James Kuiken
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FOUR BLIND MICE - BOOK REVIEW

2/18/2015

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Four Blind Mice (Alex Cross #8)
James Patterson - September 29, 2003


The action is good, characters (to include the indomitable Alex Cross) are ...

James Patterson never disappoints, because his books - while very entertaining and fast paced - seem to be based on a time-tested set of patterns. The action is good, characters (to include the indomitable Alex Cross) are interesting and have some depth and personality, and the plot line is attention-grabbing.

Those who have actually worked in law enforcement, military and intelligence fields will have to suspend disbelief and some criticism, but that done, should very much find this a fun read. For those who are lucky enough to have not experienced those fields of endeavor for themselves, enjoy the book! I did!

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Turning Pro - Book Review

8/20/2014

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Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life's Work
Steven Pressfield (May 31, 2012)

This is a great book to read if you are serious about Turning Pro as a writer.  When I first started reading it, I was under the impression that it may be “The War of Art” lite, but it’s not – and if read together it may seem that this book may the Cliff’s Notes version, but it is actually a stand-alone book.

While The War of Art is applicable to almost any artistic endeavor, or for that matter, pretty much any endeavor in life (see my review), Turning Pro seems to be more focused on writing.  The similarities are that this book is also about concepts and a state of mind, more 
than just a checklist of things to do if you want to turn pro.  I find this format eminently more useful.

It’s broken into three parts or “books”.  Book one is The Amateur Life, book two is Self Inflicted Wounds, and book three is The Professional Mindset.  Pressfield says that he can “divide [his] life into two parts: before turning pro and after.  After is better.”  This book, through a series of short vignettes (often only a part of a page long) that make up each “book”, helps you explore the mindset of an amateur, what we do as amateurs and what we do to stay amateurs…and how we break out – and turn pro. A couple of quick quotes give you a glimpse of the essence of this book.  “Becoming a pro, in the end, is nothing grander than growing up”, and a favorite of mine… “The amateur tweets.  The pro works.”

Turning Pro is well worth the read, and if you intend to be a professional writer (of any genre), I recommend this book.
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SERIOUSLY NOT ALL RIGHT - BOOK REVIEW

8/9/2014

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Seriously Not All Right:  Five Wars in Ten Years
Ron Capps - May 1, 2014

From All Right to Almost Suicide and back again – an introspective observation of war

What does war feel like? Not in the “gaming” or movie world, but real, actual war? If you’ve never been there, this is going to be an eye opener, and if you have, it’s a punch in the gut that brings back a lot of memories of the rough times. This isn’t an action thriller, it’s a treatise on the emotional toll and dehumanization that war experiences bring. A real must-read in today’s world of returning veterans.

Ron’s memoirs start with his actual suicide attempt, and then go through his journalistic recording of five wars in ten years. In most of these wars, he was not a front-line combatant, but an observer, recorder and reporter of war – both as an Army officer and as a State Department foreign service officer.

I am telling you, from personal experience as a combat Marine, and later as a diplomat (Dept. of Homeland Security Attaché), that this is an authentic depiction of the results of war – physically, and for many veterans, emotionally.

The inciting moment in Ron’s book is when he first sees war dead (“Yellow. Their skin was yellow. They had dirt under their fingernails and their feet were dirty. There were six of them, all women…”). That is a defining moment for all who experience war – it becomes sickeningly real.

The journal follows Ron through Central Africa, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur…and most tellingly, his “War at Home” afterwards. The accounts he gives from his field notes in those locations is brutally honest, and accurately documents the same conditions I saw when I was in several of those places myself (I was in Kosovo and Bosnia at the same time he was in Kosovo, back on active duty during Op. Enduring Freedom at the same time he was in Afghanistan, and was in Iraq 2005-2006, one year after he was there).

There are a lot of war books out there, and a lot of war movies – usually from, or enhanced by, the imaginations of those who may never really understand. If you want a glimpse of what the effects of war really look like, and the toll it took on one real veteran – from the inside – then this is a book you should pick up today.
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THE WAR OF ART - BOOK REVIEW

7/25/2014

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The War of Art:  Break Through The Blocks And Win Your Inner 
Creative Battles
 - Steven Pressfield - January 11, 2012


Quit yer whinnin'...

If you write, want to write, or ever thought about doing anything outside yourself - you really need to read this book. It is a smack in the face, and really resonated with me. As a former Marine and combat vet, I thought a lot of this sounded awfully familiar - from my upbringing in a military home, my time at boot camp, etc. - and then I saw his comments later and knew his no-nonsense, don't duck the hard self-realization reality based

"Just Do It" philosophy came from similar experiences. It's like when I heard another Marine telling a woman (friend) who was talking about how early their group was meeting for breakfast, "Quit yer whinin' and just suck it up...Ma'am".

Combat in the arts was a wild concept for me, until I read and understood the depth of this book. Unlike "The Authentic Swing", this book DOES have some very specific how-to's, but again, they are not just rock-hard instructions. They're couched in terms that allow the reader to not only have a checklist, but to understand why those things are so critical, and through understanding, make them part of their own core ethos. From what I read here, Steven's own experiences that lead to his core beliefs are not just from the Marines, but from the battlefields of commercial writing, artistic creation...and most of all, from the battles to overcome his own internal Resistance. You really have to read this one...
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THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE - BOOK REVIEW

7/21/2014

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The Legend of Bagger Vance: Golf and the Game of Life
Steven Pressfield – June 1, 1996

Not just a "game".  This journey is much more serious than that
...

I 
kind of backed into reading The Legend of Bagger Vance.  I was familiar with the adaptation of the story from watching the movie (which I liked), but I started reading Steven Pressfield’s books because I was trying to improve myself as an author – and I was very interested in how he has been so successful – so I started with The Authentic Swing: Notes from the Writing of a First Novel…which, by the way, knocked my socks off (see my review).  Of course, after reading the notes and backstory of how he wrote The Legend of Bagger Vance, I had no choice but to read it.  That was a great decision.

I’m a golf duffer, but was raised around the game, my father having won a Bob Hope Pro-Am, and my mother having won a Regional while we were stationed in Turkey.  I always liked it, but never really took it up until I was stationed in Hawaii – and I only took it up to pass the time.  I really fell in love with the game, but as all golfers know, I never really understood the almost mystical fascination of the game.  I don’t think I ever will.

The Legend of Bagger Vance takes a hard run at revealing some of the underlying forces.  The book equates “The Authentic Swing” with a person’s own True Self, which oftentimes gets lost in the press of life.  When someone loses or walks away from themselves, they often lose sight of their own purpose, who they actually are.  This is book is ostensibly about golf, but moreover, I saw it as a book about being true to yourself, to your life, and the people in it.

This is a very good book.  It makes me at once want to read the classics (Wordsworth – “trailing clouds of glory” – pg. 70), and go out on the course (evolution of the swing, the Self – pgs. 71, 72).  The feeling of being out in the open air, in nature, striving hard to relax into yourself is almost addictive.

The character development, narrative device, plot, and just good storytelling brought me deep into the world of Rannulf Junah, Bagger Vance, and the world of Golf and Self, as seen through the eyes of the young Hardison Greaves.

For most of the book (first and last parts), it is an enthralling book that completely drew me in.  I was on the links with them, watching the external, and more interestingly, the internal struggles.  I could see them, feel them, I was one of them.  As a combat vet myself, I completely empathized with Junna’s struggle to get past all the horror of war and try to come to grips with himself in the rest of the book, but the center part of the book goes too far down the metaphysical rabbit hole for me.  It distracted me from what I saw as the main theme, and pushed me back out of the pages into just reading a book.  The departure into a realm wherein the characters were not just in a mystical, internal place during their struggles, but actually regressed through time, space and reality into the distant past and other spiritual or cosmic planes completely threw me off the story, and reminded me of some ‘60’s trip in the middle of a ‘20’s struggle for self.  

Despite what appeared to be a distracting departure, this book is well worth the read.  Thoroughly enjoyable, deeply introspective, and a strong reminder of the constant struggle with the adversity of life and trauma to retain – or find – your one, true Self.
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MURDER ON THE POTOMAC - BOOK REVIEW

7/4/2014

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Murder on the Potomac (Capital Crime Mysteries)
Margaret Truman - March 1, 1995

"Dallas" in DC


If you're a fan of murder mysteries, this could well be entertaining. Having worked in DC for over a decade, it was very interesting for me to see all the local landmarks and hangouts - but from a very different perspective. The perspective is very slightly left of center, and is very much from an elite strata of society, not at all the mundane view of average or even moderately upper level Washingtonians.

It could very well appeal to those who loved to watch Dallas. The plot was slow to develop, and convoluted, but eventually came together (somewhat predictably - because the book was coming to a close) right toward the end. In great "Thin Man" tradition, after the murder(s) were solved, the protagonist and his witty, intelligent and beautiful wife went on a Paris getaway, and enjoyed entrecote (yeah, had to look that one up too) and petit fours as they wittily wrapped up the sub-plots.

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THE AUTHENTIC SWING - BOOK REVIEW

7/3/2014

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The Authentic Swing: Notes from the Writing of a First Novel
Steven Pressfield - September 22, 2013

Surprising Depth

When I ordered this book I was looking for a "how to" book on writing - a listing of what-to-do's, and samples of notes, formats, outlines, etc. from Steve while he was writing The Legend of Bagger Vance. If that is what you're looking for - don't buy this book. 

What I found was a VERY interesting read, told in story format, that drew me in and caused me to realize that I had just read the book in one sitting. I normally read a book one time,  
and never again (because I remember it), but this book - like The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho, by Miyamoto Musashi) has layers.

Before folks get bent out of shape, I'm not comparing this book to Go Rin No Sho, which is an international classic spanning centuries of dedicated readers and serious students of life and strategy. What I am saying is that this book has a similar dynamic. Read it once, and it is a good read, and you get a lot out of it. Read it again, and you see another set of meanings and a deeper layer. Read it again...

Unlike most books I've read, I will read this one again - a few times. It is not a list of things to do, a formula to follow for aspiring writers - it is a concept and way of thinking that takes you much deeper than that.
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MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY - BOOK REVIEW

6/2/2014

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Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
Clint Goodwin - April 22, 2014

Fascinating read

As a multi-war combat wounded Marine myself, I could definitely identify with the gut feelings (especially in the latter half of the book, as Lucky matured through his combat experiences) that someone who sees serious combat goes through...from starry-eyed patriotic expectations, to shock, and eventually to life-altering abhorrence of war and becoming a permanently changed person.

This story is told from a very interesting and unique perspective. 1) A historical journey through many of the major battles of the Civil War...2) told from the Southern Army's point of view...3) with real combat experiences and feelings interjected by an author who has "seen the elephant" himself, and...4) from a HORSE's perspective! For a wild ride through the Civil War battlefields (pun intended), pick this one up!

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