An illuminating guide to navigating the cash bail system.
A bail bondsman explains how his part of the legal system works.
Plotkin, part of the second generation of a family-run bond agency, has written a clear and informative guide that most readers will hope they never need to consult. The author explains how the cash bail system works; the role of bond agencies in allowing the system to serve those who cannot afford to pay tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket; how to find an effective and professional bondsman; and what happens after a defendant successfully posts bail. Bail bonds, the book explains, are underwritten like other financial instruments, and bail bondsmen assess their clients’ credit worthiness. But, as Plotkin notes, bondsmen are free to judge by their own standards, with some adhering to strict formulas while others are more accommodating, accepting family heirlooms as collateral and in-kind services such as painting and landscaping instead of cash premiums. With stories from his decadeslong career illustrating the concepts he discusses, Plotkin educates readers about what to expect at each step of the legal process, from arrest through trial. The manual explains how to evaluate bond agencies, with a list of questions readers should ask before signing contracts, and describes the standard amounts of bail generally set for each category of crime. Although the author warns readers that they will not find any Dog the Bounty Hunter–style drama in the book, he includes a chapter in which a bond enforcement agent explains the process of pursuing defendants who have missed court dates or otherwise violated the terms of their bail. By avoiding sensationalism, Plotkin presents a measured and enlightening explanation of the world of bail bonds, with a clearly organized account and actionable takeaways (“Like many other services, the best way to choose who to work with in the bail industry is through positive referrals from trusted sources”). The writing is solid, and the many anecdotes keep the volume from becoming a dry index of regulations. The manual does not address the ethical questions of the cash bail system but counsels readers on how to have the best experience possible in a common but undesirable situation.
An illuminating guide to navigating the cash bail system.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-945884-17-7
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Identity Publications
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The Stoics did much better with the much shorter Enchiridion.
A follow-on to the author’s garbled but popular 48 Laws of Power, promising that readers will learn how to win friends and influence people, to say nothing of outfoxing all those “toxic types” out in the world.
Greene (Mastery, 2012, etc.) begins with a big sell, averring that his book “is designed to immerse you in all aspects of human behavior and illuminate its root causes.” To gauge by this fat compendium, human behavior is mostly rotten, a presumption that fits with the author’s neo-Machiavellian program of self-validation and eventual strategic supremacy. The author works to formula: First, state a “law,” such as “confront your dark side” or “know your limits,” the latter of which seems pale compared to the Delphic oracle’s “nothing in excess.” Next, elaborate on that law with what might seem to be as plain as day: “Losing contact with reality, we make irrational decisions. That is why our success often does not last.” One imagines there might be other reasons for the evanescence of glory, but there you go. Finally, spin out a long tutelary yarn, seemingly the longer the better, to shore up the truism—in this case, the cometary rise and fall of one-time Disney CEO Michael Eisner, with the warning, “his fate could easily be yours, albeit most likely on a smaller scale,” which ranks right up there with the fortuneteller’s “I sense that someone you know has died" in orders of probability. It’s enough to inspire a new law: Beware of those who spend too much time telling you what you already know, even when it’s dressed up in fresh-sounding terms. “Continually mix the visceral with the analytic” is the language of a consultant’s report, more important-sounding than “go with your gut but use your head, too.”
The Stoics did much better with the much shorter Enchiridion.Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-42814-5
Page Count: 580
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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