great 1927 flood is told. For the bulk of the human aspect of the story, the author chose west-central Mississippi (Greenville) down the river to New Orleans and the Gulf. One great lesson is how vast the Mississippi delta truly is. Ohio to Colorado, Minnesota to Louisiana, the combined river system is staggeringly interconnected. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (44)

The Review For All Who Do Not Believe, Or Whose Faith Has Been Shaken In The Biblical Account
So what do YOU assume about it all, man or woman subscribing to the "official story" of evolution? Can you "prove" your evolutionary BELIEF? I certainly don't want anyone opposed to the existance of God or the Bible to HAVE to believe the way I do, neither do I want it taught in the schools, yet the religion of evolutionary "science", a religion that requires infinite more belief* (yet appeals to those needing to justify their existance without God), is taught as fact and you can flunk your school courses if you do not likewise subscribe to it! Is this not discrimination?
I suspect that those needing to justify their existance and way of life apart from a Creator will not recognize their hypocrisy. They know that if nothing was taught about the origin of man or the universe (as should be, as nothing can trully be proven using trully scientific method), all mankind would have to question their existance (something which defies all human logic and reason) on their own. Are the lords of science afraid that many will inevitably come to the realization that there HAS to be a God (even as Einstein eventually did), given the meticulous order observable in every ecosystem man has not corrupted on this planet?
What of how we're constantly told how it had to take "millions and billions of years" to explain different fossils found in the earth's crust. What are these assumptions based on? That each layer in the earth's crust represents a different period of earth's history, thus whatever is found trapped therein, MUST come from said period. Yet a world wide flood (biblical/mythical hocus pocus to the modern "enlightened" man, yet, interestingly enough, supported in most aboriginal folklore) much more adequately and satisfactorily explains how animals and plants could become trapped in the earth in a manner which would allow for fossilization in the first place. (i.e. adequate pressure and the absence of oxygen.) You can't bury Fluffy the family pet out back and expect to come back twenty years later and find a fossil. Why? Because oxidization has decayed Fluffy's corpse and you'd be lucky to find a few bone fragments even in that relatively short period of time. In order to become fossilized, the living being must become quickly trapped under enough sediment to hold it firmly in place and not allow any oxygen to reach it. That's why most modern fossils occur in the sea after fierce storms that churn the murky depths and trap sea creatures under the sediment.
Some say, "geological fact" and "high school earth science" perhaps completely unaware of what factors must occur to create a fossil or layers in the earth's sediment, or that, TO THIS DAY, not one example of a so-called "missing link" has been discovered. You can carbon date your old gym shoes and the result will, more often than not, come back that they are centuries old! Would you trust, or continue to rely on a scale that was no more specific than to attribute you with a weight of somewhere between 1 and 4,000 lbs? I doubt it. You are merely trusting in the word of other fallible humans for your BELIEFS. This is religion, not fact.
To many so-called "Christians": Stop hedging your bets with this demonic false doctrine of "Intelligent Design"! O, you of little faith! Do you wish to escape ridicule, thinking in your weak hearts that the word of Yahweh is fallible and that the fools of this world have disproved your belief? You will be judged accordingly for your lack of faith. The devil has set up his false religions, clandestine organizations, and "scientific" orders since this world came into existance in order that you may be led astray, tossed to and fro on every wind of doctrine. Study His Word! It is the only source of truth in this world. Man's Reason will not save your eternal soul!

*when has life ever (apart from the movies) been created by an explosion (i.e. the Big Bang Theory), how does order come from chaos, etc.??

How Can You Take an Author Seriously Who Calculates the Size of Noah's Ark in Railroad Boxcars?
Yes, Whitcomb has lifted his head from the Bible and left the monastery to observe the world, but in doing so he wasted his time. On page 420 he declares the multiple levels of in place, upright layers of petrified trees at Specimen Ridge in Yellowstone as 'evidence of the Great Flood' which he calculates down to the exact number of about 370 days. How the twenty or so layers of trees could grow, be buried in volcanic ash, petrify and grow again for repeated cycles in 370 days he does not state, believing instead 'The Flood' caused it all, as well as every other canyon, cave, lake, crystal, sediment layer, coal deposit, fossil that has ever been found.

He believes trilobites are out there somewhere yet to be found because he doesn't believe in the geological time scale (page 179 "the most important index fossil of the Paleozoic...should turn up, one of these days"), that Noah didn't have to feed the animals because they went into hibernation, that kangaroos obligingly hopped to Noah's village to get on the ark and then hopped back to Australia when it ended, that mammals were smarter than reptiles and they all ran up the hills when the Great Flood came,which is why the sediments show the age of mammals came after (and above in the rocks) the age of the dinosaurs.

He believes the world was flat when the flood came as the oceans rose up and pushed the water over the land, all mountains of the world only forming after the flood (otherwise how could Noah and his animals breathe if the water rose above Mt. Everest?)

Oh, and Whitcomb uses the Bible to calculate the Ark's exact dimensions, page 10, those being 437.5 feet long, 79.92 feet wide and 43.75 feet high. He uses this along with, on page 69, calculating cargo capacity by comparing the Ark size to rail stock cars noting "the number of animals per car varies greatly, depending on the size and age of the animals" and he is able to assure the reader that the Ark did have enough space for all the world's animals. This is not science reader, this is fantasy and make believe. If you still have any doubts, Whitcomb concludes that a belief in The Genesis Flood is essential so that people know God can punish humanity when they deserve it, a throwback to the ignorance and superstitions of the Dark Ages, prevalent in some quarters even today.

Mt Heights
A THOUGHT:

The mountains may have been a lot lower pre-flood -- since the rain had not yet gathered into
the Great Deep.

The great weight of the water may have been enough (later) to raise enormous plates (like Anapurna and Everest)
to the fantastic heights we see today.

Thus, the primeval surface of the earth (during the Flood) may have been much lower, until Isostatic forces
pushed down to lower great ocean basins and produce the rise of great mountain ranges.

Even today, scientists inform us the surface of the earth is much smoother than an orange.Imagine a liquid
film covering an orange and there you have perhaps, the situation (in miniature) that existed during the Noachian Deluge.

oh good God
people, this is not science! how many times must it be said? like i've said before, i have nothing against people who believe in a young earth, but when you diss those who believe in an old earth (progressive creationists, theistic evolutionists, etc.), call their ideas unscientific nonsense, and say there's no way for God to have used evolution, then i don't tolerate you. i believe in theistic evolution, and see no conflict between my faith in God, and evolution. i personally believe theistic evolution is the most reasonal belief, and the most scientific. i can't wait till all this yec stuff goes away.

Morris' heavily footnoted science is just misdirection
(This review was written for the recent book by Karl Giberson: 'Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution', but the last half of the review discusses Morris and Whitcomb's Genesis Flood. Giberson argues that it is Morris' technical arguments in this book that have largely been responsible for convincing a large swath of the fundamentalist community that biologists are all wrong about evolution and geologists are all wrong about the age of the earth.)

This book (Giberson) is in part a nicely written history of the effort by a relatively tiny group of fundamentalist christians who have argued, quite sucessfully if polls are to be believed, that biologists have evolution all wrong and geologists have the age of the earth all wrong. Anti-evolution and young earth views fit well with a literal reading of the bible, and this has resulted in the last 50 to 100 years in these views being adopted by a wide swath of the fundamentalist clergy and community, most of whom are untrained technically.

Giberson is a self described christian scientist whose writing is accurate, technically persuasive, and sometimes even poetic. Clearly one of his aims in this book is to convince his friends in the fundamentalist world that their anti-evolution and young earth creationists views are just plain wrong. In just two pages (p189-190) he shows why evolution (almost) has to be true, listing eight (of many) independent lines of evidence that support it. He could have strengthen his argument if he had included a little math. For example, if each of eight 'independent' arguments for evolution is only 90% likely to be true and 10% likely to be false, then the likelihood of no evolution, which requires all eight arguments to fail, is one in 100 million! (This is figured as 0.1 multiplied by itself eight times.)

I agreed with about 99% of the points Giberson makes in this book even though I am a non-religious engineer. The 1% that bothered me was his making nice-nice with the pied pipers who have have spread the anti-evolution and young earth message which have lead a wide swath of the fundamentalist community into the wilderness. As he traces the history of the creationist movement, Giberson focuses on one book which he argues had the greatest influence on the fundamentalist community: 'Genesis Flood' by Morris and Whitcom published in 1961. The technical of the two authors is the recently deceased PhD engineer/scientist Henry Morris. Giberson had grown up a fundamentalist and had read Genesis Flood in high school and been convinced by it, so Morris, who Giberson calls "a giant of American fundamentalism", was something of a boyhood hero to the young Giberson.

Here are some of the phrases Giberson uses to describe the 513 page Genesis Flood and its impact:

* impressively technical, masterful, entire presentation was very believable

* enough footnotes, graphs, and pictures to convince any intellectually oriented fundamentalist (that the earth was created about 10,000 years ago and there is no reason to take evolution seriously)

* bombshell, watershed event, what it accomplished was nothing short of astonishing

* perhaps the most influential text on any topic in the second half of the 20th century (This claim for the book is really something, and it caused me to go to Amazon and buy a used copy of the Genesis Flood.)

Later in the book Giberson refers to popular creationist arguments as "rubbish" and has a whole page listing the tricky and deceptive arguments "used to great effect in virtually every creationist text". But curiously Giberson never singles out Morris, who he has identified as the chief pied piper, for criticism. Maybe this is because he was a friend, or maybe because Giberson thinks there has been too much name calling in the evolution/creationism fight. Issac Asimov said, "Creationists are stupid, lying people" (p138) and Richard Dawkins has called them, "Stupid, Wicked and Insane" which Giberson uses for a chapter title.

I was also a little disappointed that Giberson never addresses the bigger picture of how christian theology is a poor fit to the continuum of life and random nature revealed by evolution. For example, Giberson mentions the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, but he doesn't even comment on it. Clearly this was a one time random event. It might have missed the earth or have been a little smaller in which case dinosaurs might still be around and almost for sure we'd not be here now. If it had been a little bigger, it might have sterilized the surface of the earth, forcing life on earth to re-evolve from underground or underwater microbes, in which case almost for sure we'd not be here now. Does christian theology make any attempt to deal with random turning points like this in life's history? Not that I've seen. Can a theologian please tell me: if the meteorite had been a little smaller, would Jesus still have arrived around zero BCE and instead of being squeezed out of Mary, have popped out of a dinosaur egg?
----------------------
On Morris & Genesis Flood

I dipped into Genesis Flood to see how Morris operated. Typical is Morris' discussion of radioactive dating of the earth. For 20 pages or so Morris quotes and footnotes every published reference he can find that says earlier dates were wrong, and he discusses every known measurement error of the procedure. Arthur Holmes, who Morris mentions(p334), had already determined the age of the earth by 1913 via a primitive radioactive decay procedure to be 1.6 billion years, off by only a factor of three from the currently accepted age. These relatively small errors discussed in the geology literature have 'zero' relevance to the Morris & Whitcom position that the earth is only 10,000 years old. There is a factor of 'one million' between 4.6 billion and 4.6 thousand! Finally many pages into the technical discussion of radioactive techniques, probably reached only by the persistent reader, Morris owns up to the fact that even if the measurement errors were off by a factor of ten they would still yield an age for the earth of more than 100 million years, far in excess of his 10,000 years. He doesn't do the math, but 100 million is x10,000 longer than his 10,000 years.

So what's Morris' rebuttal to radioactive dating? It's that god created the radioactive parent/daughter ratios in the rocks so the earth would "appear" old! And why is it that all the various geochronometer methods involving different elements and isotopes yield ages close together? I quote his response, "In the absence of a specific revelation, it seems impossible to decide this question with finality." (p346) Translation --- I couldn't figure out an explanation for this one.

Morris, who minored in geology (says Giberson), knew exactly what he was doing in this book. He was not 'uninformed' as Giberson says at one point. All the hundreds of footnoted pages discussing various age measurement errors are smoke screens, inserted for misdirection, for confusion, to lend supposed scientific credibility to Morris' and Whitcom's biblically inspired answers. The pattern repeats again and again.

Astronomical dating --- Stars 'appear' to be billions of light years away, because god created photons 'in flight' says Morris. The HR diagram (Hertzsprung-Russell or luminosity vs color diagram) has been around since 1914. It is a powerful tool for estimating the age of stars in clusters. From basic stellar physics and observation it is known that large, bright stars burn through their supply of hydrogen much, much faster (x1,000) than small dim stars, so large stars can have lifetimes of 20 million years vs 20 billion years for small stars. By plotting stars in a cluster on an HR diagram and seeing where the brighter, faster burning stars go missing (technically move off the main sequence), a rough estimate of the age of the cluster is obtained. When this is done for some large star clusters in the halo of our galaxy, an estimated age of 13 billion years is obtained, about three times the age of the earth.

So how does Morris deal with this? He doesn't deal with it, there's no mention of HR diagrams or star clusters. He just waves his arms saying cosmology is speculative (HR diagrams have nothing to do with cosmology) and astronomical dating is less firmly grounded than radioactive dating (granted), so it's not worth considering. Now there's a non-sequitor. ... Read more

Product Description

AN UNDERWATER GRAVEYARD IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...A MYSTERIOUS SEAPORT IN THE LOUISIANA BAYOUS...A DIABOLICAL PLOT TO DESTROY AMERICA!

When NUMA agent DIRK PITT® rescues a beautiful undercover agent in a daring underwater operation at Orion Lake, just north of Seattle, he confronts a sinister network run by Qin Shang, a ruthless smuggler who sells Chinese immigrants into slavery. Shang's campaign contributions have bought him a collection of powerful U.S. politicians, but Pitt is not a man to be subverted by politics. As he moves to probe Shang's mystifying seaport in the Louisiana bayous, his investigation involves him in an adrenaline-pumped race up the Mississippi River and a desperate dash to recover sunken Chinese treasures lost half a century before. And in Qin Shang, Pitt faces ones of his most formidable foes -- a madman bent on killing thousands of innocent civilians with a catastrophic surge of mass destruction.Amazon.com Review
When a hero whose name never appears in print without a registeredtrademark symbol beside it sets out on a new adventure, readers should knowwhat to expect: a great deal of derring-do, outlandish adventures, andfantastical scenarios. For Dirk Pitt, reality is an inconsequentialconstruct. What matters is the U.S. National Underwater and MaritimeAgency (NUMA) superhero's unflagging energy, wit, strength, sex appeal, andpatriotism. In this tale of a Chinese billionaire who plans to divert themighty Mississippi in order to expand his illegal smuggling ring, find atreasure lost at sea nearly half a century ago, and, incidentally, split theU.S. into three countries controlled by China, Cussler's American versionof James Bond struggles to save the day. All his trusty sidekicks are here,including Al Giordino, a regular partner in Pitt's underwater adventures,and Admiral Sandecker, the NUMA commander. This time there's a beautifulChinese American INS agent as the love interest, and a mendacious Americanpresident, too. Flood Tide is a romp that will tickle Pitt and Cussler's many fans, as well as readers new to this author who may find themselves stranded on the tarmac or tanning on Caribbean beaches. --Jane Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (212)

Dirk Pitt goes on vacation
THE LOWDOWN: Easily one of Dirk Pitt's most hair-raising adventures. He gets into so many scrapes in this book you could not count them off on both hands, the bad guy is so hatable you can taste it, his scheme is large-scale and ingenious, and there is a real-life lost treasure at stake.

THE PLOT: Dirk Pitt, still reeling from a personal tragedy (see Shock Wave), is on vacation at his cabin on Orion Lake when he comes across Chinese human smuggler Qin Shang's mass grave at the bottom of the lake, and dramatically rescues an INS agent from Shang's facility. From there he uncovers a massive conspiracy by Shang's shipping company to divert the Mississippi river to flow through his newly constructed port instead of New Orleans, giving him control of much of America's maritime traffic, as well as killing thousands in the process.

THE PROS: Probably one of the longest of the Pitt books, Flood Tide goes by much faster than you would think, with constant action, intrigue, and colorful characters. The covert spy ship Oregon and its captain (which now have their own spin-off series) are introduced in this book, and have a pitched battle with a Chinese destroyer that results in Juan Cabrillo's trademark injury. Other action scenes include an airplanes vs. boat pursuit downriver, a car chase that sees Pitt driving a Dusenberg through DC's reflecting pool, a gunfight in Pitt's hangar, an assault on a renegade cruise ship, and the climactic submersible battle between Pitt and Shang aboard a sunken ship.

THE CONS: There is very little to dislike about this book, but there are a few things that do bug me about this novel. One of which is the surprisingly antagonistic "Cold War" approach uses to the United States' relationship with China. With the Soviet Union out of the picture it seems like Cussler is trying to make China the new Russia in Pitt's adventures. The only other quibble I have is that the central treasure of the story has nothing to do with Shang's plot, it is simply a device used to lure the villain into a showdown.

Flood Tide another winner.
I am not as good at reviewing as others on here, but Amazon sort of pushes the issue. So I will simply say that as a Dirk Pitt fan, I was not disappointed. Another winner.

needs better editing
I love CC books and have read all of them.This one had a couple, at least. of glaring editorial errors.Either that, or the author cannot remember what he wrote.At the beginning, describing the sinking of the Princess, he is very careful to let us know that the Chinese officer in charge of the cargo very carefully removed or destroyed all communication gear from the ship.Of course, the ship's captain objected, in case of an emergency, they would not be able to send out an SOS call.No matter, all that gear came out, the ship did sink and could not radio a distress signal.Later on, Pitt is with Mr. Purlmutter, the naval historian, who looks up the name of the ship and says, Oh yes, a radio operator off the coast of S. America received an SOS radio call from that ship, but she disappeared and has not been heard of since.Hmmm, a phantom radio?Space aliens??

Also, later Pitt asks his computer expert to look up any info on the evil Chinese mastermine, but the report was extremely skimpy.Nothing of note to report.However, again, later in the book, both Adm. Sandecker and Rudi Gunn are giving Pitt reams of info on Qin.Where did they get their information??

The book is a standard Clive Cussler book, which I enjoyed.I like all of his books.I just cannot help noting these minor descrepencies in the story line.It kind of puts me off for the book in general.

my13th clive cussler novel
Flood Tide is my 13th novel by Clive Cussler. I buy them at random depending on what I feel like reading at the time instead of buying them in series order. That said, most of the ones I've bought have been part of his Dirk Pitt series but I've bought a couple of his Kurt Austin series and even one of his Oregon Files series.
Flood Tide deals with one of the earlier adventures in Dirk Pitt's NUMA career.Most of the dates in the book referance the year 2000 as the present time and this story has Dirk Pitt as a single man.
However, future books bring the character up through the years though as of this review I don't know of one that uses year 2010.
Also, while Pitt stays a troubleshooter for NUMA thoughout the series he developes from a single manto a married, family man in later books. How this effects his character I leave up to the reader to find out.
I hope everyone enjoys the books as much as I have.

Decent adventure
This book has all the hallmarks of a good action-adventure novel: a handsome, courageous hero (Dirk Pitt), a beautiful woman (INS agent Julia) and a sidekick (Al Giordino, hungry as ever), exotic locales (generally the bottom of the sea, with forays into Louisiana, China, and Korea), and gadgetry (all manner of ships and submersibles).The book's plot revolves around an industrialist who wants to increase his immigrant smuggling operation by diverting the mighty Mississippi River.Not the greatest adventure ever written, and not even the greatest Dirk Pitt adventure, but a good read. ... Read more

Product Description
Crankier than ever, Agatha Raisin wants to forget that her husband left her to enter a monastery-a turn of affairs more humiliating than when she caught him with a mistress. She feels abandoned, fat, frumpy, and absolutely furious.

What are her options? She takes an island vacation and joins a Pilates class. But what finally lifts her spirits is finding a corpse. The dead girl is a member of Agatha's exercise class, afloat in a rain-swollen river, dressed in a bridal gown, and clutching a wedding bouquet. Agatha's policeman friend Bill Wong suggests she leave this macabre murder to the Worcester CID. Pah! What do they know? Once she enlists the aid of the bachelor mystery writer next door, puts on a disguise, and interviews some likely suspects, Agatha will be her brash, redoubtable self again- unless she becomes the killer's next victim first...
... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

WOE IS ME, I'M GROWING OLDER
This is only my fourth Agatha Raisin book but I'm afraid that I am becoming tired on her constant whining over her advancing age and physical attractiveness (or lack thereof).I do realize that this book is #12 in the series and follows the departure of James, her now ex-husband, who left her to join a monastery (of all things) and the marriage of her latest paramour to another woman.One can understand that she might be a bit lacking in the self-esteem department and the fact that she signs up for Pilates classes and undergoes a beauty over-haul are understandable actions as is her get-away vacation to Robinson Crusoe Island.......but all that incessant kvetching about men, her looks, her age and her love life begins to wear a bit thin.

Upon returning from her island trip torrential rain and flooding strike her village and Agatha sees the body of a young woman clothe in a wedding dress floating down the river.She recalls the woman from an incident that occurred during her visit to the beauty salon the previous day and, being Agatha, feels she has carte blanche to investigate the girl's death.As usual, she is warned by the police "not to interfere" with their investigation.......a warning she promptly dismisses.

The usual characters are all here as well as a couple of new ones like John Armitage, a successful mystery writer, who has conveniently moved into the house next door and is thereby available to assist Agatha with her investigation as well as play a part in her romantic fantasies. The mystery itself if pretty simple and the police are predictably obtuse.

On the plus side, there are a couple of amusing sequences like Agatha's vaulting into the bushes while trying to evade on oncoming vehicle and being mistaken for a drunk when she staggers out of her hiding place.Objectively speaking, this is an unremarkable addition to this cozy series with a few amusing scenes and comments that elevate it from humdrum to adequate. 2 1/2 stars

--Agatha, impatient and rude, but somehow a loveable curmudgeon--
Poor Agatha's, confused and unhappy. James, the love of her life has left her to join a monastery. Her old and very good friend, Charles Fraith, has married and didn't even invite Agatha to the wedding! She's depressed, and looking to move on with her life.

After a holiday on a faraway island in the South Pacific, Agatha returns home refreshed and ready to begin again. She decides to stop smoking and exercise more, but nothing's easy. Well, there's a light in the tunnel, John Armitage, anattractive man, is a new neighbor.

After some heavy rains and flooding, Agatha heads for her exercise class when she spots the body of a very young woman floating in the river. The woman is wearing a wedding dress. Agatha, now has a cause and she decides to investigate the possible crime and find out if the death was a murder or an accident.She, along with John Armitage pretend to be reporters with a TV station in order to visit the youth scene of pubs and romance.They hope to discover why the young woman died.

Again, Agatha takes on more than she can handle.Good story!

The Vicar Was Right:Agatha Raisin Is One Silly (and Immature) Woman
Not too long ago I read one Janet Evanovich cosy mystery starring Stephanie Plum, a female protagonist who is in her thirties.M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin is a good deal older than Stephanie Plum but certainly no wiser, no more skilled, and is certainly just as silly.

The Vicar in this novel repeatedly calls Agatha Raisin a silly woman, and after the irresponsible and immature shenanigans the reader witnesses in Agatha Raisin's behavior throughout the story, the reader knows there has to be one person here who is no fool and who knows what's what, and that happens to be the Vicar after all.Like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, M.C. Beaton's protagonist is inept, is constantly getting herself into trouble because of her own ineptness, and eventually has to be rescued by men even while she disparages them.

In one scene, Agatha Raisin (which is I think a really wonderful name to give a main character in a series) wears a wig and sunglasses to disguise herself but is nearly run over at night by a car driven by someone who recognizes her by her wig and sunglasses.In the very next scene, a (silly) woman friend calls on Agatha and asks to borrow her wig and sunglasses so she can attend a secret tryst with a married man.Agatha gives her friend the wig and sunglasses fresh off her own near-death risk in the self-same disguise she's now turned over to her friend.Agatha's gesture here is neither kind nor generous; it expresses, unintentionally perhaps, a thoughtlessness of mind and shows just how mindlessly inappropriate a mature Agatha Raisin can behave -- or how the author lets her behave -- especially for one who considers herself a worthwhile sleuth and gets upset when she's not credited or praised for her so-called skills.

Of course, Agatha's friend is soon killed thereafter by a strange car.Not only does Agatha Raisin experience little guilt or awareness of her own responsibility for this murder, but M.C. Beaton tries to distract the reader from her main character's culpability by focusing on Agatha's sudden self-consciousness about a hair protruding from her upper lip while she is kissing a handsome mystery writer who lives nextdoor to her, a John Armitage who comes to see her in her home.Not that she's really interested in romance or men.Yeah, right.Pure hypocrisy.

A lot of the deaths that occur in this story, as in every cosy, occur in the background, but the odd thing is that Agatha Raisin's behavior here is played for laughs meanwhile, and I personally found the lack of seriousness about the murders, about death and responsibility quite sickening, tragic in its lack of appropriate affect by the author for her character.A mystery novel is not a pinball or video game, where death is immaterial and just all about the fun and the laughs.

M.C. Beaton makes Agatha Raisin appear sometimes like a crotchety old matron, a character trait appropriate for an older single woman, maybe, but for the most part the author paints a temperament for this very amateurish middle-aged female sleuth that is histrionically adolescent and short-attention spanned.Cosy mysteries are supposed to have intelligent single women as amateur sleuths.This novel doesn't meet that standard. It falls far below it.An old Stephanie Plum is what she is, and not nearly as attractive as her American competitor.I don't know why any truly intelligent woman would read this series (or Evanovich's series either, for that matter).

What an unsympathetic character
This is the first, and will be the only, Agatha Raisin book that I have read.The others are going back today.The writing itself is fairly good -- better than, say, the first book of the "Gourmet Girl" series, which was recently inflicted on my consciousness, although not nearly as good as, say, Dorothy Sayers' classic works, like Busman's Holiday.The plot in this book is a bit thin and fantastical, but acceptable.I have read, and will continue to read, more books by this author; I'm just really turned off by this character.

Agatha Raisin is a 50-something divorced woman that is irritatingly "sensitive", which is to say that she obsessively overanalyzes whether each and every male character's action indicates sexual attraction to her.If men were to swoon at her feet, or to say romantic things to her, then this would prove that she's desirable and that therefore life is worth living.However, most of the men around her live their normal lives, which doesn't involve much swooning or delivering romanticgifts or expounding on her 'deceptively youthful beauty' (why is "young" a compliment in our culture?) every few pages, so she tends to think that she's doomed to a life of romantic failure, and -- quite unfortunately -- she hasn't got a Plan B:either she's an outstanding romantic success, or she's a failure.She has almost zero self-confidence, few enough moral standards, and is really disgustingly vain.She tries to buy her way out of emotional disarray with cosmetics, hair styling, exercise classes, cigarettes, and expensive vacations.I found the nicotine addiction to be intrusive, but the scene in which she can't pay attention to *anything else* because she has discovered a short hair on her upper lip, and "he" might be revolted by this tiny and temporary physical imperfection, was the end of any lingering sympathy for her.

In this book, Ms Raisin runs away from the problems engendered by her "hopeless romanticism" -- twice -- to get advice from a conveniently placed stranger, a Latino "wise woman".This character irritates me for being essentially a classic, and classically racist, "magical negro" character, with the only material difference being that she exists to make Ms Raisin look pathetically sensitive and in need of gentle guidance or loving support (character development), instead of simply a deus ex machina to advance the plot.

Ms Raisin is also stupid, which is to say that she lets her vanity lead her into amazing foolishness, resulting in a supposedly exciting (read:predictably life-threatening), but unrealistic, conclusion.(A realistic conclusion would have involved a search warrant, a couple of police officers, and a debriefing over coffee after the action.)

This book really seems to be a romance novel, with enough detecting thrown in that you don't have to face the stigma of buying a plain old romance novel.Perhaps it appeals to women that are as vain, shallow, insecure, stupid, and/or wholly dependent on men to prop up their flagging self-images as the title character.If Ms Raisin's life and values seemed realistic to the reader, then perhaps such a reader would find the character more sympathetic.Perhaps (being average in most of these respects) I'm simply too young and too successful to appreciate a character that is convinced that she's a worthless old failure.I don't recommend giving this book to anyone as a gift unless you want to say, "I think you're an aging, oversensitive failure, so perhaps you'd like reading about this other aging, oversensitive failure."

Also, like old cult horror movies, I suspect that the series also appeals to people that can laugh at Ms Raisin's endless "sensibilities", instead of being disgusted by her apparently total lack of "sense", and who can therefore treat it as a bit of candy for the brain.Unfortunately, I'm in the "disgusted by it" camp, and wish I hadn't read it.

Agatha carries on
Poor Agatha!After much plotting and many problems (like the not so dead first husband turning up at the wedding!) Agatha and James finally got married, and it was a disaster finally ending when he left her to join a monastery.Anxious to put it all behind her Agatha decided to travel to Robinson Crusoe Island, literally half a world away.There she managed to gain a certain amount of peace but when she returned home to Carsely she found that despite her best efforts things soon returned to normal, or at least what passed for normal in Agatha's life.

On her way to pilates class a body of a young woman in a wedding dress, clutching a bouquet swept by in a flooded river.Agatha recognized the young woman from a chance encounter a few days before and a few days later found herself investigating the young woman's murder.On the homefront the next door cottage that had formerly been occupied by her now ex-husband James was been purchased by another middle aged bachelor who also just happens to be a writer.Roy Silver turns up on her doorstep to continue his mission to lure her back to the London PR world, and Sir Charles appears looking for sympathy concerning his marital woes.To cap things off Agatha is also back in form getting into spats with her neighbors and trying the patience of her long suffering friends.

Those who are fans of this long running series of cozies featuring the prickly Agatha will enjoy reading this story of Agatha getting over her ill fated romance with James.Cozy fans that are unfamiliar with Agatha's adventures will probably be lost starting with this one, better to begin with the first, AGATHA RAISIN AND THE QUICHE OF DEATH and work their way through the series in as close to order as possible.As always with this series the true attraction is the backstory of Agatha and her adventures in the village rather than the mystery although this one has enough twists to surprise the reader once or twice. ... Read more

Product Description

Brian Fagan examines the social effects of El Niño and otherpowerful weather phenomena in Floods, Famines and Emperors. Hegives plenty of examples of how cultures have adapted to stressfulweather and the ways in which climatic alterations have changed thecourse of history. From droughts in ancient Egypt to monsoons inIndia, the far-reaching effects of meteorology's most cantankerous kidhave deeply affected the way humans live in the world. Illustratedwith useful maps and diagrams, Floods, Famines and Emperors isa clear, fascinating look at an aspect of climate studies--and of ElNiño--mostly ignored by science. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

An Interesting Overview of How Cyclical Weather Patterns Affect Civilizations.
I read Fagan's "Time Detectives: How Archaeologists Use Modern Technology to Unravel The Secrets of the Past" and found it to be rather simplistic and not very engrossing. However, I found Floods, Famines and Emperors: El Nino and the Fate of Civilizations to be much more interesting. It starts by giving a history of some of the early scientists and weather watchers who recorded their observations and began to notice wide area, even global patterns and cycles. These were the first meteorologists and climatologists. He goes on to describe how historical records of climate change were pieced together from ice cores, sea bottom mud cores and tree rings to show that the globe has gone through several cycles of cooling and warming over the last 15-20 millenia. He then goes on to link cyclical patterns such as El Nino to very wet weather on the North American West Coast and corresponding drought in Brazil's northeast. Finally, he ties some of the more severe incidences of these cyclical patterns to the collapse of civilizations in North America, South America and Africa.

Important topic
The relationship between climate change and human history is an important subject given our current epoch, however, Fagan's 1999 book book does not give it true justice. Fagan tends to drone on giving example after example before he draws tentative conclusions, which, as other reviewers have noted, can get tedious. One problem here is that he is writing as if his audience are historians or meteorologists, which most of us aren't. Hence, the excurisons into ancient Egypt or mid millenium Peru need more exposition to set the time and place, and fewer examples of this or that ruler.

On a related note, this book could benefit enormously with more illustrations and better illustrations. The few illustrations that are present are, to say the least, elemental. Moreover, they don't appear to be located near the text that mentions them, and usually they don't contain most of the subject matter that he is discussing. This type of book needs good illustrations and lots of them.

There is merit to the book, and if you can get past the problems listed above, there is some valuable information here. But this is hardly the place to begin if you are interested in this important subject.

Dorught will end the world
"Floods, Famines and Emperors" was a very sobering look at the impact of climate change on past civilizations.The author's focus on droughts was particularly interesting, since I live in Georgia, andwa are currently in the midst of a "water war" with Florida and Alabama.I especially reccommend this book to any who believe that the current concern with global warning is over-blown.

Must read for global climate information
Little discussed by the main stream, El Nino is shown to be a powerful influence on global weather. Easy to read and understand.

A bit montonous
As a fan of Fagan's work with an interest in the effect of climate on history I have read many of the authors books. This one, like the others is well researched and documented, however it lacks the energy and verve of Little Ice Age ; Big Chill (by far Fagan's best work). Granted the Little Ice Age had a far greater impact on a larger scale but this book gets a bit tedious after awhile, I actually never completed reading it. ... Read more

Product Description
They try to tame a world, but fail to tame their hearts.

Eight terrified men and women, four families, survive the raging Deluge. They land on an empty Earth, with strange winds that howl across the desolation of the world. Every thought should focus on survival. But the passions suppressed in the Ark now boil into feuds that pass on to their children.

Gaea—the mother of all, she strives to maintain unity.

Kush—proud and stubborn, he courts a love that could shatter his heart.

Ham—trains his sons to dominate, laughs at his drunken father and receives a terrible curse.

Deborah—beautiful but cunning, she can’t decide which of Noah’s grandsons should taste her embrace.

Beor—loves beauty and possesses the courage of a giant. His goodness brings him the evilest treachery.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Halfway through the series... and ready for MORE!
Just finished "People of the Flood," and I am eager to start the next book in the series. The many pages go fast, as characters really develop, coming into focus with each twist and turn and the continual push in the always moving story. I see why other reviewers are enjoying this author's writing. On to Vol. III... ... Read more

Product Description
When Screwtape Letters meets Paradise Lost, the result is Lucifer's Flood--a tale told by an angel of wavering conviction who sided with Lucifer during the cosmic rebellion in heaven but realized his mistake too late. Writhing in fear of the judgment that awaits the rebellious angels and finding no solace for his misery, the fallen angel pours his emotions into a written account that details the war in heaven and the biblical events that followed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Enj
First of the series and it's easy, humorous and leaves you wanting more. Found the Samantha Yale bit somewhat superfluous but seems it will play a part in the later books.

Good but....
Overall the book was pretty good and fairly interesting, but because it was told almost entirely in the 3rd person, or from a narrative viewpoint, I found it a little slow and boring at times. I love biblically based science fiction, but this one I didn't care for too much. I will not be buying the next one in the series.

Home run in theory, strike out in practice
This novel had such potential and its inability to live to that potential in any way was very disappointing. The author's primary issue is that she seemingly couldn't decide whether she was writing a Christopher Moore type farce or a serious exploration of alternative Christian history. The opening of the novel was completely different in tone from any of the following content, which bounced jarringly between farcical and serious. The narrating character was likely intended to be humorous but instead read as gratingly whiny. I wasn't invested in any of the characters or the little plot that existed and I had to force myself to finish the novel. I had high hopes for this author and this series and was greatly disappointed.

Kindle edition: This book is in Topaz format and is displayed in a serif font that is approximately a size larger than the standard Kindle font. It's clear, easy to read, and the text can be left or full justified.The book has clean chapter breaks and uses dropped caps as well as a small decorative graphic to indicate chapter and section breaks, respectively. The book is otherwise well formatted and was free of any noticeable typographical errors.

Lucifer`s Flood
Loved this bookwhat an easy read I just lovedcan`t weight for the next book.

Surprise Reading
I found this book in the 'new' section of my local library. It was in fact just a random choice one day when I was looking for something to read. Being familiar with some of the theology of Lucifer's Flood, I was drawn to the title.

When I started reading it I was suprised and shocked at the depth of feeling, understanding, and imagination of this book. I couldn't put it down.

It's a great read that will make you think about the bible and the events in it in a whole new way! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (11)

Bretz's Flood
The book does a very nice job of going thru Bretz personal history.It then describes his work in documenting the floods of eastern Washington. I have read previous books on these floods and thisbook offers new details.

A Great Book to Read Before Vacationing in Eastern Washington
This really is a great story in two senses.First, you learn about the very interesting geology that was a result of the series of ice age floods from glacial lake Missoula through Idaho, across Washington, and into the Pacific via the Columbia River (in all honesty, though, if your only interest is geology you will probably be better served by Glacial Lake Missoula and Its Humongous Floods).Second, is the very interesting human story of J Harlen Bretz.

Professor Bretz taught geology at the University of Chicago in the early part of the twentieth century.Through a series of field trips, he began to notice a strange geological history in the scablands of Eastern Washington.Professor Bretz is an interesting character whose personality John Soennichsen does a very nice job of developing.I honestly thought, during the first couple of chapters, that it was a rather amateurish history story but as Mr. Soennichsen developed the story and brought the reader into Professor Bretz's life, passion, and flood-scoured problem, I really enjoyed it.It is rare that historical biography leaves me wanting more, but this book did and having finished the book I miss Bretz almost as much as I missed Frodo at the end of the trilogy.It is written very well and engaged me to read it almost straight through.

Reading through Bretz's Flood, I found myself wanting to go out and drive through Moses Coulee, Grand Coulee, and the Potholes.I was just in the area a few weeks ago and did a part of the Ice Age Flood Geological Trail.The book added a perspective I didn't have when I drove through there (I'm glad we have reservations to camp in the area again next year on Memorial Day) but I also think my perspective on the area helped me enjoy the book.

The book is as much about Professor Bretz's quirky personality and determined passion to show the geological community where the scablands really came from.At the end, there is a summary of who he was and it does a nice job of bringing it all together, "Though outwardly callous, brusque, and berating, he was surrounded by hundreds of students who loved him, regularly voting for him as their favorite teacher despite his being the greatest taskmaster they would ever have in their lives......"OK, you really ought to read the book before any more is given away.

Bretz's Flood
This book tells the remarkable story of J Harlan Bretz.A man who came to geology relatively late in life, yet who was able to unravel the geological story of the Columbia River basin with its maze of dry coulees.After several years of field study he came to the conclusion that the geological formations he had observed could only be the result of massive flooding.He was pilloried by establishment geologists of his time as the prevailing wisdom was that geological processes had shaped the modern world we see by acting slowly over very great time spans.He was further criticized because his theory smacked of "Biblicism".The author has done an excellent job of interweaving Bretz's discoveries with the story of his life and particularly of his field trips to the Columbia River Basin where he observed first hand the geological features he was working on.His theory has been totally vindicated with the discovery that during the later stages of the most recent Ice Age a huge lake was created in the vicinity of Missoula, Montana when the Clark's Fork River was temporarily dammed by a finger of the continental glacier.The lake was about the size of Lakes Erie and Ontario combined.The ice dam failed catastrophically and released all the water it had dammed up in the space of a week or so.This happened not just once but several times over a few thousand years.The humongous floods released when the ice dam failed created not only the coulees of Eastern Washington, but also series of rolling hills that are, in fact, giant ripple marks created by the massive amount of water flowing over them, and did much to shape the present configuration of the Columbia River Gorge.The author has done a remarkable job of weaving together the essences of a geological text book and a fascinating detective story.It is a terrific read!

A must read
If you love geology, if you love the geology of the Pacific Northwest...then this book is a must read along with Cataclysms on the Columbia.Just read it.The bio of this man and the way he researched is truly fascinating and engaging.I grew up in Ephrata, WA and for me the work of Bretz on the scablands was a no brainer.It is so obvious.Come visit....it's one of the most interesting geologic areas on earth.

Much deserved tribute!
J. Harlen Bretz was a remarkable researcher and had to overcome the conventions put into place by the geological professionals.He may have helped other researchers understand that field study is much better than hypothesis and previously known land events.Moreover, he changed the thinking of many learned genealogists who believed the standard of erosion and time is what shaped our canyons and valleys.Lastly, his personal life was interesting and showed his love of teaching and including his students with his everyday life.His recognition came late in life, but one has to admire his tenaciousness and intelligence. ... Read more

Product Description
An American Book Award winner and an Editor's Choice of the New York Times, Flood! is the powerful first graphic novel by Eric Drooker, frequent cover artist for the New Yorker. Flood! is a modern novel written in the ancient language of pictures, with an expressionist, film noir edge. This "definitive edition" of Flood! is a unique record of our country's turbulent past - and corporate present - and a must-read for students of graphic storytelling. This third edition also features a new cover by Drooker and a complete re-design. Flood! A Novel in Pictures, was followed by Drooker's acclaimed book, Blood Song: A Silent Ballad. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Something of a letdown
I found Drooker's Blood Song one of the most evocative wordless stories I've seen. His scratchboard style, reminiscent of the great woodcut storytellers, combined a personal story with larger themes of social justice, all with visual energy and style that left me wanting more of his work.

I guess that "Flood!" is where he developed the style I enjoyed. I have to admit, though, this earlier work didn't appeal to me as much. The narration didn't seem as strong, the social message seemed a bit shriller, and the artwork carried elements I'm not so fond of. In the afterword, Drooker acknowledges Crumb as one of his influences. A few panels seemed almost imitative of Crumb style, and I found that I liked those panels least.

I still consider Drooker a strong and developing storyteller, and I'll look for more of his work. If this had been my introduction, however, I might not have bothered.

-- wiredweird

Don't go gentle into Eric Drooker's books
There is no artist who shakes me awake more than the visual work of Eric Drooker.His glowing covers have often appeared on The New Yorker, but it is
his ominous images that resonate, that go beyond the masks.FLOOD is just one of his vital books.If you haven't looked into the brilliant and wise array of Eric Drooker's paintings, drawings and reverse etchings, and in particular, FLOOD, what the hell are you waiting for?

flood of art
Drooker is artist enough to attribute his mentor- and a finer one it would be hard to choose- Franz Masereel, the Belgian pioneer of the graphic novel form. Drooker's work is clearly rooted in Masereel's ethics, and has much of his woodcut like technique, but hey, we all have influences. Drooker's work leaps off the page with verve and confidence and he shows he is his own man artistically. Drooker refrains from words to great efect, and plays with the format in some simply effective ways, like the ever-diminishing scale of the plates tracking the protagonist's dissolution. This is some of the best work done in the field today IMO. Highly recommended.

When Nature Takes Over
Andy Flynn is eleven years old and lives in Vancouver with his mom and stepfather. His parents got a divorce when he was young, and was told that his father died as a war hero. After a flood occurs, Andy is left alone; he lost his mom, friends, and stepfather. Soon Andy is taking back to Halifax, his birthplace, to live with his aunt Mona whom he has never met. When with her, a secret about his family will change his life forever.
I thought Flood was a well-rounded book. It had its good and bad parts. One thing I liked about it was that you do not know what happens with Andy's life until the last chapter. This makes you want to keep reading. I did not like the fact that it took so long to get into the story. It was not as eye catching in the beginning as I thought it would be. As the story progressed, it began to become more interesting.
I think that if you like suspense, you will like this book. It is good for an everyday easy read. I think that either girls or guys could read this. It never got really excinting, but it always kept you thinking, "what will happen next"?

Surviving the Flood
When you first encounter Drooker's story-scape, each precious moment of recognition and association collapses the space that holds you outside the book reading, until you are dropped deeper even into your own world, and marveling at all that is around you.Here, the reader is invited to witness and participate in the appropriations of meaning that constitute the individual's identity in a vast and elusive society.The solitary protagonists in Drooker's stories are journeyers and drifters, transgressing a fluid mythotropic environment that pulses with historical memory and a rich cultural symbology.Drooker's world is pervaded with a deep and compelling mystery.The mystery is in the eclectic progression of images that flash across the page, a fragmented and kaleidescopic depiction of a hybrid instance of collective culture.This is evocative of that strange cross-breeding of cultures, which we see in our cities.Drooker sees within this a kind of hope, which emerges out from behind the distinctively apocalyptic mood and stage of the work.The culture is mined for knowledge that will bestow meaning upon the seeker, fostering a vital and visionary experience.The creative and imaginative integrity that the characters find in the midst of stifling urban anonymity and alienation are a type of personal redemption that brings celestial satisfaction within reach, like an instruction manual for surviving the destruction of the great flood.
... Read more

Product Description
In this expanded 8th edition, evidence that revolutionizes our understanding of origins is carefully explained. Part I discusses, in quick overview, 131 categories of evidence from biology, astronomy, earth science, and the physical sciences. Part II describes the hydroplate theory, developed during 35 years of study and research by Walt Brown. This theory explains a catastrophic event in Earth's history and solves a host of recognized problems. Some chapters in Part II deal with: the origin of the Grand Canyon, evidence that shows comets, asteroids, and meteroids came from Earth. the sudden freezing and burial of the frozen mammoths, if there was a global flood, where the water came from and where it went, and how mountain ranges, volcanoes, submarine canyons, ocean trenches, and coal and oil deposits were formed. Thirty-seven other frequently asked questions fill a fascinating Part III of Brown's book. A few of those questions are: Is global warming occurring? If so, what causes it? Have scientific tools detected genetic traces of Adam and Eve within us? How accurate is radiocarbon dating? What about the dinosaurs? What hydroplate theory predictions have been confirmed? Is evolution compatible with the Bible? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (95)

Excellent, well-written, understandable scientific evidences for Christians
God hasn't asked us to set aside our intelligence to serve Him and have faith in Him. All it takes is opening our eyes to the intricate details of the world around us that work perfectly together in harmony to maintain life as we know it, to realize that there is a designer behind this design. This book will not help you to convince someone who refuses to take an open look at the evidence around them. It is absolutely wonderful, though, to show to someone who has honest doubts, but is searching for the truth- what ever that truth may be. God has given us plenty of evidence of His existence and the legitimacy of His word. If that's what you're wanting to learn more about, then this book is for you. From a scientific standpoint, it is to the point, deep but totally understandable. If you're intimidated by science, don't be intimidated to get this book... the author does a great job at staying to the point and making it plain to the average person.

In the Beginning 8th Edition
We Love this book. This book is easy to understand and has the evidence to back up their findings.

Very helpful
Comprehensive and easy to follow.I teach science at a Christian school and I find this to be a useful reference to give students a creationist worldview along side our secular science textbooks.This book would be a great resource for anyone that wants to learn about the creationist interpretation of scientific discoveries.There are a lot of books a person could purchase, but this book might be a good first purchase because it covers a very broad range of topics.For those that are truly interested in learning about scientific creationism, other good books are Refuting Evolution by Johnathan Sarfati Ph.D (a response to a book written for teachers on how to teach evolution) and Scientific Creationism by Henry M. Morris Ph.D.

Excellent Discussion of a LOT of Problems that Evolutionists Refuse to Acknowldege
As an engineering analyst, I found Dr. Brown's discussion of the science concerning origins to be very intriguing.He raises many examples that illustrate in clear layman's terms the grave deficiencies of evolutionist theory.One of the most compelling is the scientific evidence and explanation for the frozen mammoths discovered in Siberia and other far northern reaches.Very interesting and well worth the investment.Whether you are believer or evolutionist, this book is an excellent thought provoking work by a truly insightful man of science.I highly recommend In the Beginning.

Absolutely Compelling Evidence For Creation and a Global Flood
Without a doubt, In the Beginning... is the BEST book that I have ever read concerning origins.I, like many others, was once an evolutionist.My main journey into Creationism came shortly after my conversion to Roman Catholicism and the acceptance that Scripture is inerrant.But putting that aside, this book offers plausible scientific theories as to why the earth is the way it is, and does so in brilliant fashion.Other "young earth" and "Deluge" theories I have read try to force scenarios.Dr. Brown uses ONE base assumption, something that no other theory concerning origins can boast!

Dr. Brown has done tremendous work here, and I strongly recommend anyone to read this with an open mind and try to accept that FACT that what is known to be highly accepted scientific theory (or even fact) in one age can be utterly rejected in another.I truly believe this will be the case with molecules-to-man macro evolution, a theory that simply doesn't hold water and is truly "out there" when one takes a step back and looks at it.

I believe that the only bad press that this book will recieve will be those who are threatened by it.Evolutionists don't want to upset the status quo, and they will travel every route to discredit this theory.In essence, atheistic science worships man and his supposive "all-knowing" and "god-like" intelligence.For modern science to admit that they have been wrong all this time concerning origins is something that I believe they simply will NOT do.To admit that they could be wrong would be to insult their intelligence, thus shattering their ego and ruining their own pseudo-religion of man-worship.I believe you will begin to false allegations and phony criticisms of theories such as these - only to keep the status quo of atheistic evolutionism in the world of modern science.

When I first read this book I was absolutely in awe at how well the science fit into what the Bible states in Genesis.Other "young earth creationists" state that the water came from a dense "water-vapor canopy," when Scripture clearly states that all of the fountains of the great deep bursts forth on one day.Reading through this book, you will begin to get a feel of how different the pre-Flood earth was.When you look at a map and see the oceanic ridges, you will get a somewhat eerie feeling as to the magnitude of the cayaclysmic event known as the Deluge or the "Great Flood."

Again, I strongly recommend this book.God Bless. ... Read more

Product Description
A riveting exposé of the US-led destruction of democratic government in Haiti.

Once themost lucrative European colony in the Caribbean, Haiti has long beenone of the most divided and impoverished countries in the world. In thelate 1980s a remarkable popular mobilization known as Lavalas, or “theflood,” sought to liberate the island from decades of US-backeddictatorial rule. After winning a landslide election victory, in 1991the Lavalas government led by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide wasoverthrown by a bloody military coup. Damming the Floodanalyzes how and why Aristide’s enemies in Haiti, the US and Francemade sure that his second government, elected with another overwhelmingmajority in 2000, was toppled by a further coup in 2004.

The elaborate international campaign to contain, discredit and thenoverthrow Lavalas at the start of the twenty-first century was perhapsthe most successful act of imperial sabotage since the end of the ColdWar. Its execution and its impact have much to teach anyone interestedin the development of today's political struggles in Latin America andthe rest of the post-colonial world.

Customer Reviews (3)

Hallward Untangles Truth About 2004 Coup
In "Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment" Peter Hallward meticulously explains how, on February 29 of 2004, the U.S. managed to "topple one of the most popular governments in Latin America but it managed to topple it in a manner that wasn't widely criticized or even recognized as a coup at all." Imperial powers do not reinvent the wheel when it comes to undermining democracy in poor countries. Hallward identifies valuable lessons for people who wish to limit the damage that powerful countries inflict on the weak.

The narrative he presents is not complicated, but to present it he must expose countless lies and half truths and brilliantly explore many simple questions that corporate journalists invariably failed to ask.

The story the corporate press and even some alternative media presented to the world, when it was coherent at all, is roughly what follows.

Aristide was elected Haiti's president in 1990 in the country's first free and fair election. He was overthrown in 1991 by the Haiti's army at the behest of Haiti's elite who feared that he may lift the poor out of poverty and powerlessness. The US, despite some misgivings, restored him to power in 1994 after economic sanctions failed to budge the military junta that replaced him. He stood aside while his close ally, Rene Preval, occupied the presidency for several years. In 2000 Aristide was brought to power through rigged elections. By the end of 2003 Aristide had lost popular support and important allies due to corruption and violence. He could only keep power because he had armed gangs in the slums. In February of 2004, faced not only with a broad based political opposition, but by armed rebels and gangs who had turned against him, Aristide resigned and asked the US to fly him to safety as the rebels were about to overrun the capital.

Hallward shows that barely anything about the widely accepted narrative above is true.

The US was behind the first coup that ousted Aristide in 1991, and supplied the junta through a selectively porous embargo. It restored Aristide in 1994 because the political price of playing along with the junta had become exorbitant. After he was restored, the US made sure that Haiti's security forces were infiltrated by henchmen of the military regime, and leaned on Aristide to implement unpopular economic policies - far beyond what he had agreed to as a condition for being restored. He resisted US pressure for further concessions on economic policy, and disbanded the Haitian army over strong US objections. In response, the US spent 70 million dollars between 1994 and 2002 directly on strengthening Aristide's political opponents. Over these years many of Aristide's allies among the "cosmopolitan elite", as Hallwards calls them, became bitter enemies.

Often their resentment stemmed from being passed over by Aristide for jobs or political endorsement in favour of grassroots activists from the Lavalas movement. Some defectors from Aristide's camp, like Evans Paul, had impressive track records in the fight against pre-1990 dictatorships and against the 1991 coup, but by 2000 most had joined a coalition with the far right (known as Democratic Convergence) which was cobbled together with US money. Invariably, these former Aristide allies lost almost all popular support after defecting to the US camp. However they were well connected with foreign NGOs and the international press. The elections of 2000 were not only free and fair, but the results completely in line with what secret US commissioned polls had predicted. Aristide's opponents were trounced but successfully sold the lie that the 2000 elections were fraudulent.

The US (joined by the EU and Canada) blocked hundreds of millions of aid from Aristide's government. An unsuccessful coup attempt by far right paramilitaies took place in 2001. Other deadly attacks on Lavalas partisans took place during Aristide's second term, but went largely unnoticed by the international press and NGOs. In contrast, reprisals on Aristide's opponents were widely reported.

By late February of 2004 both the political and armed opposition were in danger of being exposed as frauds. US destabilization efforts, though successful in many ways, had failed to produce an electable opposition to Aristide and his Famni Lavalas party. The rebels, whose collusion with the political opposition was becoming difficult for the corporate press to ignore, were in no position to take Port-au-Prince. Hence, the US moved in to complete the coup themselves (with crucial assistance from France and Canada) and not through Haitian proxies as they had in 1991.

There does not yet exist, if it ever will, the kind of detailed internal record that exists for U.S. backed coups in Chile and Argentina during the 1970s. Though important fragments have been uncovered by researchers like Anthony Fenton, Yves Engler, Isabel Macdonald and Jeb Sprague, Peter Hallward makes his case by carefully gathering uncontroversial facts (like the presidential election results of 2006 in which the pro-coup politicians were crushed) and then applying logic and common sense.

Hallward might have gone into more detail about how Aristide kept most Haitians on his side in the face of such a relentless onslaught from such powerful enemies. The social programs Aristide's government implemented, the inclusive and participatory nature of the Famni Lavalas Party were certainly mentioned in the book but they should have been elaborated on. There are crucial lessons to be learned there for people's movements around the world..

Hallward is accurate in describing his book as "an exercise in anti-demonization, not deification." He wrote that if Aristide "shares some of the responsibility for the debacle of 2004 it is because it occasionally failed to act with the sort of vigor and determination its most vulnerable supporters were entitled to expect.". Hallward says a certain amount of complacency took hold in Fanmni Lavalas due to its popularity, and that it was sometimes slow to recognize enemies and opportunists within its ranks, but Hallward should have placed more emphasis on his concluding point that the renewal of Haitian democracy "will require the renewal of emancipatory politics within the imperial nations themselves." It is mainly we, within the imperial nations, who need to do the soul searching and analysis of what we should have done better.. Aristide hinted at this crucial point in his interview with Hallward:

"The real problem isn't really a Haitian one, it isn't located within Haiti. It is a problem for Haiti that is located outside Haiti! "

Outstanding
This is the finest political study I've read in years. Hallward presents an impressively insightful and revelatory examination of Haiti's grassroots democracy movement (mid 1980s-present), plus an expose of the numerous malicious forces fighting to prevent democracy and human rights in Haiti (e.g. powerful Haitian wealthy sector, Duvalierist holdovers, and the US State Department). In thoroughly-documented detail, Hallward corrects the fallacious and slanderous reputation that has been heaped upon Jean Bertrand Aristide by his many self-interested opponents. Hallward argues convincingly that JBA was driven from power, not because he was corrupt (as some critics alleged, without providing evidence), but, rather, because JBA's efforts to improve the lives of the Haitian poor presented too great a threat to numerous established interests. Hallward makes a compelling case that JBA's so-called "voluntary resignation" in 2004 can be better understood as forced, blackmailed, via the threat of mass-violence by a band of thugs with ties to the Haitian elite and the US State Department. Hallward provides evidence that, contrary to popular perceptions, JBA's Lavalas party governed responsibly and with great respect for human rights, whereas their opponents were guilty of human rights abuses on a massive scale. Though Hallward's tone is measured and credible, the book has a great moral clarity and shows that the US has abetted in a large-scale violation of human rights in Haiti. I enthusiastically recommend this book for those interested in modern Haitian history, and/or grassroots democracy movements, US foreign policy and neo-colonialism.

Best Book on Haiti's Recent History
I read a lot of books on Haiti, this is the best one I have seen on Haiti's history between 1990 and 2005. Well-written and researched, with strong analysis. It is important for anyone interested in understanding Haiti today, but it is equally important for understanding current U.S. foreign policy. The excellent explanation of how the U.S. undermined and overthrew Haiti's democracy in 2004 applies to similar U.S. efforts in Venezuela over the last 8 years, and current efforts to undermine democracy in Bolivia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Opening Up Revival Power Through Repaired Relationships
In "Releasing the Revival Flood:A Churchwide Journey to Miraculous Unity and God-Glorifying Fellowship", Frizzell contends that revival is hindered in the local church by broken relationships.He identifies 24 patterns of broken relationships and with each pattern includes a course for correction, a prayer of repentance, and questions for a church discussion group.

I read this book on my own, but I highly recommend that churches get this and go through it together.

Frizzell in this and other writings is great at striking the balance of revealing problems that are destructive and being encouraging and stirring up hope in the midst of those problems. ... Read more