Rating: 
Summary: Missing the point....
Review: I just finished the book myself, and came back to read the reviews here. All I can say is *WAKE UP*!Would the book be shorter if the story consisted of only the Dry Cleaner shop owners story? Would the book have less sex if only the elderly pilots story were told? Yes. And it would make no sense. While this book forcuses on firearms issues from a shooters perspective, the issue constantly harped on is one of freedom for all. Firearms are used to represent the freedom to choose. It doesn't take a vast left-wing conspiracy to make murder illegal, nor does it require a conspiracy to pass laws of prohibition. John Ross goes to great pains to show how all this has happened without any conspiracy at all. Our freedom, our liberty, our lives have been taken from us by the corruption of a government exempt from the laws it passes on its citizens. There is no requirement for conspiracy for freedom to be lost, all it takes is power. 800 pages? Yeah, it's long. Stop 2/3 of the way through it and be a safer gun owner. Read it all the way through, and be a better citizen. Then go read the ANTI-Federalist papers, and realize that technology has nothing to do with it. Power corrupts. In all times, in all places, human nature wins out. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, well researched, believable.
Review: All seniors in college should read this book so they can open their eyes to the real world of massive federal intrusions into our freedom. All legislatures should read this book so they would have an understanding of what their actions may cause, and how they are perceived. Legislatures need to understand that the press lies, the government usually lies, and that the government is supposed to be for the people- and by the people, not people and their lives at the jeapordy of the government. Some may find the book a bit finatical, but, as an Attorney, I can say that the legal issues, the cases presented, and the facts surrounding the intrusions appear true.
Rating: 
Summary: "Turner Diaries" it is not
Review: I'm not sure what Mr. Ross was trying to accopmlish with his monster-novel. On the one hand, he lucidly illustates the extremes to which the "jack-booted thugs" will go to to grab guns of law-abiding citizens. Also, he lays out the twisted and corrupted nature of the thug's paymasters. However, the link between the "gun-culture" and a free America, the underlying message, was weak. The use of the Jews and national sociailst Germany to illustrate that point undermined credibility. Guns were not the only thing that made America--it is also the feeling of kinship and solidarity that bonded the colonialists into the new nation. Of common knowledge to Europeans was the right to defend life, liberty and property--thus the right to bear arms. People of today's multicultural America hold basic views diametrically opposed to those of the Founding Fathers, no matter how "Americanized" they have become. Thus, the message, that we need to be one to defend something that is greater than ourselves is lost in Mr. Ross's book. It does make for an entertaining read. Everything, except the gay-rape scene, though.
Rating:
Summary: A view of disfunctional government that avoids conspiracy
Review: This work is an exceptioanlly well written historical adventure novel in the now famous Tom Clancy style. If you like Clancy, you will love this book. The characters are believable, and the action, spaced over a couple of lifetimes, is plausible. The book brings into focus several historical events that individually do not seem overwhelming, but when seen in context, show the outrageous buildup of bureaucratic power over the last 65 years. People who lean to the left may not be comfortable with the story, as it shows the seamy underside of the welfare state when it attacks those who only wish to be left alone. Be warned! This book is very difficult to put down. I recommend that you block out a weekend before you start. I expect great things of this author in the future.
Rating:
Summary: great book-it could actually happen!
Review: finely woven story with characters that jump out at you. easy to follow chronological order but sometimes lose the character til you pick them up again later in the book.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book You'll Ever Read!
Review: If you want to wake somebody up to the real reason for the second admendment, buy them this book! It scares the Hell out of the baby killing-jack booted thugs.
Rating: 
Summary: It would get no stars, but that isn't an option.
Review: A bad joke has been foisted upon firearms enthusiasts. Based on this book, we are all now associated with Timothy McVeigh, militia whackos, anti-government lunatics, and all the other reprehensible human detritus that brought about (or at least support) the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building. I strongly resent any association with the afore-mentioned ilk that are the obvious target audience for "Unintended Consequences". From the cartoonish rendering on the cover of this 800-page boat anchor, it is quite obvious what the author has to say. Comparisons to "Atlas Shrugged"? Only in terms of physical size. This goofy, anti-everything mess is nowhere near being in the same league as Ayn Rand's classic, which at least had constructive social commentary and solid writing going for it. This monstrosity suffers from restrained, or non-existent, editing. It veers from well researched historical accounts that are presented in a biased, inaccurate and slanted way, to raw, sophomoric and gratuitous sex scenes, and through to the comic book fantasy of a "plot" wherein the hero exacts his revenge against the cliched, evil government conspirators. Apparently it is okay to trash the constitution in the name of protecting it if one is a gun owner. Is that the message the author intended? And, getting back to the sex passages--I am dismayed that this silliness, which, if they had at least advanced the plot would only have served to add to the already excessive length of the book, but instead only succeed in confirming the suspicions of the anti-gun crowd that firearms enthusiasts are socially retarded misfits who are unable to get dates and therefore are reduced to substituting their adoration of firearms (phallic symbols) and reading stuff that is as imaginative and as credible as the letters sections in men's magazines instead of developing meaningful human relationships. It must be so much more fun to believe that there is an organized conspiracy afoot than to realize that the so-called erosion of our rights is merely the result of inept, desperate politicians who can only deal with the frightening rise in violent crime by enacting more, sometimes poorly drafted laws. In fact, two government employees couldn't conspire to take an extra-long lunch break without one snitching the other off. This book shames me from wanting to associate with those who share my interest in firearms and in sport shooting. Make no mistake that this book is dedicated to political extremists and holds no legitimate interest for honest gun owners.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice story, but questionable in content...
Review: The book is written well, and the story is very interesting. In no way is it not an interesting read (although it is over 800 pages long). The content seems a bit too outrageous, however. Too "anti-government" for comfort. Support for guns is one issue, but portraying the government so negatively seems to be wholly another concern. The author could have given government law enforcement a little bit more respect.
Rating:
Summary: A wake-up call to America
Review: A riveting story with a wealth of information and arguments to refute the big-government anti-gun left. The historic aspects are very informative and show how we have built up to the current level of insanity. The "Present Day" events are so incredible that they could never really happen... or could they?
Rating:
Summary: An excellent re-telling of David and Goliath.Scary, too real
Review: John Ross has written an excellent re-telling of the age old David and Goliath story. Well written and good character develoment. Like other readers, I researched some of the more questionable historical references and found them (sadly) to be accurate. Just last week, I caught a Paul Harvey "rest of the story", and his topic was, believe it or not, "the bonus army story". When a goverment is willing to abuse the rights of those outside the mainstream, you know, those "wierd-o, whack-o types" it is only a small step from there to the mainstream. Thanks Mr. Ross for a very intertaining, yet disturbing book.
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