Rating: 
Summary: Style - 1, Content - 3
Review: This would have been a mildly interesting book, but two things spoiled it for me: 1) careless editing (typos, grammar, errors of fact - getting Sue's last name wrong in one spot was the most glaring), and 2) tabloid-esque teasers and hyperbole ("wait-till-you-hear-what-shocking-thing-I'm-about-to-tell-you!")It's hard to believe that Lance could have won a journalism prize if this is how he usually writes. The same material, had it been written in a more straight-forward and less hysterical manner, would have made for a much thinner, but more readable account of the behind-the-scenes insider dirt that I expected. As it is, the book appears to be an amateur production. I wasn't impressed.
Rating:
Summary: Richard's Revenge
Review: To read this sort of stuff, you really have to be a "Survivor" junkie, and I qualify. I have been with it since the start and don't believe I have missed an episode (though some were eminently missable!). "The Stingray" came out hoping to capitalize on first "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch's instant fame. The author's big beef is 1) CBS has Survivor cast members so locked up, it's a wonder they can even renew their drivers' license and 2) Richard Hatch "strung him along" and a $500,000 book deal sunk from sight because Richard either was unaware of the lock CBS had on him or thought he could get around it. Mr. Lance never considers that maybe Richard Hatch was also bummed out about losing $500,000. The book is basically one long whine. Lance constantly reminds us he is a multiple award winning "investigative journalist" and Hatch is well---chopped liver. Richard is a fascinating subject, a man that has reinvented himself more times than you can count, very bright, self-destructive, and some of this information is presented. Awards aside, this book is atrociously edited and hardly a page goes by without major typos and misspellings. The organization is non-existent. Mr. Lance is much given to "More on THIS later" type statements, only there never is any "more." The author constantly zings Hatch with "you knew how to win a million dollars; but you didn't know what to do after you got it." Well, now it is two years later. Richard seems to be doing ok, and he has been resurrected as the Prime Survivor. All other Survivors are compared to Richard and found lacking. Latest Survivor winner Brian Haydik, who could probably give a whole new meaning to the phrase "coldly ambitious", is believed to have modeled his strategy on Hatch's game. At the time of Richard's win, he was the man you loved to hate, and Peter Lance sneered that would be his undoing. Not necessarily so. Viewers gradually realized you could be Charley-nice-guy and get booted off the island, or you could Outwit, Outplay, and Out Mean everyone else and come home with a million dollars. Many of the interviews in this book are second-hand, even at the time the book was printed. I gave the book a second star for the occasional insights into Hatch's character. Otherwise, a waste of time.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: Richard's Revenge
Review: To read this sort of stuff, you really have to be a "Survivor" junkie, and I qualify. I have been with it since the start and don't believe I have missed an episode (though some were eminently missable!). "The Stingray" came out hoping to capitalize on first "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch's instant fame. The author's big beef is 1) CBS has Survivor cast members so locked up, it's a wonder they can even renew their drivers' license and 2) Richard Hatch "strung him along" and a $500,000 book deal sunk from sight because Richard either was unaware of the lock CBS had on him or thought he could get around it. Mr. Lance never considers that maybe Richard Hatch was also bummed out about losing $500,000. The book is basically one long whine. Lance constantly reminds us he is a multiple award winning "investigative journalist" and Hatch is well---chopped liver. Richard is a fascinating subject, a man that has reinvented himself more times than you can count, very bright, self-destructive, and some of this information is presented. Awards aside, this book is atrociously edited and hardly a page goes by without major typos and misspellings. The organization is non-existent. Mr. Lance is much given to "More on THIS later" type statements, only there never is any "more." The author constantly zings Hatch with "you knew how to win a million dollars; but you didn't know what to do after you got it." Well, now it is two years later. Richard seems to be doing ok, and he has been resurrected as the Prime Survivor. All other Survivors are compared to Richard and found lacking. Latest Survivor winner Brian Haydik, who could probably give a whole new meaning to the phrase "coldly ambitious", is believed to have modeled his strategy on Hatch's game. At the time of Richard's win, he was the man you loved to hate, and Peter Lance sneered that would be his undoing. Not necessarily so. Viewers gradually realized you could be Charley-nice-guy and get booted off the island, or you could Outwit, Outplay, and Out Mean everyone else and come home with a million dollars. Many of the interviews in this book are second-hand, even at the time the book was printed. I gave the book a second star for the occasional insights into Hatch's character. Otherwise, a waste of time.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer
Rating: 
Summary: Ruthlessness common denominator of winning
Review: What aggressive capitalism has always taught is that it is ruthlessness (often accompanied by the hard hearted deception and immorality, or inhumanity) that determines the winner in a game of winner take all - the one that equates with being a sole survivor. Above all, it make be the distinction of why most women do not succeed, and why they reach a point where morality and integrity are not worth sacrificing - for the win. For women who are able to yield, or are so ambitious that winning is everything, they tend to exist among the more predatory alpha males who reside among us, often doing quite well, it seems. Often characterized as the pirannas they are, however, they are also mocked by men for using the same methods, and inconsistent with the attributes that have been traditionally favored by men (and by women) as attractive and acceptable. But if women prefer not to be alone, why would they use these tactics to be a "sole" survivor. In fact, why would men want to be a "sole" survivor in the form of lone wolves when mankind lives a "community life?" Disassociation is not normal or healthy, and may be one of the greatest flaws of aggressive capitalism, that encourages the predatory nature of men, or of women. Harmony produces peace, not war and most prefer to live peaceful lives of pleasurable pursuits.
Rating: 
Summary: If you buy only one SURVIVOR book, this has to be it.
Review: What is the difference between THE STINGRAY and those other books written by Mark Burnett and Richard Hatch? Simple, THE STINGRAY is the only one that actually takes a critical look at what REALLY when on before, during, and after the time spent filming the show. All three books claim to provide a behind the scenes look at the show, but only one delivers. Lance raises one provacative issue after another and in doing so raises some SERIOUS questions concerning what seems to have been rampant producer manipulation on the part of Mark Burnett and CBS. Most would agree that SURVIVOR is a game show, no matter how the definition is construed, and thus, subject to FCC regulations regarding game shows. Lance quotes survivor Stacey in his book, referring to the manipulation of the show, calling it a "Federal Offense". I think she's right on, and apparently so do a lot of the former castaways, but we'll probably never hear from them about this because of the stranglehold CBS has on them (alot more about that in the book). Lance's book is undoubtedly the closest thing to the truth about the show so far. And lucky for the reader, Lance is a master of the written word. I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment of the book. THE STINGRAY answers many questions, but raises alot as well. Hopefully, these questions will eventually be answered, but not if big, powerful$, scary CBS can help it...
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