Product Description
Smoke Your Firefighter Interview is packed with 330 pages of invaluable information. Chief Lepore covers 85 of the most commonly asked fire department interview questions. The format is simple: question, answer, and reasoning behind the answer. After answering each question, Chief Lepore carefully and thoroughly explains why he has answered the question the way he did. These reasons often delve into the culture of the fire department and the expectations of a rookie firefighter. In short, anyone can memorize questions and answers. Smoke Your Firefighter Interview explains why the answers are correct. In addition to the questions and answers, Chief Lepore explains the rationale for WHY he answers the question the way he does. He includes many follow-up questions as well as explaining the pit falls for many of the questions. Once a candidate understands the interview process and learns how to present his or her answers, it is not uncommon to get multiple job offers. Instead of struggling to land a job, many candidates are blessed with the ability to select from several departments. Getting hired on the fire department is all about learning to take a fire department interview. Those who learn will be successful, while those who don t will always struggle. A candidate may be exactly what a fire department is looking for, but if he or she cannot interview favorably, he or she will never get hired. ALSO AVAILABLE ON CD
Customer Reviews:
Awesome!.......2007-10-04
Just on the first couple of pages and so far I have learned so much wonderful information! This book is so helpful.
Best of the Best.......2007-07-12
Deanna's Husband Jay says....Best book I've used to help candidates get promoted or hired. So far my rate with this book is 100%. Granted we live in a small community there has been ten who have used this book and have either been hired or promoted. This is a must have if your looking for a job as a Firefighter.
I am so glad I bought this book.......2007-07-01
Finally, there is a study guide for the interview process! After reading it, I was better prepared and more confident for my last round of interviews and ended up receiving the best scores that I've ever had. This book goes over several types of actual interview questions and then supplies a rationale for why one would answer them a certain way. These insights into what the interview panel is looking for helps train the candidate to think about the questions the same way a successful firefighter does. These are real interview questions, the guidance and suggestions are valid and helpful, and the windows into the thought processes of an experienced, successful and knowledgeable Battalion Chief are invaluable. I am not only a better interviewee for having read this book; I will be a better firefighter as well.
Totally broadened my way of thinking.......2007-04-03
Great book! I have gone to probably 7 or 8 fire dept interviews and just now got the book before my last interview. I read most of it and practiced answering a lot of the questions with fellow candidates. It definately opened my mind up to the way of thinking that you need to answer a panel interview question thoroughly and concisely. I just found out I passed the last interview and am moving on to the chief's panel.
This book gives many examples of typical interview questions for those newer candidates and hones the thinking and reasoning skills of people who have been repeatedly bombing interview questions. I'm confident I will do well on the chief's interview coming up thanks to Chief Lapore's insight.
Excellent Prep Tool!.......2007-02-17
This book gave several examples of interview questions. Some of these questions were on my interview. This book allows you to get into the mindset of the interviewers and gets you into the frame of mind to formulate the answers they want to hear. I highly recommend it.
Customer Reviews:
Latest in a BRILLIANT series..........2007-09-06
As any lover of Brian K Vaughan could tell you, this guy is a genius. Whether it's a group of misfit, teen-age, evil-villian-parent-murdering crimestoppers; a family of bomb-dodging lions that escape a half-demolished zoo in Baghdad; a man named Yoric who survives a "plague" that wipes out every male on earth (except him and his pet capuchin Ampersand); or, in the case of Ex Machina, a hero-turned-polictician who just happens to be able to communicate with machinery, Vaughan delivers, every time. NOBODY who calls themselves comic book geek can live without reading this series. END OF REVIEW :):)
Comic book writing and art just don't get better than this.......2007-07-02
For anyone who grew up with comic books and love the medium, this is the perfect series to graduate to. It is stunningly beautiful and the writing is topical and smart. It's such a cliche, but it feels like an HBO show done in comic book form. Mayor Mitchell Hundred deals with tricky political situations with integrity, but never finds an easy time of it. He has a wisdom about him, but isn't above revisiting his ethics and decisions as he does in this volume with his arrest of a small-time pot dealer.
Trade paperback is the ideal format for Ex Machina, as the collected issues focus on themes and a collection of storylines. It's far more satisfying than reading it in monthly comics form. I highly recommend this volume and this series!
Good, but a bit short.......2007-05-14
I thoroughly enjoyed the first 4 volumes in this series, but this one disappointed me a bit. It didn't really seem to progress the story behind The Great Machine's origins as much as the past few entries in the series. It seemed a bit more caught up in the political issues facing Mitch as mayor in the "current" timeline.
Love this comic series!.......2007-05-07
Love this comic series! I hope it is never spoilt into a crappy movie saga...
Best regards from Barcelona,
Sergi
Filler.......2007-03-28
This book felt like Vaughn's prepping you for some big event later on. The story moves but it just seems to sit between Journal's death in the last book and whatever is brewing for the next.
Average customer rating:
- Watch a train wreck
- Deterioration
- The Story of You and Me
- Plummetting
- good book
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Moth Smoke
Mohsin Hamid
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T)
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ASIN: 0374213542 |
Amazon.com
Since the late 1970s, India in all her infinite variety has been brought to life as a posse of Indian authors writing in English have exploded onto the scene: Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Rohinton Mistry, Vikram Seth, Bharati Mukherjee--the list is legion. But what of Pakistan--that Siamese twin, painfully separated in the partition of 1947? Though neither as numerous nor as well known as their Indian counterparts, Pakistani writers are beginning to make an impression on Western readers. Novelists from Rushdie to the Pakistani Bapsi Sidwha have written about the partition and the bloody civil war that followed; even stories set in modern-day Bombay or Lahore cannot escape the aftershocks of the division. On the surface, Mohsin Hamid's first novel, Moth Smoke, seems more domestic than political drama: narrated from several different perspectives, it tells the story of Daru Shezad's ill-fated affair with his best friend's wife, Mumtaz. But in a country like Pakistan, the personal and the political are difficult to separate, and as the story moves along, the divisions between gender, class, and opportunity provide a not-so-subtle commentary on the fissures that run through contemporary Pakistani society. The novel begins, tellingly, with a historical fragment about the internecine wars of succession that followed the rule of Emperor Shah Jahan (builder of the Taj Mahal):
Imprisoned in his fort at Agra, staring at the Taj he had built, an aged Shah Jahan received as a gift from his youngest son the head of his eldest. Perhaps he doubted, then, the memory that his boys had once played together, far from his supervision and years ago, in Lahore.
Jump ahead several hundred years to Lahore in the summer of 1998. Childhood playmates Daru and Ozi have just reunited again after Ozi's three-year stay in America. Glad as he is to see his old friend, Daru can't keep his eyes off of Ozi's wife, Mumtaz. "You know you're in trouble when you can't meet a woman's eye," he says. But woman trouble isn't his only problem; he's also addicted to hash, which leads to his dismissal from an upscale job as a banker. Soon Daru spirals out of control into a degraded existence on the fringes of society. Then a young boy is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and he is accused and jailed. Shah Jehan would probably recognize this age-old story of love and revenge playing out once more--this time against the backdrop of the Indian-Pakistani arms race. Hamid artfully weaves the subcontinent's tragic history into his characters' no-less-tragic present, rendering Moth Smoke a novel that resonates on many levels. --Sheila Bright
Book Description
A fast-paced first novel that paints a dazzling portrait of contemporary Pakistan
When Daru loses his job as a banker in Lahore, he begins a long fall from grace that cascades the length of this lively and inventive tale. Too clever for his own good, he descends into drug dealing, then heroin addiction. Unable to pay the electricity bill, he rapidly loses power, literally and metaphorically, in a society increasingly polarized between decadent haves and discontented have-nots. As Daru spirals downward, he is falling for beautiful, mysterious Mumtaz, the wife of his childhood friend and rival, Ozi. Privileged but restless, Mumtaz escapes the constraints of marriage and motherhood by prowling the city's depths as a journalist. Daru is drawn to her with an intensity that mimics the attraction of moths to candle flames in his darkened apartment. Desperate to reverse his fortunes, Daru takes a partner in crime, the rickshaw driver Murad, but when a heist goes awry, Daru finds himself on trial for a murder he may or may not have committed. The uncertainty of his future mirrors that of his country, which is locked in a jittery nuclear test-for-test with India, as the rich get richer and fundamentalist fervor intensifies. With its assured voice-in equal measure funny, ironic, and impassioned-highly original cast of characters, and sly satire, this debut novel is never less than riveting.
Mohsin Hamid grew up in Lahore, Pakistan. He lives in New York City.
Customer Reviews:
Watch a train wreck.......2007-09-07
In Moth Smoke, Mohsin Hamid crafts a complex story and leaves you to judge the characters, their insecurities, their arrogance, and their crimes. He has written a candid and uncomfortably honest account of contemporary Pakistan.
Dara has lost his job, and all desire to pull out from the economic slump that leaves him in. He is resigned to let his insecurities take him over. Reuniting with his childhood pal Ozi and Ozi's beautiful wife Mumtaz, bring out all the hitherto buried uncertainties. Dara's clandestine attraction for Mumtaz and his envy for Ozi cloaked under morally uptight condescension thrust him into the belly of Pakistan's corrupt judicial system.
Whether it is the drug addiction or his insistence on becoming martyr to his love, Dara's decline is not unlike the much scrutinized moth fatally spiraling towards the candle flame. From being a banker to a drug peddler to a petty criminal, Dara smokes through to the inevitable end.
Mohsin Hamid has inferred interesting parallels between the characters and the nuclear rivalry of blood brothers India-Pakistan. And the fatalistic nature of the moth to bring forth certain unstated thoughts of Dara.
It is a cleverly laid out book which unravels as a play with each character recounting their side of the story. The writing style for the narratives of each character is very similar and this is where I feel Mohsin Hamid left me desiring for something better. Each character's narrative sounds similar in language, their diversity and disparity is not manifested in their language.
Mohsin Hamid's achievement in Moth Smoke is that he has steered completely clear of the immigrant literature formula. A lot of South Asian author's first books fall for the obvious and tend to talk about their immigrant lives, childhood memories triggered by smells of pickles or jasmine oil, houses full of aunts and uncles. There is none of the sepia-toned flashbacks which make even the hottest day appear mellow, beautiful in our memories. Rather he says it like it scorchingly is.
[...]
Deterioration.......2007-09-04
Having managed to claw his way into the middle class, a young man falls into destitution when he's fired from his job at a bank. The book traces his physical and moral deterioration, through a love affair with his best friend's wife, which is, as usual, unconvincing. However, the character's voice is compelling and the book has a propulsive downward energy that keeps us reading to the end.
The Story of You and Me.......2006-02-16
The most beautiful quality of this book is that despite the odd situations the central character puts himself in, like striking an affair with his best friend's wife, rolling joints while driving on main roads, living in dismal conditions and much more, throughout this book you feel that you are reading about yourself, the people around you, just another face in the crowd. In short this book epitomizes beautifully the fact that every person's life is a story, a remarkable, matchless tale. Definitely one of my favorite books.
Plummetting.......2006-02-09
In his debut novel, Moth Smoke, Mohsin Hamid lifts the veil from the less affluent sects of Pakistani society. The protagonist of Moth Smoke, Daru, is a middle-class employee at a Pakistani bank. His life soon falls apart, the rungs of the social ladder suddenly snapping beneath his feet, sending him plummeting into an immoral abyss of desperation, crime and drug abuse.
Set in Lahore in the sultry summer of 1998, Moth Smoke adeptly depicts the shocking disparity between the social classes of Pakistan. Daru is introduced in the novel as a well-educated young man, who socialises with the jet-set of Lahore. Soon, however, after a severe hang-over following an orgy, his misconduct costs him his job.
Later, subsequent to nuclear testing in Pakistan, the Pakistani economy crumbles around Daru, leaving him unemployed for longer than he had anticipated. His electricity is cut off and he begins taking drugs compulsively. Daru relinquishes all hope of salvaging his social identity, reluctant to take up any career. Thus begins his downfall, as he starts an affair with his best friend's wife, resorts to trading drugs and unremorsefully commits robberies. Finally, the ensuing events get him arrested for a crime he never committed. Daru, doomed to a life of captivity, reminisces the incidents which had lead to his decline.
In conclusion, Moth Smoke highlights the distinction between Daru, a middle-class employee, and his friend, Ozi, a wealthy, well-connected entrepreneur. Mohsin Hamid demonstrates that whereas the lower classes of society act as a buffer against the collapsing economy, the rich remain unaffected by the political dissention prevalent in the country.
good book.......2005-10-10
read this book. one of my all time favorites. actually. it is my all time favorite. touching all the way through. i felt like daru was my pakastani counter part.
Book Description
Forced to accept drastic changes, make lifestyle–altering decisions, and develop new coping skills, many people going through divorce are left with little hope for the future and even less energy for daily living. Drawing on insights garnered through years of helping people survive divorce, Jim Smoke offers God’s wisdom and step–by–step guidance for anyone experiencing divorce. Topics include:
- committing the situation to God through prayer
- helping children adjust
- seeking legal advice
- income issues
- contemplating remarriage
Discussion questions and a “working guide” section help readers take stock of their situation, handle day–to–day details, and rediscover hope and joy in their lives.
Growing Through Divorce (more than 540,000 copies sold) now has a fresh new cover.
Customer Reviews:
My Copy is Ten Years Old: And I Still Read It!.......2007-03-27
I bought this book shortly after my own divorce; it helped me than and it keeps on helping me! Thank you, Jim Smoke, for such an honest look at the problems and difficulties we face in recovering from this kind of trauma. I have heard that a new edition may be coming out --- if so, that's great, but this edition is still useful to anyone who is divorced. I give this book my highest possible recommendation.
Barbara Sheldon, M.S.W.
Currently reading: Moving Forward After Divorce: Practical Steps to * Healing Your Hurts * Finding Fresh Perspective * Managing Your New Life
A Divorce Classic: Now Revised and Updated.......2007-01-01
This is one of the best divorce-recovery books in print. Originally released in the mid-1990's, the book has sold hundreds of thousands of copies in its original editions --- because the author tracks divorce accurately, and he writes very well.
After more than two decades of learning from divorced adults and post-divorce blended families, Lisa and I highly value the wisdom, insight, and writing ability that Jim Smoke brings to this book. Now revised and updated, the book is even more relevant --- and now it's up-to-date with today's legal climate.
This book will not disappoint you! Clear, readable, practical help.
Dr. David & Lisa Frisbie
The Center for Marriage & Family Studies
Authors of 8 books, including Moving Forward After Divorce: Practical Steps to * Healing Your Hurts * Finding Fresh Perspective * Managing Your New Life
God's Vehicle To Recovery.......2006-09-08
Aloha. I have been using this book for over ten years as a tool in helping people to recover from their brokenness and draw closer to the God. The Lord uses the class, of which I teach using this text "Growing Through Divorce", as a vehicle to draw people to Him. To let them understand how God is more interested in their relationship with Him, then He is about their brokenness. Not that He doesn't care about their despair; through their adversities He brings them closer to Him. Going through the book, praying, reading scriptures and having open and honest communication with the group has helped hundreds of people. They have become stronger in their walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, and a high percentage of them are actively involved in some kind of ministry. Some become leaders within the group and are co-leaders, and attend leadershp classes along with me. The results have been tremendous. People are healthier, happier, stronger-mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially. Yes, people have and continue to "Grow Through Divorce". This book is a "must" for you who are serious about recovering from the devastation of a broken relationship. God Bless You.
Growing Through Divorce is great conversation starter.......2006-01-15
Our HOPE...a ministry for divorced women at church is using "Growing Through Divorce" as a conversation starter for our small group and it is working. The topical chapters are designed to encourage us to start talking in a positive, forward moving direction. The "working guide" at the back of the book offers encouraging Christian reflections that are healing for those of us who are/have experienced the painful divorce process.
an adequate book.......2002-11-03
I found this book useful, but most of the value could be condensed to a shorter text. One thing readers should understand (not evident from the book jacket or the excerpts) is that this book has a very strong emphasis on the Christian faith as it relates to one's experience of divorce. If you look at the other posted reviews, you will see that the greatest value was derived from people who shared this cultural background. As someone of another faith, I found that I skipped over at least 50% of the text because it did not apply to me.
Book Description
Using humor and interesting examples that students can understand and relate to, authors Brett W. Pelham and Hart Blanton have written an informative and comprehensive research methods text that your students will really enjoy. This brief book includes hands-on activities that involve learning by doing, methodology exercises that encourage students to use their intuitions to understand research methods, and methodology problems that teach students to apply basic research principles to novel problems.
Customer Reviews:
Research and Methodology with a Little Kick.......2000-04-02
Brett Pelham does a phenomenal job of bringing excitement and life to a subject matter many students and psychologists deem boring-research and research methodology. In his easy-to-read book, Brett brings comedy to confounding variables, t-scores, and placebo effects. Throughout the book, he backs up his explanation of research terms by using clear, but witty illustrations. Brett was my professor at UCLA and he used this book for his Psychology Research and Methodology course. A class I had been dreading was made alive, interesting, and easy to understand, not only through his lectures, but through this book! If you are a psychology teacher, a student struggling to fully grasp reasearch methods, or just a person who enjoys reading well written, easy to read books, with a comedic kick, then this is a great book for you! It will not only change the way you view methodology/research, but heighten your understanding of the topic.
Average customer rating:
- Company officer
- If you are freezing to death, burn this book!
- needed for classroom - but is a good read
- Company Officer
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Company Officer
Clinton Smoke
Manufacturer: Cengage Delmar Learning
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Company Officer, Student Workbook, Second Edition
ASIN: 1401826059 |
Book Description
This book was developed to assist paid and volunteer firefighters in the quest to become fire officers. Based on NFPA 1021, Standard for Fire Officer Professional Competency, 2003 Edition, this updated book features vital information for those who seek certification as Fire Officer I or II. Comprehensive coverage not only satisfies the operational requirements of NFPA 1021 levels I and II, but also addresses the all-important 'soft skills' that are essential to quick mastery of the fire officer position. Human resource management, communication, leadership, community and government relations, administration and management, fire prevention, inspections and investigations, and safety issues are all addressed for proficiency on the job. In this regard, the book is also useful for members of rescue squads, emergency medical response agencies, and other similar emergency organizations.
Customer Reviews:
Company officer.......2007-06-28
A must for Fire Officers preparing for certification or testing.
The book is layed out good. Covers many aspects of management, communication and "people skills".
If you are freezing to death, burn this book!.......2007-04-07
This is the second worst fire service text I've ever been exposed to; filled with misinformation, bad grammer, and sloppy prose. From mislabeling Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to misnaming FDNY's Squad 252, calling it Squadron 252 (I don't think the FDNY deploys any fighter planes), this book offers no practical and very little academic advice for the aspiring company officer.
In regards to the student workbook, most workbooks usually reflect their source text in both content and syntax - not here! Several of the questions in the chapter quiz sections use language that is so radically different from the text book, it is difficult to find an answer. This inconsistency forces the student to infer an answer, which often occurs during an exam, but shouldn't be part of studying. The lack of an answer key renders the book useless.
needed for classroom - but is a good read.......2007-03-20
as text books go this read well. easy to condense with highlighted boxes with key points.
Company Officer.......2006-11-05
I purchase this text for a class I was taking but will keep it as a reference to use as a future resource.
Average customer rating:
- Not her best work
- A Fantastic story.
- The Hero was a really big JERK!
- A pleasant surprise...
- Decent Story With Unlikeable Characters
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Where There's Smoke
Sandra Brown
Manufacturer: Vision
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ASIN: 0446600342 |
Customer Reviews:
Not her best work.......2007-09-08
I'm a big fan of Sandra Brown but this book was not a favorite of mine. Clark's secret wasn't that shocking. Maybe I would have been more suprised by it if I read it back in the day when it was written, but by modern day standards it isn't that uncommon to hear about. Laura was the most respectable character in the whole book. She put up with a lot from her husband, Key, and Jody but still kept her cool. The romance between Janellen and Bowie was more entertaining at times then the one with Laura and Key. Overall it was an ok book but Sandra has written better.
A Fantastic story........2007-09-06
I believe this is the best book by Sandra Brown that I have read. This story had the most intrigue of any of the novels by her that I have read. I thought that she did an excellent job of keeping the five relationships in this story well defined, and extremely understandable. There was no need for me to keep a separate pad and pen to keep track of who was who. The ending was just super and I hope the next book I read by Sandra is just as good as this story. Highly recommend.
The Hero was a really big JERK!.......2007-07-23
Like other reviewer, I also think this book is not one of Brown's best story. This story to me at times got too predicable but the worst part of the book was the hero. Key was so MEAN! He kept on calling Lara an adulteress whore but, yet, he was sleeping with a married woman too. Through out the whole book Key keeps on ridiculing Lara and she takes without a fight. Even after Key learns the truth he still doesn't apologies to Lara, not even once. I wish in the end Key would have done something or said something to show that he really did love Lara but nothing happens. The end made me wish there was an epilogue to this story and I want to see how things turn between Key and Lara, like if they had a kid or something
A pleasant surprise..........2007-06-22
A coworker brought me this book because I had enjoyed another of Sandra Brown's books, and I LOVED IT! This book was full of intricate characters and engaging action that made me wish I could have just sat down and read the book in one afternoon. I would definitely recommend, as this has far excelled most books I have read this year. I loved the twists and turns in plot. A+
Decent Story With Unlikeable Characters.......2007-03-30
Dr. Lara Mallory is a fallen woman since a tabloid incident involving her and Senator Clark Tackett. She had been married at the time, and found anything but a forgiving attitude following the scandal. Finally, after Clark Tackett dies and leaves her a medical practice in his home town of Eden Pass, Texas, she decides to start over there. Besides, she believes the Tackett family owes her, and she's in town to collect a favor from Clark's younger brother, notorious playboy Key. Things are even tougher in Eden Pass, however, because Clark's powerful mother, Jody Tackett, has it out for her. Key seems to share his mother's low opinion, as does his mouse of a sister, Janellen, and the rest of the town. Key despises himself for falling for his dead brother's bimbo, but he can't seem to resist her. At the same time, 33-year-old Janellen is finally breaking out of her shell. When an ex-con named Bowie Cato comes in to Tackett Oil looking for a job, there's something compelling about him, and pretty soon Janellen starts restyling her hair and wearing make-up while she and Bowie sneak around to build their romance.
Sandra Brown can write one heck of a gripping thriller, but sometimes her books seem to have somewhat of a hard edge to them, and this is one of those books. It's as if the author was undergoing difficult personal turmoil at the time, and it came out in her writing. The judgmental attitude that pervades this novel seems appropriate for a small town like Eden Pass, but doesn't fit quite so well with the rest of the country, considering that infidelity did not sink the political aspirations of Bill Clinton, and notoriety has become a form of fame. She tosses words like whore, tramp, and trash around quite liberally, which made it difficult to warm to several of the characters. Perhaps it was done on purpose to underscore the hypocrisy inherent in these characters, but it was still somewhat distasteful.
The story was a good one, with a few good twists and turns along the way, but I also was not horribly fond of the ending. She created and fleshed out a couple of characters simply to kill them off at the end, and another rather innocuous character meets a bad end that didn't seem fitting to his actions throughout the book. Aside from those complaints, however, this is a pretty good novel with a compelling storyline. I just think I would have liked it better if everyone within its pages wasn't quite so mean.
Book Description
This definitive survey examines the impact of nuclear weaponry on national security issues. Written by an experienced author and founder of the Peace and Common Security Institute in Berkeley, California, this text describes how current nuclear dilemmas have developed out of past choices and events. The final chapter of this chronologically organized text covers events that took place from 1985-1991, making the material relevant to the post-Cold War era.
Average customer rating:
- The Most Inspirational Book That I have Ever Read
- An adult book in a YA body --adult literacy read?
- the author turns to wordsmithing
- The Ruby In The Smoke
- The Ruby in the Smoke, July 14, 2006
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The Ruby in the Smoke (Sally Lockhart Trilogy, Book 1)
Philip Pullman
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
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Similar Items:
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The Shadow in the North (Sally Lockhart Trilogy, Book 2)
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The Tiger in the Well (Sally Lockhart Trilogy, Book 3)
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The Tin Princess
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Lyra's Oxford
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His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass)
ASIN: 0394895894
Release Date: 1988-11-12 |
Amazon.com
"Her name was Sally Lockhart; and within fifteen minutes, she was going to kill a man." Philip Pullman begins his Sally Lockhart trilogy with a bang in The Ruby in the Smoke--a fast-paced, finely crafted thriller set in a rogue- and scalawag-ridden Victorian London. His 16-year-old heroine has no time for the usual trials of adolescence: her father has been murdered, and she needs to find out how and why. But everywhere she turns, she encounters new scoundrels and secrets. Why do the mere words "seven blessings" cause one man to keel over and die at their utterance? Who has possession of the rare, stolen ruby? And what does the opium trade have to do with it?
As our determined and intelligent sleuth sets her mind to unraveling these dark mysteries, she learns how embroiled she is in the whole affair. As riveting and witty as the sensational "penny dreadfuls" of Victorian England (but thousands of times better written), Pullman's trilogy (including The Shadow in the North and The Tiger in the Well) will have readers on the edges of their seats. Ruby is an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. (Ages 12 and older) --Karin Snelson
Book Description
In search of clues to the mystery of her father's death, 16-year-old Sally Lockhart ventures into the shadowy underworld of Victorian London. Pursued by villains at every turn, the intrepid Sally finally uncovers two dark mysteries--and realizes that she herself is the key to both.
"In Dickensian fashion, Pullman tells the story of 16-year-old Sally Lockhart, who becomes involved in a deadly web of events as she searches for a mysterious ruby. The novel is a page turner, peopled with despicable hags, forthright heroes, and children living on the underbelly of 19th-century London. The story's events are exciting, with involved plotting. Settings and characterizations are exquisitely drawn. The first entry in a planned trilogy."--(starred) Booklist. Reading level: 6.7.
Customer Reviews:
The Most Inspirational Book That I have Ever Read.......2007-04-17
I think that the Sally Lockheart books are the most amazing books that I have ever read by far. The characters seem so real to me that I was actually CRYING when Frederick died in the second book. I am now half way through the third book and am again totally hooked. I take on board that the characters may not fit in totally with reality in the 1800's but that just makes, in my opinion, the books even better. The in depth thrill and pace of these books are so amazing, that it just makes me want to go out and wright a fifth! I must applaud Philip Pulman on these books, a masterpiece in my eyes, certainly the best books ever written by him, possiably by anyone ever!
An adult book in a YA body --adult literacy read?.......2007-02-18
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The writing is excellent, although the characterization can be a bit thin. As with some YA books, certain things are not touched on too deeply. Sally, a Victorian girl, just moves out of her aunt's house with nowhere to go and quickly finds a place, etc. Quite often things sort of just seem to happen rather than her being a "detective." The characters have attitudes that are quite modern.
None of this is bad, the story held my attention, but it just makes the book a bit lacking in depth. Younger readers will probably not be bothered by this.
As an aside-- I'm sure there are some American parents who want control over what their child will be exposed to, will be disturbed by some of the things in the book. Disney it ain't! This is what makes the book strange. It's like an adult book in a YA body. For this reason I think it might make an excellent candidate for those involved in adult literacy. Books that can hold the adult imagination and writing that is excellent, but easily read are rare. Just a thought.
the author turns to wordsmithing.......2006-10-30
In the "His Dark Materials" trilogy the author seemed to have started with a great but fixed quantity of ideas and proceeded to exhaust them. Well, this is what you have left: some pretty good wordsmithing. A twisty plot, a detailed setting, action, adventure, mystery -- but ... nothing else.
Sally and her friends (and enemies) are like detailed mannequins. They go through their paces and events occur, but it's all pretty schematic. Where there is depth, there is something unpalatable, as though the author has forgotten that the grim is not the same as the fascinating, it needs to be balanced with the imaginative. Go into dark places, but bring a light. We all see enough of the other, that's why we turn to art.
The opposite but no less annoying defect also appears. All the good guys are just so *super* you have little doubt they were constructed from lists of admirable human traits. Let's see, smart, brave, honest, attractive dah dah dah ... did I miss anything? Sally for example can add up figures in her head better than an idiot savant, and knows more about marketing than Andy Warhol. Not bad for an orphaned waif. And moreover she's a blond! (This is so incongruous it cannot be mentally imaged.)
Her new love interest is no better, a genius inventor who needs someone who can add figures and market his products, because in that department he's an utter moron! What a coincidence! Why, they were *made for each other*, literally and literarily. No surprise I guess that he would risk almost certain death to protect her, even though he only met her Wednesday before last!
If such simplicities are on behalf of young adults, then the whole thing should be played for laughs. Instead you're supposed to suck this up along with some really grim stuff which is just as unpleasant as the rest is unbelievable. If you're American, I think you'll find something distinctly British in this, which does make a weird sense in their culture, just not in ours.
3 stars because it still contains just a tinge of his old funhouse style. There are better YA books out there though.
The Ruby In The Smoke.......2006-09-29
The Ruby In the Smoke is a good mystery, and exactly what I would expect from Pullman. The characters are intriguing, and the sudden deaths make it very suspenseful. I felt very connected with Jim and Adelaide, as they showed quite a bit of personality. A good book is one in that you can't tell whether or not a person is actually good or will betray sometime.
But I gave it four stars, and not five, for a reason.
Mrs. Holland stands nowhere near as complex as Mrs. Courtier from His Dark Materials. Once beautiful, sucked into the darkness of an evervaluable object, betrayed by young love and turned evil... you get the point. Her subjects start as 1D evil creatures, toward the middle of their time in the book they seem like they may defect to the good side, then do something horrible and then die. This was a good formula to use for Hopkins, but carrying it out again with Berry was not as intriguing as it could have been.
I agree with that one person who said that the characters were standard deal. But they did have personality. It would have been intriguing to carry out the Van Eeden problem for another hundred pages.
Overall, the book was very skillful, and I would reccomend it to anyone mature enough. A little kid is definitely not a good person to read this book, due to the constant sudden death and significant drug use. The book also shows good word choice, but that also results in no little kid being able to understand it. It's a verry good book, as long as you don't focus on the little tiny out-of-context problems like some people did.
The Ruby in the Smoke, July 14, 2006.......2006-07-15
Philip Pullman has created a new character that readers can empathize with and root for during this suspenseful mystery. Sally Lockhart is a sixteen year old orphan girl that receives a strange note about the death of her father. As soon as she begins her investigation, more deaths occur. Sally becomes entangled in a web of mystery involving murder, illegal opium trading, and a stolen ruby. Sally has many nightmares, which she is unable to understand until she uncovers more pieces of the puzzle. The suspense builds as new characters are continually brought into the mystery, making it difficult to know who can be trusted.
The Ruby in the Smoke is a suspense filled mystery with descriptive characters and settings. Mr. Pullman paints vivid pictures, of the settings and characters, which draw the reader into the book. The continuous introduction of new characters and the changes in settings all add to the suspense of the book. This is a well written and intriguing story that is worth reading.
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