Aaron

A widely respected career civil servant, Richard Clarke served as the chief anti-terrorism expert under the last four Presidents. Whether you agree with his criticisms of the Bush Administration or not, there can be no doubt that he was there, right in the thick of it.

Clarke's job put him at the center of action during the fist WTC attack, the Khobar Towers bombing, the U.S. African embassy bombings, the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, the aborted Millennium bombing plot, and finally the horrific events of 9-11. Clarke knows where the counter-terrorism bodies are buried since he buried many of them himself.

Clarke has strong, but informed, views regarding what was done right and what wasn't, and isn't shy about describing either. His credentials, combined with the timing of his book make his testimony central to the 9/11 Commission's efforts as well as a major factor in the 2004 Presidential election.

Clarke will either be remembered as the man that brought down Geore W. Bush or utterly discredited as the biggest liar in the history of ex-staffers.

Whatever your political views, you need to hear what Clarke has to say. I can't wait for Audible.com to make Clarke's new book "Against All Enemies" available.

Kudos to Audible.com for making Clarke's testimony an the rest of these historic proceedings available at no cost. It is a genuine public service.

Without a doubt King's greatest work, his magnum opus, the Dark Tower series draws strength from many of his best other works while at the same infusing those novels with new vitality. While having read King's other major works (especially The Stand) is not a prerequisite, having done so will make DT an even more fulfilling experience.

DTV7 is so much better than King's other works, indeed so much better than most other works in the same genre, that comparisons are unfair to the competitors. I find myself wondering whether King plans to quit the fiction business, having nowhere to go but down.

Ten years ago I could not have conceived of comparing any work, let alone a Stephen King work with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, in my view the finest story of the 20th century.

Now, with all sincerity, not only can I do so with a straight face, I believe that The Dark Tower can, for now, claim that same title for the century just begun. To some this would be considered nearly blasphemous hyperbole. For me it is simply the only way to convey how impressive The Dark Tower series is.

I downloaded DT7 the day Audible issued it (before buying the book - which you also have to get for the amazing artwork). I listened to the story while traveling over several days and I'm sure the people in airports and on the planes wondered what it was that was so making me smile and weep.

"The man in black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed" may become one of the best remembered opening lines in literary history. There would be no question if the series had been published under the name of Richard Bachman ;-)

Say thankya big big, sai King!