Friday, October 19, 2012

How Harriet Fudges Her Reviews - Part I

Plagiarism is defined as:  “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own; use (another's production) without crediting the source; to commit literary theft; to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.”

Here are comparisons of a number Harriet’s reviews with the dust jackets and/or editorial materials provided on Amazon’s book page.  Decide for yourself.
Editorial Comments

The Mad Hattie’s Language
New Year's Eve 2008
=
on New Year's eve 2008
a man now seventy-eight
=
septuagenarian
readying his Hamptons house
=
in the Hamptons
Alice Verplanck
=
Alice Verplanck
widow of his former law partner
=
his late partner's wife
from Paris
=
from Paris
Schmidt hasn't seen Alice since the summer of 1995
=
he thinks back to 1995
when he behaved like a brute upon discovering a betrayal of sorts and pronounced her unworthy of his unstinting love and commitment
=
he destroyed with his accusations of betrayal
she still doubts
=
Alice has doubts
She demands that he think long and hard about their past
=
she agreed to see him if he steps back to evaluate his life.
Meanwhile
=
meanwhile
his only confirmed child, Charlotte
=
his daughter Charlotte
had proposed a truce
=
offers her dad a reconciliation
in their perennially strained relations
=
dysfunctional relationship
which Schmidt accepted
=
which he accepts
despite its obliging him to resume dealings
=
though that means dealing
with her repulsive husband
=
a weak son-in-law
her mother-in-law-cum-psychiatrist
=
mother-in-law, a modern day Machiavelli shrink. the psychiatrist
turning Charlotte decisively against Schmidt
=
trying to widen the Schmidt chasm
expecting a second child
=
pregnant and with one child already
only two real friends left
=
two friends are still upright
darkly funny
=
dry humorous comedy; droll and witty

Editorial Comments

The Mad Hattie’s Language
1944
=
in 1944
An American, beautiful aviatrix Velva Jean Hart
=
American pilot Velva Jean Hart
volunteers to copilot a plane
=
agrees to fly copilot a plane
carrying special agents
=
taking undercover agents
to their drop spot over Normandy
=
to Normandy
their plane is shot down
=
Nazis shoot down her plane
she and five agents survive
=
her and five operatives to survive
now they are on the run for their lives
=
with the Nazis in pursuit
As they head to Paris
=
she travels to Paris
Velva Jean Hart becomes Clementine Roux
=
Velva Jean becomes Clementine Roux
to capture an operative known only as "Swan"
=
with plans to find and rescue agent Swan
falling in love with her fellow agent Emile
=
falls in love with Emile
Clementine works as a spy
=
in her secret identity,
she discovers
=
Clementine will learn
the depths of human cruelty
=
how evil mankind can be

Editorial Comments

The Mad Hattie’s Language
sex and games
=
sexual encounters of many kinds and with strange flesh
A Harvard dropout
=
Harvard dropout
employed by Manhattan-based RedRook Security,
=
works for Redrook Security
James
=
James Pryce
the elite hacker
=
a hacker of note
finding people who don't want to be found
=
locating those who have seemingly vanished off the grid
pursuing their digital tracks
=
finding their electronic fingerprints
exacting creative high-tech revenge on behalf of his clients
=
using high tech vengeance against those who harmed a client
twins Blythe and Blake
=
twins Blake and Blythe Randall
Ten years ago,
=
a decade ago,
Blythe Randall broke James Pryce's heart.
=
Blythe blithely broke James' heart
Her enigmatic appeal lures him
=
he cannot say no to her.
multimedia artist Billy Randall
=
multimedia artist sibling Billy
sends a video of his own suicide
=
sent them a video of his "bleed" performance in which he simultaneously commits suicide
reanimating onscreen as an avatar
=
reanimates as an avatar
in a decadent online world called NOD
=
in a decadent online world NOD
Blythe uses her influence to install James
=
Blythe gets James masquerading as a documentarian
at GAME
=
the GAME
media collective
=
media collective
one of Billy's recent haunts
=
where Billy recently played.
In order to find him
=
to find Billy
James must play along
=
James realizes he needs to enter NOD.
"the Bleed"
=
Bleeding
when real and virtual selves intersect
=
of reality and virtual reality

Editorial Comments

The Mad Hattie’s Language
the woman sitting across from her
=
Merline Teague
She needed this job, but didn't want to appear as desperate as she actually was
=
interviews Brooke Vincent for the position of a cook.
Your resume is a little thin."
=
that the applicant's résumé is thin
Merline Teague said
=
Mrs. Teague remarks
"I'll give you a tryout. . . . [Y]ou can cook for the family
=
but will give her a trial of cooking for the family.
"If it goes well"
=
if that works out
"[W]e're set up here to feed up to forty people,"
=
the guests who can number upwards of forty.
as if Brooke Alder had never existed.
=
that Brooke Alder no longer exists.
Before his traumatic tour in Iraq
=
before he served in the Iraq war
Ryan Teague was always a bit of a loner
=
Ryan was a loner
keeping to himself was a choice now
=
now he is all but a hermit
It was enough to make something in his chest perform an unexpected flip-flop
=
however, he feels more than just attracted to the new cook
He recognizes
=
Ryan senses
Brooke is hiding some scars of her own.
=
a fellow wounded warrior.
Brooke's past threatens to ruin it all
=
at the cost of her job, haven and him.
Brooke and Ryan help each other begin to heal
=
love/healing the protagonists

Editorial Comments

The Mad Hattie’s Language
as well as 9/11
=
for what the country's terrorists did on 9/11
a slow-acting virus that feeds on petroleum, turning it solid
=
a bacterium that solidifies Saudi Arabian oil
A scientist has developed a cure for America's addiction-But he didn't consider that ...
=
Eddie's plan deploys perfectly except for one minor nuisance.
contagion of an Iraqi oil field could spread to infect the fuel supply of the entire world
=
the bacteria goes internationally viral.
In Los Angeles
=
In Southern California,
screenwriter Dave Marshall
=
screenwriter Dave Marshall
heard this scenario from a retired US marine and government insider
=
learns from a government insider friend
It sounded as implausible as many of his scripts, but the reality is much more frightening
=
that his script on oil actually is happening.
that the coming
=
that is coming
apocalypse that will alter the future of Earth-and humanity
=
the world collapses into deadly local chaos; pandemic impact of the vanished oil implosion on the unaware and less fortunate lacking.

Editorial Comments

The Mad Hattie’s Language
is forced to make desperate choices to save her son and herself
=
has the complication of her tweener son
When Hector Lewis
=
her abusive father
told his daughter
=
informs young Heloise Lewis
that she had a nothing face
=
"You have a nothing face."
it was just another bit of tossed-off cruelty from a man
=
that was her cruel dad
who specialized in harsh words and harsher deeds
=
being his usual nastiness
But twenty years later,
=
Though now
Heloise considers it a blessing to be a person who knows how to avoid attention
=
she thrives on that non visage
In the comfortable suburb where she lives
=
as a suburban Maryland
she's just a mom
=
Heloise has been a doting mom
who somehow never misses a soccer game
=
who always attends her middle school son Scott's games
lobbyist with a good cause and a mediocre track record.
=
a failure lobbyist
she's the woman of your dreams—if you can afford her hourly fee
=
a successful madam
For more than a decade
=
For a decade
a life she was forced to build
=
her construct
is under siege.
=
collapses
another so-called suburban madam has been found dead in her car
=
a recently caught suburban madam died
a suicide. Or is it?
=
mysteriously.
she learns that her son's father
=
she learns that Scott's biological dad Val Deluca
might be released from prison
=
may get out of prison
he doesn't know he has a son
=
Val knows nothing about an offspring
former pimp
=
who was her pimp
a life sentence
=
on a homicide life sentence
Heloise betrayed him
=
who betrayed him
he's clearly beginning to suspect
=
as he would suspect
Heloise has to remake her life
=
Heloise knows it is time to reinvent herself
Disappearing will be the easy part.
=
she leans towards flight over fight.
She's done it before and she can do it again
=
she has reinvented herself in the past

11 comments:

Sneaky Burrito said...

Wow, Embee. And that's only part 1?

Thomas "Duffbert" Duff said...

I think that would be proof enough to get you kicked outta college... wow.

Embee said...

Ooooo-oh, yeah. There are so many of them that people would have fallen asleep or just passed the article by if I had tried to do them all in one. I will be adding one or two more comparisons to this entry and then doing Parts II and III, along with cross-referencing and cross-linking the three blogs, in November. You know, I'm just compiling the proof with the documentation . . . I'm just sayin'.

Embee said...

And, oh, welcome, Thomas! Nice to see you here.

I've been expecting someone else to join up. Do you, by chance, go by another handle on Amazon?

Thomas "Duffbert" Duff said...

You're doing a great job. As an Amazon reviewer, I've found the whole Harriet topic fascinating. The fact that Amazon has barred some reviewers for far lesser crimes, yet she seems to have a cloak of invincibility.

The recent revelations about pay-per-reviews that some authors did (and that others made a tidy business of) has started to shed light on this fraud. I've always figured that "Harriet" is a group of writers, but the recent posts about her various sites and the selling of all the books starts to paint an ugly picture. After reading this post, I started to think that I could probably crank out 50 reviews a day using her rewording methodology. Heck, as a programmer, I could probably build an application that would do it for me. :)

And, no... I go by Thomas Duff on Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A3R19YKNL641X3. I've had a few "discussions" with various people in the past who have said that it's not possible for someone to read as many books as I tend to go through in a year. This year has been much slower than normal, in that I'm learning a new technology at work, and I got a bit burned out on writing. So I think I will have "only" read around 80 to 90 books by the end of the year.

Keep up the great investigative work. I would like to think that at some point, the facade will crack and HK, Inc. will be exposed as the fraud she is.

Embee said...

Thomas,

Over here, on HKAS we're a little freer to talk about things. It's odd how the migration happened, but everyone here is committed to the effort. Everyone brings a lot to the table.

I know that we get a lot of criticism about going after a little old lady when there so many other important things. However,in the mind, Harriet is just like the Lance Armstrongs, Barry Bondses, Mark McGuires, and Robert Clemenses of the world. She is a well known figure whose endorsements are very meaningful, whose accomplishments have been achieved through fraud, and who has duped millions of people. Maybe she doesn't rise to the level of the sports figures, but it's still the same principle.

I hope you see the pattern of the last few months' blogs. We're committed to proof that supports what everyone has said for years. Everything. We're doing the investigative work (which has been lacking for the last 7 to 8 years) and documenting it. Even we are surprised at the amounts and kinds of things that are being uncovered.

What the above sports figures have respectively done to the sports world in general is exactly the same as what Harriet is doing. Her reviews and fakery have hurt all the honest and credible reviewers out there. I could go on forever.

Reviewing is hard work and good reviews should be rewarded. I have a great deal of respect for reviewers. I really think that if something is done about Harriet and Amazon's protecting her, it will have a strong positive effect on the reading and reviewing communities.

One time I read two books in a day; so, I know it can be done. But I was wiped out, exhausted, and honestly brain-fried for a couple of days after that. So, I could see someone reviewing 700-800 books per year, but not 2,500. Medical studies say it's physically impossible to do more than that, anyway.

Oh, well, I'm preaching to the choir.

I could probably read more books than I do per year (70-80), but I only have about 40-50 authors that I love. I'm trying to find more; it's tedious though. It's like having relationships. You have to go through a ton of bad ones, to find that gem.

Anyway, welcome aboard again. I look forward to a lot more discussions.

Unknown said...

I'm so bummed. No editorial references to "lower head" or "blue blooded penis". Looks like H Poo's only original thoughts are the naughty ones. Nice work Embee. Maybe one day folks at Amazon will get their heads out of their collective arses and ban H from reviewing. Uh huh...and maybe some day I'll be 25 again with the body of a supermodel. Seriously, however, thanks for continuing to expose the lies.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Embee said...

Chick,

My pleasure!

I didn't get to say hi to you before. I'm glad you're back!

Pop in more often!

Thomas "Duffbert" Duff said...

Thanks, Embee... I've actually been following this blog from day 1. I've been a lurker instead of a participant due to an exchange in the past.

Malleus (I think that was the one I interacted with... the memory goes so quickly...) and I got into either an email or comment exchange once about the number of books I read and reviewed each month. He claimed that it was physically impossible to read more than 10 books a month, and hence I was a fraud for reviewing and posting more. It quickly became obvious that there was nothing I could do to convince him otherwise, so I just declined to engage any further.

I read because I enjoy it, and I review because I enjoy writing. Outside of that, it really doesn't matter any more what ranking I have, what others think, etc. I used to be far more interested in climbing up the ranks (sorta like getting badges in FourSquare, I guess), but I just don't have the energy to get worked up about it any longer. If my number climbs, great. If people or companies offer me things to review and I think it might be interesting, sure. I turn down far more than I accept. But it's easier to avoid the "are you real" arguments by ignoring them than trying to engage. :)

Again, great job on the research, and here's to exposing the fraud that is Harriet.

(P.S. - Your analogy to sporting figures like Lance Armstrong is interesting. I hadn't thought of it in that way, but it fits.)

Beachmama said...

Waves hello to Chick and Thomas – welcome aboard!

I think the real issue most of us have with Harriet is the staggering enormity of her fraud. She has a lot in common with Lance Armstrong; who might have flown under the radar had he not considered himself coated in Teflon. He pushed the envelope too far; convinced that he was untouchable. Lance went for too many wins, became addicted to fame, wanted too much attention, and then put out way too many in your face denials that practically dared anyone to take him down. He stuck his middle finger in the air, waved it at the world and engineered his own downfall. He took the reputation of the USPS, The International Cycling Union, his entire sport and fellow athletes (guilty or not) down with him and may have damaged his self titled charity in the bargain.

The lesson for us here is that proof is what counts. Real, documented, in your face proof that can’t be ignored or dismissed. We have it in spades.

Plagiarized reviews, check:

http://harriet-rules.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-harriet-fudges-her-reviews-part-i.html

Fake identities, check and check:

http://harriet-rules.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-lies-that-bind-klausner.html

http://harriet-rules.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-tale-of-two-harrietsdueling-dual.html

Financial links to the publishing industry, check:

http://harriet-rules.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-ties-that-bind-klausner-financial.html

Turning a tidy profit on her ARC’s and other free books, check:

http://harriet-rules.blogspot.com/2012/10/she-works-hard-for-money.html

Eleven years, 28,140 reviews and Amazon’s turn a blind eye and pretend ignorance policy make Harriet and the world’s largest bookseller a Lance Armstrong sized target.

It’s taken some time and a lot of work but I’m starting to think our little band of rebels might just prevail despite the odds. We do, after all, have the truth and the proof on our side.