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Rob Bentlyewski

Biography

Rob Bentlyewski

Reviewer

Rob Bentlyewski is a Dover, New Jersey, native and graduate of Brown University, where he studied American Literature and played on the Men's Rugby Team. Rob chose a non-traditional path in his study of literature, writing a senior thesis on political imagery in Bruce Springsteen's lyrics. A political speechwriter and policy analyst by day and a reader by night, Rob's favorite authors are Hemingway, Steinbeck, and fellow New Jerseyan Philip Roth. 

Rob Bentlyewski

Reviews by Rob Bentlyewski

by Tim White, Randall Richard, and Wayne Worcester - Nonfiction, True Crime

On August 14, 1975, eight daring thieves ransacked 148 massive safe-deposit boxes at a secret bank used by organized crime, La Cosa Nostra, and its associates in Providence, Rhode Island. The crooks fled with duffel bags crammed full of cash, gold, silver, stamps, coins, jewels and high-end jewelry. The true value of the loot has always been kept secret, partly because it was ill-gotten to begin with, and partly because there was plenty of incentive to keep its true worth out of the limelight. The heist was bold enough and big enough to rock the underworld to its core, and it left La Cosa Nostra in the region awash in turmoil. THE LAST GOOD HEIST is the inside story of the robbery and its aftermath.

by Bernie Sanders - Memoir, Nonfiction, Politics

In OUR REVOLUTION, Bernie Sanders shares his personal experiences from the campaign trail, recounting the details of his historic primary fight and the people who made it possible. And for the millions looking to continue the political revolution, he outlines a progressive economic, environmental, racial and social justice agenda that will create jobs, raise wages, protect the environment, and provide health care for all --- and ultimately transform our country and our world for the better. For him, the political revolution has just started. The campaign may be over, but the struggle goes on.

by David J. Skal - Biography, History, Nonfiction

First published in 1897, DRACULA has had a long and multifaceted afterlife --- one rivaling even its immortal creation --- yet Bram Stoker has remained a hovering specter in this pervasive mythology. In SOMETHING IN THE BLOOD, David J. Skal exhumes the inner world and strange genius of the writer who birthed an undying cultural icon, painting an astonishing portrait of the age in which Stoker was born --- a time when death was no metaphor but a constant threat easily imagined as a character existing in flesh and blood.

by Bruce Springsteen - Memoir, Nonfiction

Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humor and originality found in his songs. BORN TO RUN will be revelatory for anyone who has ever enjoyed the Boss, but this book is much more than a legendary rock star’s memoir. This is a book for workers and dreamers, parents and children, lovers and loners, artists, freaks, or anyone who has ever wanted to be baptized in the holy river of rock and roll.

by Elizabeth Letts - History, Nonfiction

In the chaotic last days of World War II, a small troop of battle-weary American soldiers captures a German spy and makes an astonishing find --- his briefcase is empty but for photos of beautiful white horses that have been stolen and kept on a secret farm behind enemy lines. Hitler has stockpiled the world’s finest purebreds in order to breed the perfect military machine --- an equine master race. But with the starving Russian army closing in, the animals are in imminent danger of being slaughtered for food. With only hours to spare, one of the Army’s last great cavalrymen, American colonel Hank Reed, makes a bold decision --- with General George Patton’s blessing --- to mount a covert rescue operation.

by Lenny Dykstra - Nonfiction, Sports

For the first time, former world champion, multimillionaire entrepreneur and imprisoned felon Lenny Dykstra tells all about his tumultuous career --- from battling through crippling pain to steroid use and drug addiction, to a life of indulgence and excess, followed by an epic plunge and the long road back to redemption. Was Lenny's hard-charging, risk-it-all nature responsible for his success in baseball and business and his precipitous fall from grace? What lessons, if any, has he learned now that he has had time to think and reflect?

by Bill Cameron - Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult 13+

Joey Getchie has been property of the state longer than he was in parental custody. But he's a survivor, and he has a Plan: graduate high school and get out of the foster care system before it eats him alive. He bonds with Trisha, another foster, who seems to have lucked out when it comes to foster parents. A false accusation leads to a physical clash with his foster father, so Joey flees to Huntzel Manor, where he works part time. He takes up unauthorized residence and keeps a low profile, hoping to avoid attention. But attention arrives in the worst possible way: a classmate is seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident, and Joey becomes the focus of the investigation.