Fail

For anyone interested in the psychology and group dynamics of millenarian/prophetic groups, this book is essential reading. Sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s the authors stumbled upon and infiltrated a group based on a prediction of imminent world destruction. When the prediction failed (after all, we are all still here in the late 1990s), the group underwent a severe crisis. This study details how that crisis developed and was resolved, drawing from it some general ideas about how groups based on prophecies survive the failure of those prophecies.

In this book, Festinger, et. al., set forth the cognitive dissonance model, which helps any of us to observe the unfolding human drama with greater understanding. It compares with Julian Janes' masterpiece, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, as a work in which the reader is urged on by the awakening suspicion that perhaps on the next page, just beyond the horizon of comprehension, lies a unifying theory that will lay to rest the most vexing enigmas.

On this note, Festinger came through, by observing social cultism in action and identifying its dynamic elements and tracing them to the common human condition. But he doesn't scrawl arcane formulae or speak in academic tongues to reach his readers. He simply explains in very simple, concise language why his very human subjects behave in such bizarre, but predictable, ways. His conclusions may be summed in a few sentences, derived from a very entertaining account of a UFO cult of his time, which is identical in form and content with the many varieties of social cultism running rampant today, especially the 12-step recovery group movement that, during the half decade since this book's publication, has silently possessed our social service system.

Festinger's cult-founding protagonist, Marion Kreech, may be constructively compared to AA founder, Bill Wilson, but her bizarre message did not find the mass appeal that surrounds AA. Moreover, the disconfirmations of her improbable predictions did not have the resounding support of others of greater accumulated credibility, who ironically now include Festinger's own descendents in the social sciences who endorse the disease concept of addiction and require 12-step indoctrination for its remission.

Interestingly, Festinger inserts a cameo-like discussion of Joseph McCarthy's ultimate failure, which in the cognitive dissonance model, resulted from his accusations of persons of greater credibiilty. It seems quite likely that AA's day in the sun will end when its prophets attack the character of famous "dry drunks" for whom the public has greater esteem than our de facto state religion, Alcoholics Anonymous.

My last biased comments are an example of how Festinger's work may fit into anyone's subjective experience, to simply illuminate why people do the damndest things.

This work first saw print in 1956. It is the story of a UFO cult in a large city in the Midwest...how it developed, how the leaders recruited followers, how predictions about the coming end of the world started flowing from the psychic members who allegedly channeled messages from the spacemen/pilots. The cult members were told they would be saved, picked up by saucers on an appointed date. The members quit jobs, sold possessions, and gathered, only to be disappointed. Did they all quit in a huff? No way. The first failure only made them more determined they were right, more anxious to be ready for the next announced departure date. Then a second failure. A few members fell away, a few suffered doubts, a few challenged for leadership themselves. The point of this book is that it takes "three disconfirmations" to kill a movement of true believers, and even then, some still hang on to the discredited "theology" by grasping at excuses. I found this book by accident about 30 years ago, and have read it at least four times. I find it fascinating. In the 1970's I knew two women in Albuquerque who were amateur psychics. They started bringing forth "space brethren messages" and eventually, although they failed to attract a following, they went up into the nearby mountains one night sure they would be lifted off before the coming unspecified disaster. They waited, but no ship appeared. I think people inclined toward UFO beliefs haven't changed much since this book was published. The basic data shown in this study can apply to religious or political groups as well. I am sorry it is out of print, but if you have an interest in this field, get a used copy...the prices are reasonable and the book will not disappoint!

This was an excellent plot but at times I didn't know which story line I was following. This should and would have been a six star read if Nikiel had broken up the story. He should have had a chapter on Troy,Durham,Theo and Derrick separately. This would have caused less confusion. But just when you think you are to confused Nikiel comes out with some story lines that leave your mouth hanging open.

Prepare yourself because your temperature will rise! This is a male bonding "Waiting to Exhale!"

This book asked me, HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED JUST WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON INSIDE YOUR PARTNERS HEAD??? Why do they do some of the things that they do? For instance, why do they go outside the relationship for stimulation---whether it be mental, emotional and worst of all SEXUAL! Why is the famous break-up line always, "It's not you but me." As if that eases the pain of loosing someone that you thought loved you. To bad life doesn't come with a manual to see how the other side thinks. But then again, maybe it does.

When all else fails, usually it is the woman that comes up with the short end of the stick when it comes to love. But a small percentage of men too have their hearts broken. So when all else fails, are men and women any different? When all else fails are men from Mars and women from Venus? I don't know, but this book will sure help you to understand just what goes on in the minds of most men --- those that hurt and those that get hurt. I guess when it's all said and done, When All Else Fails, We Cry! EXCELLENT BOOK---ANYTIME I READ SOMETHING GOOD I GET DEEP---AND THAT WHAT THIS BOOK IS DEEP AND GOOD---TERRY MCMILLAN WOULD BE PROUD!

This book was all I expected from Nikiel!!

A deep look into the lives of four men -growing-
A male bonding "waiting to exhale" story spoken snappy, straight to you the reader.In thier own voices through questions, thoughts and poetry you feel the joy and pain as they feel it. There is success, failure, sex, suicide attempts, children, emotional abuse, wives and lovers. The woman speak straight to you as well through letters, thoughts and feelings about the choices they make. this book is Deep!
A very moving story with twists and turns. You will laugh and you will want to cry... when all else fails we cry...

If you have never read Nikiel, you will like the way he writes, he has a very different style of writing. In "concrete eyes," he let you the reader finish the story.....

Cayley doubts that prisons are instruments of correction. Like all institutions they grow to a size which frustrates their original intention. To illustrate this he cites national (Canadian) and international examples of how prisons currently work. Cayley understands justice as peace making and incorporates into his arguments insights from critical thinkers whose notions are significant to prison reform. We are social beings prior to understanding ourselves as individuals, he notes, and suggests that a moral understanding of good and evil is necessary to obtain justice. He writes (p. 85) that "In a world without good, evil is secularized as crime." and "Justice without a sense of the good is darkened." Cayley offers excellent historical insights into the relationship between prison rehabilitation and Christianity that have implications for the future direction of the treatment of prisoners. The notion of 'truth as relational' (p. 323), which he attributes to Martin Buber, reveals a phenomenological understanding of justice. This understanding contrasts with the classical ideas of Aristotle and Aquinas which currently underpin concepts of justice. Anyone interested in the alternatives available for prison reform or the religious and pastoral care in prisons will find a wealth of information in Cayley's book.

Comprehensive book based on numerous interviews and extensive research. The author provides a very persuasive argument for penal reduction and explains how and why the rate of imprisonment in the West continues to grow steadily while crime rates are in fact decreasing. He also presents an good overview of alternatives to incarceration that have proven success (in direct contrast to the proven failure of imprisonment). I highly recommend this book.

This book is a page turner. Examining cultural attitudes as reflected in the media, Hodgson exposes the great hypocracies our society demonstrates toward children: claiming how much we care about children's well-being but unwilling to accord them the same human rights as adults. Hodgson does a good job of showing the "big picture" while still using lots of specific details, and makes the reader look at familiar news stories from a different angle.

Hodgson's great book provides innovative perspective on the war against young people that characterizes the '90s, replete with illustrations as fresh as today's news and a multitude of quotable "zingers." A chronicle of a terrible time in which America abandoned its kids and called it "morality."

El Paso Detective Devon Gray is assigned to investigate the stabbing murder of a Jane Doe near the river. After completing his shift, he heads home where his live-in lover Samantha is hosting her ex-husband Jay Leher. Jay claims he drove not stop from Los Angeles because his girlfriend fled LA before calling him to tell him to forget her. Jay knows she is in trouble. Devon uses his connections to learn where Lisa Scobar was staying, but when he sees her photo he knows he has found out the identity of Jane Doe.

Devon travels to Chinati, Texas where Ranger Prairie Drake accompanies him; this is her first case. They visit Lisa's husband Sergio Tierrasantas, a wealthy man who lives like a warlord. When bad things start happen to people he cares about, Devon goes over the edge using excessive force, leading to a suspension and a job working for Sergio. As he spies on the power lord to try to bring him down, Devon finds his adversary quite a foe, making the cop wonder if he needs to cross the line to stop his enemy.

This is an exciting police procedural that contains twists and turns including one shocker of an ending. The story line is action packed yet in some ways low keys the investigation, which adds to the overall flavor. Though the relationship between the Texas Rangers and the city police is never fully explained except one on one in the boudoir, fans will enjoy this terse thriller and want to read the prequel PATRICIDE.

Harriet Klausner

This book starts an avalanche with the first page and tumbles like a runaway train to the shocker of an ending, which hits the page like a fastbound freight! I was amazed at how involved I became in Det. Gray's struggle to make sense of it all, and how punched in the gut I felt at his final solution. I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel. There wasn't a misstep in the author's telling of this exciting story.

Overall a good book but made me question historical accuracies. The book says that scicence oppressed certain scientific discoveries which I thought were oppressed by certain established religions of history. Good book and worth a read, especially if you like science history.

I had to read this for schoool last year, and I couldn't put it down!! The history of a lot of stuff is in here, and its worth every cent you pay for it. Highly Reccomended!!

Being one authored by INSEAD experts, I bought the book with high expectations, believing that FINALLY the truth can be out!!! I read the first few chapters of the book so religiously (almost treating it like my Bible), taking down key points that are so wonderfully said about the self-fulfilling prophecy that many managers have set themselves up to, i.e. to fail. What's disappointing as I come to the middle portion of the book is that authors suggestion on how managers can avoid the SUTF syndrome by taking the first step (not to mention swallowing all their ego and pride) and start initiating a de-SUTF relationship with his/her subordinate even if it means this person might eventually have a chance of not improving at all (due to job mis-fit)??? I returned the book and bought and digested "First Break All Rules" instead.

This work deftly weaves those seemingly abstract and academic studies Psychology 101 students have been reading about for 40 years into the fabric of everyday work experience. The authors are able to put the subtle pattern into high resolution, which at first appears shocking, then depressing, and finally, hopeful.

It was depressing to think that the syndrome is both insidious and pernicious because the common wisdom of most coaching models is a key driver of the syndrome. That is, when a manager notices a performance problem, the appropriate response is to give the person feedback and put them on a "short leash" so that the employee gets extra guidance. On the face, this starts a chain of events:
•Employee perceives the lack of trust, feels cramped by the limited autonomy, as well as being under appreciated.
•Employee responds by withdrawing and reducing unnecessary contact with the boss.
•The Boss takes the withdrawal as confirmation the this is indeed a weaker performer and so shortens the leash even more.
•Progressively, the employee begins to doubt her own capability and ability to contribute, and
•The ugly cycle continues in a downward spiral and the employee has been successfully set up to fail.

It was hopeful to realize that the dynamic is not really based in the coaching model at all. It is based in the very human tendency to categorize and label. It is the common wisdom that there are three kinds of employees: the Stars (or A-Players), the Worker Bees (or B-Players), and the Deadwood (or C-Players). The problem lies in the labeling and how the manager relates to the Worker Bee employee. The Stars have close partnerships with the Boss and are treated as 'trusted assistants." The Worker Bees, on the other hand, have low quality relationships with the Boss and are treated as "hired hands." This stark differentiation in the quality of relationship, based on the label is at the root of the issue. Curt Coffman of the Gallup Organization has said, "We're running as an economy at a 30% efficiency rate because so many workers are not contributing as much as they can..." because a disconnect with an immediate supervisor.

Psychologists say that "Perception is not reality." That is truth in their offices; truth in the workplace is, "Perception IS reality." Unfortunate but true. Manzoni & Barsoux do the business world a great service because they clearly and skillfully lay out how our perception creates unintended bias. This awareness is required by both the Boss and the Subordinate to be able to stop the dysfunctional "dance" that occurs when the Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome is at work. The hope that they present is that awareness leads to re-evaluation and the reduction of bias.

This is one powerful book; buy it, read it, talk about it.

This book is based on more than fifteen years of extended and combined research whose primary objective was to reveal the reasons why so many in positions of authority, especially bosses, are so ineffective when managing their subordinates, especially their perceived weaker performers. That is to say, supervisors are often unaware of the fact that they are "complicit in an employee's lack of success. How? By creating and reinforcing a dynamic that essentially sets up perceived weaker performers to fail." Hence the title of Manzoni and Barsoux's book. The authors explain the causes and effects of that "dynamic" (see "Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome," Chapter 3) and also explain how to avoid it ("Preventing the Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome: Lessons from the Syndrome Busters," Chapter 9). One of this book's most valuable contributions is comprised of a series of "Tables" which organize and summarize key points. For example:

Table 2-1: "How Bosses See Their Behavior toward Subordinates" which contrasts tendencies of bosses in relationships with weaker and stronger performers.

Table 5-1: "Taking Sides" which presents two views of the same supervisor's observed behavior either as a "great boss" or as an "impossible boss."

Table 7-2: "Taking Responsibility Away from an Employee" which juxtaposes a supervisor's thoughts and feelings about a subordinate with their interaction in dialogue.

Manzoni and Barsoux assert that the set-up-to-fail syndrome is "both self-fulfilling and self-reinforcing, which obscures the boss's responsibility in the process as well as some of the key psychological and social mechanisms involved." My own experience suggests an often great discrepancy exists between modes of behavior determined by conscious and unconscious mindsets. That is to say, many supervisors would vehemently deny that they are "complicit in an employee's lack of success....[by] creating and reinforcing a dynamic that essentially sets up perceived weaker performers to fail." Nonetheless they are. Were they to read this book, they would probably agree that there is such a syndrome and then lament how unfair it is to subordinates who are victimized by it.

One final point. Countless research studies of face-to-face communication have arrived at essentially the same conclusion: Body language creates 60-75% of the impact, tone of voice 15-20%, and content (i.e. what is actually said) only 10-15%. (Percentages vary among research studies but only slightly.) With the publication of this book, Manzoni and Barsoux have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of a widespread but, until now, neglected cause of human dysfunction in the workplace. Whether intentionally or not, a supervisor can sometimes create irreparable damage, especially to those who already feel insecure, by a negative and demeaning "message" which need not be expressed in words but comes through loud and clear nonetheless.

--The reviewer is a peace operations analyst in Washington DC--

This book was, as other reviewers noted, originally a dissertation. So off the top, a prospective reader should know that this is a scholarly piece of work, not a novel. It is a well-written and quite readable work, though.

Ambassador Jett on balance does a good job of outlining why UN peace operations can fail, using the Mozambique and Angola cases to good affect. The work comes across as somewhat ill tempered at times, and is not happy reading if one is a supporter of peace operations. By and large, the arguments and conclusions make sense, in terms of outlining the failures and why they happen. There does not seem to be enough credit given to the successes, and the reforms that have taken place to fix some of what Ambassador Jett discusses.

Those are quibbles, though. The fact is, this book is a must read for those studying conflict resolution, peace operations, or any related field. It is a good read for anyone, given the current news. The book will not provide any potential solutions to the problems noted so well, which is an issue, but at least the reader will gain a good understanding of the problems.

So often and so regrettably, books by diplomats and former diplomats tend to be boring recollections of memoirs, trying to give the author's views on countries and issues of which the authors themselves understood little or nothing. I am thinking, among others, about Nathaniel Davis' book on Allende's Chile, which was at the same time a brilliant self-defence statement denying US intervention in the 1973 coup. In contrast, this book by Christopher Jett, a former US ambassador to Mozambique, is a thorough analysis of events, offering personal views insofar as any author rightly has these, but without becoming a boring recollection of personal stories. Ambassador Jett offers us a rigorous analysis of why peace-keeping succeeded in Mozambique and failed in Angola. It provides excellent material on these two conflicts and the UN intervention there, and on the respective countries and their internal politics. Likewise, the book is also excellent reading, vividly written and captivating - much more than diplomats can usually be. I would recommend this title to anyone studying comparative conflict studies and conflict resolution, or/and the politics of that part of Africa.

The new paperback edition of Jett's book updates the analysis of the UN's missions to Mozambique and Angola, and the new introduction addresses the renaissance in peacekeeping that has occurred since the first edition. While this is a scholarly work, originally created as a doctoral dissertation, the subject is pertinent and the writing is readible.

The text is designed to highlight differences in the two missions, one of which has been moderately successful, the other of which was an unmitigated disaster. It identifies three phases: pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment, and shows how these differences affected the outcome. It also identifies three groups who must cooperate to create success: the peacekeepers, the target nation, and the surrounding states. The failure in Angola can be traced to all three phases and all three groups. Likewise, the success of the Mozambique mission can also be traced to all three phases and all three groups.

Jett's analysis is superb. The lessons that can be drawn from this work would prove invaluable, if properly implemented in peacekeeping going forward. The necessary changes in the UN and its member nations will be challenging, but knowing they must be made is a good first step. Let us hope the people with the power to set peacekeeping on the right course are reading and remembering this one.

In this book Mr. De Soto seeks an answer to why capitalism is succeeding in the West and not in many former communist nations. In general I learned quite a bit from the book and found the sections on law development/social contracts and American property history to be a HUGE learning experience full of insight. If you read this book you can truly learn a lot but you have to read it with an open mind.

At times Mr. De Soto is VERY REPETITIVE. Chapters 1-4 keep on repeating his conclusion in different manners and I found that reading those chapters was like him trying to beat his conclusion into my head.

His conclusion: Such countries have yet to establish and normalize the invisible network of laws that turns assets from "dead" into "liquid" capital, specifically as it pertains to property and ownership of land. In the West, standardized laws allow us to mortgage a house to raise money for a new venture, permit the worth of a company to be broken up into so many publicly tradable stocks, and make it possible to govern and appraise property with agreed-upon rules that hold across neighborhoods, towns, or regions.

Mr De Soto backs up his claims with some profound numbers too. For example, in Egypt, the wealth the poor have accumulated via real estate/property is worth 55 times as much as the sum of all direct foreign investment ever recorded there. He also provides data in the countries of Haiti and Peru.

Mr. De Soto provides insights as to how these countries are currently organized/operate via an "extra legal" sector. Rather than operating under a formal code of law local cooperatives enforce and provide dispute resolution and he argues that, since law evolves out of social contract that property laws/organizations could be made a part of the law to help unleash capital through the economy.

If you want to read a good book on socio-economics I highly recommend the book.

The Mystery of Capital is recommended, among others, by no less than Milton Friedman, Ronald Coase, Margaret Thatcher, and William F. Buckley Jr. That's not why you should read the book. De Soto examines a necessary and misunderstood topic: why are poor countries poor? His arguments and insights make the book a necessary read for the economist, or other educated person.

The main point of The Mystery of Capital is that the seemingly intractable and hopeless situations in Third World countries is due in large part to one common problem: the issue of property rights. Macroeconomic policies make piecemeal improvements (or may improve nothing at all). Money is not the source of the wealth in a nation. Capital is the source of the wealth of nations! Facilitating the proper legal environment is an integral part of the creation and growth of capital, something First World nations had to develop, and something de Soto argues that Third World nations can develop.

The book gets a bit dry in the latter half, but is definitely worth the read. De Soto covers legal ramifications and reforms that will help build a bridge for "dead capital" to be converted to "live capital". The Mystery of Capital will be a surprise for some, because of de Soto's synopses here and there about what life is like for those who live in Third World countries, and the enormous amount of (untapped) wealth the people of Third World Nations possess.

De Soto is a decent economist, in part because he draws from so many disciplines and sources. He also did a prodigious amount of observation and collection of data (hardly an ivory tower academic). If you have an interest in developmental economics, law and economics, entrepreneurship, History of Thought, Economic History (especially that of the U.S.), or political science, among other areas, The Mystery of Capital is especially for you. I recommend the book to any social scientist - the book is so well done and relevant that you may find yourself developing an interest in any of the above!

econ

In the past five years I've read a shade under a thousand books, and this is easily the most important of them. In it, Peruvian economist de Soto sets out to do nothing less than explain why capitalism has worked in the West and been more or less a total disaster in the Third World and former Communist states. This has long been a pivotal question for anyone interested in the world beyond their own back yard, and there have been plenty of attempts to explain it before (often in terms of history, geography, culture, race, etc.). However, de Soto's is the most compelling and logically argued answer I've come across. But it's not just me. I don't generally quote other reviews, but my general reaction echoes the most respected policy journals, newspapers, and magazines, who tend to repeat the same words in their reviews:"revolutionary", "provocative", "extraordinary", "convincing", "stunning", "powerful", "thoughtful". Perhaps my favorite line comes from the Toronto Globe and Mail: "De Soto demolishes the entire edifice of postwar development economics, and replaces it with the answers bright young people everywhere have been demanding." Of course readers (especially those on the left) will have to swallow a few basic premises from the very beginning, such as "Capitalism stands alone as the only feasible way to rationally organize a modern economy" and "As all plausible alternatives to capitalism have now evaporated, we are finally in a position to study capital dispassionately and carefully." And most importantly, "Capital is the force that raises the productivity of labor and creates the wealth of nations.... it is the one thing that the poor countries of the world cannot seem to produce for themselves no matter how eagerly their people engage in all the other activities that characterize a capitalist economy." No matter how badly some of us may want to hold on to cherished ideals of collectivist economies, the reality is that at present these are only viable on a micro scale. For the moment, capitalism has won, and the only question is how to make it work to improve the lives of the bulk of the world. De Soto writes: "I do not view capitalism as a credo. Much more important to me are freedom, compassion for the poor, respect for the social contract, and equal opportunity. But for the moment, to achieve those goals, capitalism is the only game in town. It is the only system we know that provides us with the tools required to create massive surplus value."

According to De Soto, the problem outside the West is that while the poor have plenty of assets (land, homes, businesses), these assets lie overwhelmingly in the extralegal, informal realm. De Soto's on the ground research reveals that this is the result of an accelerated process of urbanization and population growth, coupled with the inability of legal systems to adapt to the reality of how people live. What has happened is that throughout the Third World, the costs of making assets legal (obtaining proper title to a house, registering a business, etc.), are so prohibitive both in terms of time and money, that the assets end up being what de Soto calls"dead capital." In the West, a web of financial and legal networks enable people to use their assets to create further wealth, through such tools as mortgages, publicly traded stocks, and the like. Outside the West, most people live and work outside the kind of invisible asset management infrastructure that we take for granted, and thus are unable to use their assets for the "representational purposes" we are able to. Thus the full set of capitalist tools are not available to them and it becomes incredibly hard to realize any kind of upward mobility.

One of the key sections of the book is "The Missing Lessons of U.S. History", in which de Soto demonstrates how the US faced the exact same challenge several hundred years ago. The difference is that the legal system was flexible enough over a century and a half to realign itself with the reality being created on the ground by an energetic citizenry. However, it occurred over the long-term and long ago, and has thus been forgotten by history. What de Soto says needs to be understood is that the less developed nations of today are trying to accomplish the same thing over a much shorter time and with much greater populations, and without a clear understanding of how the West managed to do it. The ultimate challenge is raising the social awareness and political backing necessary to implement major legal change in the face of resistance from an entrenched bureaucracy and elites who benefit from the status quo. This is a daunting and provocative challenge-but not impossible.

Of course, all of the above is greatly simplified, so anyone interested in the state of the world should read it for themselves. De Soto's writing is remarkably clear (especially for an economist), and no background in economics or law is needed to follow his argument. There is a little repetition here and there, but always in the service of making sure the reader doesn't miss the big picture. In the end, whether you agree with his thesis or not, I guarantee it'll challenge your preconceived notions about global capitalism.

I thought this was a pretty good adventure tale, which got better as it went along. My biggest beef is that the author really needs a firearms consultant. Numerous errors in this regard ruined the ending a bit for me. I can handle an author who thinks there are safeties on Glocks, but [SPOILER ALERT] guns that just go click instead of discharging for no reason, other than it's been sitting in a drawer for five years, and the hero expected that? I thought he was going to say he removed the firing pin, which would have been rude, but at least comprehensible. And supposed army veterans going into battle with their pockets full of loose rounds of ammunition? Ever heard of extra magazines?

Some people want Vice President-elect, Brook Armstrong dead. They tried to kill him in September. They had the silencer on the gun and the perfect location but the bullet missed. No one in the crowd heard the gun shot. Armstrong's hair stirred as the bullet moved past him but he thought it was nothing more than the wind. The attempt was a failure and no one noticed. They would try again. Soon. ...

So begins Lee Child's newest and best book to date, WITHOUT FAIL. ...This is the sixth in the series.

WITHOUT FAIL takes the readers behind the scenes of the Secret Service and shows us how they react to situations, why they do what they do to protect the people they're hired to protect, and we also get to see the measures they go through to do their job successfully.

Lee Child's books get better and better with each addition to the series. WITHOUT FAIL is a real page-turner with plenty of excitement all through it. Child has not only made a detailed study of his character, but he has delved into the workings of the military and government. Yes, on occasion Reacher and Neagley sometimes seem to have superhuman powers, but the readers will willingly forgive those moments to cheer on the heroes of this story.

This new fast paced novel not only keeps you on your toes trying to figure out who wants to kill the Vice President-elect but also keeps you wondering why. Child gives us the answers to the questions as the book progresses. We start to understand how personal childhood experiences control our actions as adults.

In WITHOUT FAIL, Child has written a wonderfully thrilling story. I highly recommend this well written book.

Lee Child's latest novel, "Without Fail," is a top-notch action-adventure novel that will delight Lee Child's established fans and earn him some new ones. "Without Fail" features Jack Reacher, the formidable ex-military man who answers to no one but himself. Reacher can be deadly or compassionate and a more appealing mythic hero would be hard to find.

This time around, M. E. Froelich asks Jack to help her protect the Vice President elect of the United States, Brook Armstrong. Froelich is in charge of the Secret Service detail that is assigned to keep Armstrong safe as he travels around the country. Of late, Armstrong has received a series of threatening letters from an anonymous source. Froelich was in love with Jack's late brother, Joe Reacher, who died tragically in the line of duty, and she knows that Jack is a terrific investigator with a sharp mind and unerring instincts. Froelich wants to be certain that there are no gaps in the security that she is providing for Armstrong and she believes that Reacher is the man who can help her. He agrees and he brings on board a former military associate, a woman named Frances Neagley, who is now a security consultant in Chicago. Neagley is as well trained and as sharp as Jack himself, and she and Jack make a great team.

Reacher and Neagley put their heads together to answer some tough questions. Who is threatening Brook Armstrong and why? Does someone have a personal vendetta against the Vice President elect? Or is the perpetrator a disgruntled individual who has a grudge against the Secret Service or perhaps against Froelich herself? Reacher and Neagley call upon all of their considerable investigative resources as they consult with representatives of both the Secret Service and the FBI to track down the killer or killers before they carry out their threats. During the investigation, Froelich and Reacher find that they are attracted to one another. This adds another complication to an already tense situation.

Child's novel is fast-paced and entertaining. As always, his details about firearms and investigative procedure add authenticity and background color to the plot. The characters are all finely drawn, and Reacher has never been so commanding and astute as he is in "Without Fail." The denouement of the book is both surprising and unpredictable. In every way, "Without Fail" delivers the goods. It is an action-packed thriller that will have you turning pages quickly to see how the situation will play out. If you are not yet a fan of Jack Reacher and Lee Child, don?t be surprised if you soon join the ranks of those who are.