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Book reviews for "Factor" sorted by average review score:

The Winning Factor: Ultimate Fitness Experience for Everyone
Published in Paperback by M Evans & Co (May, 1999)
Author: John Schaeffer
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Interesting ideas, but marred by a sloppy presentation
This book, written by a professional trainer and a champion powerlifter, presents useful information about how to structure a strength-oriented workout program. Unfortunately, the book is marred by numerous typographical errors that make it difficult to follow and, at times, misleading. In short, this book cries out for the copyediting that it obviously never received. The book includes interesting information on diet (including recipes, tips for eating on the road and at fast food restaurants, and foods rich in various nutrients), nutritional supplements, stretching, exercise performance (although sometimes the advice is confusing), and exercise programs for specific sports. Thus, it might be a worthwhile purchase for those who can figure out what the authors MEANT to say when the typos make that difficult to discern. But for people new to weight training, or for the fastidious who don't want to guess at important information, it might be better to look elsewhere (at least until the authors bring out a new "corrected" edition.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm using the programs
I'm a personal trainer and I REALLY THINK THIS BOOK IS GREAT! I am using the information in my own personal routine, as well as my clients, with very successfull results. In my opinion, the book is easily read and comprehended... written simple enough to get even the most technical points across to most anyone. Bottom line... a great book based on covering all aspects of modern fitness training.


Women, Stress, and Heart Disease
Published in Hardcover by Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc (May, 1998)
Authors: Kristina Orth-Gomer, Margaret A. Chesney, and Nanette K. Wenger
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A collection of studies
This book appears to be a collection of studies related to women, stress and heart disease. It does not have a beginning, middle or conclusion. I guess I was expecting something else.

Update on the Science of Women and Heart Disease
This book reports on papers given at a conference that update the reader on the science of women and heart disease. There are so many myths out there that are not true. For example, working does not necessarily increase women's risk. Rather, it is how women respond to the work place. For some women, working provides a needed source of social support. For other women, not working, and remaining isolated at home, is associated at risk.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among adult women and this book provides the data documenting this risk, a reveiw of modifiable risk factors, strategies for their change and direction for futher studies.


What If Everything You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong
Published in Paperback by HEAL (1998)
Author: Christine Maggiore
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This book should be consored
This book is responsible for politicians in Africa withholding life saving treatment to people in need. This whole AIDS denialist movement will be remembered in the future as the people who fueled ignorance and promoted death in millions. Amazon should remove it from its sales list as a responsible company.

Not a drop of smugness
This book gives a balanced, scientifically verifiable assessment of the HIV/AIDS hypothesis/debate. NOWHERE in this book does Ms. Maggiore come across as smug or arrogant, or 'ha ha, I'm alive, you're dead' as one reviewer so idiotically put it. Her writing is concise, to the point, and devoid of mere opinions. The people who have written scathing criticisms of this book either did not read the entire book, or perhaps have reading comprehension difficulties. An excellent short summary, and a good lead-in to Peter Duesberg's seminal work "Inventing the AIDS Virus." Read it with your brain turned on. The AIDS issue in the U.S., as Ms. Maggiore put it so well, is a clear case of the victory of Politics over Science, Religion over Reason. Science is not about 'silencing' other theories and hypotheses that one doesn't agree with. Leave that sort of facism to tele-evangelists. If it were so, we would still be using leaches to cure disease.

Exposing the "AIDS" myth with facts!
Finally a book that gives you the facts about "AIDS" and HIV. Even if you don't believe a word of what Christine presents in the book, you must admit that, it is very odd that, none of this information is being discussed on Primetime T.V., Radio and "News" papers.

Christine presents the truth and it might hurt and perhaps even anger some people, but nevertheless, it is still the truth as many people see and experience every day. Christine shows in her book that, HIV has never been proven to cause "AIDS" or any other disease, but the public is being told over and over again that it is. Christine lays the facts on the table with extensive research and documentation to back up her claims. When you read, you might feel a sense of betrayel by the medical industry and media. That is what I felt, first time reading this book. Christine tells it like it is. The statistics that "AIDS" is not the epidemic compared to other diseases and accidents. That "AIDS" is not a disease, but a diagnose of being tested positive for HIV antibodies and having one or more of 28 old illnesses. Christine shows that, contrary to popular belief, the HIV test is NOT for the virus, but for antibodies, which they claim are specific to HIV, but is not.

The only critisism I have of the book is, I wish Christine would have spent a little more time on explaing the early cases of "AIDS" and the correlation between drug use and "AIDS". Nevertheless, the book brings the pure facts to the public in lay terms and in only 64 pages, that there isnt any excuse not to read it.

Go out and get a copy, and learn from Christine that, "AIDS" is not a death sentence, but a wake up call from a degenative lifestyle caused by recreational, prescription drugs, poor nutrition, stress and other environmental contaminations.


Jobs Rated Almanac, 2001: The Best and Worst Jobs-250 in All-Ranked by More Than a Dozen Vital Factors Including Salary, Stress, Benefits and More (Jobs Rated Almanac, 2001)
Published in Paperback by Griffin Trade Paperback (August, 2000)
Authors: Les Krantz and Tony Lee
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Lots of information
I'm switching jobs and really appreciated all the information in this book. A friend of mine also recommended another book to me, called Finding A Career That Works For You. It helped me because at first I didn't even know what kind of job I wanted to LOOK for!

Better than they say!
Alright, I've read the reviews and I am now going to try to present an unbiased view. First of all, I think that this book is great! It presents an enormous amount of information in a reader friendly style. It's true that some of the jobs are pretty obscure, but there is certainly more good to this book than bad. I just wish it was longer with more jobs listed. Oh well, I still is a plenty good book to spend your money on, even if just to see what kind of income your neighbor is making!

very good read
I thought this was a very interesting and informative book. It gave me a lot of information about different jobs.
As for the upset people who rated this book low, i'm sure Les rated firemen higher than nurses in stress level because some nurses work in a low stress environment in some kind of pediatric aera, giving shots to little kids, while firemen have to be ready all the time when they are on call. And as for librarians, well, reccomending a book or showing someone to a copy of Moneyball doesn't really compare in stress to making international relations decisions or having to make a precise cut with a scalpel.


Human Factors In Engineering and Design
Published in Hardcover by McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math (01 January, 1993)
Authors: Mark S. Sanders and Ernest J. McCormick
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Good information, but very detailed and out of date
Overall I found this book to provide a myriad of information. I was excited about office design and all of the aspects concerning this area. In many regards the book is out of date - computers, especially. But the concepts of chair design were particularly well presented. Much of the information was very detailed - noise, illumination, displays. I was, however, impressed with the amount of research the authors did by the way they cited the vast amount of research in each of the various sections. Also, they did keep their sense of humor and acknowledged the real world in their analysis.

Great beginners manual for breadth of Human Factors
This book is an excellent beginner's manual for Human Factors. It is used in several college's Human Factor's initial courses.

The topics it covers are the basic "physical" human factors topics. There is breadth but not depth. However it does not do much with UI design. There is nothing on Web design or computer station design.

This book's data is limited to examples that illustrate various points in the book. If you need detailed anthropometric data or workspace recoommendations you won't find it here.

Alan Cooper's book About face can help you with the UI part.

Jakob Nielson's Web Usability or Steve Krug's Don't make me think book can give you information on Web design.

Woodson's Human Factors Design Handbook can help you with the computer station part. At lot of money for just this though.

If you need detailed anthropmetric date, the sources I am most familiar with are:

Human Factors Design Handbook by Woodson(though it is a biased sample, if this is all you can get it is better than nothing) Woodson's newer book (2nd edition) gives computer station information, but is pricey for just this.

The measure of Man and Woman by Henry Dreyfuss and Associates (dated in 1970s)

BodySpace by Stephen Pheasant (in metric)

International data on Anthropometry by Hans W. Jurgens (gives you some international data found nowhere else).

Another thing that may help you is the table of contents:

Table of Contents:

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1. Human Factors and Systems

2. Human Factors Research Methodologies

Part 2: INFORMATION INPUT

3. Information Input and Processing

4. Text, Graphics, Symbols and Codes

5. Visual Display of Dynamic Information

6. Auditory, Tactual and Olfactory Displays

7. Speech Communications

PART 3: HUMAN OUTPUT AND CONTROL

8. Physical Work and Manual Materials Handling

9. Motor Skills

10. Human Control of systems

11. Controls and Data Entry devices

12. Hand tools and devices

PART 4: WORKPLACE DESIGN

13. Applied Anthropometry, Work-space design and Seating

14. Arrangement of Components within a Physical Space

15. Interpersonal Aspects of Workplace Design

PART 5: ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

16. Illumination

17. Climate

18. Noise

19. Motion

PART 6: HUMAN FACTORS APPLICATIONS

20. Human Error, Accidents and Safety

21. Human Factors and the Automobile

22. Human Factors in Systems design

APPENDICES

A. List of Abbreviations

B. Control Devices

C. NIOSH Recommended Action Limit Formula for Lifting Tasks

very good introduction
In my opinion, this book is a great introduction to the field of ergonomics and human factors. Though it is indeed a bit older, all necessary fields are covered with great diligence (Information inout & processing, human output & control, workplace design, environmental conditions & human factors applications). Of course the passages concerning VDUs and computers are outdated, but these passages comprise only a very small part of the book (and, to be honest, if I want to read about these topics I would pick different books anyway!). The authors write in a very comprehensible way and many examples and pictures underline the usability of the book. To summarize, a book that is outdated concerning the most recent computer technologies (VDU etc.), but a great introduction containing everything necessary to human factors and design (and these sections are NOT outdated, as the reader before says very poignantly: "Computers may change, people DON'T change that easily).


Hinge Factor, The: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History
Published in Paperback by Arcade Books (02 April, 2001)
Author: Erik Durschmied
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What if it hadn't rained at Agincourt in 1415 and the French had, as expected, won the day? What if one of Napoleon's most trusted commanders had spiked Wellington's guns with a handful of nails at Waterloo in 1815, providing his emperor with victory? What if Hitler hadn't paused for three vital days during his invasion of France in May 1940, allowing the British Expeditionary Force precious time to evacuate from Dunkirk? Moments like these, argues Erik Durschmied, provide the hinge factor in history: examples of stupidity, chance, or accident that have irrevocably changed the outcome of human history, for better or worse.

Drawing on his extensive experience as a war correspondent with the BBC and CBS, Durschmied moves from ancient Troy and the Trojan Horse to Iraq and Operation Desert Storm, offering a persuasive and at times wry account of the ways in which chance affects the unfolding of history. Recounting 17 key moments in human conflict and warfare, The Hinge Factor is not just an amusing meditation on what might have been; it is also a poignant and vivid account of the brutality and stupidity of war. More than just an account of accidents in history, this is a thoughtful and absorbing book. --Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk

Average review score:

Laughing at peoples mistakes and misfortune
The Hinge Factor relates some important events in history as entertaining anecdotes. The book does live up to it's subtitle "How chance and stupidity have changed history". Each of the anecdotes shows how chance or someone's stupid decision changed the outcome of an important historical event. A number of unrelated historical events were chosen as examples.

That is actually the biggest problem with the book. While each example stands on its own, there is no attempt to draw the piece together into a coherent whole. No lessons are drawn. The book comes to no conclusion. Perhaps the author intended that the lessons be clear to the reader from the stories he chose. If so I missed it.

In fact I do not believe the author had any lesson in mind. The events described were chosen for their entertainment value, not for any educational purpose. If that is the authors goal, I would say it was a moderate success.

Durschmied is a television corespondent. That witting style is reflected in The Hinge Factor. Each of the seventeen short vignettes is filled with action and keeps a fast pace. The author never gets boughed down in details or pesky facts. Since each story stands on its own, it is easy to pick the book up and read any one at random. The helps the book server as an occasional diversion.

Cleopatra's Nose
In history class we used to talk about what if scenarios all the time. One of our favorites was, what if Cleopatra had a big fat nose. In theory, Caesar wouldn't have fallen in love with her, taken her side in the Egyptian Civil War, or made her his concubine/wife. It was fun, and interesting learning tool, but limited in applications; Cleopatra nose wasn't big and fat.

In the hinge factor a former war correspondent talks about how such seemingly random and bizarre factors have changed history. From a wooden horse before Troy (arguably not a random factor since it was a deliberate plan) to a surprise killer bee attack against an army in the middle of a modern war, chance is sometimes the biggest factor in history. Here, in addition to the stories referenced above, the author discusses how battles from the American Civil War to the Crimean War, WWII, Vietnam and many others were greatly altered by almost random acts.

Telling you all the details of the stories ruins the fun of this book. I will tell you some of the details of only one story, my favorite. It was about how a drunken army actually lost a battle to themselves! Better still, they only were drunk at that time by a chance meeting between themselves and some merchants and whores.

Every story here is very interesting, short, about 15 or 20 pages, clear, and a quick read. You may actually end up believing that chance is the only element of war. To be fair, "fortune favors the bold" as the saying goes. I might add, and the well prepared. Was it Pasteur who discovered one of his great breakthroughs by chance? I just remember that when asked if he was "lucky" he replied that he was only lucky because he was trained enough and educated enough to be ready when this "lucky break" occurred. So it is, even more so, with war. Enjoy the Hinge Factor, a interesting read -until the end.

History for those who care.
History is for everybody-not just those who know insignificant bits of information about pieces of history but for those who look for keys to the whole picture. Many of the reviewers of this book missed the point and therefore the importance of Durschmied's work by presenting the panoply of historical movement. Historians, and those historical camp followers of their exegesis, seem to take delight in excoriating writers who attempt to trespass on hallowed historical ground by presenting sacrosanct history in ways that can blosom debate and general intellectual intercourse.

"The Hinge Factor" is a superb attempt to shine a torch on some of the murkier areas of European history. How many people know how poorly the British were led during the early stages of the Boer War or the importance of the battle of Tannenberg to the history of 20th century? I loved this book and I feel that there should be more opportunities for readers to argue and confront history and yes, ask questions about "what if" through the reading of books such as this. Questions arising from books such as his are the meat of history-of course history must be written carefully-but was I intend reading his other titles because there is a huge need for his kind of history-history that pulls back the curtains that have clouded our vision when history is left only to the "experts"


The Beethoven Factor: The New Positive Psychology of Hardiness, Happiness, Healing and Hope
Published in Hardcover by Hampton Roads Pub Co (September, 2003)
Author: Paul, Ph. D. Pearsall
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Don't waste your time
This is a terrible, unreadable book. I'm not surprised it had problems getting published. It reads like a manuscript that was submitted that needed heavy editing and the author refused. There are long incoherent sentences and the author repeats himself over and over. At some point he starts criticizing the food pyramid and mentions in a very sinister way that it was developed by a senate committee overseen by Senator George McGovern. Huh? And PS: Beethoven wasn't happy.

Smile and have happy thoughts
I expected a lot more profundity about this topic. There are much better works out there than this. The book is evidence that one cannot assume that because a writer has many books published that hey keep getting better, ofthen the revers as here where the audience in mind is simple people who find worn out bromides helpful. Try angel dust insted.

This Book Really Makes You Think
I heard the author on the radio and bought the book. What makes this book unique is its attempt to dispute all of these "facts" about psychology and health in general. Alot of what is taken as fact by the health community is actually in dispute. If I had to sum up what I learned it would be: 1.Disease and evil exist for a reason in the world and these problems can be used for our benefit. 2. Our reaction to what happens to us is what determines happiness not how much we have compared to others. 3. Having the personality of a thriver will give you health benefits far in excess of traditional measures such as lowering your cholesterol or going to the gym. This book will really open your eyes and its filled with unforgettable stories.


The Ostrich Factor: Our Population Myopia
Published in Hardcover by Oxford University Press (January, 1999)
Author: Garrett Hardin
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Natural selection should push this book to an early death
When I purchased this book I was looking for insight into why some people believe that human populations can continue to grow indefinetly. I was also hoping for a discussion of the consequences of unlimited population growth. What I found instead was a rambling, poorly organized and unsupported, train-of-thought expounding of one person's ideas.

Hardin is a professor emeritus of "human ecology". Whatever that is it is not a science, at least as Hardin embodies it. Although his book purports to discuss scientific ideas, ideals and the scientific method, he clearly has no real understanding of these concepts. Science is provable (or disprovable), systematic, reproducable and requires support of multiple researchers. Hardin apparently has no respect for these priciples, although he makes references to them. I stopped reading the book, which I found to be a big waste of my time, when I got to the first paragraph of chapter 8. This is what it says:

"Natural selection is an inescapable default position of all biology, and as such calls for no experimental proof. Would human beings with six fingers per hand be superisor to those with five? If this were so, six-fingeredness would soon be the norm of the species. In truth, we deduce natural selection form whatever exists."

If you do not understand the incredible incompetence of such a statement then you should read a book by a biologist on evolution and the theory of natural selection (and some opposing or augmenting theories). If this paragraph strikes you as absurd and irresponsible than you can find better, more reliable sources of information.

Some insights among the indirections
The central argument of this book is that we are ostriches with our heads in the sand unable to face our problems because facing them would entail confronting taboo, which is socially and politically impossible (at least within earshot of anybody). But Professor Hardin, who is the author of Stalking the Wild Taboo, finds a way around the forbidden by creating a man from Mars who can be objective where we cannot, allowing Hardin to express the taboo point of view. For example on page 106 he has the Martian say (referring to the organization, Zero Population Growth): "it is virtually unheard of outside the learned community... [I]n the long run, it will decrease the relative number of educated people compared with the uneducated." The Martian adds, "Propaganda in favor of reducing fertility must be accompanied by repressive legal measures... Perhaps the first thing to do would be to cancel income deductions for the third child in a family (and beyond)." Hardin himself obliquely gives his point of view on page 61 with these words, "The natural sciences have probably made it possible for millions--probably not billions--of human beings to live sustainably on the earth."

While I (and the natural resources of the planet) would welcome a world with say six hundred million people as opposed to six billion, I must disagree with the man from Mars about the educated and the uneducated. I suspect, regardless of actual numbers, their proportions would stay approximately the same.

However most of this book is not about overpopulation, but about political and economic issues that Professor Hardin is pleased to expound on. There is the problem of "Equity, Equality, and Affirmative Action" (Chapter 14). As Hardin sees it we really need to understand that "no two human beings are created equal" (p. 109) and that "equity" and "equality" are not the same thing. Exactly how he feels about affirmative action however is never stated directly--indeed little in this book is stated directly. Hardin prefers to hint at his position and let the reader figure it out. Since he gives the (absurd) example of laws mandating "the admission of pygmies to professional basketball teams," I am persuaded that he is opposed to affirmative action.

There are some things he does make clear, but not in a manner likely to persuade. For example, he is opposed to one world government, believing that it would be unstable. In support (surprisingly enough) he quotes Bertrand Russell: "A world state, if it were firmly established, would have no enemies to fear, and would therefore be in danger of breaking down through lack of cohesive force." Why a superstate would necessarily lack cohesive force is never explained. One gets the sense that it somehow has to do with another related Hardin idea, namely that multiculturalism within a single society is unstable. (See Chapter 15.) His argument is that the differing cultures would not be able to agree on how to go about their business peaceably and laws could not be formulated that all cultures would find acceptable. He gives the example of somebody from one culture wanting to drive on the right side of the road and somebody from another wanting to drive on the left. In fact, he gives this example a couple of times.

I am at a loss to appreciate these arguments (and some others in the book). That different people could not be persuaded to agree to drive on one side of the road seems silly. That a superstate could not find enemies for the populace to rally against seems naive. After all we have today the phenomena of the U.S. government directing its energies against drug lords and terrorists with the public firmly behind those efforts, as President Bush's high approval ratings attest. Furthermore, there will always be a counter-culture (in a democratic society) that the majority culture can and will rail against (and vice-versa). But I even question the underlying psychological assumption that a state needs enemies to be cohesive. Historically, governments have sought enemies (both within and without) as a means to solidify their power, but that hardly proves that a state necessarily needs enemies to survive. At any rate, perhaps we can dream up nasty little green men from some distant solar system to hate, if need be.

Hardin's style is somewhat off-putting at first and betrays his long years as a teacher. He makes statements with little or no support that encourage readers to evaluate for themselves, and then later on (after readers have presumably had time to think for themselves), he gives his rationale. (Or he doesn't!) The subject of one chapter is concluded in the next and then reopened in another. He sometimes explains the obvious and then fails to explain the cryptic, as for example he informs us that "philosophy" means "love of knowledge" (p. 31 ), but does not reveal why "adding two more lanes to a highway...ultimately increases traffic jams." (p. 39)

Some of Hardin's sentiments, however, I find quite agreeable. For example, "No one expects the physics of 50 B.C. to tell us how to launch a spaceship. But apparently many people are sure that the 2,000-year-old ethics developed in Near Eastern villages is all we need to solve" our moral problems. (pp. 4-5)

The greatest problem facing the planet today (and the root cause of many other problems) is overpopulation. It is a truth that needs a wider and more emphatic expression. I hope in his next book Professor Hardin concentrates on this urgent problem and leaves the political and economic niceties for others to straighten out.

More than meets the eye
This book has more in it than meets the eye and it infers many things that readers may not pick up on. One of the ideas I thought was useful not just for the population problem but for many other problems that humas are facing his his ideas about all the investments in failure that we are making in many of our "solutions". I think Hardin implies the solution which is that limits have to be set and that our basic ancient mythology which was set at a time when population growth was extreemly useful is now no longer useful. His solution is to argue this point again and again because so many people still have their heads in the sand. Until people can come to some of the realities of our world population problem it is pointless to try to implement any solution which those with their heads in the sand will continue to oppose. His solution is very difficult to swallow for people who are holding on to the ideals of the past which are now fatal so this book is very vital. I like that he leaves it to the inventiveness of the reader to pursue the results of his findings. Details about any of his infered solutions are not in this book. This book is a work of genious from someone who has been in the field of population control for over 30 years. He knows what he's up to. He opens up so many possibilities for creative readers or political thinkers. His ideas on coercion, equality, multiculturalism, and altruism will be invaluable for any solution to take place. This book is just brimming with discussions and it makes for a great book for a class to read and discuss which is what I think Hardin ment it for mostly to be used in his classes and used to launch many discussions. That is why is is so bare in many ways and leaves the conclusions up to the reader. The thing I dislike about the book the most is that the inside cover says "sure to spark controversy." It just goes to show how many in our society have there heads in the sand!


The 91% Factor: Why Women Initiate 91% of Divorce, End Most Relationships, and What Can Be Done About It
Published in Hardcover by Amer Political Pr (January, 1999)
Authors: Edward Baiamonte and Ted Baiamonte
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Bizarre conclusions that usualy result from poor thinking
.

This potentialy good book ilustrate what any good thesis supervisor knows: poor thinking, failing to consider all the relevant variables involved in a problem, can lead to the most ludicrous, bizarre, absurd conclusions (not to mention recomendations).

The authors' recomendations, well covered by the other Amazon.com readers, have this artificial, twisted, demented quality, to anyone with half a spoon of common sense, not because they lack logic. By the contrary, they are the logical consequence of there line of investigation and analysis. The problem is they tried to analyse such a complex phenomenom as the modern heterosexual marriage through the narrow angle of the sexual component and, even this single subject is reduced to an over-simplified model of "male seeks intercourse with female, which controls the 'flux' of sex".

Lots of questions highlight the poverty of this framework of analysis. Here are just three:

* Why have divorce rates increased after women started providing free sex before marriage? Actualy, how could the institution of marriage survive such a blow, as free pre-nuptial sex, if the author's perspective is relevant?

* The sexual drive of women is significantly (and biologicaly sensibly) reduced, after the birth of a child. Instead of strengthening the marriage, this is tipicaly a period of stress for the relationship. How can this be explained by the authors?

* How about the male perspective and expectations, about marriages? Aren't men less prone to end marriages beacause it is easier for them to have satisfactory extra-marital sex and relationships? Are men sexualy over-satisfied within marriage or are both -- man AND woman -- frustrated, in terms of sex and relationship? Isn't it probable that extra-marital affairs mitigate the man's frustration but not the woman's? In this case, isn't the man's frustration more probably linked to sexual fulfillment, while the woman's stems from more relationship-related problems? If so what would be the results of the author's recomendations, less or more divorces? Better or worst marriages?

Fresh & Provocative
I am a 47-year-old woman, widowed after a happy 15-year marriage, and now in another satisfying partnership with a man. Neither the title nor the contents of this book offend me -- far from it -- I think it's time American women took some responsibility for our decision-making powers. As the author points out, and my experience validates, we women choose the relationships we want, nurture them, manipulate them, feed them or starve them, and untimately decide whether they thrive or die. Women want sex in a loving context. Men want sex to soothe, comfort, and reassure them. It's up to women to demonstrate to our men the power they have to turn us on or turn us off. I agree with some of the other reviewers that there's a fine line between sexual blackmail and honest, immediate communication about the sexual climate in a relationship. I would not recommend (as the author does) that you start making love and then stop in the middle with an admonition that you will not culminate the act until you feel loved. But there is nothing wrong with an instance rebuke of bad behaviour and an immediate move into the spare bedroom until it changes. These are issues that must be explored prior to marriage & kids --- for the sake of both genders. As the author also points out, it's men who suffer when women decide to terminate a marriage so men should welcome straight talk from a woman about her requirements for on-going sexual interest. As the author says, most men want to please us; they start out loving us and only resort to loveless sex if they are led to believe we don't care.

Finally, an actionable theory
A fascinating theory based on the notion that heterosexual relationships are 1) primarily sexual (certainly from an evolutionary viewpoint this is true) and 2) fade, 50% to a female initiated divorce, because a woman's sexual power diminishes from the first date forward. The author claims, with much scientific support and measurement that on the first date a woman knows to withhold sex until the male has proved himself a worthy, long term lover, but in time, assuming a marriage or long term relationship, she comes to believe that sex is a free marital good which the male successfully demands and receives too much for his own good. Rather than being on his best and most affectionate "first date" behavior he is like a child served his favorite meal to often to the point where his appreciation of the thing he is programmed to value most is lost. Then, both feel unloved and eventually a divorce is the result. The author's statistical claim is that a female's sexual communication skill is best and most purposive on the first date, due to fundamental evolutionary forces, and fades thereafter as she slowly comes to believe, or is persuade by her mate, that her obligation is to provide sex on demand rather than in return for "first date" affectionate and loving behavior. An ingenious and actionable theory, based on much fact and observations of the sex life of many couples on route to divorce, to hopefully stem the 50% divorce rate. Who knows of a better theory,especially a better theory that can be remembered and acted on?


Burn Factor
Published in Audio Cassette by HarperAudio (01 April, 2001)
Authors: Kyle Mills and Kramer Michael
Amazon base price: $39.95
Used price: $8.85
Buy one from zShops for: $4.96
Why would the FBI want to cover up a link between five unsolved murders, especially a link as telling as matching DNA recovered from every one of the crime scenes? That's the premise of Kyle Mills's Burn Factor. Instead of his usual hero, FBI agent Mark Beamon, the author introduces Quinn Barry, a relatively low-level analyst for the agency who stumbles across what at first looks like a glitch in the computer's forensics program. But of course it's not--the serial killer protected by the powers that be is a truly mad scientist who's indispensable to the completion of a top-secret weapons project. Quinn, whose lifelong ambition is to move up in the ranks and become a full-fledged FBI agent, is transferred out of her programming job as soon as she brings the link to the attention of superiors. But the plucky woman ignores their warnings and enlists the aid of another scientific genius, who also happens to be the chief suspect in at least one of the gruesome murders she's intent on solving.

Burn Factor is big on implausible and illogical plot twists, and small on characterizations. We never learn enough about Quinn to understand why she puts her career (not to mention her life) in jeopardy, even as evidence of a massive cover-up continues to mount and her boyfriend, a CIA agent, turns out to be a willing accomplice to the conspirator-in-chief. Fans of Mills's previous novels (Rising Phoenix, Storming Heaven, Free Fall) who keep waiting for Beamon to show up and save the day will be disappointed, especially since the author doesn't quite succeed in making Quinn Barry as appealing a protagonist. --Jane Adams

Average review score:

Read his other books
I'm a big fan of Amazon's if you like... suggestions. That's how I found Kyle Mills and I've really enjoyed all of his books, except for this one. It was so repulsive I could barely make it through the book. Read all of Kyle Mills books, except this one.

even escapist fiction should have some grounding in reality
I read this right after reading Rising Pheonix and, while I felt it was better overall-- more plausible plot, better characters, better writing--, it was still far from a satisfying read.

The main problem was the writing. The action scenes were awkward, and there were a couple of howlers, especially at the beginning: rice cakes "fatally impacting" on the floor (pg. 8), a woamn eating a "snowball-sized" scoop of ice cream (pg. 63).

Some of the characters still were not fleshed out enough or totally believable-- Twain and Marin, for example. There is actually the cliche of the serial killer listening to classical music at one point, something you see a lot of in movies but not in real life.

More than a few of the plot developments and incidents seem straight out of an action movie: the bad guys are always a step or two behind the good guys, a woman survives a gunshot when a bullet glances off her head (pg. 201), two people survive massive explosions that kill everyone around them (pg. 355), a man jumps out of the way of a bullet (pg. 377), the killer imbeds a knife in a cinderblock wall (pg. 333). Other plot points are just ludicrous, as when one of the characters calls Stephen Hawking on the spur of the moment.

There are many more smaller problems which highlight his lack of research or inability to write about events in a believable manner, though it would be pointless to list them all. Two thumbs down for me.

Another solid effort from Kyle Mills
With Burn Factor and the introduction of a new lead character, Quinn Barry, Kyle Mills sticks with the realm of the FBI but moved beyond his three previous efforts build on the Mark Beamon character. As with Mills' previous efforts, the pace is fast, the action often intense, and the story line - while at times stretching believability - is intriguing. Quinn Barry is a computer analyst working for the FBI but she has aspirations to be an FBI agent. Through the course of her work, she uncovers evidence of a startling cover-up. Quickly, she finds herself pursuing and being pursued by a brilliant but truly sadistic individual. Barry and a surprising partner match wits with her pursuers as they struggle to solve the mystery and stay alive. It should be noted that this work is not for the faint of heart. From the very beginning, the descriptions are extremely graphic and the situations are grotesque and clearly unsettling. Despite the graphic nature of the violence throughout the book, the story is definitely compelling enough to hold the reader's attention and keep the pages turning.


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