5 comments about The Teeth of the Tiger.

1. Ugh, this is probably the kind of book that destroys careers. Had this been his first book you never would have heard from Tom Clancy again. It seems that Tom has been reading too many of his old reviews and not those for his last few books. Granted his books still sell well, but that's because people see in his books what they want to see. This one is soooo transparent that it can't cover the weaknesses of the characters and stories.
   
   The idea of involving Jack Ryan, Jr and his twin cousins in murder plots is about a hokey as you can get. Put the boys in a Porche and let them drive it off a cliff a la "Thelma and Louise". Say goodnight Tom!



2. I used to read all of Tom Clancy's books until I got annoyed by the Op-Center series, and bored by Into The Storm: A Study in Command and Every Man a Tiger (Tom Clancy's Commanders Series) (which were interesting, but dry as dust) and quit reading them altogether. Then I found this in the bargain bin, and remembered why I liked his books so much.
   
   And wow. I checked Amazon reviews to refresh my memory (it's been 3 weeks since I read this), and there are 800 reviews with an average of 2 stars. I always gets very curious when I have such a complete difference of opinion, so I read through a few pages of the reviews. The negative ones seem to focus on two things: 1) it's not like real life, and 2) the series has moved on to the next generation. News flash: Tom Clancy books have never been overly realistic. Except probably for the nonfiction. You can pick apart dozens of things from even The Hunt for Red October (Jack Ryan Novels) that would never happen in real life--that's why it's fun to read. And I applaud long-running series that move on to the next generation. Otherwise, you end up with a hero that never ages, or increasingly improbable scenarios that even I won't swallow.
   
   So, now that I'm satisfied that I didn't miss anything, on with the review.
   
   The Teeth of the Tiger is about an ultra-clandestine government agency set up by then-president Jack Ryan. It's such a new agency that so far, all it's done is make money (it's self-funding, mostly by quasi-legal insider trading) and collect intelligence hacked from the alphabet-soup agencies. And now they're training their first operatives: twin brothers Dominic and Brian Caruso, respectively an FBI agent and a Marine officer.... and Jack Ryan's nephews.
   
   They get a slightly accelerated course when a routine training exercise crosses paths with an actual terrorist operation in a suburban mall.
   
   Meanwhile, Jack Ryan, Jr., a few years younger than his cousins, has used his brains and figured out the existence of the agency, and basically applies for a job.
   
   Interspersed with the training thread and the Jack Jr. thread is the terrorists' plot.
   
   Maybe it's because I've just been in an action mood lately, but while I did notice a few drawbacks: the twins call each other Aldo and Enzo for no good reason, except perhaps as something to trip up readers; Brian dithers for far too long about whether or not he can kill terrorists in cold blood; and there's quite a bit of repetition; they didn't bug me all that much because I loved the story otherwise.
   
   I found the idea of a combination of stock market traders and assassin/spies irresistible. And I loved watching the development of the agency, even--or perhaps especially--the doubts and missteps. It was new, they weren't sure how it would work, but they were willing and eager to try, and that excitement was passed on to this reader, at least.
   
   I also found the three cousins to be fairly reasonably characterized. Even Brian's crisis of conscience made sense with his character, and my irritation with him was mitigated by the fact that his brother was also irritated with him. The twins were youngish and excitement-seeking, which explains some of their less logical decisions, like renting a Porsche instead of taking an anonymous train on their mission in Europe. Jack, Jr. had grown up privileged in the shadow of his larger-than-life father, who he admires, so it's understandable that he has that sense of duty, and yet he wants to make his own mark, and to prove himself.
   
   And, oh, yes, I did have to ignore a bit of political b.s. with which I'd have taken exception if I hadn't expected it. I find Clancy a little naive, politically (no shades of gray), but that works pretty well in an action novel. I think I'll have to see which of his books I've missed in the interim and check them out.



3. Haven't read a Clancy book for several years and am sorely disappointed at the poor quality of this effort. The most glaring problem with this book is the dialogue. Guys in their twenties making references to Grace Kelly and Maureen O'Hara? Simply awful. Too bad this author didn't hang it up while he was on top or at least collaborate with someone who is more in touch with the real world.



4. I'd read most of Clancy's others, but by the time Jack Ryan became president of the U.S., this whole series ground to a halt for me. And that (Debt of Honor) was the last Clancy novel I read--until I picked up Teeth of the Tiger in an airport bookstore so I'd have something to distract me on a 3-hour flight.
   
   The first thing a novelist has to do is get the reader to "suspend disblief." Jack Ryan becoming president was bad enough but now, with Jack Ryan, Jr. going to work as a low-level analyst for a black ops outfit, and his two cousins (twins, no less) working for the same group, this is beyond plausible. The plot is thin, the characters weak and predictable, and, guess what?! Jack Ryan, Jr. is suddenly catapulted into the spy game in a big way during the last 3 pages of the book. I lost count of the number of times Clancy used the term "bro'" and "lit up his computer." Hackneyed and trite.
   
   Lame. Lame. Lame. Let's put a stake through the heart of Jack Ryan and let him go in peace. My last Tom Clancy novel.



5. I received this book as a gift and was looking forward to a good read only to discover that this is certainly the worst Tom Clancy book I have read. The dialogue is amateurish and unrealistic. Very little happens for more than half the book. The ending is slapdash and unsatisfying. The door is open for another book to continue and resolve the plot line, but there is no chance I will bother reading the next installment. Don't waste your time with this one.

4 comments about 9-11 a Tribute.

1. This book starts off nicely by remembering 9-11 and that section is quite moving. In fact it is excellent. Then the book begins hero worship of the President, the Prime Minister of Great Britain and a parade of world leaders. It loses sight of 9-11 and thinks only of the "big" people. It continues into the war in Afghanistan then Iraq. I understand Afghanistan but the Invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. That part should have encompassed another book.



2. When future generations look back upon this event these are the pictures they will study. Hopefully, looking at them will give our descendants a sense of what it was like to be an American at the beginning of the 21st century.
   
   Yes, there are pictures of "important people" like Bush and Blair. While "little people" worked to repair the damage of 9/11, leaders like Bush and Blair had to decide how to respond. The response they chose was to destroy the Taliban and topple the pirate-ocracy of Saddam Hussein. Perhaps these actions aren't popular with some but what they did is now "history." History isn't composed of events and decisions that are nice, easy, sensible or popular.
   
   Look at these pictures and consider the people who's own history ended on that day.



3. This book was so great! The pictures can just show you what went on from like a person who expierienced its point of view! They are so amazing! I loved this book! This was one of the best 9-11 books that I have ever read!



4. Every police officer, deputy sheriff, firefighter, EMT, and others should have a copy of this book. I am a 20 year retired law enforcment veteran. My wife purchased this book for me. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. This day forever changed our lives. Our children and our grandchildren will deal with the aftermath of these events for years to come. Every time I pick this book up and even now as I write this review my eyes tear up. We must never forget the courage and service of those that fight and have fought to protect the many freedoms we enjoy as American citizens. This book helps us to remember.

No comments about How Globalization Spurs Terrorism: The Lopsided Benefits of "One World" and Why That Fuels Violence.

No comments about Guys and Guns Amok: Domestic Terrorism and School Shootings from the Oklahoma City Bombing to the Virginia Tech Massacre (The Radical Imagination).

5 comments about War Crimes: The Left's Campaign to Destroy Our Military and Lose the War on Terror.

1. This is a well written book which tells a disgusting story of the highly organized effort by Leftists to denegrate our military and work for our defeat in Iraq so Democrats can regain the White House in the forthcoming election. It properly identifies the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 "which established that the policy of the United States called for regime change in Iraq," a policy that Liberals today simply can not remember! This legislation was passed unanimously in the Senate and with a 90 per cent majority in the House.
   
   The Clinton's did their best to degrade our military from 1992 to 2000 -- and were joined then and after they left office to continue that effort. Leftist media, virtually all of academia and Democrat politicians have joined forces with non-governmental organizations like Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice and others to undermine our troops and their efforts overseas and at home. While our troops are in combat, risking their lives, Hollywood has produced a spate of anti-war films -- a dark and disturbing contrast to Hollywood's actions during World War II.
   
   The author describes the concerted efforts to banish recruiters and ROTC from college and university campuses nationwide, to ridicule our troops as armed monsters and to perpetuate the MYTH that oppressed American minorities are disproportionally represented in the ranks and among the dead and wounded.
   
   He identifies pathological liars like Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore -- and their lies.
   
   Author Patterson tells a well-documented story of lies and deceit and provides an Appendix and footnotes to document his sources.



2. This is a shocking book, could not put it down! Really made me angry about what is happening in our country and schools today - well worth reading! Suggest reading his other book about Clinton administration, another eye opener!



3. Written by the same Marine who carried the Presidential case when the Clintons left the White House, the author of WHAT HILARY KNEW AND WHEN, I believed this young man in that book so decided to try again to see exactly what he is trying to do. War crimes could be anything, and so we shall concentrate on heroes and hero worship. Speaking of heroes, Marine Sgt. Marc Martin personifies the American dream. He proudly served the USA in combat where he was awarded the Navy Cross for his unwavering support as leader of his platoon in Battle of al Tarmija in Baghdad. He was an operative in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Fearless, ("There's really no time for fear.") he was a modern-age Alvin York.
   
   
   Columbia University professor Nick De Genova is quoted "The only true heroes are those who find ways to help defeat the United States military," Now that's a strange concept. Columbia seems to be a place for PLO, al Queda worship (see 'Black Hawk Down') proactive, hate-mongering vs. American activist from the Unided Arab Emirates. We have crossed the line on research vs. espionage. Reese Roth who is engineering prof at UTK gave sensitive technical reports to Iran and China. We are overrun with Chinese of all ages who won't learn English (speaking).
   
   The five politicians' pictures on the book cover on differing "sides"; the film maker of 'Fahrenheit 9/11', Michael Moore, who produces and directs controversial films about the American military, not always truthfulfulaccounts. Hilary has much to be blamed for, furing the years she luxurated in the White House. Ted Kennedy is dying from a brain tumor for all the wrongs he perpetrated and got away with because of his last name. The leader of the Senate has much to answer to and for.
   
   There are crimes and then there are vindicated crimes. Called Hatriots, they are mostly made up of Vietnam veterans. "Hatred of self, and by extension one's country, is the root of the radical cause," sayeth David Horowitz. The New Left had grown out of the radical student movement of the 1960s.



4. While Patterson timidly whines about obscure professors nobody has heard of, and documentaries that show unflattering, unpresidential behavior by Bush, he willfully ignores the many actual measures the Bush Administration has taken to actually undermine our military. Patterson ignores Bush's contempt for the military, his contempt for military advice and planning, and his reckless disregard for those on the front lines. Courtesy of Edwin Pauzer, here is a small, very incomplete list of the anti-military contempt this Administration has shown toward the military.
   
   The Bush Administration has:
   
   · balked at an increase in the rise of death benefits for our troops
   
   · attempted to charge our wounded for their meals.
   
   · tried to reduce hazardous duty pay by almost half
   
   · tried to reduce dependent housing allowance by almost half
   
   · said that 440 million in home purchase guarantees for active duty personnel was too expensive
   
   · allowed Walter Reed Army Hospital to deteriorate
   
   · closed several VA hospitals
   
   · tried to implement a fee for VA benefits
   
   · refused to give VA medical care to national guardsmen and reservists once they went off active duty.
   
   · wanted to freeze pay raises for certain pay grades
   
   · thought a war could be fought on the cheap (against the advice of the Army)
   
   · thought it was a war that could pay for itself
   
   · that told us that the Iraqis would greet us with flowers
   
   · that told us that the insurgency was in its final throes. (That was 2005).
   
   But oh no! Some obscure professor somewhere made some stupid, insignificant remark! Let's focus on that, instead of Bush's ACTUAL policies that have an ACTUAL negative consequence on the lives of ACTUAL military personnel.
   
   And I won't even mention dragging them into an unending war with no exit strategy.



5. "America should go "not abroad in search of monsters to destroy... She might become the dictatress of the world: she would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit." John Quincy Adams.
   
   But if you go by this screed, that is essentially what Americans should do. This is the last of three provocative and accusatory titles written by Robert "Buzz" Patterson. This one is even more damning and provocative suggesting war crimes by Americans against Americans, and that there is a conspiracy in our government darker than anything that could have been conjured by Senator Joe McCarthy. However, the inside of the book fails to live up to its billing on a number of levels. Buzz Patterson presents specious and disingenuous arguments. Two, he blames with inflammatory rhetoric, and three, he accuses Americans of treason. Ironically, this contempt for dissent in any form is as antithetical to the words and spirit of our Constitution as anyone can get.
   
   One example of the author's misleading arguments is his accusation that the military and ROTC are under attack from left wing forces across the schools and campuses of America. The example he provides actually happened at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University, but the reader should note how he relates it: "Protesters vandalized the ROTC buildings at UNC and N.C. State with red paint and slogans reading `We won't fight your wars,' and 'Army ROTC trains murderers; resist acts of war.'" "Protestors vandalized..." promotes an image of crazies running amuck, but the reader who checks the story on the Internet will discover that by most accounts, it was called an act of vandalism--not a mob. A ROTC cadet named Dominique McNeill also destroys the author's conclusion. She adds: "Members of the ROTC are known and respected around campus."
   
   In making the argument to support the title, the author suggests that antagonism toward a policy is proof of a lack of support for our troops. The timing of a protest, the place of one, or the lack of an immediate counter opinion or editorial is proof positive of the author's definition of left wing sympathies or bias in the press. The more vocal or universal the protest, the more proof that those people are treasonous in their actions. For the author, mere observation proves conclusion
   
   When the author isn't generalizing, stereotyping or connecting unconnected events, he blames, using the same tactic of dictators of totalitarian regimes. Throughout this work, he uses the word defeatism. It's not the blunders of a dictator or the miscalculations of an inept administration; it is cowards, students, left-wingers, "limousine liberals" (my personal favorite), college professors and others who are bringing our country to defeat, and waging a campaign to destroy our military.
   
   He gets his facts completely wrong when he discusses Guantanamo Prison. He declares erroneously that they are "the `baddest' of the bad" and that they are not being tortured. He ignores the fact that personal threats, stress positions, sleep deprivation, no human contact twenty-two hours a day, and "nutrition management" are violations of the Geneva Convention, which our nation insisted other nations adopt. What is Patterson's response? They don't deserve it because they are committed terrorists. (So much for innocent until proven guilty)! In fact, Gitmo has already set free a number of these "baddest of the bad" because some were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Never mind that Human Rights Watch has just condemned the correctional practices there as harsh. As for Abu-Ghraib, he tosses it off as the acts of ten or twelve individuals! And waterboarding? It's not even listed in his index.
   
   If these pronouncements aren't enough to stretch the author's credibility, he sinks to charges of treason against the usual suspects. This includes anyone who disagrees with the war. Patterson pays lip service to dissent and criticism being patriotic and good, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, but he stops there. He writes, "Liberals who speak out against the War on Terror because they oppose America and seek their country's defeat have crossed the line from dissent to betrayal, because their comments are broadcast around the world, encouraging and motivating the enemy." In this one sentence the author makes inflammatory assumptions that are libelous: Liberals oppose America. They seek their country's defeat, and they give aid and comfort to the enemy. For these three opinions, the author provides no evidence except what he thinks constitutes evidence.
   
   If actor Buddy Harrelson or Rosie O'Donnell speak out in protest against our government, the "war on terror" or suggest that George W. Bush is a criminal, they are giving aide and comfort to the enemy. Furthermore, Patterson has the cheek to challenge their "qualifications." He fails to realize that being American is all the qualification one needs. Such a charge is also known as the Tinkerbelle Effect. (If you want Tinkerbelle to live, clap your hands as vigorously as possible. If you don't, she will die. If you want us to win in Iraq and support the War on Terror, support the president, and don't criticize our administration or we will lose, and it will be your fault).
   
   But there is a qualification that needs to be challenged. One is the author's definition of his terms. There aren't any. He talks about the "left wing," "radical left," and "crossing the line," but he never defines them. He talks about a "war on terror" but doesn't explain how you wage war against an act. If an editorial questions the war at the same time Saddam Hussein is being executed, for him, that constitutes proof of mainstream media bias. On every page, Buzz Patterson palms off his opinion as fact.
   
   The author expresses grave concern for our military, and what he perceives as the injustice they have endured by democrats and left wing demagogues. But he ignores the mounting scandals that this administration has perpetrated against the same. This raises questions if his concerns are genuine, or selective and opportunistic.
   
   In his last chapter he passes ruins of great civilizations in foreign cities as he ponders the cause of their fate in which he sees the pending destruction of our society based on " the left's campaign." He gives the reader the impression that he carries the weight of our future on his shoulders. It gave me the impression of histrionics and melodrama.
   
   This book will satisfy those who already count among his faithful. They will take the author's words at face value. For the more discerning and discriminating reader, this is mindless propaganda because of how he skews information or leaves it out. Patterson will have to create a stronger, less biased, more compelling argument if he expects to influence.
   
   This is right wing banter of the most disingenuous kind. I would rather read labels or a recipe, at least they would tell the truth.

5 comments about Middletown, America: One Town's Passage from Trauma To Hope.

1. A blatant partisan account by a creepy psychobabbler who injected herself into the lives of mourning 9/11 families for her personal gain. A societal parasite who should stop meddling in other people's lives.



2. With family and friends in NYC, as frequent visitors to the WTC, and most of all just as Americans, we too were devastated by 9/11. We had spent 3 hours with British friends there in August,on a beautiful clear day, perfect for countless photos. We recall they commented on how safe they felt because of the security procedures!!! Later, paying our respects at Ground Zero was necessary but painful beyond words. I thought Gail Sheehy's book would bring solace and comfort. But I soon found myself struggling to finish thinking it might get better. Don't bother. It doesn't. I was disgusted at her prying into (and psycho-analyzing!) private grief, early-on clearly from an elite-left perspective. It was disconnected, biased and just plain horrid. How unconscionable to publish this before the 9/11 report was done. The book deserves a minus star rating. I will never attempt to read Gail Sheehy again.



3. I finished reading this book around the same time the 9/11 Commission Report came out and am in awe of these women who, while still grieving and once considered "just housewives" to make the sure our country had ALL the facts and not just what the government or press wanted us to hear. That report is a result their preserverance and determination.



4. I live in Red Bank, New Jersey which is next to Middletown. Her numerous sloppy errors of detail have been mentioned in other reviews, so I won't revisit them here.
   
   What I find really embarrassing for the author, is that while researching this book, she installed herself at the Oyster Point Hotel--in Red Bank. Just a holler down the riverfront from Riverview Medical Center (medical center, not hospital, located in Red Bank, not Middletown). The thing is, anybody from this area whom she may have asked to proof her book would have pointed out such glaring errors (and they are many), but apparently, she didn't have enough respect for her subject to go to the trouble. In any case, perhaps such errors could be overlooked in the grander scheme of Sheehy's agenda, but as an area resident, I immediately ceased to trust anything she had to say.
   
   I can only imagine how proud the residents of Highlands would be to have Sheehy label their town as the welcome mat for Middletown! This author just so clearly had contempt for the suburban area she was depicting.
   
   Perhaps one can look at this book as not about Middletown, NJ, but about Anytown, USA. That's fine, but she opportunistically preyed on these poor people, in order to advance her own agenda, and make a little cashola. She's just the kind of toxic outsider no community needs, particularly in the wake of a tragedy.



5. Gail Sheehy conducted 900 interviews in order to provide a snapshot of this community and its passage through the trauma of 9/11 and the days, weeks and months that followed. There is a bit of redundancy in the text, which reduces my rating from five stars to four, but the focus on how different families reacted to their losses and worked their way through the healing process.
   
   I was astounded by the tireless efforts of the "four moms" who fought for fairness and full disclosure in the ridiculous number of mistakes that came together in the weeks before 9/11 and on the actual day. The obfuscation and prevarication among government officials was almost as infuriating to read about as it must have been to experience. While not at all surprising, it still angers. I also appreciated that when she refers to a 9/11 victim, she indicates that the person was "murdered," for that, in actuality, is what happened, though few wish to use the word. Three thousand people - travelers, brokers, secretaries, restaurant workers, first responders - were murdered, pure and simple.
   
   I am glad that Ms. Sheehy was able to spend an extended period of time with these individuals in order to follow their progress, so that I could get some idea that they were actually healing (as much as anyone can) after this horrific event. This was a satisfying read, and I was grateful to get to know these people in some small way.

No comments about Psychology of Terrorism.

5 comments about Tracking the Jackal: The Search for Carlos, the World's Most Wanted Man.

1. A very fascinating book, this is one of the most interesting documentary work i have ever read. It is filled with suspense and tension during the author's journeys to find the jackal. However, what makes this book really interesting is not tracking down Carlos, but the reality behind the politics and chaos of the middle east discovered by the author during his voyage. Also, the book shows different interviews made to important political figures such as Moammar Gaddafi, Yasser Arafat, George Habash as well as various diplomats and intelligence agents from Israel and europe, just to name few. In addition, the author visits some of the wildest places in the middle east, such as Lebanon, where his aide died on a bomb explosion while he tried to arrange a meeting with Carlos. It is without a doubt, a very thrilling work. I would highly recommend this book especially to those interested on learning about the reality and roots of the Arab-israeli conflict.



2. The great Carlos wasn't really all that great we discover, but was largely a myth of the US Intel community. An interesting mystery that obviously cannot be confirmed on many points, but since my interest is largely Middle East terrorism, etc. I find their first-hand views of Carlos and terrorism interesting enough to buy the book again just to get their take on the whole affair. Haven't read anything else by Yallop but he does a splendid job here. The tough rating shouldn't indicate whether the book is worth buying (It is), but my tough stand on books that are truly significant in their fields. I read about a book every two days to one week so make tough evaluations!



3. This book is still as valid today as it was when it was first published. Extremely well researched and blows all other accounts away. A must read for anyone interested in Israel/Palestine issue and terrorism in general.



4. Author David Yallop chronicles what initially must have seemed to be an impossibility; locating & interviewing Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the international terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal.
   
   From the 1970s to the 1980s, Sanchez conducted an international terrorist spree that included assassinations, kidnappings and hijackings. He helped facilitate the 1972 Munich Olympics plot that ultimately killed Israeli Olympic athletes & coaches and the 1975 kidnappings of OPEC oil ministers.
   
   But it seemed as if every high-profile terrorist plot during this time had the fingerprints of Sanchez all over them. Through interviews with Abu Nidal, Yasir Arafat and others, travels that had false starts, dead ends and twists that have to be read to be believed - including an "interview" with a Sanchez double - Yallop is finally able to meet Carlos the Jackal in the most public of places. And the conclusions Yallop draws again shows how myth & realty can blur the truth in the political arena.
   
   Soon after the book was published in the U.S., Sanchez was captured by French agents during medical treatment in the Sudan and found guilty in a 1997 trial for the murder of two French policemen and an Israeli agent - a crime dating back to the 1970s - and sentenced to life in prison.
   
   Yallop does a masterful job making the reader part of his pursuit and it is not until the closing pages where Sanchez - in real life - appears. But the wealth of material compiled by Yallop almost makes that meeting anti-climatic.



5. If you like the world of espionage, I recommend this book. It is definitely not boring, a well written book. Author also gives readers a very informative look, not just into Carlos the Jackal, but also into the whole Mid-East conflict without the one-sided view we're used to seeing in the West. I learned more about the Israel-Palestine conflict reading this book than in a decade of reading newspapers and school text-books. I would recommend this book.

No comments about Introduction to Homeland Security, Third Edition: Principles of All-Hazards Response (Butterworth-Heinemann Homeland Security).

5 comments about On Top of the World: Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, & 9/11: A Story of Loss & Renewal.

1. The reviews reproduced here are a tribute to Tom Barbash, just as Barbash wrote the book as a tribute -- and an exhoneration -- to his college buddy Howard Lutnick. Therein lies the tale. Barbash and Lutnick have artfully exploited the suffering of others -- one to write a book (and to promote a novel), the other to strike an innocent pose. It worked! Look at the reviews that blindly defend the book and charge that any criticism of it is tantamount to insensitivity toward the victims of 9/11!
   
   This is wonderful propaganda indeed, and if I were to grade it on that scale the book would get five stars. Lutnick's obsession with looking good and Barbash's equally atrocious commitment to whitewashing exploits grief as it turns anger onto others. Sickening.



2. This book is fabulous. As I read each page, the writer expressed the sorrow the people felt after this inhumane tragedy. Having worked in the bond market for 25 years, I was quite shocked when I read that if "Cantor" could not open and thus subsequentyly go under, the bond market would potentially collasped! Howard, you are a stronger man than you think. Although Mr. Lutnick lost so much on this day, he made the effort to put the company back together so that our free market economy would move on and prosper in the world. In my religion we refer to people like Howard Lutnik as "angels". Mr. Lutnik this book is so well worth the read! Many thanks for what you've done for our country, economy and your employees.



3. When it comes to the world of finance, I'm a total idiot. I also don't spend much time thinking of such things, since I've never had enough money to invest in a savings account, much less comodities. So some of what the story is about eludes me. I can't identify with the amount of dollars being discussed, or the money these people make, but they become human because of the pain they endured and the losses they suffered. Cantor Fitzgerald suffered potential fatal harm that day and the people who struggled to pull the company out of the ashes are to be commended, as well as consoled. I had difficulty putting the book down once I started reading it. It is compelling. This is one of the few 9/11 books that should make it to your reading list.



4. I actually got this book from the library, so I didn't actually buy it. But I wouldn't have felt bad about buying it, after reading it. Tom Barbash's writing makes you feel like you were right there interviewing and witnessing conversations with survivors and their families. I truely felt Howard Lutnick's loss for his brother and his other familiy at work. How mind blowing is it to know that almost 700 out of 1000 employees have died, and that you have to get your company back to what it was Sept. 10, 2 days after the attacks, so the Cantor families wouldn't be just put out in the cold. And during all of this, you still have to greave for your brother, best friend, and try to attend over 600 funerals of co-workers and friends you saw every day at work. It's a shame that the media tried to make Howard an escape goat. I've actually have a very different opinion now about Connie Chung than I did before. We always think the reporter, and especially a well known one, would give the audience all the facts instead of eskuing it to one side.
   Some reviewers have said it's a propaganda book--some propaganda book! The pain all these people went through are real. And I doubt that if that same reviewer was in Howard Lutnick's shoes, he would have done any better under the circumstances.
   In any event, the book was very eye opening and I have more of appreciation for the survivors and their feelings. I don't think I could now ask a Sept 11 survivior their story anymore. The healing has to begin somewhere, and after 5 years, I think it has begun.



5. This was a quick, very emotional read. Although it does look to put Cantor Fitzgerald in a positive light, I believe it's correct to do so after reading this book.
   
   Howard Lutnick faced loss, hearbreak, devastation, and choices that, hopefully, none of us will ever have to endure. I admire him for his courage, feel for his personal losses, and congratulate him on keeping his company (and, in turn, the families of those that were lost) together.
   
   A really good read.