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book reviews |
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Multi-volume author, Stanley Straub, introduces us to The Segmented Tail: The Segmented Tail is a gripping Science Fiction suspense thriller written in the vein of a Dean Koontz and Stephen King novel. The story starts in the small fictitious town of Bounder, Arizona. Creatures are seen that make screeching sounds and they scare and kill people in Bounder. When people are murdered, two detectives are assigned to investigate. The detectives fear for their lives as they get deeper and deeper into the investigation. What they uncover is something that no one could ever have imagined, aliens created by two animal experts accidentally mixing up alien DNA with Dinosaur DNA. The story winds its way from beginning to an exciting and unanticipated conclusion.  This story was a lot of fun to read. Stanley did a nice job of creating tension among many of his characters and the dread regarding the murderous creatures was quite palpable. I kept wondering who was going to be eaten next. There were quite a few plot twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. The scene-setting, action, and dialog were good. The town of Bounder felt quite real. I give The Segmented Tail a score of 4.5 stars! The author is working on a different book, “The Trail In the Woods” and I am looking forward to it. Thank you, Stanley.  You can buy this book: https://www.amazon.com/Segmented-Tail-Stanley-Straub-ebook https://www.amazon.co.uk/Segmented-Tail-Stanley-Straub-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/book/-the-segmented-tail You can follow the author: twitter.com/Renownedwriter www.facebook.com/stanley.straub.92 https://www.facebook.com/Stan-Straub-Author https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/76655467 Tags: mystery, thriller, monsters, police Copyright © 2018 Mark L Schultz except for the author's introduction
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Multi-volume author and international business expert Oleg Konovalov introduces us to his third book Corporate Superpower: "The great Peter Drucker said, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast" and Oleg Konovalov shows why this is so true! Corporate Superpower can help your organization create the culture needed to move to the next level of success. Great coaching on culture from a great thinker!" - Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers 50, #1 Leadership Thinker, #1 Executive Coach in the World Many organizations today find themselves stagnating, struggling just to keep up in today's rapidly changing environment. Companies rise and fall with alarming rapidity. Employees and managers have little or no loyalty to their organizations and are always on the lookout for a bigger pay check or the next step in their own careers. All of this presents major problems for any group, whether a gas station, church or international corporate powerhouse. And they can all be traced back to one thing - culture. Culture is the soul of any organization. A strong culture breeds loyalty, innovation, and success. A weak culture will breed cynicism, apathy, instability, and the eventual demise of the organization. Yet, culture is an often overlooked aspect of business thinking and strategy. However, there are a lot of organizations with counterproductive cultures in which culture is an inhibitor, slowing down all processes and increasing transaction, governance and production costs. This issue is rarely discussed but very often faced by all of us. Positive culture can't be maintained without such critical factors as respect, job satisfaction, involvement, loyalty, shared affection, preparedness to change, and responsibility, which defines the engagement of everyone in an organization. Teamwork, innovativeness, professionalism, accountability, shared vision, and trust form the main asset of any organization, its metaphysical resources. They define the nature of psychological power residing in culture and have direct impact on a company's performance and achievement of its goals. Whether or not this potential is realized depends on how effectively it is exploited. In this book, a reader will learn what culture is, why it is important and how to fix it when it goes wrong. Leaders, management, as well as employees on the front lines will benefit from the discussion. This book is for those rising above the ordinary every day.  Dr. Konovalov has provided the compass that modern businesses must follow to achieve maximum success! Not a single step nor a 12-step program, but an organic package to help guide every manager and owner to the desired success. This is the new paradigm for the information age. The concept of the Industrial Baron has been eclipsed by the Faithful Servant, the person at the top can best ensure that success is achieved at every level in the organization. I enjoyed this book and award 4.7 stars. I have reviewed the previous book, "Organizational Anatomy" here: www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/organisational-anatomy-a-managers-guide-to-a-healthy-organisation-by-oleg-konovalov I have reviewed the next book, "Leaderology" here: www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/leaderology-by-oleg-konovalov  You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/CORPORATE-SUPERPOWER-Cultivating-Winning-Business-ebook https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corporate-Superpower-Cultivating-Winning-Business https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39013930-corporate-superpower You can follow the author: https://twitter.com/olkonol_oa http://olegkonovalov.com/ https://valuekod.com/2-hour-free-executive-workshop-to-diagnose-fix-corporate-culture-problems/ Copyright © 2018 Mark L Schultz except for the author's introduction Multi-volume author, Laurel Rockefeller, introduces us to the audio book Catherine de Valois: Best known as Henry V's Agincourt bride from Shakespeare's Henry V, Catherine de Valois was an extraordinary woman of faith, courage, and conviction in an age of politically powerful women. A younger daughter to King Charles VI of France terrorized by his mental illness, Princess Catherine survived the ravages of his schizophrenia, a civil war at home, and King Henry's war with France to become one of England's most fascinating and courageous queens. Her second marriage to Owen Tudor gave England a new dynasty through her grandson, King Henry VII. Meet the real Catherine and discover the beautiful true story that launched the most famous dynasty in history.  My first audio book in many years, I was immediately drawn into the story! It was so entertaining to learn about a relatively unknown figure from history! Catherine was an amazing woman, she carved out a place in history despite the very prevalent misogyny of that time period. Richard Mann’s narration was excellent, the background music and sound effects were quite good and contributed a great deal to a very pleasurable experience. I really enjoyed listening to this book. Since my first experience was so good, Catherine de Valois gets 5 stars! Laurel has at least one more audio book and quite a few reading books.  You can buy this audio book:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Catherine-de-Valois-Audiobook https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Biographies-Memoirs/Catherine-de-Valois-Audiobook https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/catherine-valois-legendary You can buy the ebook, it has some extra material: https://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Valois-Legendary-Women-History-ebook https://www.amazon.co.uk/Catherine-Valois-Legendary-Women-History-ebook https://www.smashwords.com/Catherine de Valois https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/catherine-de-valois-laurel-a-rockefeller You can follow Laurel Rockefeller: https://twitter.com/laurelworlds http://www.laurelarockefeller.com http://www.laurelarockefeller.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/laurelarockefellerbooks https://www.pinterest.com/peersofbeinan https://www.youtube.com/channel/Laurel Rockefeller You can follow Richard Mann, the narrator: https://twitter.com/mrrichardmann http://www.voiceovermann.com Tags: Women, history, King Henry, historical Copyright © 2018 Mark L Schultz except for the author's introduction Multi-volume author Daithi Kavanagh introduces us to his newest book: The Crucifixion: Detective Tadhg Sullivan’s break away from serious crime comes to an abrupt end when he is pushed into investigating the murder of a retired Christian Brother. A newly elected left wing government fear that the media will hold them personally responsible for what is believed to be a hate crime against the Catholic Church. Ella Kavanagh, the new Minister for Justice, hopes that placing Sullivan in charge of the investigation will help to distance the government from any mud-slinging by the media. However, no one is prepared for the litany of abuse and corruption stretching back decades, which is about explode in all of their faces. Can Sullivan save this fledgling government, or will the sins of the past remain buried, and so doing destroy the future of everyone concerned?  I have grown to really enjoy Daithi’s writing. For me, he delivers a perfect balance of action, dialog and narration. All of the characters seem very real, they have their own motivations and problems. His plotting moves the story along at a nice pace, I do not feel rushed in the story. I also love the way Tadhg, the main character, has developed and matured. Tadhg now seems like an old friend. Daithi leaves a good amount to the imagination, something I enjoy a great deal. The Irish flavor has been interesting for me also, it’s just a little different from British English. For all the pure enjoyment of reading, The Crucifixion gets a score of 4.7 stars!  You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Crucifixion-Tadhg-Sullivan-3-ebook https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucifixion-Tadhg-Sullivan-3-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/-the-crucifixion You can follow Daithi Kavanagh: https://twitter.com/Daithik3 https://www.facebook.com/DAITHIKAVANAGHWRITER http://bit.ly/2pwiGsH this is Pinterest http://www.tirpub.com/dkavanagh http://daithikavanagh.blogspot.com/ Tags: murder, mystery, thriller, police, Ireland, Irish, British Isle, politics, IRA, suspense Copyright © 2018 Mark L Schultz except for the author's introduction Author Simon Lindley introduces us to his exciting new book Mannethorn’s Key: "At the end of an age, a Bearer wielded the Key of Life and ended Dragon's Rule. Such powers and heroes, long dead or lost, must again be found..." Algarth Willowbrow is about to gamble everything. His once-powerful Order is in ruins, and he faces an unwinnable battle to save his life and people. In a last, desperate attempt, he lures his arch nemesis, hoping to utilize him and reclaim a long-hidden magic, powerful enough to save the world - or destroy it. Bartholomew Waxman, former derivatives broker extraordinaire has gambled everything - and lost. Bankrupt, unemployed and divorced, his only hope for salvation is to try and rebuild his self-inflicted shattered life. But at a job interview, he is grabbed by a spell and thrust into the netherworld of Between. There, he is groomed to wield a power so vast that it will decide a world's fate. The land's only hope is the reluctant and unprepared Bartholomew, the wizard Algarth whose powers are gravely in doubt - and the Key of Life, with its true power hidden from all. Delve into the beginnings of a vast fantasy epic that embraces a man, a wizard, and a world seeking redemption.  This is a stunning story! This is first class world building! Both the modern and fantasy side are very detailed and kept me completely enthralled throughout the story! Everything seems natural in its context, Bart applies for a job, people get tired; wizards make spells, some of which go awry, and dragons seem to know everything while gently guiding humans most of the time. I made the mistake of bringing the book with me while watching the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, intending on reading during the commercial breaks. My plan failed multiple times and I missed a bunch of the action in some of my favorite events. Simon has provided an extensive glossary in the back of the book as well as a guide to the language of Ka. Many readers will find them useful. I award 4.9 stars to Mannethorn’s Key.  You can buy this book at:
https://www.amazon.com/mannethorns-key-by-simon-lindley https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mannethorns-Key https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36546187-mannethorn-s-key https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/mannethorn-s-key https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mannethorns-key-simon-lindley https://www.smashwords.com/mannethorns-key https://apple.co/mannethorns-key You can follow the author: https://twitter.com/Simon_Lindley http://simonlindley.net/ http://www.facebook.com/simonlindleyauthor/ tags: urban, paranormal, magic, reality Copyright © 2018 Mark L Schultz except for the author's introduction |
Who am I?An avid reader, typobuster, and the Hyper-Speller. I am a husband, father, and grandfather. Archives
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