Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Chain of Destiny



Title: Chain of Destiny
Author: J.D. Lock
Publisher: Wheatmark
Copyright: 2007
ISBN-13: 978-1-58736-716-8

I highly recommend this novel.

JD Lock is a West Pointer, a US Army Ranger, a retired Lieutenant Colonel, and the author of three previous non-fiction volumes tracing the history and training of the American Rangers. “Chain of Destiny” is his first foray into fiction. And it’s a success.

Lock’s protagonist, Nathaniel Ames, is a modern day U.S. Army Ranger Captain; commander of an infantry company in the 75th Ranger Regiment. His unit deploys to capture and remove nuclear weapons from the hands of the Russian Mafia.

In the process, Captain Ames is injured and transported to 1863 and the American Civil War battlefield of Chancellorsville - the day after the battle. After a short convalescence he returns to duty an as infantry company commander, but in Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

His adventures and attempts to change history are a joy to follow. Along the way you get a taste of Civil War combat and a direct comparison with the modern Ranger experience.

The book is well worth the read. I was reluctant to put it down.

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Sunday, November 15, 2009

Night of Thunder

Title: Night of Thunder
Author: Stephen Hunter
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2008
ISBN-13: 0-978-14165-6511-6

I highly recommend this novel.

Stephen Hunter is one of my favorite authors. I anxiously await each new novel and his latest, “Night of Thunder” is a good one.

Bob Lee Swagger, Mr Hunter’s finest character and protagonist of this and many other Stephen Hunter novels, is getting long in the tooth; but not too long in the tooth to find out who injured his grown up daughter, Nikki and why. He’s still at heart the Marine Corps sniper with 87 kills in Viet Nam; tough as nails and deadly accurate with a gun.

As always, with Stephen Hunter’s novels, I loved every second of it.



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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Corporate Blogging Book

Title: The Corporate Blogging Book
Author: Debbie Weil
Publisher: The Penguin Group
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 1-59184-125-9

I recommend this book.

As you can tell – I’m into blogging. “The Corporate Blogging Book” is an introduction to the world of corporate blogging - as in blogging as marketing, blogging as customer service and blogging as communication; and, internal corporate blogging – as in project management and employee communication and feedback.

Blogging is still relatively new but its growing fast. This 2006 book is dated in many respects, but as an introduction to how and why blogging is being done by corporations it was an eye opener. I’m looking at ways to incorporate blogging into my job as a direct result of reading this book.

If you have an interest in blogging, or perhaps in developing a new marketable skill within your current organization, “The Corporate Blogging Book” is worth the read.



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Monday, November 9, 2009

Red Lightning

Title: Red Lightning
Author: John Varley
Publisher: The Berkley Publishing Group
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 0-441-01364-3

I recommend this novel.

John Varley is a solid science fiction writer and “Red Lightning" does not disappoint. It’s the provocative story of a colony on Mars that achieves political independence and the critical exploits of one prominent Mars colony family in making that happen.

It was fun to read.



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