Showing posts with label crime fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crime fiction. Show all posts

Special Prices for The Fearless Mrs. Goodwin (Kindle Single) Review

The Fearless Mrs. Goodwin (Kindle Single)

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The Fearless Mrs. Goodwin (Kindle Single) Review

You probably already have some of the story from the other blurbs but listen up anyway there's more to tell: The biggest bank robbery in the Big Apple's history, pulled off in broad daylight on one of the city's busiest commercial streets. Even in the annals of crime, the heist was brazen. This is the account of the detective who broke the case.
It's a story made all the more remarkable because the detective was a woman in a man's world and the first female police officer, later detective, in the history of the New York Police Department.
Her name was Isabella Goodwin, 47, and they ought to have given her a medal. They did, and one day in May 1912 after everything had pretty much settled down, a million New Yorkers, almost of fifth of the denizens of the metropolis give or take a few thousand, lined the streets as six thousand police officers marched by in a four-mile parade honoring the city's finest. There in the reviewing stand (which was probably festooned with red, white and blue bunting) on the corner of Forty-Second Street and Fifth Avenue, sat now-Detective Goodwin in a special seat of honor almost right next to the Mayor himself.
The Heist of the Century as the rags called it took place on 15 February 1912. By then the pattern of brute crime from some years back (anyone remember the Five Points Gang?) was a thing of the past that most people had forgotten. New York at the time was a place where for the most part strangers "would never harm strangers, institutions (such as banks) would never be touched by violence." For the most part. This day would be different. It would make history.
A couple of thugs waylaid a taxicab with cabbie and two bank messengers who were making a money transfer from the Produce Exchange Bank at No. 10 Church Street downtown, bludgeoned the messengers bloody and senseless (one of them was still a kid of 16) and then proceeded to make off with a cool $25,000, which even by today's standards is a tidy sum.
The coppers had an idea that Edward Kinsman, aka Ed Collins, aka Eddie "The Boob" might be behind the heist and a smart Deputy Police Commissioner named George S. Dougherty came up with the notion that a widowed police matron might be of some assistance in collaring the perpetrator.
Dougherty called down to the Mercer Street Station and said, "Send me Mrs. Goodwin." Dougherty figured the key to get to Eddie was to locate his moll, a tea dancer named "Swede Annie." Police matron Goodwin was just the ticket to get that done. And to get right to the short of it without giving too much away that's how things came down. And remember this all happened; you can check out the newspapers if you don't think so.
Other than the crime itself, there isn't too much action in this story. Or drama or even suspense. The sharp-eyed Mrs. Goodwin, who by-the-way had the tiniest feet you ever saw not that that means much, called on some good common sense. She employed her knack for making "people believe she was anyone she chose." Then she got out on the street and did some pretty straightforward gumshoeing.
But for what it might lack in drama, the story makes up in atmospherics. You get a real good sense of what it was like in Old New York, with all the dust, the stench, the clatter and clang. Another thing I should say is that the author really seems to know her stuff. She did her homework on this one.
Plus, and this is maybe the best part, the story has a real surprise for the ending. You're not going to believe it. It might even make you cry. So go find out yourself what happens next with Mrs. Goodwin.

The Fearless Mrs. Goodwin (Kindle Single) Overview

Manhattan, 1912. A time of greed, corruption, scandal and distrust, when the police commissioner had this advice for the citizenry: “Don't take a criminal investigation into your own hands. Don't poke about a dead body. Don't investigate a robbery all on your own." Then the most outrageous and brutal bank heist of the young century occurred, and the city combusted in fear and anger. Wall Street brokers were carrying guns. The police looked more ineffectual by the day. Not a single man could break the case.But perhaps a woman could. Mrs. Isabella Goodwin was a smart and resourceful police matron who had gone about as far as a woman in police work could go. The bank robbery presented a unique career opportunity.As Elizabeth Mitchell writes in "The Fearless Mrs. Goodwin", a true story so astounding it reads like fiction, only a woman could penetrate New York's underworld without attracting suspicion. When Goodwin got the call from headquarters, she was ready. With glimmering eyes, the widow with four children to support disappeared into Manhattan's underbelly. Would she return with her man? Would she make it back at all?In this Byliner Original from the new digital publisher Byliner, Elizabeth Mitchell, the author of "W: Revenge of the Bush Dynasty" and "Three Strides Before the Wire: The Dark and Beautiful World of Horse Racing" has delved into New York City's hurly-burly past and returned with a classic crime story all the more amazing for having actually happened.* * *Praise for "The Fearless Mrs. Goodwin":"What a ripsnort! Elizabeth Mitchell's exploration of New York City in the early 1900s and the remarkable woman detective who took on savvy, brutal criminals is a fascinating piece of history and a riveting story. Old-timey CSI, but much wilder, and no deodorant." - Sam Lipsyte, author of "Home Land" and "The Ask""Molls, tough guys, an insane bank heist and N.Y.C.'s feistiest chick-the perfect beach read. Loved it!!!"- Simon Doonan, author of "Beautiful People""Elizabeth Mitchell is one of our greatest and most compelling nonfiction voices, and her latest is an illuminating and engaging story of a woman and of a time when men were men-which was one of the problems of that time. This is a terrific story." - Jon Meacham, author of "American Lion" and "American Gospel""Elizabeth Mitchell brings to life the story of Isabella Goodwin, New York's first female police detective, with deep reporting and evocative details. This Film Noir tale of early New York is a scintillating read that grips you from the first page and never lets up."- Darcey Steinke, author of "Easter Everywhere" and "Suicide Blonde"."A fascinating real-life crime story, starring New York City's first female detective, and 1912 New York in all its corrupt and vivid glory."- Katha Pollitt, author of "Learning to Drive"

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Best Buy for Lethal People (A Donovan Creed Novel) Review

Lethal People (A Donovan Creed Novel)

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Lethal People (A Donovan Creed Novel) Review

This is a novel dealing with a primary character named Donovan Creed. In his primary job, he works for homeland security killing terrorists. Since this doesn't fill all of his time he also tests out torture devices for the military and sometimes does contract killings for the mob. Not necessarily the type of person you think of when you want to have a fun time or a romantic evening. Donovan really is a nice guy though. It is just that his work tends to give him a different outlook on life and this makes him sometimes awkward when dealing with people in "normal" situations.
In Lethal People Donovan gets a call from his daughter who is concerned about the man who is engaged to his ex wife. Donovan finds out the man is a "reformed" wife beater and while investigating him meets a young burn victim whose family died in a house fire. He likes the girl and checks out the fire and finds that it was arson. He figures out why the fire was set and who was responsible and sets out to find justice for all involved.
"Lethal People" by John Locke is a book that shows us that just because you kill people for a living doesn't necessarily make you a bad guy.

Lethal People (A Donovan Creed Novel) Overview

Donovan Creed, a former CIA assassin, is a very tough man with a weakness for very easy women. Meet him in LETHAL PEOPLE a relentlessly entertaining crime novel that's often LOL - bizarre funny! The action is fast and furious, the dialogue smart, savvy and sexy. The story is filled with quirky characters and clever surprises.

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Best Price Until Proven Guilty (J. P. Beaumont Mysteries) Review

Until Proven Guilty (J. P. Beaumont Mysteries)

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Until Proven Guilty (J. P. Beaumont Mysteries) Review

I picked up Until Proven Guilty on a lunch hour in 1985, and was finished with it in less than 2 days. It was to begin what I call my "love affair" with Detective J.P. Beaumont. This novel, was a good read from page one to the end. Jance is by far my favorite author, I own every one of her Beaumont books in hardback, I do not wait for them to come out in paperback. I highly reccommend that you read Until Proven Guilty first, or you will be a bit lost in future books when he refers to his Porsche, Ann Coorley etc. I worked for the Seattle Police in thier Homicide Division, and while Jance does use what I will call creative license with some things, the one thing she nailed is the "cop persona" in spades! I wait eagerly for her next installment. I hope that you like her work as much as I do.

Until Proven Guilty (J. P. Beaumont Mysteries) Overview


The little girl was only five, much too young to die -- a lost treasure who should have been cherished, not murdered.She could have been J.P. Beaumont's kid, and the determined Seattle homicide detective won't rest until her killer pays dearly. But the hunt is leading Beaumont into a murky world of religious fanaticism, and toward a beautiful, perilous obsession all his own. And suddenly Beau himself is a target -- because faith can be dangerous...and love can kill.


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Best Buy for The Bathtub Spy (Kindle Single) Review

The Bathtub Spy (Kindle Single)

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The Bathtub Spy (Kindle Single) Review

I enjoyed this story. It did have some good moments. It is the story of a man who lives in Washington DC doing translation work who deals with an unbearable boss. Minor spoiler here but it turns out his boss actually loves literature. It took me all of about 15 minutes to read this so this is much shorter than most of the Kindle shorts I have read.
The story didn't move me as much as I would have liked for a literary work but it did have its moments. I liked how the author explained how our feelings for imaginary characters can be more important to us than real people. I loved how the main character's opinion of his boss changes after a bad book recommendation. I have felt the same way when it has happened to me. It was a good diversion for a few minutes but I don't think that I will be thinking of the story in a years time.

The Bathtub Spy (Kindle Single) Overview

Returning to America after years abroad, Paul Tregwynt takes work at an intelligence agency near the Pentagon, translating wiretaps for decorated military officers and desk-jockey spies. But life in espionage turns strange when his boss gives him a book and an order: read this. Tom Rachman is the bestselling author of The Imperfectionists, a novel set at a struggling newspaper in Rome. His writing has been published in The New York Times, Slate, The International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. He lives in London.

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Purchase Cheap Mortal Pursuit Review

Mortal Pursuit

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Mortal Pursuit Review

I am a die hard Michael Prescott fan & he didn't let me down!! I tend to be a slow reader... but I finished this book in two nights!! I just couldn't put it down!! I literally gasped more than once as this story played out. Trish was a very likable (and MacGyver-esque) heroine!! The story plays out in only a matter of hours with LOTS of twists & turns which gives it somewhat of a "24" feel!! You really start to wonder what else could possibly happen!! It could very easily be a one dimentional story of cat & mouse... but the characters are interesting, easy to love/hate, and the subtle back story develops slowly to a shocking revelation!!! You should be prepared for some strong language and graphic descriptions, but it's worth the read!!

Mortal Pursuit Overview

Rookie patrol officer Trish Robinson isn't expecting to see any action during another routine night on the job. But when she and her training officer answer a prowler call at a remote estate, the two cops walk into an ambush laid by a crew of ruthless criminals. Disarmed, cut off from help, and outnumbered five to one, the young rookie must draw on inner resources she never knew she possessed as she plays a game of cat-and-mouse with hardened killers in a desperate battle to survive. This book is a reissue of a title by New York Times bestselling suspense novelist Michael Prescott, here writing under the pen name Brian Harper.

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We All Fall Down

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We All Fall Down Review

Design engineering contractor Hayden Duke is pleased to have been hired by Marin Design Engineering for a short term project. He hopes that his work will impress the firm's bosses so they would hire him for a full time position. Before he was selected, another contractor walked into the ocean and drowned. The witnesses who called 911 heard the man mumble he did a horrible thing and must pay the price.
The person who hired Hayden is his friend Shane Fallon who is glad to have his pal on board. A couple of days after Hayden starts working Shane sends him an email with an attachment that he cannot open. Hayden calls Shane, who warns him to delete it. Hayden goes to Shane's house only to find a hallucinating man who is locked inside his apartment seeking electronic bugs. He kills himself and the autopsy reveals a bruise on his hand like the man who committed suicide in the ocean. Shane's sister Rebecca and Hayden believe there is more to his apparent suicide and it is linked in some manner to the project. When the project is completed, everyone associated with it except Hayden and Rebecca die in an arson fire. Trying to stay alive and elude police and fire officials' suspicions, the pair seek the truth, which may prove deadly for them.
WE ALL FALL DOWN is an exciting enthralling thriller that focuses on two characters, Hayden and Rebecca, who obstinately and perhaps foolishly are determined to learn what is going on. They refuse to quit their amateur sleuthing although each step especially false leads they take opens up additional cans of worms and exponentially increases the danger to them. Simon Wood provides a dynamite suspense story as the audience is beguiled into anticipating what next.
Harriet Klausner

We All Fall Down Overview

Hayden Duke is a young man on the fast track. He's just signed on with Marin Design Engineering to work on a very high-level project. But before Hayden started, one of MDE's employee's committed suicide. And he's not the only one. Is it the pressure? Or is there some other connection? Has Hayden Duke just put himself on the fast track to an early death?Praise for We All Fall Down:“Action packed and intelligent, We All Fall Down, is Simon Wood's best book yet. This is what they mean when they say a book is a thriller." - Crimespree Magazine"Simon Wood has talent to spare, and in We All Fall Down he's crafted an entertaining and suspenseful novel that once opened simply won't close until the last nail-biting page. A terrific premise executed to perfection by a supremely gifted writer." - Jason Pinter, author of The Mark “Simon Wood never disappoints. From the shocking introduction to the rewarding completion, Wood's storytelling is tremendous." - Fresh Fiction “Simon Wood provides a dynamite suspense story." - The Midwest Book Review "We All Fall Down continues Wood's sharp eye for a thrilling ride that doesn't rely on cheap outs, but creative storytelling." - Bookgasm "I would love this book to be made into a movie." - Bestsellersworld.com"The action becomes fast and furious and one just has to hang on for the ride." - Spinetingler Magazine

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Special Prices for Stealing Faces Review

Stealing Faces

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Stealing Faces Review

I must admit that Michael Prescott has a knack for writing a very entertaining prologue! Readers arrive on the scene smack dab in the middle of single mom Sharon Andrews bloodied and running for her life. Unfortunately for Sharon, she's in the prologue...we know what's going to happen to her. And very quickly, so does she.
From a writing standpoint "Stealing Faces" is crisp and reads quickly. A definite plus in this form of novel. The major players of the story are deftly crafted. Poor Elizabeth Palmer, a.k.a. Ellen Pendleton , a.k.a. Paula Nielson, but in reality Kaylie McMillan has been on the run for the better part of twelve years. She is of the opinion that Dr. John Cray is the unstoppable White Mountain Killer. She's absolutely correct, of course. She's also the murderess of her husband Justin McMillan. What Cray does as the White Mountain Killer is rather obvious from the book's title.
Kaylie and Cray play a lot of physical tag in the first portion of the novel. Each trying to remain one step ahead of the other. They spend the second half of the novel playing mental tag. Kaylie and Cray encounter several other interesting people in the course of the story. Namely, Tucson Detective Roy Shepherd and Kaylie's ex-father-in-law Anson McMillan.
My only ever so MINUSCULE complaint is that they really weren't given any more to do but play hide and seek with one another. To go any further into what precisely goes on would be to give away too many spoilers in this well written novel. It's just that things become a bit formulaic towards the end. Cray makes a mistake or two that seem out of character for someone who throughout the rest of the story takes great pride in his meticulousness.
This still does not take away from the fact that there are some clever twists and turns in this story. A fast read that I think many people will find very enjoyable.

Stealing Faces Overview

John Cray has a secret. For twelve years he has stalked and kidnapped women, setting them loose in the mountains of eastern Arizona, hunting them like animals, and taking their lives. He has left no clues. He is suspected by no one. Or so he thinks. But now he has a problem. Somebody -- a woman whose name he doesn't know -- is stalking him. She follows him when he makes his nightly rounds in Tucson. She watches him on busy streetcorners and in shadowy restaurants. She seems to know his secret. But if so, why hasn't she gone to the police? Cray plans to turn the tables on his mysterious pursuer. He will become the predator, and she -- the prey. Once she's in his power, she will tell him who she is and what she's after. And then she will die.But even Cray isn't prepared to confront the truth when he discovers it -- or to deal with the shattering implications of a past he had thought long buried and an obsessive madness he cannot control ... "Stealing Faces is truly thrilling as well as chilling: I could not put this book down. Reading the first few chapters of this tale is like reading the climax for most thrillers and the excitement just keeps building. Michael Prescott knows how to keep readers' eyes glued to his pages.... I was completely hooked. Actually, more than completely hooked, I thought the lightning-paced thrills were going to give me a heart attack!" - Judith Flavell, The Mystery Reader

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Special Prices for The Abbey Review

The Abbey

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The Abbey Review

I purchased this .99 book as one of my first electronic downloads. For .99 I wasn't looking to be wow'd but I was. Most surprising is the main character (Ash) is Muslim. Ash is a Muslim version Dirty Harry! Chris Culver weaves the detective's religion into the story in such a manner that displays Ash as a spiritual man, but a bad boy cop at the same time. As a Christian, I found myself chuckling at the way that Ash recognizes his duty to his religion but does what the 'flesh' tells him is necessary to seek justice; he does it without apology. No turning the other cheek here! Hooray for Ash and Chris Culver in this amazingly fresh look at crime fighting.

The Abbey Overview

Ash Rashid is a former homicide detective who can't stand the thought of handling another death investigation. In another year, he'll be out of the department completely. That's the plan, at least, until his niece's body is found in the guest home of one of his city's most wealthy citizens. The coroner calls it an overdose, but the case doesn't add up. Against orders, Ash launches an investigation to find his niece's murderer, but the longer he searches, the more entangled he becomes in a case that hits increasingly close to home. If he doesn't solve it fast, his niece won't be the only family member he has to bury.

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Buy Cheap Sorry I'm Not Sorry Review

Sorry I'm Not Sorry

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Sorry I'm Not Sorry Review

As soon as I found out that @SororityProblem was coming out with a book, I was hooked. "Sorry I'm Not Sorry" is probably the funniest thing I've read in a while. Yes, some of the stories are a little extreme, but that's not to say they are unreal. Stuff like this happens in college, and @SororityProblem just happen to put her stories out to the public. I can't wait until the sequel comes out, because I will most definitely purchase it.

Sorry I'm Not Sorry Overview

'The most despicable Twitter ever.' - Comedian Bo Burnham'Your twitter account is a disgrace 2 American youth & the embodyment of everything that is wrong w/ our culture today. #congrats' - Twitter User'DO NOT READ THIS BOOK, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME' - Your ParentsFrom the author of the popular Twitter feed @SororityProblem comes a new PhoneBook about hard-partying 21st century girl Alexa Black and the epic disaster that ensues when her mother forces her to clean up her act and join a prim-and-proper sorority. Alexa tries to land in this strange new world on her feet, but from suffering an embarrassing accident while trying to make a love connection at a Britney Spears concert to being wrongly arrested for public indecency at a Chili's, she soon realizes that nothing can make her fall on her face faster than her own good intentions.To find out more about how to download the book directly onto your phone or computer in one minute, as the book was designed to be read, please copy and paste this link in our browser to be taken to our Facebook page: http://t.co/BX4sH0C

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Best Price Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It Review

Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It

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Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It Review

This book is a companion piece to the documentary Food Inc. It consists of 25 essays on topics ranging from agribusiness, to so-called "frankenfoods," to pesticides and hormones, to biofuels, to nutrition and global hunger. The essays are written by acknowledged experts including Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation (2006) and Michael Pollan, who wrote some of the best books I have read on food, including The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001), The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), and In Defense of Foods: An Eater's Manifesto (2008)--see my reviews at Amazon.
The topics are presented in a fairly balanced way with one essay followed by an essay termed "ANOTHER TAKE." For example Peter Pringle's piece "Food, Science, and the Challenge of World Hunger--Who Will Control the Future?" argues that genetically modified (GM) foods are not as dangerous as some think and they can, with proper precautions taken, help us feed a growing world population. However in the next essay, using the term "genetically engineered" (GE) foods, Ronnie Cummins argues that such foods are dangerous and threaten to take away from local farmers the ability to grow food and give that power solely to agribusiness.
In his essay, "Exploring the Corporate Powers behind the Way We Eat," Robert Kenner recounts his experience making Food Inc. emphasizing how closed and secretive are the big corporations that produce and process our food. They wouldn't let him and his camera crews into their plants and they made the people who would talk to him feel threatened. There was no counter to this, possibly because the agribusiness people wouldn't participate in the book just as they wouldn't cooperate in the making of the film. This is damning. Secrecy and closed-doors suggest that they have something to hide.
Nonetheless I have mixed feelings. There is no question that in an ideal world we would all have local access to organically grown and minimally processed foods--free range chickens and vegetables grown with natural fertilizers in a sustainable family farm environment where the animals are treated humanely. But we don't. Why? The usual answer is you can't produce food cheaply enough in that manner to feed a world of six and a half billion people. This book in effect argues that you can, and the real reason we don't is that the big corporations have a stranglehold on not just our governments but on the science and logistics required to deliver and present the food including labor, transportation, storage, and the markets. Small and local can't compete.
However, what is hardly mentioned in the book and seems almost taboo to say is that the underlying problem, which is only going to get worse, is the enormous demand for food put on our resources because we have too many people living on this planet. I can see a Wendell Berry kind of agrarian paradise possible after we cut our numbers by perhaps half (more would be better) with a larger percentage of the population choosing to become farmers.
Currently the Slow Foods, sustainable foods, organic foods, and the humane treatment to animals movements are mainly supported by society's well-to-do, its elites educationally and economically. The average person cannot afford to shop at Whole Foods, which is sometimes called "Whole Paycheck." Neither can your average urban or suburban dweller conveniently find his or her way to the local farmer's market, if there is one.
But the main problem in the United States is public ignorance. The average person has little understanding of nutrition and is bombarded by conflicting claims in the literature as the big corporations pay for studies that support their interests. On television and elsewhere there's an endless stream of ads promoting fast and cheap food, adulterated food, and food that entices and seduces with depictions of juicy, fatty, starchy essences. A secondary problem is the loss of the tradition of the home cooked meal. As Joel Salatin writes in his essay "Declare Your Independence": "Learn to Cook Again"(!). Much of the food that is bought at supermarkets and taken home to prepare is of the "throw it in the microwave" variety. With many if not most households having two bread winners or a single parent, who has the time and energy to prepare a complete home-cooked meal?
So ultimately the stranglehold that agribusiness has on our society is the result of an unhealthy lifestyle pursued by most people, a lifestyle that has removed us from the land and thrown us onto the concrete and asphalt jungles of our cities and suburbs, has taught us little to nothing about our real relationship with the natural environment and the foods that have sustained us for thousands of years. Instead we live in ignorance in an artificial and unsustainable world of mass produced, sanitized junk food, force fed to us as if by gigantic steam shovels. Or, to change the image, like our cattle, hogs and chickens we are kept at the trough and stuffed to the gills with an ever flowing stream of denatured concoctions of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, sugars and additives until perhaps someday we'll burst. Obesity and chronic disease reign supreme and all our days we will dwell in the house of the overfed and the under nourished.
I applaud editor Karl Weber and the others who contributed to this excellent book and hope it is widely read. And I wish the producers of the documentary a huge audience. Understanding and education come first. We as a society have to know there is a problem, and if this book and accompanying film reach a large number of people, that will be a giant step in the right direction.

Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It Overview



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