Thomas Duff's profile

Great information with an instant payback for the reader..., November 15, 2009

If you've created software for sale, you have dealt with the all-important question... what do I charge for it? Neil Davidson does an excellent job in helping you figure out the answer in his book Don't Just Roll The Dice - A usefully short guide to software pricing. He doesn't tell you *what* to charge. Instead, he give you a short lesson on how to come up with the best pricing strategy given your situation. And best of all, he does it in a concise 73 pages. I was impressed!

Contents: Some - but not too much - Economics; Pricing Psychology - What is your product worth?; Pricing Pitfalls; Advanced Pricing; What your price says about you (and how to change it); Product… Read more

Felt as if a number of key points in the story were left unexplained..., November 15, 2009

Generally speaking, I like John Saul's work. Supernatural thrillers tend to work for me, and I can easily get wrapped up in one. But his latest, House of Reckoning, left me wanting. The plot had potential, and I kept turning pages, but I never felt like I got the answers as to *why* all of this was taking place. By the end, I felt as if I had been cheated a bit or I got a version of the book that left out a few important chapters.

Sarah Crane is the main character, a teenager trying to grow up in a small town without a mother. Her father is also struggling with the death of his wife, and unfortunately commits a crime during a drinking binge that lands him in jail. Sarah… Read more

I should have read Moscow Rules first, but The Defector was still pretty good..., November 14, 2009

Even with all the reading I do, I still feel like I need a whole 'nother 24 hours a day to read all the stuff I'd *like* to catch up on. A friend and reader of my blog recommended I read Daniel Silva's The Defector, so I picked it up at the library. I have read one other Silva novel with the Gabriel Allon character (2006 - The Messenger), and I remembered the basic makeup of Allon. The Defector would have been a bit more enjoyable had I at least read the previous episode (Moscow Rules), but it wasn't a show stopper. Defector was a good espionage thriller that had solid characters and an interesting plot.

Allon is pulled away from his honeymoon and an art restoration project… Read more