- Table View
- List View
Real-World SRE: The Survival Guide for Responding to a System Outage and Maximizing Uptime
by Nat WelchThis hands-on survival manual will give you the tools to confidently prepare for and respond to a system outage. Key Features Proven methods for keeping your website running A survival guide for incident response Written by an ex-Google SRE expert Book Description Real-World SRE is the go-to survival guide for the software developer in the middle of catastrophic website failure. Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) has emerged on the frontline as businesses strive to maximize uptime. This book is a step-by-step framework to follow when your website is down and the countdown is on to fix it. Nat Welch has battle-hardened experience in reliability engineering at some of the biggest outage-sensitive companies on the internet. Arm yourself with his tried-and-tested methods for monitoring modern web services, setting up alerts, and evaluating your incident response. Real-World SRE goes beyond just reacting to disaster—uncover the tools and strategies needed to safely test and release software, plan for long-term growth, and foresee future bottlenecks. Real-World SRE gives you the capability to set up your own robust plan of action to see you through a company-wide website crisis. The final chapter of Real-World SRE is dedicated to acing SRE interviews, either in getting a first job or a valued promotion. What you will learn Monitor for approaching catastrophic failure Alert your team to an outage emergency Dissect your incident response strategies Test automation tools and build your own software Predict bottlenecks and fight for user experience Eliminate the competition in an SRE interview Who this book is for Real-World SRE is aimed at software developers facing a website crisis, or who want to improve the reliability of their company's software. Newcomers to Site Reliability Engineering looking to succeed at interview will also find this invaluable.
Advanced Deep Learning with Keras: Apply deep learning techniques, autoencoders, GANs, variational autoencoders, deep reinforcement learning, policy gradients, and more
by Rowel AtienzaUnderstanding and coding advanced deep learning algorithms with the most intuitive deep learning library in existenceKey FeaturesExplore the most advanced deep learning techniques that drive modern AI resultsImplement deep neural networks, autoencoders, GANs, VAEs, and deep reinforcement learningA wide study of GANs, including Improved GANs, Cross-Domain GANs, and Disentangled Representation GANsBook DescriptionRecent developments in deep learning, including Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), and Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) are creating impressive AI results in our news headlines - such as AlphaGo Zero beating world chess champions, and generative AI that can create art paintings that sell for over $400k because they are so human-like. Advanced Deep Learning with Keras is a comprehensive guide to the advanced deep learning techniques available today, so you can create your own cutting-edge AI. Using Keras as an open-source deep learning library, you'll find hands-on projects throughout that show you how to create more effective AI with the latest techniques. The journey begins with an overview of MLPs, CNNs, and RNNs, which are the building blocks for the more advanced techniques in the book. You’ll learn how to implement deep learning models with Keras and TensorFlow 1.x, and move forwards to advanced techniques, as you explore deep neural network architectures, including ResNet and DenseNet, and how to create autoencoders. You then learn all about GANs, and how they can open new levels of AI performance. Next, you’ll get up to speed with how VAEs are implemented, and you’ll see how GANs and VAEs have the generative power to synthesize data that can be extremely convincing to humans - a major stride forward for modern AI. To complete this set of advanced techniques, you'll learn how to implement DRL such as Deep Q-Learning and Policy Gradient Methods, which are critical to many modern results in AI.What you will learnCutting-edge techniques in human-like AI performanceImplement advanced deep learning models using KerasThe building blocks for advanced techniques - MLPs, CNNs, and RNNsDeep neural networks – ResNet and DenseNetAutoencoders and Variational Autoencoders (VAEs)Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and creative AI techniquesDisentangled Representation GANs, and Cross-Domain GANsDeep reinforcement learning methods and implementationProduce industry-standard applications using OpenAI GymDeep Q-Learning and Policy Gradient MethodsWho this book is forSome fluency with Python is assumed. As an advanced book, you'll be familiar with some machine learning approaches, and some practical experience with DL will be helpful. Knowledge of Keras or TensorFlow 1.x is not required but would be helpful.
The Transformation of American Sex Education: Mary Calderone and the Fight for Sexual Health
by Ellen S. MoreA comprehensive history of the battle over sex education in the United StatesMid-century America had a problem talking about sex. Dr. Mary Calderone first diagnosed this condition and, in 1964, led the uphill battle to de-stigmatize sex education. Supporters hailed her as the “grandmother of modern sex education” while her detractors painted her as an “aging libertine,” but both could agree that she was quickly shaping the way sex was discussed in the classroom. Part biography, part social history, The Transformation of American Sex Education for the first time situates Dr. Mary Calderone at the center of decades of political, cultural, and religious conflict in the fight for comprehensive sex education. Ellen S. More examines Americans’ attempts to come to terms with the vexed subject of sex education in schools from the late 1940s to the early twenty-first century. Using Mary Calderone’s life and career as a touchstone, she traces the origins of modern sex education in the United States from the work of a group of reformers who coalesced around Calderone to create the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) in 1964, to the development and use of the competing approaches known as “abstinence-based” and “comprehensive” sex education from the 1980s into the twenty-first century. A fascinating and timely read, The Transformation of American Sex Education provides a substantial contribution to the history of one of America’s most intense and protracted culture wars, and the first account of the woman who fought those battles.
Statistical Literacy: A Beginner′s Guide
by Rhys Christopher JonesIn an increasingly data-centric world, we all need to know how to read and interpret statistics. But where do we begin? This book breaks statistical terms and concepts down in a clear, straightforward way. From understanding what data are telling you to exploring the value of good storytelling with numbers, it equips you with the information and skills you need to become statistically literate. It also: Dispels misconceptions about the nature of statistics to help you avoid common traps. Helps you put your learning into practice with over 60 Tasks and Develop Your Skills activities. Draws on real-world research to demonstrate the messiness of data – and show you a path through it. Approachable and down to earth, this guide is aimed at undergraduates across the social sciences, psychology, business and beyond who want to engage confidently with quantitative methods or statistics. It forms a reassuring aid for anyone looking to understand the foundations of statistics before their course advances, or as a refresher on key content.
The Sage Handbook of Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience: Cognitive Systems, Development and Applications
by Gregory J. Boyle Georg Northoff Aron K. Barbey Felipe Fregni Marjan Jahanshahi Alvaro Pascual-Leone Barbara J. SahakianCognitive neuroscience is the interdisciplinary study of how cognitive and intellectual functions are processed and represented within the brain, which is critical to building understanding of core psychological and behavioural processes such as learning, memory, behaviour, perception, and consciousness. Understanding these processes not only offers relevant fundamental insights into brain-behavioural relations, but may also lead to actionable knowledge that can be applied in the clinical treatment of patients with various brain-related disabilities. This Handbook examines complex cognitive systems through the lens of neuroscience, as well as providing an overview of development and applications within cognitive and systems neuroscience research and beyond. Containing 35 original, state of the art contributions from leading experts in the field, this Handbook is essential reading for researchers and students of cognitive psychology, as well as scholars across the fields of neuroscientific, behavioural and health sciences. Part 1: Attention, Learning and Memory Part 2: Language and Communication Part 3: Emotion and Motivation Part 4: Social Cognition Part 5: Cognitive Control and Decision Making Part 6: Intelligence
The Sage Handbook of Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience: Cognitive Systems, Development and Applications
by Gregory J. Boyle Georg Northoff Aron K. Barbey Felipe Fregni Marjan Jahanshahi Alvaro Pascual-Leone Barbara J. SahakianCognitive neuroscience is the interdisciplinary study of how cognitive and intellectual functions are processed and represented within the brain, which is critical to building understanding of core psychological and behavioural processes such as learning, memory, behaviour, perception, and consciousness. Understanding these processes not only offers relevant fundamental insights into brain-behavioural relations, but may also lead to actionable knowledge that can be applied in the clinical treatment of patients with various brain-related disabilities. This Handbook examines complex cognitive systems through the lens of neuroscience, as well as providing an overview of development and applications within cognitive and systems neuroscience research and beyond. Containing 35 original, state of the art contributions from leading experts in the field, this Handbook is essential reading for researchers and students of cognitive psychology, as well as scholars across the fields of neuroscientific, behavioural and health sciences. Part 1: Attention, Learning and Memory Part 2: Language and Communication Part 3: Emotion and Motivation Part 4: Social Cognition Part 5: Cognitive Control and Decision Making Part 6: Intelligence
Statistical Literacy: A Beginner′s Guide
by Rhys Christopher JonesIn an increasingly data-centric world, we all need to know how to read and interpret statistics. But where do we begin? This book breaks statistical terms and concepts down in a clear, straightforward way. From understanding what data are telling you to exploring the value of good storytelling with numbers, it equips you with the information and skills you need to become statistically literate. It also: Dispels misconceptions about the nature of statistics to help you avoid common traps. Helps you put your learning into practice with over 60 Tasks and Develop Your Skills activities. Draws on real-world research to demonstrate the messiness of data – and show you a path through it. Approachable and down to earth, this guide is aimed at undergraduates across the social sciences, psychology, business and beyond who want to engage confidently with quantitative methods or statistics. It forms a reassuring aid for anyone looking to understand the foundations of statistics before their course advances, or as a refresher on key content.
Beginning Statistics: An Introduction for Social Scientists
by Liam Foster Ian Diamond Julie BantonIn the Second Edition of this bestselling textbook, the authors use real-world examples to introduce basic principles in statistics with no prior knowledge or experience assumed. With an emphasis on describing concepts, showing through example and illustrating points with graphs and displays, this book will provide readers with a step-by-step introduction to using statistics. Chapters address the following questions: Why bother learning statistics in the first place and are they relevant to real life? How do I make sensible tables and informative graphs? What are descriptive and inferential statistics and how are they used? What are regression and correlation anyway?
Neuropath
by R. Scott BakkerTom's life is not what it once was. His marriage to the beautiful Nora is on the rocks and he now sees his two young children only on her say-so. His best friend Neil has moved to California to teach neurology. He has one success - a book on human psychology. Tom wiles away the time trying to teach bored grad students. But that all changes when Neil comes back into his life. For it seems that Tom's best friend was working for the National Security Agency, cracking the minds of suspected terrorists. Now it is Neil himself who has cracked and gone AWOL - what's more, he has left behind evidence that he has been employing his unique skills on civilians - obsessed with the idea that he can control the human brain. Thus begins a terrifying sequence of events as Neil starts to kidnap and mutilate people with a connection to Tom. He damages their brains and then releases them - often leaving them mad. But only when he gets near his ultimate target does he reveal the full horror of his plan . . . in R. Scott Bakker's Neuropath.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
The Dangerous Ladies Affair: A Carpenter And Quincannon Mystery (The Carpenter and Quincannon Mysteries #5)
by Marcia Muller Bill PronziniFor the firm of Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional Detective Services, stopping extortionists is not only grand, but excitingly lucrative. When a pleasant afternoon’s bicycling through Golden Gate Park with a friend ends with the revelation of threatening letters, followed by a gunshot in a mansion garden, Sabina Carpenter knows this is a case that demands her immediate and undivided attention. The questions her partner John Quincannon has to unravel are not difficult: Wrixton, a wealthy banker, has met his extortionist's first demand, but the order to pay another $5,000 is too much to face. The banker’s real problem is something he doesn't want to reveal. That was fine with the detective, and when he was informed that some private letters were involved and Wrixton absolutely needed them back, there was nothing more Quincannon needed in the way of background. As with so many of San Francisco’s elite, the bedroom doors never seemed to stay shut.That was the easy part; far more difficult was the matter of the dead courier, murdered most foully in a locked room within a locked room, creating a trail that will take John Quincannon through most of San Francisco’s less savory places and end with a riverboat trip that is anything but a relaxing cruise.The Dangerous Ladies Affair is the next thrilling installment in this charming historical mystery series from MWA Grand Masters Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini.The Carpenter and Quincannon Mysteries:#1 The Bughouse Affair#2 The Spook Lights Affair#3 The Body Snatchers Affair#4 The Plague of Thieves Affair#5 The Dangerous Ladies Affair#6 The Bags of Tricks AffairAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
When Good People Have Affairs: Inside the Hearts & Minds of People in Two Relationships
by Mira KirshenbaumA world-renowned therapist, Mira Kirshenbaum has treated thousands of men and women caught in the powerful drama over what to do when an affair reaches into their emotional lives. Now, in When Good People Have Affairs, Kirshenbaum puts her unsurpassed experience into one clear, calming place. She gives readers everything they need to cut through the thickets of fear, hurt and confusion to find their ways to happier, more solid relationships with the person who's right for them. For example, Kirshenbaum identifies seventeen types of affairs, helping readers figure out which type they're in and what it means. Is it a:--"See-if" affair?--Ejector-seat affair?--Distraction affair?--Unmet-needs affair?--Panic affair?Kirshenbaum encourages honest answers to such questions as:--What am I missing in my marriage?--How do I decide between two people when it's like comparing an apple to an orange?--How do I decide to end my marriage, end my affair, or end them both?She leads readers through six easy-to-navigate steps that will take anyone from anxiety to clarity. When Good People Have Affairs will be a lifeline to any man or woman who feels caught between two lovers, and its insights are indispensable to anyone else touched by an affair.
A Twisted Ladder (Devils of the Briar #1)
by Rhodi HawkPsychologist Madeleine LeBlanc has spent her whole career trying to determine the cause of her father's schizophrenia. She always felt that she could unravel its origins and cure the man who left her and her brother, Marc, to practically raise themselves on the Louisiana Bayou. But when Marc takes his own life on a fishing boat in the middle of Bayou Black, Madeleine embarks on a journey into her family history---to a time when the antebellum era was crumbling, and the line between servant and master was starting to fade. And the more she pries the more she reveals her family's dark past, rife with conjured demons and river magic gone awry. Madeleine's only hope to save herself is to face the ghosts of the past, the dangers of the present, and the twisted ladder that links them all together.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Fatal Mountaineer: The High-Altitude Life and Death of Willi Unsoeld, American Himalayan Legend
by Robert RoperRobert Roper's Fatal Mountaineer is a gripping look at Willi Unsoeld and the epic climbs that defined him--a classic narrative blending action with ethics, fame with tragedy, a man's ambition with a father's anguish.In 1963, Willi Unsoeld became an international hero for his conquest of the West Ridge of Everest. A charismatic professor of philosophy, Unsoeld was one of the greatest climbers of the twentieth century, a man whose raw physical power and casual fearlessness inspired a generation of adventurers. In 1976, during an expedition to Nanda Devi, the tallest peak in India, Unsoeld's philosophy of spiritual growth through mortal risk was tragically tested. The outcome of that expedition continues to fuel one of the most fascinating debates in mountaineering history.
You Can Trust Me: A Novel
by Sophie McKenzieFrom Sophie McKenzie, bestselling and award-winning author of Girl, Missing and Sister, MissingOn a quiet, sunny Sunday morning, Livy arrives at her best friend Julia's apartment for a lunch date only to find her dead. Though all the evidence supports it, Livy cannot accept the official ruling of suicide; the Julia she remembers was loud, inappropriate, joyful, outrageous and loving, not depressed. The suspicious circumstances cause Livy to dig further, and she is suddenly forced to confront a horrifying possibility: that Julia was murdered, by the same man who killed Livy's sister, Kara, eighteen years ago.Desperate to understand the tragedies of her past and hold her unraveling life together, Livy throws herself into the search for Kara and Julia's killer, who she now believes is someone close to her family. But if that is true, can she still trust anyone? Damien, the man Julia was secretly dating? Leo, her husband's boss and a close family friend? His son Paul, her husband's best mate since college? Or even Will, her own dear husband, who has betrayed her perhaps one time too many?And when Livy finally faces her sister's killer, and he traps her with one horrible, impossible choice, she must finally decide: is she strong enough to trust herself?Get lost in the dark, gripping pages of You Can Trust Me.
The Lost King of France: How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
by Deborah CadburyRoyalty, revolution, and scientific mystery---the dramatic true account of the fate of Louis XVII, son of Marie Antoinette, and an extraordinary detective story that spans more than two hundred years.Louis-Charles, Duc de Normandie, enjoyed a charmed early childhood in the gilded palace of Versailles. At the age of four, he became the dauphin, heir to the most powerful throne in Europe. Yet within five years he was to lose everything. Drawn into the horror of the French Revolution, his family was incarcerated and their fate thrust into the hands of the revolutionaries who wished to destroy the monarchy.In 1793, when Marie Antoinette was beheaded at the guillotine, she left her adored eight-year-old son imprisoned in the Temple Tower. Far from inheriting a throne, the orphaned boy-king had to endure the hostility and abuse of a nation. Two years later, the revolutionary leaders declared Louis XVII dead. No grave was dug, no monument built to mark his passing.Immediately, rumors spread that the prince had, in fact, escaped from prison and was still alive. Others believed that he had been murdered, his heart cut out and preserved as a relic. As with the tragedies of England's princes in the Tower and the Romanov archduchess Anastasia, countless "brothers" soon approached Louis-Charles's older sister, Marie-Therese, who survived the revolution. They claimed not only the dauphin's name, but also his inheritance. Several "princes" were plausible, but which, if any, was the real heir to the French throne?The Lost King of France is a moving and dramatic tale that interweaves a pivotal moment in France's history with a compelling detective story that involves pretenders to the crown, royalist plots and palace intrigue, bizarre legal battles, and modern science. The quest for the truth continued into the twenty-first century, when, thanks to DNA testing, the strange odyssey of a stolen heart found within the royal tombs brought an exciting conclusion to the two-hundred-year-old mystery of the lost king of France.
Case of a Lifetime: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Story
by Abbe SmithA recent study estimates that thousands of innocent people are wrongfully imprisoned each year in the United States. Some are exonerated through DNA evidence, but many more languish in prison because their convictions were based on faulty eyewitness accounts and no DNA is available. Prominent criminal lawyer and law professor Abbe Smith weaves together real life cases to show what it is like to champion the rights of the accused. Smith describes the moral and ethical dilemmas of representing the guilty and the weighty burden of fighting for the innocent, including the victorious story of how she helped free a woman wrongly imprisoned for nearly three decades.For fans of Law and Order and investigative news programs like 20/20, Case of a Lifetime is a chilling look at what really determines a person's innocence.
Iced on Aran (Dreamlands #4)
by Brian LumleyOnce David Hero was an ordinary man living in the real world. Now he is trapped in the Dreamlands, cut off from the waking world. David Hero's dreams and nightmares have become his only reality.Atop the Dreamlands' most majestic mountain is an unusual sculpture garden, featuring statues of the Dreamlands' legendary heroes. For generations insane artists have created and tended the glistening statues of ice. Each hero is represented by twin portraits--perfectly matched except for the expressions of horror frozen into one of each pair!Seated on a chilly rock, David Hero is the mad sculptor's newest subject. He sees nothing to account for the fear and dread on the icy faces that surround him. Until he attempts to rise from his pedestal--and discovers that the rock is not the only thing shrouded in ice!Trapped by black sorcery, David Hero has only one chance to escape.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Tibet Unconquered: The Epic Struggle for Independence
by Diane WolffA fabled country in the far reaches of the Himalayas, Tibet looms large in the popular imagination. The original home of the Dalai Lama, one of the great spiritual leaders of our time, Tibetan Buddhism inspires millions worldwide with the twin values of wisdom and compassion. Yet the Chinese takeover six decades ago also shows another side of Tibet—that of a passionate symbol of freedom in the face of political oppression. International sympathy has kept the Dalai Lama's appeals for autonomy on the world's political agenda, but in light of China's political and economic gains there is fear that Tibet is in danger of being forgotten by the world. As the Dalai Lama grows older, and the Chinese threaten to intervene in the selection of Tibet's next spiritual leader, many wonder if there is any hope for the Tibetan way of life, or if it is doomed to become a casualty of globalization.In Tibet Unconquered East Asia expert Diane Wolff explores the status of Tibet over eight-hundred-years of history. From the Mongol invasion, to the emergence of the Dalai Lama, Wolff investigates the history of political and economic relations between China and Tibet. Looking to the long rule of Chinggis Khan as a model, she argues, that by thinking in regional terms both countries could usher in a new era of prosperity while maintaining their historical and cultural identities. Wolff creates a forward-thinking blueprint for resolving the China and Tibet problem, grounded in the history of the region and the reality of today's political environment that, will guide both countries to peace.
The Ghost Horse: A True Story of Love, Death, and Redemption
by Joe LaydenIn The Ghost Horse, Joe Layden tells the inspiring true tale of a one-eyed, club-footed thoroughbred racehorse and a journeyman trainer, Tim Snyder, who scraped together every penny he had to purchase the broken and unwanted filly. Snyder helped the horse overcome its deficiencies, eventually naming her in part after his deceased wife, Lisa, the great and only love of his life—a bright and sweet-tempered woman whose gentle demeanor seemed eerily reflected in the horse. The trainer (and now owner) was by nature a crusty and combative sort, the yin to his wife's yang, a racetrack lifer not easily moved by new-age mysticism or sentiment. And yet in those final days back in 2003, when Lisa Snyder lay in bed, her body ravaged by cancer, she reassured her family with a weak smile. "It's okay," she'd say. "I'll see you again. I'm coming back as a horse."Tim Snyder did not then believe in reincarnation. But he acknowledged the strangeness of this journey, the series of coincidences that brought them together, and the undeniable similarities between the horse and his late wife. And so did those who knew the couple well, and who could now only marvel at the story of the filly, Lisa's Booby Trap, and the down-on-his-luck trainer who apparently had been given a new lease on life.The Ghost Horse is a powerful horseracing story of underdogs and second chances.
Korn: Life in the Pit
by Leah FurmanIn the past eight-years, the face of popular culture has changed radically and with it, the music that will define the decade. Gone are the pop saturated songs of the 70's and 80's. Today's sound is a fusion of grunge, hip-hop, metal, hardcore and funk. Disparate sounds that together create something thoroughly modern and unlike anything we've heard before. No band embodies this musical melting pot more than Korn. With their frantic, no-holds-barred image and sound, Korn has jumped musical boundaries to be both Billboard chart toppers and a band with a loyal, obsessive following. --Their debut album, "Korn" went platinum and has sold millions--"Life is Peachy" debuted at number three on the Billboard charts--Korn's latest album, "Follow the Leader" has sold over two million copies and remained on the Billboard charts for over twenty-eight weeks. Elina Furman's in-depth look at the band's meager beginings to their breakthrough success with "Follow the Leader," their current multi-platinum album is a fan's ultimate guide.
The Civilized Engineer
by Samuel C. FlormanCivil engineer Samuel C. Florman's The Civilized Engineer is aimed at both those observing and commenting externally on engineering, and the practicing engineer—to reveal something of the art behind great engineering achievements, and to stimulate debate upon the author's hypothesis that "in its moment of ascendance, engineering is faced with the trivialization of its purpose and the debasement of its practice."
Emerald Magic: Great Tales of Irish Fantasy
by Ray Bradbury Jacqueline Carey Cecilia Dart-ThorntonMythology and magic come alive in this collection of Irish fantasy stories by some of today's finest authors.Ireland is a nation that holds fast to its history and heritage, and nowhere is that more true than in its folktales and legends. From the great Celtic myths featuring the bard Taliesin, the terrible Morrigan, the heroic Cuchulain, or the noble and cunning Sidhe to strange and mysterious tales of today, the stories and traditions of the Emerald Isle hold a strong attraction for many. Stories are told in cottage hearths from Galway to Dublin, and from the windblown rocky Cliffs of Mohr to the seaside villages where fishing boats still roam the oceans. Tall tales and town stories are as much a way of life as a pint and good conversation at the local pub.Emerald Magic brings together today's best fantasy authors to explore the myths of the Irish, telling their own versions of these ancient tales of luck, love, and honor, or drawing upon centuries of Irish myths and folktales and updating them into brand-new stories. Edited and with an introduction by bestselling author Father Andrew M. Greeley, Emerald Magic contains fourteen wonderful stories of legend and lore, including:"A Woman Is a Fast Moving Picnic" by Ray Bradbury. A group of pub regulars set out to discover the truth behind a local song and answer that age-old question: Just how fast does a person sink in a bog?"The Isle of Women" by Jacqueline Carey. In an age long ago, a warrior sailing for vengeance happens upon an island ruled by a woman like no other. But if he is to continue his quest, he must choose between her and his duty. "Speir-Bhan" by Tanith Lee. A woman who finds and reads her grandfather's diary unleashes the specter of an old debt that, even in today's modern age, must be paid---one way or the other."A Drop of Something Special in the Blood" by Fred Saberhagen. In the late eighteenth century, an Irish author encounters a being that he will turn into his greatest literary creation."The Cat with No Name" by Morgan Llywelyn. A lonely girl neglected by her parents finds an unexpected friend in the alley behind her home---one that may be more than it first seems."The Butter-Spirit's Tithe" by Charles de Lint. Even in twenty-first-century America, it is still not wise to anger the spirits of the world, as a young musician discovers when a butter-spirit who had cursed him nine years earlier comes to claim his soul. "Land of Heart's Desire" by Elizabeth Haydon. A young man discovers the magical truth about his parents' marriage, and sets a chain of events in motion that will force him to choose between the life he has always known---and another life he could have."The Swan Pilot" by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. In the far future, spaceship pilots travel through interdimensional portals from planet to planet---and the only thing more important than knowing how to fly is knowing how to handle the strange hallucinations that appear during the journey.Filled with the spirit and magic of the stories of Ireland, Emerald Magic is a collection of fantasy stories that will delight and captivate from the first page to the last. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
The Pirate Hunters (Pirate Hunters Ser. #1)
by Mack MaloneyThe pirate brandished an AK-47 And his band of desperate thieves and cutthroats is ready to take down a cargo ship containing a fortune in expensive cars . . . and a hundred fortunes in heroin and black market weapons. Zeke Kurjan has done this before, terrorizing the Somali coast, ransoming the crews and contents of ships for millions of dollars. But now they have to contend with Team Whiskey, a hard-bitten cadre of ex-Delta Force vets whose leader, Phil "Snake" Nolan, was given a dishonorable discharge for pursuing Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora. They might not be U.S. warfighters anymore, but Team Whiskey still cares about freedom and protecting the innocent. And they've got the know-how and the weapons to fight these pirate scum. Team Whiskey has the pirates in their sights, but their foes, fueled by greed and revenge, are hellbent on their own deadly mission. Whiskey's in for a hell of a fight on the high seas! At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
A Scourge of Vipers: A Mulligan Novel (Liam Mulligan #4)
by Bruce DeSilvaBruce DeSilva's A Scourge of Vipers is at once a suspenseful crime story and a serious exploration of the hypocrisy surrounding sports gambling and the corrupting influence of big money on politics.To solve Rhode Island's budget crisis, the state's colorful governor, Attila the Nun, wants to legalize sports gambling; but her plan has unexpected consequences. Organized crime, professional sports leagues, and others who have a lot to lose—or gain—if gambling is made legal flood the state with money to buy the votes of state legislators.Liam Mulligan, investigative reporter for The Providence Dispatch, wants to investigate, but his bottom-feeding corporate bosses at the dying newspaper have no interest in serious reporting. So Mulligan goes rogue, digging into the story on his own time. When a powerful state legislator turns up dead, an out-of-state bag man gets shot, and his cash-stuffed briefcase goes missing, Mulligan finds himself the target of shadowy forces who seek to derail his investigation by destroying his career, his reputation, and perhaps even his life.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
The Principal Cause of Death: A Mystery (Tom & Scott Mysteries #4)
by Mark Richard ZubroThe Principal Cause of Death is the next entry in Mark Richard Zubro's Tom and Scott series. When gay high School teacher Tom Mason is accused of murdering the school principal, Tom and his partner, Scott Carpenter, need to catch the real murderer and clear Tom's name.Kirkus Reviews raves, "The school politics are dead-on" in this fourth installment in Zubro's Lamda Literary Award-winning series.