long hard road out of hell
581940
This has been a loooong long time coming.. I've been waiting for some new material from Jessicka since the day after I bought Jack Off Jill's 'Clear hearts' CD.. That was a superb record, where I think they had found their feet... I guess it stands to reason that they wouldn't last much longer after that... all of the good bands seem to go by unnoticed.. and talent like Jess deserves to be noticed!!.. especially when crap like 'The Start' can get a record deal with NITRO... anyhoo.. This is a superb start to what I hope will be a great career... The time is just right.. the 'darker' bands are finding more recognition these days.. AFI and AVENGED SEVENFOLD are making waves in the UK.. and I hope that TSUNAMI BOMB will go the same way when their new CD comes out this year.. SCARLING deserve to be amongst their ranks.. and Jessicka is a fox !). So.. if any of the band reads this.. get over to the UK with Rasputina and show the kids what the dark really sounds like!... stop reading now and go BUY it!!!
2363630
This book is well written and brutally honest. While it's difficult to read, how much more difficult was it to have lived through it? Hard to put down, and even harder to forget.
800031
This book recounts how one German family survived the Nazi regime and ultimate invasion of Russian and Allied forces. By shrewd and organized means of transportation, knowledge of civil processes and food preservation, this family was able to not only overcome governmental interference but helped many locals escape sure death (lived 11 miles from Auschwitz.) Having to leave there treasured country home when Russian invaders arrived, they escaped (barely) and had to live as refugees for 2 years undergoing extreme hardships. A daughter, the author who writes from her point of view, describes family life, the good, the bad and the ugly. Her parents, both musicians and writers, are described as struggling to keep their family together even though very often at odds with one another. In the end, the consummate story is pulled together to reveal how one family pulled together to not only survive a hideous situation but in the process give many hope and life.
3098074
I knew this book would be a difficult read but I also thought it would give me inspiration to fight through my struggles and come out a better person who believes I deserve better.
From the last sentence of the first chapter, I felt like I was kicked in the gut. The story gets more and more upsetting and seems just too cruel for this world. But keep reading. Against all odds, the author found strength she didn't believe she had and rose above and found love and self acceptance.
3762028
This is, perhaps, the most depressing book Ive ever read. I read a book once about a man who was shipwrecked and never rescued, but it wasn't true. This book is true.
Its a hard read. Its not a fun read. I had to pick it up and put down. Read a while and put it down. Nevertheless, it was compelling. It was like reading about Hell. Except this Hell had no Saviour, no happy ending.
When those of us outside New Orleans think of Hurricane Katrina we think of levees breaking, government failure to help people, water, water everywhere and very angry people. We recall seeing millions of dollars of property damage, people standing on their rooftops, the Superdome filled with displaced residents.
I never before thought about those who couldn't even get to a rooftop or climb aboard a boat, those who were in the hospital, those elderly residents of nursing homes. A hospital isn't just staffed with doctors and nurses. Keeping a hospital open requires the whole team, from maintenance workers to security to housekeeping to those making meals for both patients and employees. All them ended up trapped in a facility ill-prepared for a catastrophe, where the auxiliary power station was located on the ground floor, doomed to flood. The things that went on in Memorial Hospital (and others), the decisions the staff made, the refusal of the parent company to try and get them help, the dark cloud of doom and death that hung over the hospital is something no one can comprehend who wasn't there, but author Sheri Fink does a good job of helping us feel everyones pain. When the doctor decides to euthanize patients after five days of Hurricane Hell, we understand the motivation even if we are outraged at the action.
Every hospital administrator in America should be required to read this book, then submit their detailed Emergency Preparedness Plan.
4873092
The sheer brutality made it a difficult read but a must to finish. How humanity can be so inhumane to its own is a testament to the fragility of our existence. Nothing but accolades to the author from this reader.
2796306
Breathtaking, non-stop action fills each page of Mark's gritty true life nightmare.  Fueled by addiction and the bad choices accompanying that lifestyle, Mark reveals the downhill, dangerous drug-induced spiral of a life following the next high.  Written partly while Mark was still in prison, this book is a testament to addicts:  one can recover from even the most desperate of circumstances.  The best of one's days are yet to come.  Hope is out there for those who relentlessly work and reach for it.
3933989
Khalil's story is inspirational. He started life in a rough spot. He got out. It gets worse. And in the end he accomplishes the impossible. The writing is vivid and real. His experiences seem impossible. This is a unique insider view of how someone ends up on the streets of LA in the lowest drug culture and emerges to save lives and build a healthy positive business. Great story that starts rough and ends sweet. Highly recommend.
1944086
The grittiest, most difficult book I have read since Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD. But, if anyone thinks this was based on some sort of survivalist fairy tale, or incorrect or insubstantial thinking, they live in a world I have never been to.
3318527
I challenge anyone who reads this book to come away still maintaining that waterboarding is torture or, as the New York Times asserted in over 70 days of front page diatribes, that forcing Muslim men to parade naked in front of a female guard at Abu Ghraib was torture.

What these POWs had to endure in Hanoi was probably the most severe torture I've ever read about.  I found myself wincing while trying to picture what these men really went through.  I tried to imagine the pain but I could never truly comprehend the torture applied to these guys.  It makes one ask what kind of person could inflict this much pain and suffering on another human being.

The book was very well written and it was well worth the time to read it.
3035134
You have to be a pretty big fan of Southern California punk, or Black Flag in particular, in order to get through this book.  Although a seminal group, and one whose impact has been felt long past their brief existence, Rollins' demeanor was so dark in those days that is can be tough to read at times.  A brutally angry young man who happened to be particularly articulate and unabashed in exposing himself in his diaries.  It's not always pretty, but it does give you an appreciation for the unbelievably grueling lifestyle and dedication that the whole band had.
2937407
Zion's Road is an outstanding story. Deep, raw, emotive, well written, picturesque exposure of all things cruel, brutal, and vile about discrimination. Yet, evokes empathy for the oppressors.
Imani, you wrote hell in that book with glimpses of eternal life. Makes you think about your daily actions and what you will see on the road.
3458745
This book is a hard read, not because it is difficult to understand, but because it is hard to hear!  Mike Evans' heart is engaging on each page, and sometimes the pain of his words have more reality than comfort.  It was an engaging read!
2333343
This book is a long read and every word leaves you with a gritty taste in your mouth. With strong examples it poses the question of what it takes to be a good man. Three days after finishing this book I was waking up with certain scenes going through my mind and asking myself questions. The post-apocalyptic environment is the stage for an odyssey through badlands and new lands with friends appearing who may not be friends and enemies appearing who may not be enemies. There are no good guys or bad guys. there are only survivors. The action is suspenseful and continuing. Do all roads lead to a dusty death? You won't be disappointed if you read to find out. Maybe death isn't the worst that can happen.
58028
This book takes your breath away. The strength of the human spirit when faced with sheer torture and death. I was unable to put this book down.  An eye opener reassuring us that the ability to survive when forced to run and hide from the evilness of others can be achieved. Bless these people...and the courage with which they dealt with hell.
2150797
Outcry: Holocaust Memoirs is chilling, horrifying, appalling, distressing--words are totally inadequate.  It is almost impossible for a rational mind to absorb the horror of the Holocaust, but Mr. Steinberg does a masterful job of bringing the reader into his hell.  Although I have read a lot about the Holocaust, this book drew me in as few have.  At times, I felt as if I were there observing helplessly as human beings were treated like garbage.  The saving grace is that this is ultimately a story of the triumph of the human heart.  That Mr. Steinberg and other survivors pick up the pieces of their broken lives and build relationships and families is a miracle in itself.

This book is tough to read, but well worth the effort.
1741545
I wanted to read this book with an open mind and started to, but towards the end it became difficult to fully believe that this person survived such a massive form of suffering.

As someone who is in to spirituality I know that Uriel is an angel not a demon. The book is well written in many respects, but in others that its badly done. Its not a surprise that people from the FMS has been shouting on this story.

I can not judge on someones persons experience, but its compelling all the same