Product Description
Welcome to my Amazon storefront. All comics and magazines are bagged & boarded, and in near mint condition (unless otherwise noted). Standard shipping for comics is $3.99 for one listing, and only .25 more for each additional comic listing when you order at one time (the excess shipping is refunded after comics are shipped). This listing is for the following magazines in near mint condition: Scarlet Street #26. ... Read more

Product Description
A chronicle of the longest reigning dynasty in the world traces the rule of the Grimaldis of Monaco from the French Revolution to the present and includes profiles of Princess Grace and her children--Albert, Caroline, and Stephanie. Simultaneous. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Living History
Not to be confused with a college text on history of the region, this author's endeavor produced a great read.As one who has been to Monaco several times, I would strongly recommend this text before traveling there.Those who merely see the sites without knowing the story will only have half the experience.

Monte Carlo is more than a casino
The author has previously published works on Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, and Countess Tolstoy -- but also on Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, Ronald Reagan, and P.T. Barnum, so the reader may be forgiven for unfounded suspicions of tabloidism. The second half of this workmanlike narrative does, in fact, concern itself mostly with the lively affairs of the current younger generation but the reader may ignore all that (or the reader may try).

For the first half details in sweeping prose the adventurous history of the Grimaldis, "an ambitious, hot-blooded, unscrupulous race, keen to plunder, swift to revenge, and furious in battle." The harbor at Monte Carlo has been strategically important since the Carthaginian fleet anchored there. The Lombards, Arabs, Guelfs, and Genoese all had their strongholds and the Grimaldi family arrived in 1162 as Genoese consuls. One night in 1297, Francesco Grimaldi (known as "the Spiteful") climbed the cliffs with his followers, disguised as monks, and overpowered the small garrison, and the family has ruled the Rock ever since. Edwards makes clear the necessary nerve and tenacity and the willingness to fight, as well as the diplomatic balancing act the princes of Monaco have had to perform in order to survive as a more or less independent state. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

Scariest book I've ever read!
My dad recommended this book to me when I was about 13, I didn't sleep for weeks... I reread this last week and it is still one of the scariest novels I have ever read. The author does a great job of just piling on the pressure the characters feel as they realize they are being hunted, just amazing stuff.

Highly recommended book and it is a quick read! Just be prepared to not sleep on dark nights! I hope they make a modern movie of this one!

"Canis Lupus Sapiens. The Wolfen. That's what I want to call them."
It is a given of any Whitley Strieber novel that one or another character intuits the reality behind appearances far faster than can any of his readers. So live with it: New York Detective George Wilson on the basis of fragmentary evidence quickly guesses that "werewolves" are responsible for attacking, killing and feeding on two fellow policemen who happened to be in the wrong rundown New York City neighborhood at the wrong time. Since then the creatures have put four more New Yorkers down.

Notably later than Wilson, Dr Carl Ferguson, a scientist consulted by the detective, comes to the same conclusion: "werewolves!" But Ferguson reached his thesis not by intuition by but from combining a study of the crime scene's paw prints with subsequent research into earlier writings on werewolves. "Canis Lupus Sapiens. The Wolfen. That's what I want to call them," Dr Ferguson tells 50-something George Wilson and his 33 year old partner Becky Neff.

Ferguson now believes and persuades the two policemen to accept that the creatures responsible for a recent killing spree are werewolves, defined as a non-supernatural offshoot of earth's original canines. He calls them wolfen. They are intelligent and have powerful senses (especially smell) and bodies and can run 40 miles per hour. They have unique, evolved, paws with retractable hooks and some of the interface of human fingers and thumbs. They can scale skyscrapers. They have lived among and fed upon humans so long that the telepathic wolfen understand their prey intimately.

Long ago, as Dr Ferguson learned from reading a definitive 16th Century French language account in the New York Public Library, wolfen employed certain starving men to help them lead their only food, humans, into their traps. Those assistants became the vampires of legend. Vampires and werewolves learned to recognize each other's gestures as signs. Ferguson has copied some of these gestures from his French source and can not wait to try them when he meets his first werewolves face to face. He will reason with them and be their willing scientific intermediary in working out a new, mutually pleasant, peaceful relation between wolfen and men.

Dr Ferguson in Chapter 11 had his much fantasized encounter with werewolves now stalking the two policeman who were in a building behind him.

"He spread his hands in the palms-up gesture he had seen in the ancient book. ...'I can help you,' he said softly. ... He was dead, his body rolled under a car, within five seconds. ... Their race had long ago forgotten its ancient relationship with man. His hand-signals had meant nothing to them, nothing at all."

The novel is soon over. The attacking wolves have left corpses of their fellows behind. This is irrefutable proof that they exist. Humans will now exterminate them.

The movie, otherwise a pitiable adaptation of a great book, has a more profound ending: the two policemen put down their pistols and submit to the wolfen. Their offer is accepted. The policemen are permitted to live. The creatures clamber back down the side of a skyscraper and escape without a trace, unless the two policemen choose to betray them -- which they don't. Oh, for a sequel in which the wolfen and the two policemen reconnect and work for inter-species peace!

As other reviewers have noted, THE WOLFEN is realistic writing. Nothing supernatural. Darwin is explanation enough. And it works. The writing is choppy, nervous, telegraphic. But the story told is a gripping one. -OOO-

by the Author of Communion?
An early story by Whitley Strieber. An unusual but memorable take on the werewolf myth. A great detective novel with a HUGE twist without a lot of techno-jargon. Modern readers would feel this would be a rip on a CSI episode without the DNA analysis. Yes this novels has been made into a movie but there is very little that is shared between them. The movie leaves alot to be desired compared to the novel even with the great performances of Hines and Finney. I found Wolfen more plausible and terrifying than Strieber's mid 1980's non-fiction 'Communion' more enjoyable than his more recent obsession with aliens UFO cover ups and abductions.

One question is the proper term an evolution or mutation into this species?

Enjoy a hard to find memorable novel today.

Won't keep you up at night, but,
For it's time it is a good story about Werewolfs.To get the most you should also see the movie.

A Must Read
If you have ever seen the movie, then you have to read this novel.The movie pales in comparison to the book.The author is able to depict the dynamics and character of the pack of wolves who are fighting for their very survival.It makes it impossible not to sympathize with the monster (antagonist) of the story. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is the novelization of the blockbuster Warner Brothers summer movie of 1989, Batman, from the author of The Lost Boys movie tie-in and the Ebenezzum fantasy series. Stars Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger. Original. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A touch of Maupassant...
Batman: The Novelization has found its merry way to the top of next semester's required reading.Mr. Shaw Gardner has slapped the pretentious out of me.The movie novelization has arrived.

Superior to the film in every which way but loose.Especially the ending.And to be honest Batman is a little more charming in prose than in rubbery long johns.And The Riddler or The Joker is quite the fiend.If I say so myself.I found my Halloween costume.

I can't wait to have my students write their beginning of term essays on Commissioner Gordon's spiritual insecurities.

Atomic Batteries to Kudos!

Super Reader
The novelisation of the big 1989 movie. It also includes a photo section in the middle, as lots of those sort of books of the time did. It is competently handled, even asking "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?"

Batman faces off with Jack Napier as he becomes the Joker, and discovers the links to his past. He also has to deal with the prying of Vicki Vale.

An excellent audio book
Accompanying the release of the 1989 smash hit, Tim Burton movie Batman, Dove Books on Tape released this audio book. Acclaimed author Craig Shaw Gardner took the screenplay for the movie, and did an excellent job of reorganizing the story for audio. Making the project complete, veteran actor Roddy McDowall provided the voice, doing an excellent job of playing the roles of the maniacal Joker, the sultry Vicky Vale, and the serious Batman.

Overall, I found this to be an excellent audio book. The story is quite close to the original movie, and Roddy McDowall pulls off a real coup, doing all three major characters in a believable and interesting way. Indeed, I highly recommend his performance as the Joker to everyone.

I loved this audio book, and highly recommend it to everyone. This is a prized part of my library, and my only regret is that I cannot now get it on CD!

An Exceilent Book
Batman Is one of America's Favorite Superhero. This Book is very good. There is a lot of action and suspense in this book. Criag Shaw Gardner did an exceilent job on this book




if you liked this on then read batman Returns, Batman Forever & Batman & Robin

A truly excellent book!
It's strange. You'd never guess that a book based on a screenplay could be any good, but you'd be wrong in this case.

Craig Shaw Gardner, my favorite movie-tie-in author, wrote this book, taking a good screenplay and turning it into a truly masterful, exciting, and touching book!

To start off with, the book has whole sections that were cut from the film, giving it more depth and character development. Hmmm.... character development.... there's a whole lot of it. The book truly gets inside the head of everyone, Batman, The Joker, Alexander Knox, Commisioner Gordon, and even Vicki Vale, and all have varied outlooks on the book's events. The Joker sees everything as hilarious, and twisted, Vicki's stressful situations are more developed, Knox is detailed as a hard-boiled reporter (Moreso then the film), Commisioner Gordon is very interesting, in the fact that he likes Batman, but is sworn to his duty to arrest the vigilante, and he's very dedicated and tough, and Batman/Bruce is incredibly written. The writing for Batman's mind is at it's best toward the end, when Batman tries to get up into the Cathedral, while trying not to faint from the wounds he got by crashing the Batwing, and he fades in and out of reality as he remembers the night he lost his parents.

I mean, the film is excellent, but the book is not to be missed. It's deep, profound, moving, and truly exciting in the way Gardner writes fight scenes. Fast and furious, but also surprisingly detailed. I've read this thing so many times that the pages are starting to fall out, and I am continually surprised at the quality of the book. A truly enjoyable read from start to finish.

If you're a fan in the least, you'll pick up this wonderful book! ... Read more

Product Description
Bestselling author of Dianetics and the Mission Earth series, Hubbard's legacy continues with the terrifying tale of a man who loses four hours of his life and begins to go mad as he tries to remember what happened. 2 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (38)

Ummm...
To put it mildly, I'm mystified by the praise that Robert Bloch and Stephen King and Ray Bradbury lavish upon "Fear". Even on their worst days, those guys could (and did) write circles around a second stringer like L. Ron Hubbard. "Fear" would have worked reasonably well as a short story, but Hubbard pads his very thin concept with 100+ pages of silly, irrelevant booga-booga imagery pulled from thin air--and, by the time the denouement is revealed, the reader no longer cares.
If you simply can't get enough Hubbard (I must confess that I've never met anyone who fits this description, but I'm sure rabid fans exist), you'll find "Fear" mildly interesting if only because it represents a departure from the author's usual space opera output. But if it's an engrossing tale of psychological horror you're after, avoid this book.

A good idea done badly
I decided to give L. Ron Hubbard's Fear a second chance. I'd rated it at two stars from what I remembered of my original read years ago, but was discussing the book in a forum (where it was getting generally positive reviews) and figured maybe I had judged it too harshly in the past.

Well, I finished it a second time, but the book didn't deserve a second read. It just isn't good. And that's too bad, because the plot idea is a good one. Archeologist Jim Lowry loses his hat and his memory of the last four hours. He discovers (or should I say he 'just knows') that if he finds his hat he will find his four hours, but if he finds his four hours he will die. Time to buy a new hat, I say...

Unfortunately for that kernel of a terrific plot, Fear reads like it is the result of a jumble of ideas Ron had that he didn't bother linking into a cohesive tale. Events that happen in one chapter don't seem to have any sort of effect on what occurs in the next chapter. The story seems to just sort of randomly flow with very little rhyme or reason to it, one surreal event after another. Situations rise from out of nowhere. In a way, the book felt like what I imagine an extended acid trip would be like. That might be an accomplishment, but I don't think that is what L. Ron was setting out for.

The writing is not good. L. Ron just didn't seem to have much feeling for the atmosphere required to tell a scary story. Rather than imply things to get under the reader's skin the way the best horror can, he would just use short sentences (the verbal equivalent to a jump cut in a bad horror movie) like "Two red eyes stared back!" (He has an over-reliance on exclamation points! in his narrative as well.) Also, anything Lowry discovers through the course of the story is something that 'he just knows for some reason' rather than anything that the character sifts out from the events unfolding around him.

The stilted unbelievable characters act like nobody except people in bad pulp fiction or '50's sitcoms ever really acted. Jim Lowry and his wife of several years are portrayed as being desperately in love, yet they sleep in separate rooms. The characters don't have any depth or believability to them. I never cared about Lowry, his wife Mary or his beautiful (and this is emphasized repeatedly) friend Tommy (who is aside from being beautiful is also a professor of psychology, though he councils Jim not to go ridiculing the idea of demons and devils. He is also a bachelor at forty who seems to have no interest in women. Maybe he should practice some self analysis? Now that might have been an interesting angle for the story to pursue). Since I never cared about the characters, I never had any apprehension as to what might happen to them.

The self serving foreword and fawning introduction from the 'editors' of the book don't help any. (Though I guess if I had a messiah and s/he wrote a book, I'd probably be apt to oversell it as well.) Also, L. Ron's foreword acts as a spoiler of sorts to the book. I understand he wanted to tell me what an original, creative genius he was, but the should have placed his little note of explanation after the story, not before.

I'd like to see some director take the basic setup of Fear and turn it into a movie. One of those movies where the title and general setup is the same but nothing else is. The core idea is a good one. The way it was executed in this book though, was bad.

Good Horror Stories
Steven King had not been born yet when this book came out and if i did't know it has written by Hubbard i would have believed it was written by King , that is how good this stories are . And now we know who introduced King to horror stories , the master himself , Hubbard ...

Does not live up to its hype
"Fear" has been praised by people like Stephen King and Robert Bloch. It's been called a great, chilling horror novel. Personally, I didn't find it scary, but it did make me curious to know what had happened during the four missing hours. Unfortunately, once the mystery starts, the plot goes nowhere for the next half of the book until the ending. There are some rather good sequences towards the end, but the ending itself is more confusing than satisfying.

2,5 for Fear. 3 stars for the Bridge Publications edition, which includes a pretty good short story called "Borrowed Glory".

Good Stuff
This was a quick and entertaining read.Actually, I'd probably rate it at 4 1/2 stars (if that was an option).I wouldn't say this was a horrifying book, but it did have some scary parts.At times, the story was trippy and far out there, but I found that it really added to the overall experience.The reader is right there with Lowry (the main character), and it turns out to be quite a wild trip down the rabbit hole.I guess I agree with most of the other reviewers on here when I say that the ending makes sense.It still left me with some questions, but once I slept on it, some things became a little clearer, or at least I made a few of my own interpretations.Overall, this was a great story and I'd definitely give it a try.As a bonus, there's a short story at the end that was quite good, although sad. ... Read more

Product Description
A discarded lover with vengeance in mind threatens to destroy everything that Lara Cameron has worked relentlessly to achieve--success, power, and control of her life and personal relationships. Simultaneous. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Great book
Amazing book , one of my favourites .. just when u think it might get a bit boring or monotonous sheldon creates another twist!
Perfect blend of crime , mystery ,suspense, romance , thriller andsuccess story. Could not put the book down! only downfall... the end comes very suddenly.

A true Inspiration
This book, the star shines down tells about the life of Lara Cameron, who made her way through success by achieving one of the top world site builders over a traditionally male dominant society. Lara is the daughter of a boarding house owner in Glace Bay. She suffered lot of hardships to attain the ultimate success as a real estate performer. She becomes a successful real estate developer by converting an old hotel into an ultra model luxury hotel. She even had to make love with so many people, ruthless yet vulnerable to get her living. Coming from a poor family in Nova Scotia, She promised to herself to gain more power to show her father that he was wrong. In a global setting in many places she has ever desired and won. By doing all this she attains the pinnacle of success, but as days pass by she started losing them, and came back to her initial stage of her living, but yet had the strong support of her love and other working staff. The thrill and fun of the reality industry, the care for the staff and the true love which finds her back and the staff staying by her side are some of the interesting twists in the story. This book deals with the conceptual ideas of a young girl which turned into a dream by which she was made as a wonderful artist to avail her pride. The authors view for women to get her heights inspired me in the ways to develop the abilities in any such manner as Lara did. As it describes in a promotional manner the girl wanted to make her site the world's most used one for acquiring knowledge. This book would be the most inspirational one for every woman to achieve amongst any situation. Read it and get inspired.

Sidney Sheldon novels are mindless and just fun to read when you want to be entertained.
Lara Cameron wants everything, but it takes some ruinous circumstances to make her realize she has more than she needs.
By 20, Lara was a millionaire intent on conquering Chicago. A couple of years later, takes on New York, and the world.
From Nova Scotia to Chicago, New York to Amsterdam, The Stars Shine Down describes the life of a woman who knew what she wanted and was willing to pay the price to get it.
Sidney Sheldon novels are mindless and just fun to read when you want to be entertained.They have absolutely no literary value, but there is nothing better to have to read at the beach when you are enjoying a cocktail.

A waste of paper. Sydney Sheldon should not write, period.
Sydney Sheldon, emotionally retarded and mentally challenged creator of "Gilligan's Island" and "I Dream of Jeannie", writes novels as moronic as those cancelled TV shows.

His ability to make us feel as though we've really met someone, stood in their shoes, and been where they've been... well, it DOESN'T EXIST.

As a simple example, understand that the opening setting is Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. "Glace" means "ice", but this is the ONLY reference in the book to this seacoast near the arctic circle being... ummm... what's that phrase? Oh, yes... "D*MNED COLD". In a minor plot point, the main character (a rent collector) is assisted in building her first property... for FREE, ALL NIGHT, CHRISTMAS EVE in an arctic setting. By poor people, without heating.

Jack London writing about Alaska told us that spit will freeze before it hits the ground, and paints a word-picture of people tortured by that environment... but Shallow Sydney Sheldon fails to consider that Glace Bay's inhabitants might be frozen solid, or simply have something better to do on Christmas Eve than to work all night, for free, for a RENT COLLECTOR. We're also asked to believe that their work viewed with a critical eye the next day, passes safety inspection in a "rigged" town!

Shallow Sydney Sheldon lets his characters behave in the most unbelievable way, forcing readers to back away from the book's plot and push the book away as though its pages had been smeared with a dog's excrement. Minor spoiler: Consider a secretary whose career has been killed by a jealous woman... but that secretary doesn't bear a grudge. Consider a team of construction workers volunteering to work all night Christmas eve, for free. Consider a man who stays unmarried and in love with someone (without doign anything about it)... for his entire adult life.
Character development should at least a) exist, and b) be remotely believable. Sesame Street's muppet characters are more believable than Shallow Sydney's.

Sydney's inability to demonstrate even a 4-year-old's understanding of psychology is a deep insult to anyone who invested $8 and the many, many hours required to wade through his stupidity.

Sydney writes in a flat, unentertaining way. If you want startlingly well-written English, read Douglas Adams, Charles Dickens or Mark Twain. If you want to have your mind numbed by 400 pages of drool, read Shallow Sydney Sheldon.

His writing is based on deeply cracked or nonexistent morals: we're asked to cheer when someone drugs friendly, good business partners during negotiations; we're asked to forgive when someone becomes murderously violent and jealous. In a Charles Dickens story, the good are rewarded and the bad are punished; by comparison, Sydney Sheldon bumbles about, heaping praise and rewards on characters who should be locked up in hospitals or jails.

Beware some of the book reviews on this page: Shills and clacquers using !!!exclamation points!!! and effusive, unexplained praise, give this crappity book 10/10 stars. Clearly, Amazon has not done enough to keep out the marketing weenies who are posing as real, unbiased readers as they try to sell this steaming heap of rotting firewood to an unsuspecting audience. We should not be forced, by Amazon's lack of diligence, to wade through stealth marketing by lying shills.

BE WARNED: this book is junk. Total, boring, unbelievable, twisted, shallow junk. You will regret any time spent with it and money lost on it. Buy some Dickens or Twain instead.

Meet Sheldon's Ms. Donald Trump
Amazing story - non-stop reading to the bitter end.Lara Cameron is Sheldon's answer to Donald Trump.She takes us on a "rags to riches" journey starting with her uncaring and distant father (the absence of her mother and twin brother in her life; Lara being the only survivor from that birth) and her rise to the top in the world of real estate development.Sheldon is unbeatable in his list of characters on whom would-be, or could be the nemesis behind Lara's good and bad fortunes along the way.He takes us through many locations beginning in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia then unto Chicago and New York City.Lara makes her mark in this "man's field" and along the way meets up and gets the undying support of Paul Martin, NYC attorney with Mafia connections and banker and financial wizard, Howard Keller, who becomes her right-hand man in all areas of the business.Both men are obsessed with Lara.Lara achieves great success and fortune but yearns for the love that she has missed out on her entire life.She finally finds this love in her knight in shining author (her Lochinvar), world renowned pianist, Philip Alder.What will this love interest do to her connections with Paul Martin and others and of course her career?I high recommend this book to everyone.It is a story that you will not be able to put away until there is no more story to read.Thank you, Mr. Sheldon! ... Read more

Product Description
NEW CASSETTE. COMPOSED BY L. RON HUBBARD IN DOLBY SYSTEM. THE DYNAMIC MUSIC SOUNDTRACK OF THE BOOK "BATTLEFIELD EARTH". ... Read more

Product Description
Los Angeles coes brilliantly alive in this entertaining, suspense-filled story from a collection by Southern California's most talented and successful mystery writers. The successor to the sensational "Murder in Manhattan," "Murder in Los Angeles creates a spine-tingling portrait of th emurderous side of the city of angels.In this volume, leading actor Roddy McDowall heightens the haunted atmosphere of "Dream House," a horrifying tale by M.R. Henderson. Recorded in its entirety, the story tells of the perfect dream house, nestled in the Hollywood Hills above Sunset Boulevard. But the dream turns into a nightmare as Ann, the young owner, is stalked by a mysterious intruder.Created by Bill Adler.Distributed by Newman Communications Corp.Total Playing time: 2 hours, 39 minutes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Space Western -- Fast moving action, and a lot of fun
Before Dr. Who, Jedi knight Luke Skywalker or the Starship Enterprise, there was OLE DOC METHUSELAH. This is a collection of adventures (I call them space westerns), and one really wonders if the entire Dr. Who concept wasn't originally borrowed from Hubbard. Veteran character actor Roddy McDowell narrates Hubbard's pulp creation in an almost full-text adaptation. McDowell delights the audio listener with his collection of character voices.

I'm not a huge Hubbard fan otherwise, but the pairing of these two is a simply perfect audio adaptation. One can imagine a TV miniseries made from this - too bad McDowell isn't around any more to narrate a film or TV version. Maybe Ewan McGregor? ... Read more

Product Description
Samuel Goldwyn was the premier dream-maker of his era, and in this lavishly-praised biography, the author of Lindbergh and Max Perkins: Editor of Genius offers a life story as rich with drama as anything found on the silver screen... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Best written biography I ever read
Andrew Scott Berg spends about 10 years on each biography he writes.This one is some of the best writing you will get to read.

Great Read
The biography of Sam Goldwyn really reads like a novel. His whole life from selling shoes to becoming a Hollywood mogul is interesting. Also, within his life span, you get a good look at Hollywood history.

Another Great Work by Berg
A. Scott Berg does an excellent job in capturing the life of one of the American cinema's first industry moguls.From his tough beginning as an immigrant to his phenomenal success as an independent producer, this entertaining and fascinating biography delves deeply into the man with the "Goldwyn touch."Berg also effectively captures the spirit of early cinema and its rapid rise in American culture. Along the way, we also learn about many of Hollywood's colorful personalites, including Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford. This book is a must for any fan of early American motion pictures.

Extraordinary biography
Berg does a great job, and the subject is absolutely a fascinating one.

Thorough, engaging, insightful
I picked this book up at the library not knowing what to expect and was amazed! Although it is indeed a biography of Sam Goldwyn, it is also a very well told piece about the studio system and Hollywood in the first half of the century (with an emphasis on the 20's) Not only insightful but entertaining; it makes for a read more gossipy than the trashiest celeb autobiography while maintaining class and style.

I recommend this book to anyone the least bit interested in the classic hollywood days. It is the best book I've read thus far on the era, and it will get you down to the video store hunting down old movies just to see the actors and actresses you've read about. ... Read more

Product Description
A towering masterwork of science fiction adventure and one of the best-selling science fiction novels of all time. L. Ron Hubbard's "Battlefield Earth" opens with breathtaking scope on an Earth dominated for 1,000 years by an alien invader--and man is an endangered species. From the handful of surviving humans a courageous leader emerges--Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, who challenges the invincible might of the alien Psychlo empire in a battle of epic scale, danger and intrigue with the fate of the Earth and of the universe in the tenuous balance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (472)

guilty pleasure
I have enjoyed reading and rereading this book over the years.I don't know how I first found it, since I would usually avoid L Ron Hubbard.The bad guys are really bad and the good guys are really heroic.It is somewhat simplistic, but a very fun read.I thought the film was a terrible adaption, and the pictures in my mind are much better.So don't see the movie, just read the book.

Good Pulp Fiction
L. Ron Hubbard was one of the great pulp fiction authors.His short stories are terrific. He turned out millions of words at high speed in many genres.

Pulp fiction authors were paid by the word and tended to pad their stories - that is the major weakness of this book. It would have been more effective if it had been edited down by 40% or so.

None the less, this is a fine "space opera": rugged hero, humanity on the ropes, evil "BEMS" (bug eyed monsters), lots of shoot-ups and explosions, green blood - all the good stuff.

Hubbard filled the book with lots of visionary ideas (social banking, peace dividends, market research etc.). Thus it is worthwhile although a slight cut below the icons of the era - Asimov, Heinlein, Sturgeon, Herbert, Niven, Dick etc.

Simply a hard book to put down..........
I was given this book as a present, I decided to enjoy it and started to read it on a Sunday morning with my coffee. I mostly like biographies, so I wasn't sure. After about an hour I could not put the book down, it went with me everywhere. I read it every chance I could and it was additive. I read it though the week, one chapter at a time. I was really enjoying it. It was a great book and I will say it will not disappoint you either.

Despite What Some Might Say, It Is Very Good
Many people really hate this book. I don't really understand that. It is very long and it is a little contrived sometimes, but it is really great fun overall. The main reason I don't give it 5 stars is that last part is a little inconsistent with the rest and kind of throws it off some.

Yes, there might be some mild Scientology kind of sticking out here and there, but nothing that is going to freak anyone out or anything. Trust me.

I liked the movie, even though it was not popular. I think if more people read the book first as I did, then they would have liked the movie better.

I think Hubbard meant for people to have a good time with this book. It should not be over analyzed for hidden meanings and scientific rigor. Come one people lighten up and have some fun.

Too long and boring
This is a very long and boring book. Actually, some of the concepts and some of the action is good. If the book were half as long and the characters more believable it wouldn't have been bad. It is dated though and women basically don't exist, not even alien women unless they are in servile roles. Probably all SF from this time period suffered from that so this book can't be blamed for that. ... Read more

Product Description
When Kate McGregor inherits her father's business, it blossoms into an empireshe'll stop at nothing to preserve. 2 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (124)

An EPIC.
An absolutely stunning read. Manipulation, diplomacy, revenge, sex all combined with a legendary business empire. My favorite book to date along with Kane and Abel.

master of the game
Great Book.I read it 30 years ago and liked it every bit as much as the first time

Acompulsion to acquire money and power
An interesting tale.Jamie McGregor leaves a hardscrabble farm in Scotland in 1883 to seek his fortunes in the diamond fields of South Africa, one of many people chasing a dream (my mother's family left Scotland circa 1620, first to Ulster, and then to the American colonies to seek their fortunes).Jamie's initial success is stolen from him, and he seeks revenge, and then has a compulsion to acquire wealth and position in society.He passes his compulsion to his daughter Kate, who learns that power matters early in her life.Kate learns to manipulate people, and force things in the direction she wants, even if she destroys people in the process.Therein lies the story, because some things come back to bite her.

The story alternates from detailed episodes to fast forwarding that skims over years of intervening time.There are sections that could have been better researched, e.g., in 1914 Kate talks about building armaments for World War I including tanks for the Army (tanks had not been invented at that point in time).Overall, it does give a good picture of the racial problems in South Africa where her company was founded, and the exploitation of native labor.It covers a span of about 100 years starting with her father, then Kate, then her son, then her granddaughters, and finally a young great grandson, ending on Kate's 90th birthday party.

It is an interesting story, but I would not give it five stars.Perhaps it tries to cover too much in one novel, with too many sub-plots.

master of the game
I was really pleased with this purchase,this was the first time I ordered a used book, it was described as being in good condition with a few tears on the jacket, and that is exactly how I got it, it looked the way a book of that age would,I received it less than 2weeks after it was ordered. I will definitely do this again.

Enjoyable and thrilling
I received this book as an hand me down along with a bunch of others, and I am glad I got it. Generally I will read just about anything and will try any author that I have never read. This was the first Sheldon book I had ever read, and I rather liked it. It's just a bit dated as it's a 80's novel, but sometimes classic novels are better than modern ones. This might not be a novel for everybody, but I enjoyed the character of Katherine. She's tough, but at the same time she's all too human and made an mistake that would cost her her son. It's interesting to see how the events of the past come to affect those of the present or even future, and I couldn't help but feel bad for Katherine and the dilemma she faced. Overall a solid and enjoyable read if you like a suspenseful family story with a bit of everything. ... Read more