Enterprise Books

Although I have been using FMPro 6 for more than a year, and bought this book in the fall of 2000, I still refer to it often. I wish Coulombre and Price (or someone else for that matter) would write the same book for version 6. Nevertheless, this book is full of scripting and coding gems that I'm sure any developer can appreciate. Sometimes just to brush up on my skills if I haven't done any developing for a while, other times to learn a new trick.

This book obviously is not meant to hold your hand while you do your own coding. It encourages you to take the examples and develop further on your own. Because it is set up with this self-learning concept in mind, it never fails to let me down, and I never feel talked down to. There are plenty of tips and tricks to boot as well. There are few books that continue to inspire long after a new version of the software has been released. This is definitely one of them.

I have a pretty nice library of FileMaker books and this is my favorite. The thoughtful review of how to consider a design on paper before developing, along with hints about how to interact with clients and use diagrams gave a structure to my communications with clients that is professional and powerful. In addition to this there are amazing hints and chapters of information that I (joyfully) continue to refer to in my development practice, though I've had the book for years now. More than any other, it put me in control, and I am grateful.

This book can't be for serious developers.

You will read to Chapter 8, Crafting the User Interface,
page 214 (out of 532) before seeing anything that's
more than "do the right thing"-type of generic advice.

It's too bad, since the applications I've downloaded
in a quest to get a handle on FileMaker are all very
attractive. This book, however is not helping me
with the simplest of tasks: how to use FileMaker Pro
to turn an Excel spreadsheet into a useful database.
Importing the data and cutting the flat Excel file is
easy to do with the help of the FileMaker Pro user
interface. Coulombre and Price point out the FileMaker
model isn't stricly relational. I"m still looking for
the "how to" join (or relate) my Christmas card history
to the address file. Having created the relationship,
this is where the FileMaker help falls off rapidly, and
you might expect this book to become useful. It doesn't.

The chapter titled "Dumb Portal Tricks" should have included some
simple, or straight-forward "how to" map a portal into the
layout.

The layout chapter could have included one example of how to
put tabs on the layouts. The authors give good reason to prefer
tabs over menus in organizing an application. I believe them.
It will have to remain on faith, lacking necessary evidence.

I'm not breaking the seal on the accompanying CD since there
is no information in the book about what to expect. The rest
of the book offers little hope the CD will be more help with
specific tasks.

If your an intermediate user to FMP, you'll love this book. If you're an advanced user, good scripting and reporting info and good webifying Chapter. Also, good case studies and planning chapters.
But if you are new to FMP, except for the chapter on planning, you need to have a basic understanding of the program. Otherwise, it is the beginner and intermediate who will really benefit from this book.
It also contains a CD which has great examples of invoicing, billing & inventory control to great scripts and layouts. If you can only buy one book to accompany the user manual, this would be my choice at the present.

This book is not for beginners, as it explains very briefly fundamental FM concepts. Instead, there are many very useful tips and insights on how to succesfully develop a real-world app.
I personally found the script section invaluable, this book really upgraded the way I use Filemaker.

This a very good book. It is written by two people that together have more than 40 years of experience in project management (PM) and provides with real and usefull examples.
I strongly recommend reading to people that already know PM. Its not a basic book in PM.

This is very good book on project management, i am a member of pmi, but in pmi u learn more about project management in general but this book is for IT guys, esply chapter on project management process is good, allso about tackling issues is well documented.

I have applied methods in this book and a related seminar to a number of real projects and have gotten excellent results. I am not an IT person and was placed in charge of systems. The book helped me to plan and execute a huge IT project from scratch.I have 12 staff who were applications programmers of which 2 were analysts. I divided their tasks and attached them to users per the ideas in the book. The approach was applied to enhancements, new systems for tender evaluation and purchasing, and hardware. Per the methods of the book, all arising matters with management, vendors, and users were seen as issues and not as problems. By the team approach we were able to sack one person and reassign his roles. A 4 year project was finished in 2 years. Hardware and WAN were completed in two months. Right now we are planning a project to reach out to the remotest plantations that we own that is another 170 areas. We are using the book here as well. The key idea here is that the methods in this book are different and WORK.

IT projects are very different from standard projects. This books provides an in-depth approach to managing IT projects. It has some very good specific tips regarding risk analysis, the management critical path (as opposed to the critical path), the use of score cards for project evaluation, how to deal with issues, and how to use lessons learned and experience to get continuous improvement in project management. In addition, the book focuses on templates rather than the traditional work breakdown structure-so it is gives greater flexibility. Another novel approach is use of the team members in participating in project management. Overall, very useful and informative.

Our organization has reviewed over 50 books in IT and general project management from the view of usability and useful methods for a multiple project, complex environment. We found books like Schwabe and Menche somewhat useful, but very limited in dealing with the actual problems faced in projects. There was just too much introductory material. This book, on the other hand, is very useful in that it addresses problems such as scope creep, changing requirements, high management expectations, dealing with vendors and users, and other specific issues. It is also being translated into Chinese. This is the book you should get if you want to address problems in real projects and want specific guidelines.

I purchased this book, as I want to change my business model, from Break-fix to Managed Services. I read it from cover to cover in a few days and now I am listening to the Audio CD in the Car. It is THE best book on Managed Services that I have seen. The CD is packed FULL of templates and documents you can use to get you going .. so there is no excuse

If there is only one thing you do today.. BUY THIS BOOK

The contents of this book contains valuable information if you are thinking of getting into managed services. If you include the contents of the CD, it is absolutely invaluable.

So many pages and so little time yet this book is easy to read. How he manages to keep the flow on what could be a very dry topic moving along at such a fast pace is amazing. Don't be fooled though. You'll be referring back to this book as your business morphs and you're ready to tackle each piece of the MSP puzzle. Each element is well thought out and walks you through the process of implementing a managed services offering to your clients based on value. We all dream about getting our clients to understand the value that we bring to their business. Erik shows the way to make that dream a reality.

As an E-Myth/Gerber fan, I consider Erick's work an "E-Myth for IT Services". It will get you thinking about your business as a business and it provides a roadmap to get where you need to go.

Making the transition from working in to working on your business is the most powerful thing you can do to put more money in your pocket. Do it now. Buy this book!

I am a business owner interested in the Managed Services market space. I have read so much about Managed services but have not found a step by step guide on how to implement the managed services business plan or sell those services to clients. What I needed were step by step guides on both the topics. I was introduced to Erick's books by another associate. This book and "The Best I.T. Sales & Marketing BOOK EVER!" by Erick were exactly what I was looking for. Erick is not just a subject matter expert in Managed Services but has practiced and implemented his teachings and recommendations. He explains several key concepts and best practices on Managed Services, Deliverables, Pricing, How to identify clients, sell, support and maintain the services and build a long term win-win relationship with the clients. The coverage on How to Hire and Train your sales staff is worth its weight in gold. Included along with these 2 books are several forms, analysis tools and documents which make the sales process a whole lot easier with predictable results. These are the bibles for my managed services business and I refer them frequently. If you are serious about building a profitable managed services business, you must have these books.

I have to admit, living in the Midwest has made it difficult to catch LSU sports. I have actually become an SEC sympathizer. I'll watch any team in the conference. Enter this book. A really good history about the programs of the SEC. All of the folklore about Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings, Vince Dooley and the "evil" genius. I read this book from cover to cover and really understood some of the fierce rivalries in the SEC. You also begin to understand the rich tradition that is SEC football and why it is important to alumni. I'm still a devout LSU fan, but will follow the SEC in any contest!

This book is great for anybody claiming to be a SEC Fan.
I love the thoroughness of it and the recipes are yummy for the tummy. Buy it. You won't be sorry.

Do you know the history of your alma mater? I am a Georgia Bulldog and I had no idea I knew so little about the Dawgs and the rest of the SEC. Learn about it all here. The tailgating recipes are great too. A perfect gift idea for the SEC Football crazed fan in your life. I have considerably boosted my water cooler bragging rights with this book.

This book is really something if you are an avid southern football fan. If you are an SEC alumni, it is a must-have. In addition to a history of college football in the South, all of the unique histories and traditions of the schools are there...along with some very tasty Cajun tailgating recipes named after each team. Great bowl games are mentioned and each of the alma maters and fight songs are listed as well. This is one of the best sports books to come around in quite some time. Purchase your copy of "A Tailgater's Guide To SEC Football." It has something for everyone and it will not disappoint. An engaging read.

Well written and informative, Warner's book is a great reference source for any SEC football fan. Each chapter covers the important players and coaches from each school. However, if you are looking for anything deeper, go elsewhere. None of the big issues, i.e. segregation/integration or cheating/NCAA violations are covered. The book does a great job of accomplishing Warner's goals. I only wish he'd have been a bit more ambitious and tackled questions tougher than, "who was the best QB in Florida history?"

Good and interesting concept with questionable written execution.
After reading about a third of this book, I'd had enough. The concept was an interesting one but I felt this book could have been summed up in a 20 page article in a business magazine or Harvard Business Review.
Skimmed through the rest and felt like I got the same amount of info on Socially Responsible business history.

In April, Dr. Bruce Piasecki came to Red Fox Books downtown here in Glens Falls, NY to discuss his book "World, Inc." Dr. Piasecki has many diverse credentials ranging from his education at Cornell, his professorship at the RPI Lally School of Management and Technology, founding and presiding over AHC Group, Inc. and his authorship of a diverse selection of books on environmental matters and management. I picked up "World, Inc." in April and read it in October with the idea of a progressive business culture in mind. Almost immediately in reading the book I could see I came to the right place: "positive, transformative actions in your business and your life can be not only feasible, but profitable." Clearly, I was looking into serious discussion of this topic.



Referring to many other research and publications (e.g. Patricia Aburdene's Megatrends 2010's "conscious capitalism", Jack Trout & Steve Rivkin's Differentiate or Die where focused differentiation is a key to effectiveness in massive markets, Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat which describes the leveling of industries in the new world market), a Socially Responsible Capitalism is seen to emerge. "Companies restructure their operations to actively accommodate consumer demand by creating new products that bridge the gap between traditional expectations of performance and price and social impact on the larger world." This is an emerging phenomenon. "This gap has traditionally been ignored because it wasn't considered good business to worry about such externalities; price and quality sold products." [page 43] This is also described as a "new trinity of corporate strategy: price, technical quality and social response." [page 33]



"The S-Frontier" is a three-sided consequence of the new global equity culture where these factors converge: (1) the swiftness of new global market information (2) the severity of leading social problems (such as global climate change and the finite supply of oil) and (3) the need for Social Response capitalists. [page 24]. Another way of describing this frontier is "faster, cheaper, better - these are the hallmarks of modern society. Yet ... when faster and cheaper become too dominant, progress is stagnant and we can feel it." [page 28] That is to say, faster and cheaper no longer mean better (as seems to be the hallmark of traditional economics).



Bill McKibben, whose recent book Deep Economy describes the economic situation as where there are two birds, called More and Better, sharing a branch on a tree. Somewhere in the advancement of economy, McKibben says, Better fluttered off a few branches from More. So now, when we aim with out stones, we cannot choose More and get Better. Instead, we are forced to choose between More or Better. Piasecki says this even more succinctly: "It can't be all about more, it must be about better." [page 139]



A way of interfacing this S-Frontier is by concentrating on Social Response Product Development which will develop along these keys:

1) Margin Improvement

2) Rapid Time Cycle

3) Global Market Access

4) Product Differentiation

5) Social Bundling of Value in Products

6) Reducing the Risk Premium

[page 55]



Social Response Product Development is said to be emerging and won't be at its peak until 2015 [page 66], so now is an excellent opportunity to engage in its long tail by implementing and enjoying its benefits soon.



Social Response Product Development and Social Response Capitalism represent more than an altruistic wish for a better economy, but instead represent a pattern emerging among very large and very successful companies. Throughout the book, there are examples of case studies of corporations from Toyota (in its development with Honda of its hybrid electric power train), Suncor (and its partnering with native and local peoples in developing Alberta's tar sands), Innovest (in promoting leading social indicators for investment metrics) and Hewlett Packard (for its e-incentives strategy of creating markets for the pyramid floor level of the global equity market). To this end, Carly Fiorina, former CEO of HP, addressed this social development: "The winning companies of this century will be those who not only increase profits by maintaining the highest standards, but those who increase social value at the same time." [page 145]



Ultimately, it comes down to a matter of trust. Promoting a corporate culture of trust will inherently create the progressive culture and all the benefits that have been described to flow from it in the Transformative Change documents. We can view the core elements of trust in corporations as: "Trusted Leadership, Social Awareness, Governance, Transparency, Risk Management, Intellectual Capital, Value Creation, Scoial Response, Better Products." [page 192]

Like his hero, E.F. Schumacher, Dr. Bruce Piasecki newest book presents us with a powerful, inspiring, and compelling alternative to business an usual. In World Inc., Dr. Piasecki argues convincingly and in writing that is accessible to all, that the future of business success lies in competing on social needs as well as on price and quality; that is, by offering products and services that serve the greater good and not just consumer desire. With success stories from today's corporate elite he describes how going green and going global can help heal the environmental and social ills we face.

According to Dr. Piasecki, social response capitalism is a sea change in big business practice. Hence, World Inc. is not a theoretical book, but rather a report on what is happening right now. The social response wave, which was born 25 years ago, has built gradually, and will play an important part in deciding the corporate winners and losers over the next several decades. Neglect it at your peril, warns Dr. Piasecki. Seize it and opportunity awaits.

For these reasons alone, World Inc. is an important book and should be read by business leaders everywhere. Yet what sets this volume apart is its focus on the role of investors in fostering change. By highlighting how rating groups determine risk and value the intangible assets born from social and environmental efforts, Dr. Piasecki shows the power of the investor in making the world a better place. And what better use of one's investment dollars could there be?

My only criticism about World Inc. (and it's a minor one) is that Dr. Piasecki does not talk much about smaller and mid-size firms. As an observer of the social responsibility practices of SMEs, I would have enjoyed reading how Dr. Piasecki feels competing on social needs will affect those millions of companies worldwide who are both suppliers and customers of the multinational firms he showcases. Going green has historically proved challenging for them. And, as Dr. Piasecki so aptly points out, the membership of the Fortune 500 has changed dramatically over the past 25 years, and today includes businesses and even industries that were unknown until quite recently. Who knows which SMEs will ride the wave of social response capitalism into the Fortune 500 of tomorrow.

John Winter
President, Social Responsibility Solutions LLC

Bruce Piasecki has written powerful and compelling book that highlights the tangible benefits of management innovation driven by social awareness. Of particular interest to those participating in the global financial markets is his chapter entitled "Money Will Not Manage Itself." The book is must reference for training globally competent managers with a view towards social responsiveness.

World Inc brings a glimpse at global and local politics from an economic perspective, certainly a must read for the movers and shakers.

Citrix MetaFrame XP: Advanced Technical Design Guide, Second Edition was a decent general read. In depth technical detail seemed to be lacking and was replaced by repetitive best practice lectures. However, I enjoyed the authors side comments and general personality that was interwoven into the reading. Overall the book is informative and well written.

We had 2 other books on Citrix Metaframe but the books didn't give us much detail so we started looking for a better resource. I found this book and recommended it to my Network Adminsitrator. I thought I won't get much from it because I don't work with Citrix everyday but when time permits, I read the book and 70% of the time I got the answers from this book.

Not a book for beginners. This is written for engineers and people who already have a good grasp of the basics of Terminal Servers and Citrix. No "how to" install in this book, but rather how to design, implement, identify and resolve your own problems, with a lot of real-life examples.

The style of the book (way it is written) makes a pleasant change from the usual technical books, as it addresses you like you know what you're talking about. You will come out with a clear understading of the issues you're facing and how to resolve them.

This book is self-published, which makes it all the more remarkable.

The book covers up to Windows 2000 and Mataframe XP FR2. I'm keen to see when the next edition comes out, and hpoefully it will concentrate on Windows 2003 + Metaframe 3.0

I had a real tough time searching the Internet and all other places to get some real stuff on Citrix and my search ended with "this" book by "Brain" Madden.

Citrix will notice a sizeable improvement in their sales if they include this book with their product. Everything is explained clearly with visuals and no filler material.

One of the best Tech Books to hit the market in recent times.

In my opinion, this book is the ONLY interesting published book about Citrix until now. I have read most of the available books about Citrix and Terminal Services and this is the only one I would buy again.

If you are a Citrix Certified Administrator, you will find this book very helpful. Personally speaking, I prefer it to most of the Citrix official documentation.

Take into account that it is a book for people who already has a deep knowledge about Citrix. It is not a guide for begginers. It gives you hints to improve your own Citrix project methodology.

Amazon guys, let me suggest this, please: If you are looking for a step-by-step begginers guide, have a look at Methodology in a Box (freely available at http://www.dabcc.com)

While the advice on making money is not revolutionary, the book is well written and well organized. The title is a little misleading as the book does not describe a perfect business but instead seeks to offer some inspiration and some sound advice about creating a low overhead micro enterprise.

If you do not have a lot of experience in business and are considering starting your own enterprise, the book is worth your time to read. It will help to inspire you and give you a useful roadmap on the journey to find a perfect business for you.

The Perfect Business by Michael Leboeuf is a very comprehensice book about starting a home-based business.

It did not give you specific example of what business to start, but rather, he gives tips on networking, marketing, self-discipline etc. If you are looking for a all-in-one type of business guidiance book, this may be the one.

However, some of the stuff Michael talks about are just stating the obvious, like sell something that customers want to buy and not what you like (isn't this obvious?). The chapter on buying office equipments, I think, is a waste of time.

All in all, I hope to see some specfic example, but were disappointed. But still, this is quite an inspirational book.

This book was great for explaining practical ponts about making it in your business independently. The best feature of the book is the inspirational tone and content. The book lifts your spirits and encourages you. It is not a How To book, but rather a "You CAN!" book.

Some of his earlier books were a little light, but this one is excellent and I highly recommend your reading it. My copy is heavily underlined.

He covers a lot of territory and synthesizes this material down to essential points. The book is interesting to read.

You might want to also read "Getting Business to Come to You" by Paul Edwards, Sarah Edwards, Laura Clampitt Douglas, Laura Clampitt. This is an excellent book on starting up a small business. And, don't forget Don Lancasters "Incredible Secret Money Machine" regarding making money from technical crafts.

You should also read any of the E-Myth books by Michael E. Gerber - who takes a different view... that of creating a growing company with employees. Comparing these views will help you decide your course of action.

This book by LeBoeuf will remain in my library for periodically reviewed books.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

I would give this book a perfect score were it not for the fact that the title and cover material does not represent the book's contents entirely accurately, so some readers may feel misled. The book presents itself as a practical guide for home-based businesses when in fact it is more of a self-help success guide in the genre of "Think and Grow Rich". This may be exactly what most aspiring home-businesspeople need; still, I would imagine that readers seeking practical specifics may be disappointed.

As a self-help success guide, however, this is a fantastic book; one of the best I've ever read. It contains no original or revolutionary ideas. Instead, it distills the best ideas of the countless success manuals written over the past 100 years into a clear and logically consistent philosophy, and applies this philosophy to the subject of self-employment.

I think, the workouts listed here would help me in every area of life, not just golf. Its a great set of exercises.
Now, if I could only find the motivation required to stick to them :)

I was looking for a book that actually had workout routines to specifically target areas that would increase my golf game and this one had it. It also has pre-season and off-season workouts which are a plus. It is a very detailed book. Great book!

This was a quick, easy and informative read for the novice weight trainer/improving golfer. Very nice!

I'm a multi sport athlete who trains all year round regardless of what sport I play. I bought a few of these Ultimate Guide to Weight Training books, and they definitely helped me train specifically for the different sports that I play. Then about a year later I received an email from amazon that there was a new edition out. These upgraded editions are even better than the originals, with more articles and a lot more sport-specific information. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who plays a lot of sports or wants to specifically focus on training for one sport in particular.

This book is great! I have always had a problem falling into a workout rut, and this book has designed a fun golf workout that changes every two weeks. I would recommend this book or any book in this series to someone who is training for a specific sport. The book is simple to read and you can download blank workout sheets from their website so you can track your progress. The book also has pictures explaining each exercise that is well organized by muscle group. Golf season has not started yet but I am looking forward to getting out there and crushing some great shots.

I was surprised by the contents of this book. What I expected was a heartfelt biography...which it was. But it was much more. Ms. Maddy created a well-researched history of Africa and in particular Liberia. Ms. Maddy is not afraid to name the problems, issues and Names [capital "N] of Africa. This book has added to my patchy socio-historical understanding of Africa and at the same time created great respect for Africa. It has also - sadly - made me ashamed of how the USA participated in the racism, destruction and violence of a proud continent.

This is a fantastic book, though it's more of a global history lesson than a lesson in entrepreneurship. Monique Maddy covers the history of Liberia in depth and in less depth the history of several other African countries. She talks about economic development and the failures of the UN, IFC and World Bank. She is clearly an advocate for economic development via private investment. Her perspective is shaped by growing up in an exemplary company town. It was part of a mining project in Liberia sponsored by a joint venture named LAMCO. The project had a social development component that both supported the mining company by developing employees, and supported the citizens by developing them. The book is significantly a biography of Maddy herself and how she came to start her venture. That core of the book is surrounded by chapters that describe her efforts to start a pan-African telecommunications company- Adesemi - and its ultimate demise.

Maddy writes a warm, but penitrating review of the life of her family, as well as the nation of Liberia.

She gives great insight into the exploitation of Africa by the west. She makes recommendations that companies and individuals should heed as they work in this great continent.

Her writing style is easy to read, and very to the point.

REVIEW BY IAN MOUNT
www.ghanaweb.com: Business News of Monday, 1 October 2001

The Last Place to Start a Company
Monique Maddy tried and failed to launch a telephone service in Africa. She's moving on. Africa isn't.

Three short years ago, Monique Maddy was boasting that her company was going to "change people's lives" and "revolutionize things." Adesemi, the wireless pay-phone company she founded in 1993, had raised $37 million dollars, built a network in Tanzania, and moved into Ghana, and was planning to expand its service to the Ivory Coast. Maddy was the new face of African business. A Wall Street Journal article in September 1998 even proclaimed, "If the disenfranchised of Africa ever join the global economy, it won't be diplomats, politicians, or church people leading the way. It will be entrepreneurs like Monique Maddy."

It hasn't turned out that way. Maddy walked away from her company in disgust in the fall of '99. Her story is a familiar one, full of the government corruption that has become an African clichi, but the 39-year-old Maddy doesn't blame her company's demise on the bribery requests or Kafkaesque red tape. For the Liberian native, who's writing a book about third-world entrepreneurship to be published by HarperCollins next year, the real reason for Adesemi's failure and Africa's continental mire can be traced to the international development agencies that are designed to help the region. "Africa is worse off today -- in many countries -- than it was at independence, even though billions and billions have been spent," says Maddy, who herself served for five years as a United Nations Development Program officer. "As long as you have these kinds of institutions, you won't have any change."

Take Maddy's experience getting a pay-phone license. In mid-1995, a year after the Tanzanian national phone company granted Adesemi the license (and Adesemi had spent $1.5 million on its network), the phone company president said that it was no good because Adesemi's pay phones were wireless. Only after an acquaintance at the Harvard Business School, her alma mater, put her in touch with World Bank president James Wolfensohn did the matter get settled. The World Bank pushed the government just so far, however. The phone company insisted on charging Adesemi inflated rates to use its infrastructure. "When we asked the World Bank to do something about the rates, they said they couldn't tell the government what to do -- but they could lend them millions of dollars," says Maddy, referring to a $75 million interest-free loan the World Bank made to the national phone company. "They had a conflict of interest," she says.

Still, Adesemi kept at it, eventually building its network up to 600 pay phones and a pager service with 5,000 customers. The sell was easy, Maddy says, because Adesemi's phones actually functioned (the street nickname for the system was "the phones that work," she says).

When an Adesemi backer, CDC Capital Partners, refused to invest more money for the company's expansion into what Maddy argued were more profitable markets -- it wanted to see profitability in Tanzania first, despite the stacked odds -- she finally gave up. Maddy, who now lives in Boston, hasn't been to Tanzania since; her investors are selling off the network.

Not surprisingly, Maddy says her book will call for a radical departure from a system based on an international aid bureaucracy. "You basically have bureaucrats trying to develop countries," she says. "How many bureaucrats started Microsoft?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Ian Mount

As someone who grew up overseas much like Monique, i deeply admire how she chose to use her acquired skills and network to give back to a continent in dire need of what rare individuals like her have to offer.

The book is enjoyable to read and deeply inspiring to anyone interested in contributing to third world development.

Rattrap is an excellent book. Because of events like the Kobe Bryant case, one might think that the plot would be straightforward and predictable. It is anything but predictable. Ms Hamilton takes the characters through series of highly charged emotional events that are thought provoking in their presentation. The raw power of life comes through in many of its varieties and is dealt with in ways that leave the reader wondering about life and people in general. While some may feel that these unabashed displays of life are offensive, I find them refreshing. The characters are real and the ways that they deal with life are real.
More importantly, the book is enjoyable. I highly recommend this book and look forward to more offerings from Ms Hamilton.

Great character line it has all the good stuff! The story line is very believable it has a driving movement or action in it. The characters are very news worthy, it has drama,guns,sex,murder,drugs,and it keeps you wondering what happens next. Very good story line very good first book with great imagination, well thought out, Great effort to keep it real. Good job! Ed Abner

"In order to defeat evil, you must understand the nature of evil." This is a profound and demanding statement that occurs several times in Sarah's first novel. In many important ways it is a summary of the novel. Over the course of the novel, the reader is given the chance (choice?) to understand not only the `greater evil' of the main villain, but also the `lesser evils' of the various characters in the novel. The novel also wrestles with the idea that perception creates reality.

RATTRAP as a story can be read on many levels, from the erotic novel to a philosophic discourse on the nature of evil and thus should appeal to a very diverse audience. The novel also contains many vignettes that will amuse, arouse, disgust, enlighten, and entertain.

This one of the most intense and believable novels I've read in a very long time. I look forward to reading Sarah's next novel!

Sarah, I thought this book was fantastic. Read every word cover to cover. Graphic, but not offensive, and I think you displayed a wide array of knowledge and familiarity with sports, pop culture, history, art and so much more. It took me a while to get through all the book, but it was well worth it. A job well done and best of luck in the future.

Jose Romero
Seattle Times Seahawks writer

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Sarah's stories online I couldn't resist trying her first book, despite the fact that I read very few novels, don't care for violence, and have no particular interest in sports. But it was like getting on a wild carnival ride, once you got into this story, there was no way you were leaving until the ride was over. Be prepared for twists and turns and bumps in the road. Sarah will keep you guessing with her rapid fire short chapter style.
And be prepared to meet some larger than life characters along the way. There are enough bad guys to populate three novels. But for those of us that have witnessed examples of celebrity "justice" in action in recent history, this book will land a little close to home. Sex, professional sports, the criminal justice system, race, gangs, there doesn't seem to be a topic that Sarah is afraid to tackle head on. Where one so young gets the knowledge and confidence to do so and make the book believable and real is beyond me but more power to her. I know that Sarah's goal is to be a full time writer and I think she's well on her way. What a great first book. She's almost converted me to become a novel reader; at least when her second book comes out and I hope that's soon. Bravo Sarah, I just hope you will still have some time to titillate your online story fans as well.