Whether directing you along abandoned logging roads to vanished settlements or describing the geologic events that shaped the mountains, Barbara McMartin is a stimulating guide. Her keen observations on the wealth of natural and human history along these trails are as fascinating as they are informative.

This hiking classic, which presents 360 miles of the Adirondacks’ best trails, has been completely revised by McMartin. Two entirely new hikes are included, and the others have been rehiked and thoroughly updated. All maps have been redone for greater clarity and up-to-date accuracy, and many new photographs have been included.

Primarily concentrating on day trips, this guide is for hikers of all ages and degrees of experience. It includes short walks to introduce novices and vacationers to the pleasures of the Adirondacks and several strenuous extended hikes into the wilderness to challenge the most experienced backpacker.
— from book’s back cover.

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I have read three books in the last week: one by a new author; one by an established author; one by Margaret Ronald. Spiral Hunt is easily one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is rich in ideas and backstory. The main character is fully realized and behaves rationally. The plot is interesting and well revealed. Cudos to Ms. Ronald!

She tries to keep her old friends out of the undercurrents by not allowing them to hire her for her services. How she goes about tracking these items is by following her nose. She was born with the gift of scenting. By keeping her head down, she would stay out of the underworld, but when she decides to hire herself out, she draws the Bright Brotherhood to her doorstep. She no longer can keep her promise to her mother, but will she be able to keep her friends and loved ones of out harm’s way?

I had a tough time rating this book. It had elements that I thoroughly enjoyed, such as being set in historic Boston. While I’ve never been to the actual city itself, the history of Boston has always called to me and I can easily see there being paranormal elements buried deep beneath the city’s surface. I also thought that Evie being able to track things, yet not be a shapeshifter an unusual concept. I think Ms. Ronald has definite promise with this storyline.

My struggle came with trying to follow too many strands of the story at once, and I found myself a little confused here and there. However, I easily believe that the storyline has a lot of potential and Ms. Ronald’s plot is unique. On those two factors alone, I have to give this book 4 1/2 tombstones. Spiral Hunt is not your standard paranormal story and has many appealing aspects to it. If you enjoy reading paranormal novels that have historical elements throughout them, then I think you may enjoy Spiral Hunt. I get the impression that this is going to be a series and I look forward to seeing what Margaret Ronald has in store for Evie Scelan and her scenting ability down the road.

Reviewed at Bitten by Books Paranormal Fiction Review Site by Virginia

This tome is like a real-life version of something like the “The West Wing”, where you get an inside look at the inner-workings you’re not supossed to see. Mr. Olivieri shows how a team operates beyond the sports pages and delves into the sociology of a pro sports team–how the management, the players and the folks like Olivieri try to keep the team one step ahead of the competition. I felt like the view of this storied franchise was unlike anything I had read or heard of before.

Would love to see a series on this in other facets of life written in such a down-to-earth manner.

The Red sox used cutting edge technology to gain an edge…frankly, tech like this should have been emphaiszed more then, as the current management relies on it.

I would recomend this book to any baseball fan, any sports fan, and to anyone in management who should see how operations function at the fox-hole level operate.

I read a lot of Charles de Lint and Jim Butcher and Spiral Hunt has some of the best elements of both. It is a great urban fantasy and reads like a fast-paced detective yarn. A real page-turner.

I really hope that Margaret Ronald will write at least a few more adventures with Evie and her circle of characters. There is a great deal of potential here.

Good job!

The Blueprint offers a complete breakdown of the New England Patriots’ history and the foundation for the team’s current dominance. The book is well written and is a good foundation for new fans, but doesn’t offer much additional insights into the franchise beyond the well known facts. The writer’s style is a bit dry. For a more entertaining and deeper look into the New England Organization, Michael Holley’s “Patriot Reign” was far more insightful and a much more entertaining read. For a newer fan this book is great; for a die hard, lifetime fan, there isn’t much here you didn’t already know. On a personal note, a big pet peeve of mine is insufficient editing, and I found numorous spelling errors, and repeatitive thoughts through out the book, which is a bit distracting.

In the introduction, the author says his model for this book was Moneyball, but he falls way short of that goal. Badly edited, lots of annoying errors and too many repetitive quotes used throughout the book.

Based on the title it is reasonable to expect more detail on the inner workings of the Pats — and the who, what, when, where and HOW — of their successful blueprint, but it just isn’t there.

Suggest reading Halberstam’s book for a better look at the inner workings of the Pats, if not an actual blueprint of how they conduct their business.