The Complete Idiot's Guide to Home Security

Rating:
Summary: BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!
Review: Do you leave your garage door up a few inches for the family pet to enter your home? Do you leave your car unlocked after parking it in your garage? Do you leave your keys in your car while it is in the garage? If so, then you are giving an open invitation to burglars and car thiefs. According to the authors, most illegal home entries are through the garage. The book is based on Tom Davidson's and Lorna Gentry's law-enforcement experiences. Did you realize that unless you compress the boxes you discard outside your home for trash pickup, anyone can read that you just bought a valuable stereo or computer? This information is yet another open invitation to potential burglary. Compressing those boxes makes it hard to decipher that information. The book encompasses personal and home security measures. Checklists for home-risk assessments as well as home security systems suggestions are included. A word to the wise should be sufficient. Read the book and start improving your safety. Better safe, than sorry!

Rating:
Summary: BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!
Review: Do you leave your garage door up a few inches for the family pet to enter your home? Do you leave your car unlocked after parking it in your garage? Do you leave your keys in your car while it is in the garage? If so, then you are giving an open invitation to burglars and car thiefs. According to the authors, most illegal home entries are through the garage. The book is based on Tom Davidson's and Lorna Gentry's law-enforcement experiences. Did you realize that unless you compress the boxes you discard outside your home for trash pickup, anyone can read that you just bought a valuable stereo or computer? This information is yet another open invitation to potential burglary. Compressing those boxes makes it hard to decipher that information. The book encompasses personal and home security measures. Checklists for home-risk assessments as well as home security systems suggestions are included. A word to the wise should be sufficient. Read the book and start improving your safety. Better safe, than sorry!

Rating:
Summary: Book really is on risk assessment, NOT on alarm systems
Review: I tried consulting this book to design and install a security system for small business. I was surprised to see so few books on the subject in Amazon and in the public library. More than half the book goes into the risk assessment and no cost loss prevention. Fine...but the cover claims that the reader can design a security system and install camera surveillance.

The first author may be a wise policeman and attorney, but a systems designer for a home / small business security system he is not. The co-author is just a writer, has very little experience in the security field and has obviously not designed, installed, and armed a security system herself. There is a lot of common-sense discussion and fluff on alarm components in the book.

But when the rubber hits the road, this book runs out of gas. The DIY section of the book is Chap 17 and covers 21 measly pages. There is no typical bill-of-materials, budgetary costs, or national or regional sources and part numbers for popular items. Where is the beef?

Honeywell is a national provider of security components and systems; the authors don't discuss the security industry suppliers, not even Radio Shack. I'd recommend going to an on-line catalog that the Pros use at ADILink dot com. It doesn't even go into the popular X-10 components for home automation; except in the last paragraph in Appendix B.

The overall organization of the book with tips and sidebars are very distracting. Overall this is a disappointing book that I read at the public library.

Rating:
Summary: Whether you rent or own, this book is a gotta-buy!
Review: I've always been concerned about security issues for my home and belongings. I rent an apartment, and most of the books are focused at homeowners. This book is an exception: regardless of whether you rent or own your home, this very readable guide covers all aspects of protecting yourself. It's written by experts in this area, and the information shows their background. Detailed descriptions of what to do and why to protect yourself and your possessions make this book a must-have.

Rating:
Summary: Whether you rent or own, this book is a gotta-buy!
Review: I've always been concerned about security issues for my home and belongings. I rent an apartment, and most of the books are focused at homeowners. This book is an exception: regardless of whether you rent or own your home, this very readable guide covers all aspects of protecting yourself. It's written by experts in this area, and the information shows their background. Detailed descriptions of what to do and why to protect yourself and your possessions make this book a must-have.