negative. Some books out there really are bad and it's wrong for an author to manipulate the system. I also feel that there should be consequences. The reviewer ranking system should be removed, and I'm absolutely horrified as to what happened to Reba Belle and how people went after her personal information due to a "negative" review. I enjoy reviews with spoilers -- after I've read the book! So I think it's just basic good manners for a reviewer to give a spoiler alert at the beginning of the review. Amazon screens the reviews anyway, so why couldn't there just be a spoiler alert tag on the reviews? Then we could enjoy the reviews twice: once before reading the book, and again afterwards to match everybody else's take with our own experience. As far as having to purchase the book from Amazon, that seems unnecessary. The purpose is to create a data base of reviews, and a lot of authors send out review copies. If someone is going to give their time and effort to write a review, why should they also be expected to pay for the privilege of donating their efforts? I have reviewed a few books at Amazon, and I am glad to do it for free -- but I don't really want to have to pay to do it. Does that make sense? Amazon, get your reviewing act together! There shouldn't be the abuse by Deborah McGillivray or by Patricia Cornwell. Authors should not be allowed