Customer Reviews

Total Awareness: A Woman's Safety Book

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
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Total Awareness highlights the safety concerns and solutions that all people should learn. I found the book a very practical approach to a very old and universal problem. I learned a lot about the "tricks of the trade" and how to avoid getting (tragically) taken. Everybody should have a copy in their home, not just women, but anyone who feels/is vulnerable anywhere (most people). Laur and Laur present some of the dynamics of violence- and present solutions to most situations. The main strategy is to avoid the situation in the first place. Violence within the home cannot always be avoided - a bit more information in this section would help. I would suggest anyone suffering violence in the home makes contact asap with someone they know and trust. Let them know what is happening. Make a safety plan for escape. Laur and Laur do list a number of community contacts. I would urge people to make those contacts now -and prepare, don't wait for the violence to go away. It won't while you're still there to take it.

Book Review

Through five chapters and 125 pages, this is oneof a handful of books I've read where I'd be hard pressed to find evenone thing to take issue with.

This paperback is written by a Canadian wife and husband team, he a sergeant with the Victoria Police Department, and she, the manager and co-instructor of their company, Personal Protection Systems. It offers down-to-earth, practical advise running the gamut from who may attack you, when, where, and how, to what to do if attacked, and how possibly to prevent it, plus a plethora of wide ranging safty strategies for seemingly every location and situation.

Although about 5% of the information is specific to the legal system of Canada, the rest is a laundry list of everything the concerned woman, or man for that matter, needs to know about enhancing their safety, and some of the tools to assist this endeavor. While they do not specifically mention guns, knives or Persuaders, which is not too surprising considering Canadian laws, they do cover pepper spray, and TOYS, Tools Of Your Surroundings. This Book does NOT tell you how to defend yourself, wisely leaving that to your attending actual hands-on study. Rather, it shows you how to be aware, how to analyze, and what your options may be.

Open minded and practical, they cover home invasions, date and sexual assault, road rage, ATM's and travel (hotels,taxis and airports). The book reads quickly and easily, once you realize that Canadians spell defense with a "c". A bargain, IT SHOULD BE PART OF YOUR LIBRARY, AND COPIES SENT TO THOSE YOU LOVE.

Robert Lanny Contributing Editor Women&Guns Magazine

We live in dangerous times, and women in particular, must learn to safeguard themselves. Much of personal safety is common sense, but as Canadian authors Darren and Beth Laur will tell you in their book "Toatal Awareness: A Woman's Safety Book", the awareness level of many women is woefully inadequate. According to the Laurs, a person's awareness level becomes heightened or decreased, depending on the situation and surroundings, Generally, though, the Laurs suggest that women should be a lot more vigilant aout their level of preparedness.

As a police officer with the Victoria Police Department and a specialist in safety awareness and self-defence strategies, Darren Laur knows what he's talking about when it comes to crime, crime prevention and the consequences of crime. In "Total Awareness: A Women's Safety Book", laur covers the obvious things like street safety, home safety, how to be safe in your car, in elevators, using ATMs, public transit, and when travelling. He also talks about how to protect yourself in cyberspace, and how to avoid or defend yourself during sexual assault. He delves into the process of reporting a crime and what to expect in the aftermath of a crime. His approach is REALISTIC, rather than alarmist

Shelley Civkin Bestseller "The Review" Richmond Public Library

I am writting to express my support for Darren and Beth's book, Total Awareness, A Woman's Safety Book, and to let you know that our department's R.A.D. ( Rape Aggression Defense-Women's Self Defence Course) Instructors are highly recommending it to the women who partake in the R.A.D. courses as a great resource for personal safety information. having read the book myself, I found it very interesting and informative and would recommend it highly to any individual who would like to learn more about ways to keep safe. The authors write in a style that captures the reader's interest and provides real life examples that help make the information applicable to everyday life. In our department's role on campus, we are often requested to provide information to the campus community on crime prevention and personal safety and I feel this book is another excellent tool we can use to educate our clints.

Allison Eddy Personal Safety Coordinator University of Victoria Campus Security Services

Some books you read for pleasure, some to gain knowledge or inspiration, and others to help you cook a decent meal. There are relatively few out there which could save your life! Total Awareness: A Woman's Safety Book is one that just might. Not designed as a self-defence primer ( though the book does tell you how to find a good self-defence class), Total Awareness arms you with information-about road rage, home invasions, physical and sexual assault (including sexual assault drugs), identity theft and more. Police officer Darren Laur and his wife, Beth, cover the bases thoroughly and pull no punches when it comes to dealing with the criminal element. Nearly every page offers some practical and useful piece of advice I could acctually see myself using under the right (wrong?) circumstances. Put on your anti-paranoia shiled before you crack the spine on this one. By the time I was half-way through the book I seriously wondered whether I'd ever be safe leaving my house again! Of course, paranoia is not the intended outcome of this little volume, though healthy caution is. Like anything, the book is no use if you buy it and then stick it in a drawer somewhere. Commit this book to memory! Read it every time you change the batteries in your smoke detector!

Lavender Rhinocerus Book Reviewer Victoria, BC

Darren and Beth Laur have produced the most comprehensive book on woman's safety that I have ever seen or read in over thirty years as a martial artist. Not just another book of pictures showing self-defence techniques, they have put together a plethora of tactics, strategies and techniques that enable women to use their most potent weapon: their mind. Their in depth discussion of potential dangers that women of the millenium are faced with such as: sexual assault drugs, home invasions, carjackings, and tactics employed by predators, provided women with a battle plan on how they can prepare and survive if they find themselves in these scenerios.

Perry William Kelly B.A. LL.B Lawyer, Martial Arts Instructor, and Author of The Thinking Officer's Guide To Police Defensive Tactics