Eagle Reviews

Eagle with a Badge, a Texas size compilation of life experiences by a living action hero. The cavalry arrives and most of the time saves the day, so if you enjoy Clancy's Jack Ryan or Cussler's Dirk Pitt this is a must read. This book provides insight into the often hidden and rarely discussed struggle between the dark side of life and the forces of good from the real perspective of one who was there. A man of humble origins becomes an authentic modern day hero using technology of today and his impeccable character of yesterday. Truly a remarkable true life adventure.

Because I live with two pilots, I was very impressed with the descriptions of the flying involved! When I read about incidents in areas that I am familiar with I felt just like I was in the helicopter with the crew! I would recommend this to anyone interested in flying!

I was excited to receive a copy of this book from my wife and after starting it, could not put it down. I have been a private pilot for many years, and have worked in the Criminal Justice system for over 30. While I have many books on both subjects, this was the 1st I have seen that combines both. Paul does what I believe to be an outstanding job of addressing the topics in a manner that holds the interest of a large cross section of backgrounds. He gives enough information for non-pilots to understand the problems associated with the operations, yet does not bore experienced pilots with elementary detail. It is obvious the book is written by a veteran Law Enforcement officer as it provides an insight that captures the emotional impressions of adrenaline enhanced operations involved in this field that are experience by all officers, but is artfully done in a manner I have never read before. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in aviation, in law enforcement, or both.

I don't know why, but when the book opens upon Slider checking out the corpse in the ditch, talking with Mrs. Hammond, I thought it might be her, but then immediately was taken on the road that lead to Eddie Andrews. Now this seemed just too easy to me, and I then thought it was the slimy David Meacher, but that also seemed too easy. For a nanosecond I thought it might be "Lady Diana", the long-suffering wife but it didn't seem likely so I went back to my first instinct: Mrs. Hammond. Then when it was briefly mentioned that Cyril Dacre could get about without his wheelchair..............you get the picture!

This is what I enjoy about Ms Harrod-Eagles' mysteries. They really are a mystery! The characters have become "friends" of mine as our writer makes them so real, human. I especially enjoyed Mr. Whitton, the neighbor who had so much insight to share with Slider. The fact that he exists without a telephone endeared him to me. And I am in the middle of a nightmare with car troubles so it was almost comforting to see that Joanna and Bill have them as well. (Misery loves company!) But again, it made them real people who could jump off the pages and really exist. I like that!

I would really love to see these books made into movies in Britain. (Hollywood would ruin them!) You know how you get a certain picture in mind of what these characters would look like? I see Ed Norton as Slider, Cameron Diaz as Joanna, Rob Lowe as Atherton.....not sure about the rest. Looking forward to my next read.

Ms Harrod-Eagles' series on Bill Slider continues to delight. Her writing is wickedly humorous and her characters "breathe". This is an excellent edition to the series. We see Bill Slider at his best in this one. He is the most likeable detective out there right now, I think. In this book a woman is found dead in a construction hole at the Old Rectory. How did she get there? Was she even murdered? Bill and Jim Atherton set out to track the killer. It appears like a straightforward case at first since they discover her husband was terribly jealous, and he really had no alibi for the time of the murder, but as they delve deeper, they find a woman who has been leading a rather unsavoury life, and has been upsetting and making people angry for some time. As always, Ms. Harrod-Eagles characterizations are great. Cheif Inspector Porson is an absolute gem. I caught myself chuckling more than once at his Porsonisms. Read this series if you like intelligent writing with a diamond hard wit laced right through the whole story.

Slider and Atherton investigate the death of Jennifer Andrews, a contractor's adulterous wife. Her body is found in a trench the man was about to permanently fill. The construction was taking place on a fancy estate occupied by an ailing historian and the wimpy daughter he browbeats. Both knew the dead woman, and neither liked her. In fact, no one seems to have liked her much -not the (married) boss she was having an affair with, or the co-worker whose place she took in doing so, or her notoriously jealous husband. Even her priest despised her. As Slider and Atherton investigate the murder, they each struggle with their own relationship issues. Atherton's wondering whether the bachelor life he's raised to an art form is really all that wonderful. Slider's still living with one woman, and married to another woman who is living with another man. His estranged wife, Irene, wants to divorce and financially destroy him, or maybe reconcile with him instead; she's not sure.

My favorite parts of Harrod-Eagles' books are the witty banter among the coppers, and their brainstorming sessions about their cases. As always, the police officers trade funny quips, puns, and put-downs as they share theories and speculation about a murder. The relationship between Slider and Atherton is the deepest and most complex in the series, and there's some reflection on that in SHALLOW GRAVE. The plot is somewhat predictable and the resolution not particularly surprising. Those shortcomings might bother me in another book, but not in this one. If a less-than-compelling plot can bring together such imperfect but utterly likable characters as populate this series, and inspire writing as good as Harrod-Eagles', that's fine by me. This is one of the best books in the series.

First of all...since this book is so cheap and fills in the gap between two of the best WWII books out there (currahee and 7 roads) it is on my must read list...and with its length it is an easy 2 day read. But I must admit I was just a little bit disappointed...maybe because of Burgett's other two books I became an action junky, but this book seemed to never get going. He does give wonderful insight into the market garden operation and his writing, as usual, is easy flowing and descriptive. But his unit doesn't seem to run into alot of trouble, and if they did it wasn't portrayed in the fashion of his normandy and bastogne experience. Please don't think I am criticizing one of our nations heroes and one of my personal favorites, but I imagined the holland fight to be a bit hairier and those looking for a WWII memoir are probably looking for the same thing.

a great read however and for the price and length a must buy...

Nobody but a combat soldier can answer the question: "What was it like?" For those of us who have never experienced battle we can only try to imagine it. Mr. Burgett urges us to hunker down into his foxhole as the carnage of noman's land drops onto our laps like a screaming mortar shell. His unbelievable experiences make for a series of WWII memoirs unsurpassed in their vivid telling. I have read all four of his books-in chronological order-and I cannot imagine a more genuine and descriptive account of a trooper's brutal experiences in the European theater of WWII. I wish I could meet the man to shake his hand. His dedication and sense of honor and sacrifice make me proud to be an American, and very grateful indeed for having known of such combat men as Donald R. Burgett.

This book gives a very forthright account of one of the biggest debacles in WWII. Burgett moves on from Normandy down the road to Arnhem and continues to provide awing details of a paratrooper's life in WWII. What I like most about this book, as well as other Burgett books, he gives credit to all soldiers. At the end, this book highlights the courage of the British soldiers who were literally slaughtered by the Germans, but refused to surrender until ordered to do so (similar to the Screaming Eagles in Bastone).

I enjoyed this book, but wouldn't recommend it except to Eagles fans. For a neutral, Mr. Gordon spends too many pages energetically refuting the apparent bad rap history has given his 1960 Eagle team (has it?) and canonising some of the more prominent members of the team; an entire chapter seems devoted to little more than putting Pete Retzlaff in the Hall of Fame. And his writing isn't particularly strong, at times becoming too bogged down with statistics and ephemera; if someone rushed 18 times for 74 yards, does it really still matter?

There are some reasonably interesting interviews with members of the team and a where-are-they-now epilogue which seems a fitting conclusion. But for those who are less interested in the Eagles and more interested in what football was like back then, there are other, better-written efforts ("Cotton Bowl Days" and "When the Colts Belonged to Baltimore" leap to mind).

Still, Gordon is nevertheless to be applauded for capturing a piece of NFL history with such obvious enthusiasm. Books on 1960s football are always welcome here.

I was a ten year old boy celebrating Christmas at my Grandmother's house in Philly, Dec. 26, when my father pointed my attention to the TV screen and a crazy, happy celebration in the Eagle dressing room after their 1960 championship victory over the Packers. From that moment on, I have been an Eagle fan through and through. In point of fact, I cut my teeth on the '61 Eagles, but it was the set-up from the '60 team that delivered the magic. This book filled-in all the little blanks, all the smallest details of what I wasn't really aware of as the '61 season unfolded - and the heartache that followed as we lost the '61 championship to the Giants by 1/2 a game. To be an Eagle fan is to have known many a season of heartache; even the loss to the Rams last month continues that trend. But what this wonderful book shows is that for one year - one awesome year - the boys in green figured out how to get the job done; it hasn't happened since. Read this great book and learn for yourself why - and how - this '60 squad was a very unique, very special team. If you're an Eagle fan or just a sports fan who enjoys a fine read, this is the one you have to have!

As a kid I grew hope watching the NY Giants. YA Tittle, Frank Gifford, Del Shofner, Sam Huff, etc. were my heros. The Eagles and in particular Chuck ,Concrete Charlie, Bednarik, were not my favorite team or players. I moved down to Philadelphia about 20 years ago and quickly became a Philadelphia sports fan, you could not help it, the fans are great and they live and die with their sports teams, especially, the Eagles. I quickly wanted to know more about the team and their history. I always listen the the radio sports show but they don't really talk about or really understand the history and uniquiness about the Eagles. I read this book and could not put it down. It was not your typical sports book talking about a particular team but a book that told stories about the old time football players. It was great reading about these players! Even though these players were not the players I idolized as a kid, this book helped me idolize them as an adult! If there were more books like this one, no one would be listening to the radio!

I've been an Eagles fan since 1970, and I still think the 1992 team had the most potential, possibly surpassing the 1979-80 Vermeil teams. This book gave me the inside scoop on that (disappointing) season, and also detailed the seeds that led to this team's collapse in the second half of the season, where they started 7-2 and finished 7-9.

I rate it as "mostly" accurate because of little things like the Eagles playing the Phoenix Patriots. (I read the first edition, maybe that error was fixed in a later edition.)

Bringing The Heat is a gridiron epic: a robust 500-page chronicle of the Philadelphia Eagles' tumultuous 1992 season that lifts the lid on the pressure cooker environment of an NFL team desperate for a final shot at the Super Bowl, even as its internal conflicts surpass those unfolding upon the field. Haunted by the death of talismanic defensive tackle Jerome Brown, the team struggles to heal the locker-room rift between its league-leading defense and a misfiring offense led by talented but erratic quarterback Randall Cunningham. It must also contend with the expectations of a team owner and a sports-mad metropolis desperate for a championship to dispel its citywide inferiority complex. Former Philadelphia Enquirer reporter Bowden compares gridiron football to a religion in the devotion it demands from coaches and players, and explores the disconcerting consequences such dedication brings. These include the unpredictable effects upon young black males as they are thrust - sometimes from abject poverty - into a world of wealth but also unrelenting media scrutiny. His attention as well to the saddening regularity of players' marital infidelities portray familial breakdown to be, for some, an inevitable feature of a pro football career. Panoramic in its perspective (the advent of free agency that threatens to dismantle the talented Eagles), intimately personal in its detail (the venomous rage of linebacker Seth Joyner: the extravagant idiosyncrasies of Cunningham), Bringing The Heat is both an absorbing and colorful character-driven tale and a serious and incisive social commentary upon the phenomenon of professional sports in America.

Mark caputures a team I remember in my youth with remarkable detail. Awesome insights. Remarkable profiles of players and coaches. You grow up with them, go on the field with them, and go home with them. I highly recommend this book. Only critism is sometimes the in game detail is overbearing and detailed. This book made me realize one thing that is often overlooked: athletes are humans.

This is tasty little mystery story. It lasts for a short 223 pages and yet it manages to pack in a surprising amount of character development and action between its covers.

The heroine, Amelia Jones, is an endearing young woman taking her first real steps out into the world. Amelia impulsively purchases the Ebbtide Shop, a musty antique store stocked with junk and marvelous finds. She decides to put aside one item, a hurdy-gurdy (or hand organ box), as a furnishing for her upstairs apartment. When the hurdy-gurdy mysteriously stops playing music, Amelia opens the box and discovers a desperate note written on faded paper. The message begins with "They are going to kill me soon..." and ends with "...my name is Hannah." Amelia believes that the note is likely genuine. When questions about Hannah's fate begin to consume her, Amelia ventures further out into the world on a quest to find out the truth. Along the way, she meets many interesting people and becomes involved in a variety of unusual circumstances. The plot is a charming mix of mysterious happenings and coming-of-age realizations that make the reader vitally interested in Amelia's story and how it intertwines with Hannah's.

Though this book is shorter than I usually read, I highly recommend it. I think that it is particularly ideal for anyone wishing to read poolside or during their lunchbreak, because the storyline is always interesting and easy to get back into should life interrupt one's reading.

In a story that seems right out of Dorothy Gilman's imagination, I found this story in a musty suitcase in my parents' attic at the age of 12. It was in a book of Readers' Digest Abridged books for 1979. Also included were 2 very excellent stories and one pretty good one (excellent: Hungry as the Sea, Flesh and Spirit; pretty good: The Passing Bells). I loved the story from the moment I read the opening words. This is an anomaly for me. Usually it takes me time to get into the rhythm and flow of just about any book I read (the only other notable exception is Like Water for Chocolate, which is positively delicious). This book grabbed me from the instant I started reading it and I couldn't put it down, literally, till the surprise ending.
I especially love the characterization of Amelia. Here is this shy, rather mousy girl who doesn't seem like much of anything. Then suddenly she finds herself drawn into a mystery after finding a note from a woman who is sure she will be murdered soon. Quite the opposite of her portrayal at the beginning of the book, Amelia soon proves to readers and to herself that she is quite extraordinary. We realize she is resourceful, intuitive, and intelligent. In fact it is only from this investigation of a murder plot that Amelia really grows up from the stunted emotional state she has been living in since her mother's suicide. Plus reading the book in the true unabridged form is wonderful. I always felt that reading abridged books is a bit like eating dehydrated foods. You're made to think that you've lost nothing but the taste really suffers.
So I'd recommend this book to anyone, mystery aficianado or not. It's gripping, intelligent, and actually funny. Now I'm sixteen and though I've outgrown a lot of other things..., I still love this book.

Although "The Tightrope Walker" succeeds very well as a straight mystery, the message it conveys is far beyond that. It tells the story of Amelia Jones, an introverted, somewhat sad young woman, who discovers an unsolved murder, and embarks upon a quest to discover what really happened.

As Amelia searches for the truth, she meets some very interesting characters, and finds out some very poignant truths about herself. A wonderful story. I only wish that Ms. Gilman would write "In the Land of the Golden Warriors" to go along with "The Maze in the Heart of the Castle."

This book is a reasonable introduction to the world of aviation 'Black Programs', but use it as a stepping stone to titles such as Ben Rich's or Jay Miller's books on Lockheed's Skunk Works.
Competent rather than outstanding

As one who couldn't tell you the difference between a J57 engine and RJ-43-MA-11 ramjet, I'd still highly recommend this to any reader who wants to more about Black Projects but is leery about buying a book because they don't want to be confused by technical humdrum.
Peebles book is quite the contrary and it's very entertaining for both an aviation novice reader like myself as well as any aficionado of aircraft (a friend of mine who is currently getting his pilot's license also read it and enjoyed it). Granted, you must have a little understanding of military aircraft. If you would be unable to decipher between a P-51 Mustang and F-4 Phantom, it may be too much.

Peebles writes with colorful narrative on some of the US's most astonishing and mysterious aircraft in the last 50 years. Included in his book are chapters on the first US jet (XP-59A Airacomet), the spy plane Francis Gary Powers made famous (U-2 Aquatone), the birth of the stealth fighter (F-117A), 'borrowed' MiG's flying in the Nevada desert, reconnaissance drone vehicles, the Star Wars-like A-12 Oxcart, as well as the current Black Project plane - Aurora.

In each chapter, Pebbles writes on what precipitated the need for a new secret aircraft, how the craft took shape behind closed doors, its test flights, and how it performed in action. He includes a plethora of colorful stories on how the U-2 was named, how a US Navy aircraft carrier was 'captured' by the US Air force, and tales of gorillas smoking cigars and flying in the southwest desert.

Pebbles also goes into great detail about two controversial topics of today - Area 51 and the Aurora. Throughout the book, Peebles gives the history of Area 51, how it originated as a base at Groom Lake all the way up to the flying saucer tales of today. Conspiracy theorists will be disappointed as well as many Black Ops devotees looking for proof that the Aurora exists.

In conclusion, I thought Peebles book was a great, intriguing look into some of our nation's biggest secrets of the Cold War that's also a quick read (only 292 pages of text) and I highly recommend it.

I had picked up "Dark Eagles" primarly because it was one of very few books to present information on "Have Donut" and similar projects in which the United States tested captured MiGs and other Soviet aircraft. I was pleasantly suprised to find that the rest of this book is as superbly researched and detailed as Peebles' glimpse into the testing of foreign equipment.

Peebles discusses, in amazing detail, the developments of such famous aircraft as the U-2, A-12, SR-71, F-117, "Have Blue" and "Tacit Blue." Peebles also delves into the history of the less-glamarous unmanned platforms such as the trisonic D-21 ("Tagboard") and various models of the Model 147 Firebee, used extensively in Vietnam.

This book is a must for anyone interested in black project aviation. It is well written and thoroughly researched, and is engaging to both the causal and technical reader.

I had just finished Band of Brothers and bought this book as a companion piece to Ambrose's book (to get a different perspective on the same theater of war by another writer). However, I was disappointed with this book. One of the critics here said the book read like a travelog with not much action. I have to agree. The book was getting a bit boring until the description of the liberation of the concentration camps at Landsberg and then the occupation of Berchtesgaden. These last two chapters made up for the rest of the book.

I did come across two passages in this book that mirrored two episodes in Band of Brothers. One was the description of the wounded German soldier who could be heard gurgling because of wounds in his lungs; and the GI's efforts to kill him with grenades. The passage was almost word for word what Ambrose had described. Huummm.....

Anyway, I agree with another critic that I should have read the books in order that Burgett wrote them. I won't let this keep me from reading the other books he wrote. This book was OK but was a bit short on substance and therefore, somewhat overrated.

I have read Burgett's first three books and they are great reads.
In comparison with those first three books, this is an average read. Why? Very little action. It almost seems like a travel guide with Burgett saying in essence--I went here and then I went there. Burgett is a good author, but I think he is trying to capitalize on his combat experience. His first three books detail the combat experience, but this fourth book could have been cut down to fifty pages, and attached onto his last book. Because of the publisher, they make Burgett get another book out of very minimal material. I don't think there is a fifth book here Don, so don't try.
That said, Burgett is a great author, so please read his first three books about the Normandy Invasion, Battle of the Bulge, and the Holland Campaign. For the WWII historian, these show the true experiences of an American soldier.

Nobody but a combat soldier can answer the question: "What was it like?" For those of us who have never experienced battle we can only try to imagine it. Mr. Burgett urges us to hunker down into his foxhole as the carnage of noman's land drops onto our laps like a screaming mortar shell. His unbelievable experiences make for a series of WWII memoirs unsurpassed in their vivid telling. I have read all four of his books-in chronological order-and I cannot imagine a more genuine and descriptive account of a trooper's brutal experiences in the European theater of WWII. I wish I could meet the man to shake his hand. His dedication and sense of honor and sacrifice make me proud to be an American, and very grateful indeed for having known of such combat men as Donald R. Burgett.

I was dissappointed with the book. There's no in depth discussion on any event. It just reads on and states facts like those in High School text books. Didn't capture me at all.

A huge book that traces the history of America from pre-Columbus through present day. Although considered by many to be a "text book" for study, it is not written in that format. It reads easily and clearly. It is non-biased and informative. The pictures are helpful. It's the first book on American history that I have been able to finish. Although expensive, I think that every book collection should have a copy and it is an essential part of any history collection.

My AP US History class used this book as its textbook. Statistics speak for themselves: anyone who read and studied the book got a 5! It is one of the most comprehensive texts in American history ever published. George Tindall, the primary author, is a wonderful and knowledgable man who I have met in Chapel Hill,NC. An excellent buy!

This book starts fast and stays fast right to the very end. I did a Tour at one of the Special Forces A Camps that was referenced in the book and was able to follow in my mind the route of the operations. It brought back a lot of memories from 35 years ago. It is a good read and will keep your attention to the finish.

While this intriguing look into the Vietnam war may be difficult reading for those who lost husbands, brothers, sons and friends in that conflict, the author crystalizes the valor and human spirit of these young soldiers. Were they all heroic? I don't know but would like to think so. Well worth the read.

mr. Zlotnik writes with great passion and excellence. This book, along with several others I have read, is great reading for the eye. I have never been disappointed after reading one of his novels.