Market-prices

This is about the third book I've read this year where the story would have been much better had it taken place entirely in Egypt. Instead we only visit Egypt in tantalizing flashbacks. The adventures detailed in the flashbacks would surely have been more interesting than the story we're given. And one more gripe - on the front cover of the book Christina Dodd is quoted as saying, "A luscious, sexy, Scottish romp." - which proves to me that she didn't read the book. Yes, the present day action takes place in Scotland but in no way would I describe it as a "Scottish romp." Not a keeper. Buy it used if you just have to have it.

This is one of the most fun books I've read all year. It's fast-paced and funny, and doesn't take itself at all seriously. I enjoyed the witty dialogue, and the adventure movie quality of the story. In fact, it reminded me very much of Indiana Jones, or the Mummy movies...only with steamy sex. I liked the fact that the hero and heroine were ambitious rivals that frequently set their differences aside to come to each others rescue. The bond between them was strong, if strained, and created wonderful sexual tension. The quest for hidden treasure, the secret society, the rival archaeologists, the absent-minded professor with the lovely, smarter than he is daughter, the disreputable hero with a heart of gold -- classic, cliched, elements of the romantic adventure genre that Sizemore gives us here with a fond smile and satiric wink. Pass the popcorn -- this is like reading a great old movie!

I have read a number of Sizemore's previous books and although they were well written they did not grab me from the start and compel me to rush to the finish only to regret that it had to end. This book does!!

A.David (Angel) is a bit of a bad boy. He and Cleo have a 10 year history of battling over antiquities across Egypt and Greece.

Their love story is believable because it is not an instantaneous attraction, it is based on knowing and growing.They are grown-up lovers who finally accept their fate is linked - but don't expect them never to fight again!

The story has a good pace that carries the reader into the story and keeps you there ("Just a few pages more and then I'll turn out the light!")

The entire secondary cast of characters are intriguing and could have had their own stories. Maybe Pia (Olympias) will appear later?? Congratulations Susan on a great tale!

i bought this book because it looked cool. but i read some of it there was alot of misprints!

I am pleased to say that this excellent guide has brought much information about the incredibly popular Pokémon trading card game, and much knowledge about the Pokémon merchandise. Checkerbee Publishing has made a incredible value guide, considering that they included transalations for the Japanese poket monster trading card game, pictures of the cards, and such information is included in American Pokémon card game which is also featured in this book. Though this book has it's pros, it also has cons. No estimated prices are given about the American Fossil Cards, and few people are sure that the Japanese transalations are 100% accurate. Though, that should not stop you from buying this stupendous guide. I am very sure this will satisfy thous who are in need of Pokémon information.

This book is a really good source if you want to know how much your pokemon cards are worth. This book has the values of rares, commons, and uncommons. And it even has the values of japanese cards. If you want to get a pokemon price guide, i suggest you buy this one.

I'm always interested in books about Vietnam vets written by Vietnam vets and that was what got me to read this book. The protagonist, Phil Broker, served in the waning days of the conflict and was, unwittingly, involved in the theft of 10 tons of gold from the bank of Hue. The plot is all about hunting the gold, assorted derring do, having illusions about your old comrades shattered or renewed, and generally driving on. It also has one of the most interesting female characters I have found in a long time: Nina Pryce, ex-Gulf War heroine, daughter of a disgraced officer, and likely to "be the first woman to win a CIB." (The CIB is the Combat Infantryman's Badge, probably the most coveted of Army awards since getting it honestly requires the recipient to have actually been involved in action with the enemy). The book gets off to a great, but somewhat confusing, start but like a runner on a steep hill, slows considerably thereafter. The middle of the book is almost interminable. Good solid prose, but 'way too much of it. The ending, well, read it yourself, but skim the middle 100 or so pages... no loss. This was a great 180 pager stretched to fill almost 400. Do they pay authors by the word, or what?

Shame on all of you. After reading these sterling reviews, I was prepared for a real treat when I picked up Logan's novel. My goodness, the horror I felt as I slogged through this interminable mess. After an intriguing start, the plot feels as if it's walking through quicksand. Long after we know the setup--gold in Vietnam, must beat evil old army buddy to it--Logan hurtles his hero all over the country in pointless, needlessly detailed subplots. I mean, my God, this just absolutely killed the suspense he had so perfectly created in the early going. Also, Logan completely abandons the disarming touches of almost self-mocking humor in favor of corny, heavy-handed machismo. I was still laughing but at parts which were clearly intended to be dramatic and hard-boiled. Logan needed to lop about 150 pages out of the center of this thing and then he might have had something. By the end, I just didn't care anymore, I only wanted the book to end. Logan can surely write--and he knows it. He suffers from a case of literary narcissism and seems incapable of writing a short, well-crafted sentence. His tough guy act strives for Hemingway but I can only imagine Papa scoffing at some of the long-winded tripe this bloated work contains.

This author, Chuck Logan is a talented writer. He has a good grip on the requirements for successful commercial fiction. The Price of Blood is a suspense thriller with so many twists and surprises one almost need to keep a list. To say that the reader is kept off balance a good deal of the time is to understate the case.

Phil Broker is an undercover cop, with almost twenty years in service to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal apprehension. He served some time in harness, but his inability to deal with tight structure and a rigid chain of command sent him into the murky, swirling waters of undercover law enforcement. Broker has become a master of the sleight-of-hand maneuver. He's a veteran of Viet Nam, but he's not by any measure a superhero, which makes him an intriguing protagonist.

Comes suddenly to his home, interrupting a sting, the grown-up daughter of his commanding officer in the last action Broker saw in Vietnam. Nina Pryce, who's father was posthumously cashiered amid charges of lethal incompetence and stealing treasure, has dumped her own army career while trying to clear her father's name. Now she wants Broker's help to rehabilitate her father, and not incidentally, her own career. Reluctantly, he decides to help, pushed into the effort by some very weird and dangerous characters.

Like Logan's other books, The Price of Blood brims with verisimilitude, action, a pell-mell pace and a pretty high body count. It's exciting, clean, and makes an exciting entertainment.

This is one case where I thought the movie was better than the book. I do have to agree with other reviewers that the movie was changed somewhat from the book, but all the changes were good. I couldn't get the same suspenseful feeling from the main character in the book as the movie. Sara was totally lackluster in feeling anything once she escaped, I felt. Honestly, the book gave me a headache. I also couldn't understand why Sara was even interested in the professor - there just wasn't enough elaboration on that point. From an avid reader, it kills me to say the movie was better.

This was a treat after seeing the movie. A bit different than the movie, but in many ways better because the reader gets to see into the minds and thoughts of Laura/Sara and Martin, as well as Ben. The movie couldn't help but use some of the parts of the book in exact form, such as the breaking of the lights so Sara finds her way home after jumping off the boat. So many women in similar situations will find inspiration in Sara's courage -- and realism in the book, as she almost turns back a few times and almost calls Martin, despite finding him a monster.

Sara has obviously been beaten many times and frightened of her husband, stays far longer than she should. But the soul-wrenching part is, she DOES get away, and she's able to live again. Highly recommended for all readers of thrillers and especially people interested in domestic violence.

I was surprised when I found out that the movie was based on a novel by the same name. I was even more surprised when I found the novel at my local library a while back. But what took my breath away was that the book was in fact ten times better and a bit different than the movie.

You probably know the plot and characters by now, so I won't go into that. What I will say is that the writing is some of the best prose I've read in a thriller novel of this kind, and the bad guy (the husband) is one of the most realistic and most interesting villains in modern fiction. The main character, Sara, has life breathed into her through Ms. Price's writing that the movie never had a hope of matching, and I found myself caring for her and those around her greatly, while at the same time anticipating when her husband would find her.

If you've seen the movie, you owe it to yourself to read this book. If you liked the movie, read the book to get an entirely different and much better form of the main plot. If you hated the movie, read the book so you can see how the movie 'should' have been.

Great work, Ms. Price, I'll have to be looking for more novels by her. This book gets a high recommendation from me. Pick it up!

As opposed to the preceeding reviewers, I found this book, the first Perry that I read, such a stimulous that I literally became obsessed and chomped through at least 9 others. The Victorian conditions were never so well conceived. Whatever you thought you knew about this era, Perry brings you more. The romance between Charlotte and Thomas, the easily resolved complications of class and money- were as satisfying as a good love story- more like a novel of manners with an attractive heroine. The heroine, the intrepid Charlotte, is always breaking the safety rules, scaring her readers and her husband, a brave lady to admire in an era where ladies were in quite a strange condition to say the least. In this case, Charlotte goes undercover to snoop and dig up the facts. There is a pleasant likeness to another bold young lady- Nancy Drew, who had a roadster- who can forget Roadster? Well, the feeling's back.
The mystery in this case was a backdrop, but not at all a loser. In that area, and throughout her series the surprises are in the characters and the manners and furniture that hide the base nature of villains or those they torment.

Perry is not afraid of the unseemly- dead babies, after all are pretty gross. Alas, after a good old time, I found Perry's novels
had said about all that could be said about the love and the era. But I hearily urge any former Nancy Drew devotees and admitted romantics who cannot stomach romance novels to give her a try. I started with this and then wound in and about her other sleuth and also a romantic figure, Monk. Charlotte and Pitt do stay married, and that's all I'll say.

This book features well-developed characters, an interesting investigation and plenty of suspense. The only weak spot is the somewhat improbable use of Pitt's wife as an information gatherer. This part seems forced. Some of the characters come across as politically correct goody two shoes types, and that is improbable historically.

This is the second in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series. I started reading it as soon as I had finished The Cater Street Hangman (the first)! Inspector Pitt is now married to his Charlotte and they make a delightful couple. Although pregnant with their first child, Charlotte does some detecting of her own in this case, helped by her well-to-do sister, Emily. The plot is excellent and the characters are very well-drawn. The strict rules regarding class which most of the Victorian upper-class people in this book feel compelled to follow appear somewhat laughable to us in this more enlightened age but are very destructive for all that! I could not put this book down until I knew whodunnit and I was quite a way through it before I guessed the culprit! A wonderful read!

I had such high expectations of this book because of the raving reviews. I was bitterly disappointed. The plot is okay but the writing style is not. It becme so boring that I could hardly finish it.

Jack PenMartyn used to be another man. Sherrie Hamilton used to be another woman. Now they've come face to face with each other, and the demons they've both kept for nine years. Add to that a murderous plot, a child, and Queen Victoria and you have quite a story.

Wow! Take your kids to your mother's and tell your husband to get ready because this book is hot! Jack/Cullum is about the sexiest hero I've read in years, and is well matched by Sherrie/Scheherazade. The chemistry between them sizzles, and the story is complex but well laid out. Good read!

I wanted to shed the light on something eventhough I haven't read the book yet. Just by reading the book description at the top, one gets the impression that Sherrie was rescued from a harem and shortly afterwards Jack was given her innocence as his reward. Hmmmmmm... It has always been my understanding that harem girls are faaaaaaar from innocent. Thanks to the review from Harriet Klauser we discover that she was saved on her way to a harem and gave her innocence in exchange for that freedom. Now the book sounds more feasible. Happy reading.

In Overstreet's 1999 Comic Price Guide (29th edition), a new concept in comic grading is being introduced. Robert Overstreet and his senior advisors are endorsing The Comics Guaranty Corporation (CGC). CGC "is based on the model of successful certification used by the leading grading service in rare coins, and the fastest growing grading system in sports cards" according to the Overstreet Guide. The books are to be graded and evaluated by CGC using exacting standards and sealed in a special holder. If the books are removed from the holder, then re-certification would be necessary. Sounds good, Think again! Excuse the pun, but to compare certification of coins or cards to comic books is like comparing The Batman to The Wasp. Coins and cards can be seen from both sides supporting the grading system, while the pages of a book can not. How would you ever know if all the pages are intact? I guess you have to trust the "integrity" of the grader. Lest we forget, What made comic collecting the hobby it is today are the stories and adventures of our favorite characters. What about the comics who are not considered keys? Would these books fade into oblivion? Who would want to spend money to grade these books? Maybe the best of intentions are being made to honestly grade books, but what happens when there is competition with less accuracy, consistency, impartiality and integrity? The early 1990's proved to be diasterous for the industry with inflated high prices on low-grade books. This concept appears to be heading in the same direction with very few reaping the rewards with monetary gain. Com'un Guys, Back to Basics! The industry has already been monopolized by a few who are cornering the market. How will this entice new collectors? Apparently, it has been forgotten that these books, with our favorite characters,were meant to be read, treasured and enjoyed. They were not made to line the pockets of the few who monopolize the industry. I can not help but wonder how The Batman or The Wasp would feel about being evaluated, encapsulated and never to be read.

This is the most accurate guide on the market. I have been collecting comics for decades and the overstreet guide is a must have for any serious collector. Does not inflate value of new books like some other guides.

I've collected comic books for over fifteen years and I have found through my experience that Overstreet's Price Guide serves the purpose of grading comics best. One the opening articles of the guide is decicated to grading comics. This includes grading terminology with a succinct description of each major grade(Near Mint, Very Fine, etc.), factors that will influence the price of a comic(for example, high-grade comics will generally be sold for 50% to 100% over the listed guide price), tips on how to put a collection together as well as sell a collection ( for instance, the guide indicated which category of books would need to be listed individually when selling to a dealer), and a report of some of the top comic book sales of the previous year, plus much more. In my opinion, these opening articles embody the fundamentals of comic book collecting and are required reading for anyone seriously entering the hobby. The Overstreet Guide is also more thoroughly illustrated with black and white photos of comic covers than any other guide I've seen.

Whether I've bought or sold books (I'm not a professional dealer, by the way, I simply sell books from my collection from time to time to generate cash for a new comic I really want) I've always found that the prices and particularly the grading standards listed in the Overstreet Guide are what is almost universally excepted by collector and dealer alike.

I've consistently found the listings in the guide to be thorough and complete. Overstreet makes a concerted effort to indicated which issues have artists and key events that many collectors are looking for(An example would be: N.Adams art, 1st appearance Ras Al Gul). Of course, everyone has their own opinion of which issues are most important, but Overstreet does a fine job of listing the ones that most people demand, and there are many. A previouse review indicated that the Platinum Age listings may be incomplete. However, I believe there is an article preceeding this listing that indicates that, because material from this period is so rare, the listing is more than likely incomplete. Additionally, the author invites any collectors who have issues from this period that are not included in the listing to contact the author so that the new information can be incorporated into the new edition. Another reviewer felt that the listing for Modern Age comics was also lacking. There may be two reasons for this. First, the edition you purchase takes several months to prepare, and when it is published, it represents the activity in the comic book market for the previous year. The Modern Age issues in question may have been published durning the period of time that the guide does not cover. Second, the comics produced in the last ten years, with a few exceptions, represent, in my experience, a very glutted market. Supply of these books far surpasses demand. Thus, most of these books don't experience much of a price increase. So it's possible that a book published within the last couple of years that hasn't increased above its cover price in value may not be included in the guide. What would be the point? And in either case, these issues will more than likely be included in a future edition.

As regards the claim that Mr. Overstreet "fixes" the prices in the guide to suit his personal interests, who can really say? What can be said is this: only a person who has a thorough knowledge of and an avid interest in the medium (i.e. a collector) could produce a comprehensive grading and price guide for the use of other collectors. I can't imagine a guide put together by someone who had absolutely no interest in the hobby. Where whould such a person get his information from? He'ld have to depend on other collectors and thus you'ld more than likely have the same charge of conspiracy all over again. Mr. Overstreet evidently has not only the the knowledge and interest but the experience as well as the knowledge and experience of his many adivsors. He's just as qualified, if not more so, than anyone else.

Let me provide a word of caution. The Overstreet Guide contains numerous dealer advertisements. Some are genuinely strict graders and provide excellent products and service (Four Color Comics and Metropolis Comics are two of these). However, there are many who are VERY liberal in their grading and whose claim of "unconditional money back guarantee" quickly evaporates when you try and make a return (Want List Comics comes to mind). Buy all means, take advantage of these dealer listings, but do so with carefully.

To conclude, I sincerely feel the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide is the best available. If your serious about collecting comics, it's a valuable tool for buying, selling, and personal research. I've learned much from just going through the guide page by page and discovering books I never thought existed. Additionally, it's more than likely that at some point in your collecting you'll have to deal with someone who uses this guide a the standard.

This book had its amusing scenes, but it was too predictable. I read the excerpts here and Rosamunde Pilcher's comments about the book and bought it because of those. I'm glad I bought the paperback edition.

This is my first experience of Sheepshanks but it won't be my last. Her beautifully written characters are the part of this book I liked best -- particularly the children and adolescents, who are notoriously difficult for writers to get right. Each of the children/adolescents were distinctive and believable individuals. The "heroine" is flawed but likeable, as is her husband and even the vastly annoying mother-in-law. The plot involves an upper class (but not particularly rich) British family living in a wonderful manor house that is falling down around them. There's no money to fix it up (it will take millions) and the husband (who inherited the house, which has been in his family for 200 years) wants to move to a smaller house nearby and sell the white elephant. His wife loves the house and is determined to find a way to continue living there. There are four children, a couple who no longer seem to love each other, a mother-in-law who is wealthy but brings trouble everywhere she goes, a supposed "monk" (brought by the mother-in-law) who is part of a secretive organization called the Brothers of Love, the husband's half-sister, a 16-year-old who gets into scrapes, and a couple of lovers.

Unlike so many books, which could be improved by being edited to be shorter, this book could have been 50 pages longer and I think would have been better. Some scenes that would help the plot seem to have been left out (like people abruptly falling in love with too little description -- suddenly they're there without the reader quite understanding how they got to this point.) I also felt that the ending illness was contrived and detracted from the literary merit of this book.

Nevertheless, this book has real literary merit but is also quite readable. I read it in a couple of days because I was enjoying it so much.

This was my first look at a book by Mary Sheepshanks. It was a great read-like a modern, humorous form of Jane Austen. The characters held my interest. It seems obvious that Sonia's devotion was more to the Dunstan manor than to her husband. Sonia , an artist and mother, seems quite selfish at times, not really trying to understand her husband, Archie, and he retaliates by having a brief affair. Neither of them seem to work very hard at repairing their marriage. Sonia's mother-in-law is obnoxious but fascinating. The author does an excellent job of describing the Dunstan children, who are lively and individual. I thought the ending was great, not really a surprise but satisfying.The author gives a tantalizing glimpse of life in an English manor house.

This book is definitely not worth its price. Basic option theory and knowledge on VAR is wrongly interpreted. The book gives no insight on what energy risk management realy stands for. Utterly disappointed !

This book provides an excellent background and review in easy to understand language about energy trading and energy risk management. I highly recommend it for understanding the basics of this complex subject. It also provides a global overview of market developments. It is not, however, a quantative treatise on energy and financial derivatives. This is a primer that should be viewed as such.Fusaro's second, Energy Derivatives: Trading Emerging Markets, is the companion piece to this book and adds the newer commodities of weather, emissions, bandwidth and coal derivatives. I recommend it as well.

Until Peter Fusaro's book "Energy Risk Management" hit the bookstores in 1998, anyone needing a clear explanation of how risk is managed in the energy markets had to sift through numerous trade publications and journals.

This was genergally the reaction of any industry participant I spoke to, independently of whether they were clients, students or collegues of mine both from the Energy community or from academia. Therefore, with this feedback, I would strongly encourage my collegues to read Peter Fusaro's new book "Energy Derivatives: Trading Emerging Markets" which he edited with Jeremy Wilcox and was published in October of this year. In this book Peter Fusaro and his team of energy professionals take the reader deeper into the secondary markets (energy derivatives, etc.) which have emerged as a result of the deregulation process of the Energy Industry and, most importantly, the book explains how to use these markets to manage energy risk. Further, in chapter 3, 4, 5 and 6 the reader is introduced to the concept of interdependency among energy markets and other related markets. These include weather and weather derivatives, emission trading and bandwidth - the most recently emerging market converging with Power to become the backbone of the new global economy. This is the first book to address the complex topic of convergence of power and the rapidly growing bandwidth market. For this reason alone this book becomes a must for everyone who is interested in becoming a part of the evolving energy market.

There is too much maths in the book. However, the comments and interpretation on various models are very interesting. The authour distinguish between arbitrageurs and noise traders. He also give us a theory of substituability which is interesting but inapplicable in reality. Too much theory also with a lot of hypothesis that are not respected in real markets.
I was looking more for a book on investment psychology and I was disappointed.

Markets are not efficient in part because Investor Sentiment is a strong factor creating momentum (either upward or downward trend, whether sentiment is positive or negative). Also, arbitrage is very weak, as there are no proper securities substitutes, shorting the indexes is too risky. The "Noise Trader Risk" is too great. Meaning equity values may continue to diverge long enough for the arbitrageurs to loose their shirt betting on convergence. The investor type is a very important characteristic to factor. This explains the close end fund puzzle. The discount on closed end fund tracks the fate of small cap stocks. When small cap stocks do poorly, the discount on closed end funds deepens. This is because both investments are dominated by the same type of investors: individuals - small investors. Thus, both investment types are subject to small investors' sentiments.

I want to believe in efficient markets, and perhaps the markets are effiecient in the long run, but in the short run, they can be very ineffiecient. In the US treasury market where prices are posted and transparent and pricing is well-understood, the markets appear to behave efficiently, but even these markets experience distortions and manipulation.

In the exponentially growing credit derivatives market, the market appears very inefficient. Information on documentation and pricing is not at all transparent, and information requires time and work to obtain. In a paradigm shift, it has become a very important product in a very short time, and the market in these products is inefficient, and some of that is due to exogenous variables delibertately introduced by the people who trade the market. That type of structural risk is not addressed in this book.