Good intent but very poor execution.
927050
My prior phone was the original motorola atrix for which I bought the corresponding otterbox case. The case for that was fantastic. It contained an inner soft core and a sturdy outside component. There were flaps for all the ports and was very rugged. In fact, it survived many falls to the ground and a complete dunk in the toilet. Thus, when I upgraded to the samsung galaxy s3, I had very high hopes for an otterbox case. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The inner soft core is stiffer although I don't doubt it will absorb shock. However, the execution of the case is flimsy. The button are very difficult to press. I had an issue where the case would cause the volume down button to be eternally pressed. Upon removing the case, I accidentally cracked the outside case however, I believe it was due to poor design (as I had no difficulty with the atrix case and I was fairly gentle). For a company with fantastic reputation, I was displeased at this case. Currently, I am looking for a viable alternative.
1976618
Good action but the obsessive effort to be "cute" and the non-stop reference to coitus with farm animals, or anything with an aperture,  is unbearably wearying.  It is offensive just to put words on the page.  What a waste of time.
252958
Promises. Promises. Promises.

Like most stories I seem to encounter these days, this one sets itself up for success only to promptly fall apart.

The author pushed to hard to get her message across. And it was there, shouting to be heard underneath all the grim and dirt. Having the main character spend decades studying the lifestyle only to fall into every single stereotype was cliche. It also made for a poor way to try to get people to understand the technical, physical, and emotional dynamics of these characters and their desires. Because of this, there was little development in the characters. They did not change. The did not grow. They exist only for pleasure.

 This made for an awkward read. Some of the scenes are ridiculous. And the writing only compounds the situation turning steamy moments into laugh out loud scenes of ridiculousness. My plea to authors, do not use a thesaurus to come up with the most obscene adjectives for body parts and then add more obnoxious adjectives to that. Show me what the characters want through actions. Sometimes being subtle is more effective then brazenness. The desires of a character does not need to be documented in the dirtiest of details. Give you readers a chance to decide how they want to create it.

Let us, the readers, do our jobs. The first is to enjoy what we are reading. The second is to use our imagination to fall into the world created by the author. Let us build on what you have created.
513140
The idea is good, but this is poorly executed in terms of usability and layout. Pages are too narrow and, when combined with the explanatory type for each line item (e.g., username, password, site name, etc.), there is not enough room for writing the info that you need to capture - unless you can write very, very small. Too bad, because the overall quality of the product, in terms of materials and finishing, is quite good.
1971458
Idea is really good, but execution is terrible. It is almost impossible to transform from one stage to another without instruction, but instruction is not very clear. Even you follow all steps carefully, it does not guarantee the success.
3647522
While the intention of the ISG is certainly welcome and admirable, one cannot help but be let down by what they ultimately produced.  A good starting point is perhaps the length.  The selling point for the book could have been "Fix Iraq--in only 96 pages!"  Adding such a small amount of paper on top of everything else that has already been written about Iraq and couldn't produce real answers can hardly be expected to do much.  The other glaring shortcoming is that the book says EVERYTHING.  The group states that failure would be disastrous for the U.S., but that we have to leave at some point if things don't work out.  This seems quite contradictory.  If pulling out really would produce such a disaster (which it would) then why is the possibility of leaving even brought up at all?  On top of this, the book is full of 79 different recommendations with very little time devoted on how exactly they are to be implemented.  Each recommendation is common sense, but that's where the ISG stops.  The biggest problem in Iraq has arguably been the difficulty in addressing very difficult issues.  All this report does is identify what everyone already knows about and gives no help beyond that.  What the group should have done is give recommendations on how to implement their own recommendations.

In response to those who were so quick to condemn Bush for the surge proposal, I would like to direct attention to page 73 of the report where the ISG state "we could, however, support a short-term redeployment or surge of American combat forces to stabilize Baghdad, or to speed up the training and equipping mission, if the U.S. commander in Iraq determines that such steps would be effective."  That sounds pretty close to what Bush proposed and General Petraeus has agreed to and said is necessary.  I just can't help but wonder whether or not those people that criticized Bush for not listening to the ISG actually read the report themselves.

I ran into a former professor a week or so after the report was published and I asked if he had read it yet.  He said he had and dismissively said that I could have written it.  While I still haven't figured out if this was meant as a compliment or an insult, it underscores the biggest problem with the ISG and that is that I COULD have written it.  Anyone that has paid attention to Iraq and followed the news could have produced more or less the same report.  All of the time, money, and effort that was spent to produce this report makes the finished result all the more disappointing.  So many (intelligent and qualified) people worked on this report that you would expect the results to be of some consequence, but in the end it doesn't really say anything new.
1415846
Any good writer will tell you that writing is much more about skill than it is about having good ideas. There may be some decent ideas in this book, but the author demonstrates a complete lack of basic skills in crafting sentences and conveying ideas to the reader in a compelling way. One of the golden rules of writing is to show the reader, not tell them. The author repeatedly tells the reader what they should find important in the story rather than showing them through a narrative crafted with care.

This book had potential, but the execution was terrible. The author would do well to familiarize himself with the fundamentals of good writing and spend more time revising his work. Its more important to value quality work than it is to throw it together haphazardly. At this point I don't have high expectations for the rest of the series.

That being said, The Binding might appeal to you if you don't read often and are, therefore, unfamiliar with what good writing is, or if you are willing to spend your money on a book that was written without even a modicum of care.
1128341
This story is replete with spelling and grammatical errors that should have been caught by a good editor.  The story itself is pretty good, conceptually, but the execution leaves much to be desired.
4645873
This short story spends about half its length explaining how a discount travel web site works. Seriously. It's unfortunate because the idea of a humorous story about the ways the travel industry screws over customers is a good one. Unfortunately, the execution is, well, bad.

Flat characters, jokes telegraphed and then hammered home. I wish I could say something good about this story, but just can't.
825290
Seldom have I seen such effort, seldom have I seen so little success.
Whatever you paid to have this run up you should demand your money back.
The story itself is OK, even good for a boilerplate space opera, BUT...
One should have someone *CRITICAL* read ones' manuscripts before publishing.
"Warrior cast" (no matter the alien version since this is in English), should have been "Warrior caste" Cast is not caste. There are transliterations REPEATED all the through the work that a first year copy editor would have red penciled inside of a minute.
There is also the little matter of all those nukes popping next to all those circuits. Have you ever heard of EMP? The one time our military semi-accidentally popped one too high above the horizon FAR out in the Pacific it blew out most of Hawaii.
I finished it in spite of the horrible therbligs such as those mentioned above. The story was OK but it is not a professional work.

Be well.
2743051
Though the plot of this novel is very intriguing, the execution leaves much to be desired. I was extremely underwhelmed by the caliber of the writing of this book; it is lacking in comparison to the majority of the material I choose to read, including many works that are aimed at the young adult audience. In addition to this failing, it contains some parts that are incongruous with the world that is is presenting. These items could have easily be corrected with some very simple fact checking by Mr. Hatchett or his editor. I personally found these items to be rather jarring and it made it quite difficult to remain immersed in the story. There also were a number of grammatical and typographical errors that never should have made their way into the final version of the book. Thankfully I read this book through the Kindle Owner's Library, otherwise I would not have been as forgiving of this novel's shortcomings.
4515111
The essential idea behind this film is twisted enough that it should have been very good.  Unfortunately, the execution of the idea was lacking in many, many ways.  Its essentially a flood of over-the-top computer generated combat that left me yawning and only the most labored attempt at any character building.  The story itself was practially non-existient.  There also weren't any key moments that left you thinking that plowing through the visuals was worth anything.  For the most part, its a 2-hour video game trailer, without any real purpose or meaning.  I was left feeling empty because the concept had lots of potential and it could have been so much better.
668588
The premise was promising, but there's only so much tortured grammar I can tolerate.  At times the book was disjointed, uneven and inconsistent.  The characters tended to lack dimension.  This book might have been more worthwhile if a good editor, or someone who understands fundamental sentence structure, had been involved.  Please at least learn the difference between "affect" and "effect."  I wonder at all the four and five star reviews.
350475
This video almost has the feel of a recruiting aid for Naval Recruiters to give to prospective recruits, except its focus is too narrow. Its delivery is factual but poor, and it vastly overstates the role or importance of the aircraft carrier in many cases or events with very lopsided delivery of information. This presentation is almost propagandist in nature. I'm glad I didn't spend money on this, but sorry I lost 40 plus minutes of valuable time.
3728535
This book starts with an appealing premise: you know all those people who chat with a cashier in line while you steam in the line behind them, late for an appointment?  Wouldn't it be satisfying to erase them?

Unfortunately, this book does not do a good job of developing that premise.  To start with, the protagonist Max Larkin is the best detective in Rockton, Illinois, at age 29. He is paired with rookie detective Jesse Fairlane, just promoted after 4 years on the force. Dialogue goes like this: "The murderer did more than kill a local couple; he killed this whole town." Captain Williams sighs. "Wow, that's terrible!" exclaims Max."  Wow, that's terrible? From a veteran cop? Meanwhile, Jesse can't keep her hands to herself. After interviewing witness Melissa, "Melissa nods her head and when she thanks Jesse for all she did, Jesse hugs her"; later "Jesse pats the manager on the shoulder." First of all, I don't think even rookie cops are that touchy-feely.  Second of all, no one touches strangers these days.  There are numerous editing errors (multiple words, a "black haired man with black hair and a beard", and, my personal favorite, the "stained glass screen door.")

The characters are never developed. They do unbelievable things, like Max telling his nightmares to Jesse a few days after meeting her for the first time. Max finds out his parents are really his aunt and uncle, who took him in after his parents died when he was a young child, and his emotional response has no resonance: not anger, not repression, just a nameless, blameless, mild "they acted as my parents, so I forgive them".

The plotting is equally unbelievable; the blood-soaked murderer goes out of various houses and apartments without being seen; nurses in the hospital gossip and giggle like "high-school girls" when flowers are delivered to the nurse's station (when was the last time you saw a nurse giggle?); and the final plot twist is completely unbelievable, a coincidence that I saw coming half a book ahead.

Don't waste your time with this one.  For a good mystery, try John Sanford, JD Robb, Carol O'Connell, or any other good writer.
2830686
As an avid fan and occasional creator of work in the fantasy genre, I picked this book up in the hope of finding something new and original to add to my fantasy fiction collection.  What I found remarklable with this author, is despite being young  there is a strongly cautious conservative manner in which she presents fantasy fiction. To put it in perspective, I found the overall effort to be more brutish as opposed to the ethereal feel to many a decent to good fantasy novel. The opening presentation of characters was underwhelming to say the least. With a dreary and dull plot development bordering on junior high esl level, I know as I instruct esl students and when recounting to them my opinion on this book and my belief many could write better, they cheered and laughed together in unison. So, overall the whole effort with this book was it seems done in a sense of panic or the need to just publish something , anything and for that we all are eternally aggrieved to have wasted our time on this very poor showing . To the author, please be wise and keep that day job.
4529344
So much potential, but clumsy execution. The premise is great, and the technology aspect seems solid (for suspension of disbelief), but some major flaws make enjoyment difficult. First is the protagonist. Arguably one of the dumbest, most poorly drawn characters I've read. His motivation is sketchy at best, his personality is all over the place, his dialog is horrifically bad, and he's boring. He also does things that are illogical and overly complicated. You want to kill the McGuffin? Go to the city when he's marched in, shoot a soldier, grab another in the chaos, tell that soldier in your fractured Aramaic to take you to prisoner, por favor, or you'll kill more people with your magic boomstick, prove it if necessary, go to McGuffin, clean up, and done.

Next, the people that the travelers meet really don't seem that freaked out, even when they learn who they really are. Their transition into early Jerusalem is just wayyyy too smooth. And lastly, back in the real world? The government(s) just sort of blindly accept that a bunch of scientists have just traveled back in time? Yawn? No proof or additional explanation needed? The greatest technological/philosophical discovery OF ALL TIME, and it's treated as if they just went off the reservation.

This is a very big piece to chew.