Armed and Dangerous: A Writer's Guide to Weapons (Howdunit Series)

A guide to the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of a wide range of weapons, with information about which were used during each period of history. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

YA-- For budding writers, particularly those who have ambitions in the mys- tery genre, these two books will be useful starting points. Armed and Dangerous aids in avoiding those embarassing historical and descriptive gaffes regarding firearms and explosives. It will be a frustration, however, for writers who need information on a specific gun and its associated effects, although the appendixes on ballistics information and rifle trajectories are some help. Deadly Doses , on the other hand, is a paradise for domestic, impulsive criminals and manipulative writers. The index leads quickly to a specific poison and the entry gives all its names, toxicity, the forms in which it is found, information on how to administer it, the effects and symptoms, reaction time, and some notes. Two quibbles are the lack of a distinctive typeset to indicate the beginnings of entries (they all tend to run together) and a lack of cross-references in the index. Using the wonderful appendixes will allow writers to match plot restrictions in "Methods of Administration," "Form," "Symptoms," "Time in Which They React," or "Toxicity." It's enough to give anyone that Agatha Christie urge. --Cathy Chauvette, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.