Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Book Review: Art of War (Scot Harvath Series #13)

 


Act of War, published in 2014, is the 13th novel in Brad Thor's long-running series of international action thrillers. The plot involves a potential attack on the United States orchestrated by China. Part of the book is set in North Korea, and part is set in the United States. Harvath has to unravel a series of mysteries that point to a coordinated attack against major US cities nationwide.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 350 pages long. Thor has found the tone of the series and sticks with it. It has a good blend of action and suspense. Thor does mix some politics into the storyline, but the political characters are mostly in the background (as opposed to those in the Mitch Rapp series, for example). Some new characters are introduced in this book, and characters from prior novels, such as Sloane, Reed Carlton, and Nicholas (A.K.A., "The Troll"), also appear. Ultimately, if you like the prior novels in the series, you will probably like this one. You can follow the story in this book even if you have not read any of the prior novels, but it does help to know who the major characters are. It is definitely worth the time to read.

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