John H Manhold – Page 29

June 26, 2019February 18, 2021

Health Wealth For You 11 Steps to save you money

Health-Wealth for You ISBN: 9781642250817, Advantage Media Group, copyright and written by Josh Luke.

This volume, sub-titled “11 Steps to save Big & Live Healthy”, opens with a pertinent Preface, and is followed by three Parts. Part I, “Healthcare in America: Where Capitalism went Wrong” that contains 4 chapters – The affordability crisis, A culture of greed; A system broken beyond repair; and Millennial Culture meets Healthcare: Keeping Patients Healthy and at Home. Part II, “Ownership of Healthcare Decisions and Spending’ contains 2 short chapters, #5 explaining that “Americans Must Become EHC’s – Engaged Healthcare Consumers”; #6 “Creating a Health-Wealth Family Culture”. Part III; “11 Steps to Save Big and Live Healthy”, sets forth and describes in detail individual strategies to accomplish these goals. These include such actions as: “Enroll in an alternative Insurance Model”; “Engage in Integrative and Functional Medicine Approaches”; “Full Genome Sequencing and DNA Testing”; “Participate in Local Tourism” and more. A Conclusion follows along with a “3P Plan to Personal Health-Wealth: Personal Health-Wealth Plan”; a short reiteration of the “11 Steps to Save Big and Live Healthy”; a “Health-Wealth Personal Loss Assessment Sample” and a “Wealth Certified Partners” – a list of 24 references the author suggests to be worthwhile reading.

Discussion: The first part of the book is simply a shortened version of much of his book “Ex-Acute” and repeated in “Health-Wealth for You: 9 Steps to Financial Recovery”. This latter purportedly was directed more specifically to members of the business sector. However, at least to this reviewer, the direction appeared to be directed at least equally to the consumer. Regardless, from my perspective, if you have read this second book and understood the implications, there is little new for you in this author’s third book. I had highly recommended the volume with a necessary caveat included. IF however, you did NOT understand the material I strongly recommend that you read and absorb the suggestions set forth here in Part III because, with his stated desire to present this volume specifically for the consumer, he has provided quite extensive discussion of each individual suggestion that should answer most questions the average reader could have. As a pertinent aside, I might suggest for readers in the US, as I did for my review of the author’s last book (similarly noted by other readers) that one should not be ‘sidetracked’ by references made by the author that conjure up political overtones. Instead concentrate on the really helpful suggestions offered by the main theme. The author has prescribed a most viable and helpful way to face the burgeoning health costs everyone experiences.

3* 5* for those as described; at least -2* for reasons presented.

June 24, 2019February 18, 2021

Roadhouse Rendezvous

Roadhouse Rendezvous ISBN: 9781515162094 Creative Space Independent Publishing, First printing 2015. Copyright and written by Hal Savage,

The author has put together ten rather unusual stories, two labeled as novellas. The first, entitled “The Woman across the Hall” is one of misinterpretation of body language while most of the others deal with some form of mystery, crime and/or detection with also a missing persons, a sick practical joke tale and one of revenge.

Discussion: From this reader’s point of view the collection is unique in that the stories are rather unusual with some dark turns that lead to somewhat unexpected endings. The 4th, 5th and 10^th are perhaps the best detective stories and the 9^th is as labeled “One Dumb Stunt”, but to reiterate, all terminate unusually and several strain credibility to a degree.

4* A collection of unusual stories.

June 23, 2019February 18, 2021

Africa Rise and Shine

AFRICA Rise and Shine ISBN: 9781945533408 ForbesBooks, copyright and written by Jim Ovia.

This book consists of 30 intensely interesting chapters, notes about the Jim Ovia Foundation Programs and Resources, 2 Appendices and a list of most worthwhile “Recommendations for Further Reading”. It is the story of a young Nigerian boy who lost his father at a very early age but who, through the foresight of a struggling mother and help from an older brother, managed not only to finish his schooling but extend it far beyond. As a result and in true entrepreneurial style, he established a bank with its first office actually in part of a duplex apartment house. From these humble beginnings, it grew to be the leading bank in Nigeria with assets of more than 16 billion. But beyond this, he initiated an internet service where none existed, established a telephone service to replace a poorly functioning government run facility, constructed a new highway leading to his bank, and established numerous other national and international relationships of great worth not only of great value to his bank but to his country as well. A country incidentally that is the largest in the entire African nation.

Discussion: In actuality, there is little more that can be said about this highly intelligent and motivated man. He has exhibited all of the traits of an entrepreneur, but has slanted them in a rarely seen altruistic manner. Additionally, it provides a completely different picture of Africa, than more usually is set forth. Thus, this book not only is highly recommended, but in a manner this reviewer seldom employs. It is one which a reader cannot afford NOT to read.

5*+ A MUST READ!

June 16, 2019February 18, 2021

APEX

APEX, A Max Algren novel ISBN: 9781543966428 Design and Production by Book Baby. Copyright and written by Ryan W. Aslesen.

Max Alegren, a former Special Forces, CIA, and now private operative is still attempting to avenge the death of his family but requires another name for his ‘hit list’. Congressman, former General Marklin, for whom he works sporadically, has such a name but will not provide it until Max has accomplished a seek and extract operation for a senator’s son who has disappeared. He encounters a rather weird young woman reporter who is interested in the situation and manages to be helpful enough to join him. Together they deduce where the young budding geneticist is probably being held. It is an island in the infamous “Devil’s Island” group owned by the French Government. Indications are that it also is under control of a dangerous geneticist who has escaped other missions to apprehend him. The French closely guard all evidence of the island’s existence which is rumored to house dinosaur-like creatures and even more vague tales of a hunting area where humans can be hunted for a million/day. Max assembles his team from former acquaintances and the story proceeds at break-neck speed, with only an occasional ‘break’ to provide pertinent material.

Discussion: The author is a former Marine officer and now security consultant as well as “a bestselling writer of military science fiction that is both authentic and replete with intense action and suspense”. This volume is another in the same pattern. The only regrettably negative aspect, and possibly from this reader’s overly developed pragmatic perspective, is a degree of discomfort mostly with parts of the action and the realities of weaponry, its supply, usage and results which in this volume seem to have moved, unfortunately, into the realm of difficulty with respect to credibility. But to reiterate, this could be as a result of many years spent in very practical activity.

3* Most enjoyable but providing an unfortunate personal impression as explained.

June 16, 2019February 18, 2021

Life Unleashed

Life Unleashed, The quiet evolution. Published, copyright by Surging Life, written by Stephan Frost.

This little volume presents “4 Incredibly Simple Techniques That Expand Your Mindpower Exponentially And Transform Your Ability To Manifest The Life You Desire.” The techniques specifically are listed late in the book: “1) Reframing – Shifting Your Focus. II) Zen meditation – Empowering Emptiness. III) Ho’oponopono – Cleansing Your Life. IV) Visualization.” Leading up to the listing of these steps are a large number of individually listed explanations of how one uses them to help “you change your life and become empowered, your altered state enhances the world around you. And that is a beautiful thing.” The presentation begins with a Prologue to this “Life Changing Empowerment” and an Introduction presenting “The First Steps to Unleashing Your Mind” and gradually progresses with the explanations and suggestions through to an “Epilogue and Mathematical Proof to Drive You Forward.”

Discussion: The basic theme of this book purports to explain the importance of reaching a point of ‘mental emptiness’ that provides the ideal place to begin to implant seeds that will mature to fruition as your greatest desires. Meditation is suggested as the most effective way of achieving this state. One particular school of Zen is believed to be best when combined with Ho’oponopono, a Hawaiian version of meditation. The message delivered by the author is a powerfully and repetitively expressed call for development of absolute positive thinking, as well as at least some level of dedication on the part of the participant – the greater the amount, the greater the results. This material should be highly motivational for any reader who requires such a stimulus. Regrettably however, a reader gains the impression that implementing the procedures by ‘self-help’ alone, would be quite difficult. Thus, a mentor’s close attendance in managing the techniques set forth would be almost mandatory. As a perhaps unnecessary aside, readers for whom a certain level of proper verbal presentation is expected (e.g. sentence and paragraph construction and similar), occasionally may be somewhat annoyed while reading the book.

3* 4* for strong endorsement of positive thinking; -1 for self-help restrictions.

June 13, 2019February 18, 2021

Haliden’s Fire

Haliden’s Fire, A Pine Tree Book, published, copyright and written by Christopher R. Sendrowski.

The plot is centered in a time of the past in a land comprised of nine kingdoms with Circle and Tritan the governing houses. The protagonist is a particularly famous artist who has returned home while fleeing from a conflagration that is engulfing the entire collection of kingdoms. It is being accepted as the will of the gods by a cult of ‘Firestarters” who aid and abet the carnage. To act as a carrier of the entire town’s important documents, he becomes a “runner’ for them in the hope of reaching a safe place and must dispose of all of his wealth and most of his pictures to join the masses fleeing before the rapidly moving flames. He is assailed by constant thoughts of the wife he lost by neglect through his incessant need to paint, although during his flight he does experience some happiness with his very first love, whom he again encounters and also loses. The flight takes him through numerous most unappealing and perhaps even revolting, situations and places during which he is under constant threat and actual attacks by others in flight, as well as by horrendous beasts. The story eventually reaches an unpredictable but logical finale.

Discussion: Basically this book is a dark fantasy thriller and has been very well received by several reviewers and they have provided their reasons. Contrarily and most regrettably, this reviewer is far from being in accord. Although I can appreciate and enjoy selections from among fantasy tales, this one impressed me rather negatively as repetitive activity on the same theme with the only differences being in slightly different approaches in similarly unpleasant circumstances and places. Unfortunately, from my perception the author has described quite succinctly the reason for our ‘differences of opinion’. In his “About the Author” statements at the end of the book he says that writers “dig and toil among our private wastes, sifting through toxic sands and sipping swill alongside beggars and scoundrels. It’s where I’m most at home, at peace. But like all things in life, it sometimes comes from darker times, darker places. It’s a toll worth paying, though, and perhaps what’s necessary to spur my particular muse.” This reviewer has published 4 award-winning novels (plus several text books) and most fortunately has not found it necessary to delve into such depths to gain the necessary insights to compose. Neither have any of the authors of my acquaintance. However, this is not criticism per se. It simply offers an explanation for this reader’s opinion of this book.

2* Explanation for this reader’s review above.

June 4, 2019February 18, 2021

The Chosen Man

Time and Place: The first half of the seventeenth century was a period of intense political and religious intrigue. The Hapsburg Emperor Ferdinand had vowed to impose Catholicism throughout the empire before his death and was harrying the Spanish monarch, Don Felipe, to regain the Netherlands. Cardinal Richelieu of France signed a treaty with the Dutch, and French ships raided the Spanish galleons as they brought supplies to their troops as they attempted to regain the lost terrain. The Vatican aligned with the side espousing Catholicism, of course, and wide-ranging attacks by the Mediterranean corsairs known as Turks in such places as Cornwall estates in England for plunder and slaves was a constant concern throughout Europe.

Plot: John Hawthorne, a somewhat frail English priest is given the assignment by a conniving Cardinal of the Vatican aligned with Spanish Noblemen to make an offer to the “chosen man” to manipulate the tulip market in Holland so it eventually would collapse. The underlying idea was to take advantage of the “Tulip Mania’ affecting the country by undermining the country’s monetary system, thus a need to curtail funds for continuing war with Spain. “In the 1636 tulip bulbs in Holland were weighed on ‘goldsmiths’ weights but many of the bulbs were worth more than their weight in gold. One Dutch merchant paid 6,650 guilders for a dozen bulbs at a time when 300 guilders would have kept an entire family for a whole year.” The priest finds the ‘chosen’ Ludovico da Portovenere, a large, handsome, competent, purported Genoese Merchant who also appeared to have an unexplained working relationship with the Mediterranean corsairs. The story develops following Ludo’s activities but simultaneously rather equally interspersed with those of several others: Marcos Alexendro, son of a Spanish tavern keeper with ideas and hopes of upward mobility beyond his present station in life; Alina, the oldest daughter of a deceased mother and still living Spanish Grandee father impoverished by his constant attempts to continue court life, has dreams of romantic rescue and return to the life she had known; Sir Geoffrey, owner of the large estate, Crimphele in Cornwall England; Thomas, frail son and close friend of John Hawthorne since childhood who inherits the land. Additional interesting characters that contribute variously to the story include: Crook-back Aggie, the estate’s hunchback (?) cook who has occult powers; Meg, a young maid: Molly, another and sometimes caretaker of the young heir-apparent to the estate with her husband; McNab, the estate’s hired controller who had a hidden dark background and numerous nefarious plans; Elsa, a wealthy widow now enamored of the tulip market, as well as Ludo; and even more characters with still lesser influence on the plot, or rather intermingled plots.

Discussion: This is a tale consisting actually of quite complicatedly interwoven plots with a large number of characters. They are wrapped together in a manner that provides details of a most fascinating occurrence in history in just as fascinating and chaotic period of world turmoil. If the prospective reader is interested if fictionalized history with action and romance thrown in, this book is for you.

5* For readers as designated.

June 3, 2019February 17, 2021

The Robot and Automation Almanac

The Robot and Automation Almanac 2019 ISBN: 9781946197153, Published and Copyright by Prestige Professional Publishing. Edited by Jason Schenker,

The mission of this book is to offer predictive information “For automation and robotics futurists everywhere.” It consists of several descriptions/analyses/conclusions independently written by prominent individuals considered to be most knowledgeable in their particular field of endeavor. The essays are gathered together by the editor who is Chairman of The Futurist Institute and a man who is one of the most eminent in the field. It is divided into four sections; One – Outlook for Robotics, that offers an ‘overview’ of Automation and AI in 2019 including a look at the vectors for robotics advancement and a coming ‘day-of-reckoning’, and also predictions for the future of AI as well as robotics growth and quantum computing’s future in 2019. Two – examines Socializing Robots where various aspects are analyzed from the viewpoint of evolving perceptions, their ability to bridge industry and steam education, the fact that every chatbot now is a voicebot, who’s collaborating with whom and most importantly the need to overcome existing fear with respect to robot/human interoperability and labor replacement fears. Three – examines Socializing Robots from the perspective of how these factors will power innovation, be it in transportation, construction or the advent of “smart cities” and also the further advance of Blockchain and automation in the financial services sector. Section Four – Robots in the Supply Chain examines/ analyzes/ predicts the effects that will result from advancing innovation in this necessary section of the economy. Relatively brief material About the Futurist Institute, About the Author, About the Publisher and Disclaimers terminate the book.

Discussion: The selection offers an interestingly varied view of these rapidly advancing technologies by several individuals prominent in their respective areas. As quoted above, the selection has been offered to update “futurists everywhere” with what is transpiring to treat the environmentally unsustainable and thus totally disastrous worldwide “tsunami of data” that “is expected to consume one fifth of the world’s energy use by 2025.” A few of the more interesting suggestions from this reviewer’s perspective: discussion of the fusion of the physical, digital and biological world by this “fourth Industrial Revolution”; the manner in which robot-human interrelationships will be developed for greatest gain and little actual loss in human man-hours; the growth of presently functioning “smart pilots” into fully developed “smart cities”. However, generally speaking and most regrettably from this reviewer’s perspective, this book provides a rather superficial overview with a considerable amount of repetition, Further, there often is a seeming suggestion that each essayist and/or the approach offered can provide the most authoritative answers. Thus, judicious editing and perhaps greater essayist coordination would seem to have eliminated considerable portions of both problems, although having read several of the editor’s books, a similar inclination also seems to pervade his writing. But perhaps his impressive qualifications and positions make his stance more acceptable.

3* Interesting, but rather superficial discussion/predictions for 2019 technology.

June 3, 2019February 17, 2021

The Broadcast

The Broadcast, an e-book published, copyright and written by Liam Fialkov.

Plot: The author has provided an interesting plot that is quite closely allied with thoughts arising from Erich von Dänilien books. However as provided, little description of the plot may be set forth without a ‘spoiler alert’ for presenting too much of it and/or its component parts. Briefly however, the story centers around a series of blockbuster broadcasts that at first present photographic evidence of situations that lead to solving ‘dead case’ murders. It then switches to documentary productions of historic events that the producer states gradually will go back to zero AD. As these latter increasingly reveal graphic descriptions of well-known/accepted factors of history, mounting pressure is exerted against their production by both Christian and Muslim groups who fear revelation of various activities that may be contrary to their long held beliefs and/or teachings.

Characters: Leading characters include Jonathan and his brother Walter, who as small children had been put up for adoption when their family was killed in a car crash. Walter was fortunate in being adopted by a loving family, well-educated and became a well-known TV producer. Jonathan became the product of several foster families and was only variously educated. He was intelligent and extended his education into several areas, however. Jonathan’s wife Sarah, disowned by her family for becoming pregnant at sixteen (actually raped) was sent from St. Louis to Phoenix where she delivered a baby that was taken from her at the convent causing her endless remorse. McPherson is an award winning journalist who believed the productions by Walter were phony and set in motion an attempt to expose them. HH a former debatably crooked cop who had served time and now was a bitter, occasionally vicious PI. Michael, a young adopted boy who is hired by Walter and plays an increasing part in the story. Numerous others who play roles of varied importance. Additionally, Jonathan and Sarah’s large, heavily forested area of residence contains an unusual portion that also plays an important part in the tale as the plot advances until it gradually reaches a fitting finale.

Discussion: As described, the story begins with the TV’s Hype for the unusual clip that had come into Walter’s possession that reveals the perpetrator of a twenty-five-year-old murder, followed by similar before switching to the historical documentary productions. The method of provision is to quite constantly switch between scenes with intermediate chapters. 1 – the TV hype; 2 – a chapter describing Johnathan and Sarah; 3 -one of Sarah; 4 – the Broadcast; 5 – Johnathan; 6 – the Broadcast; 7 – Michael; 8 – the Broadcast, etc. This approach does provide important bits and pieces of the story and the interrelationship of numerous characters as they move inexorably toward the finish. Unfortunately, the format results in a large amount of repetition and/or redundancy that if removed, would greatly enhance the progression of an intriguing story. Some, more prosaic, readers may find a little difficulty in accepting some character activity and many will find character development sketchy. Some will find the ending ‘proper and emotionally satisfying’ while others may believe it to be a little too ‘pat’.

3* 4* For fascinating story; -1 at least for numerous hiccups as described.