Download or read book A Decadent Way To Die written by G. A. McKevett and published by Kensington Publishing Corp.. This book was released on 2011-10-24 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A plus-sized PI isn’t playing around when a doll creator is murdered in this cozy mystery by the acclaimed author of Wicked Craving. An ex-cop turned private detective, Savannah Reid prides herself on cracking even the toughest cases. But her latest investigation is leaving her hungry for answers as she tries to unmask the identity of a cunning, would-be killer. His prey? Legendary designer Helene Strauss, creator of the world-famous Helene doll. While Helene’s brassy, take-no-prisoners style made her a huge success, it also made her quite a few enemies. Before long, Savannah is sure she has a handle on the case. But when two key players turn up dead in Helene’s sizzling hot Jacuzzi, Savannah will have to start from scratch—and question everything she thought she knew about the Strausses’ twisted family tree . . . Praise for A Decadent Way to Die: “Superb.” —Publishers Weekly,starred review “McKevett serves up plenty of action.” —Kirkus “Fans of Diane Mott Davidson will appreciate this one.” —Library Journal

Download or read book The Likely World written by Melanie Conroy-Goldman and published by Red Hen Press. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 549 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[T]hemes of motherhood, love, and addiction collide in heartbreaking and dangerous ways” in this provocative and fascinating debut novel (Publishers Weekly). After twenty years of addiction to cloud, a drug which wipes the user’s short-term memory, Mellie’s mind is a messy collection of fragments. Now a single mother, she has decided to get clean with the help of a tough-minded sponsor. She desperately clings to her fragile sobriety, but on the evening of her twenty-ninth day sober, a stranger pulls into Mellie’s driveway—and her heart surges. To protect her new life and her two-year-old daughter, Mellie must now piece together the shards of her traumatic past. Shifting between 1988 and 2010, Melanie Conroy-Goldman’s debut novel is “bizarre and beautiful, equal parts brainy lit and gut-bucket pulp” (Mary Gaitskill, author of Bad Behavior).

Download or read book Life Underground written by Terry Williams and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2024-02-06 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aboveground, Manhattan’s Riverside Park provides open space for the densely populated Upper West Side. Beneath its surface run railroad tunnels, disused for decades, where over the years unhoused people have taken shelter. The sociologist Terry Williams ventured into the tunnel residents’ world, seeking to understand life on the margins and out of sight. He visited the tunnels between West Seventy-Second and West Ninety-Sixth Streets hundreds of times from 1991 to 1996, when authorities cleared them out to make way for Amtrak passenger service, and again between 2000 and 2020. Life Underground explores this society below the surface and the varieties of experience among unhoused people. Bringing together anecdotal material, field observations, photographs, transcribed conversations with residents, and excerpts from personal journals, Williams provides a vivid ethnographic portrait of individual people, day-to-day activities, and the social world of the underground and their engagement with the world above, which they call “topside.” He shows how marginalized people strive to make a place for themselves amid neglect and isolation as they struggle for dignity. Featuring Williams’s distinctive ethnographic eye and deep empathy for those on the margins, Life Underground shines a unique light on a vanished subterranean community.

Download or read book The Art of Dumpster Diving written by Jennifer Anne Moses and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sixteen-year-old James and his little brother, Danny, live in Crystal Springs, Louisiana, with their grandmother, mother, and first cousin, Lila. The family is working class, proud, strict, and church-going. When a big, clumsy boy named Gabriel moves up the street with his minuscule and mysterious “auntie,” James has a new friend who he loves and hates in equal measure. When Grandma dies and Lila runs away, James and Danny’s mother struggles to make things work, but something’s wrong, so wrong that one awful day, James finds his mother lying in her bed, dead. Panicked, he runs to the only person he can think of, his friend Gabriel. Gabriel insists that if the authorities know that there are no adults at home, they’ll send James and Danny away to foster care or worse, and ends up convincing James that the only way to maintain any kind of decent life for himself and his little brother is to carry on as if things are normal. The boys bury the body under an abandoned house, and, as James tries to make ends meet (procuring food from dumpsters) things become increasingly desperate. It’s Gabriel who comes up with a “master plan” to find a woman who looks enough like the boys’ mother that she can pass for her---and get money out of the bank. They recruit Lucetta from a soup kitchen, and she moves in. For a while, things begin to look up---and then they fall apart completely. But in the process of losing everything, James and his brother Danny gain a new family, one based on grit, faith and hope.

Download or read book Wolf is a Four letter Word written by Carrie Newberry and published by EDGE-Lite. This book was released on 2022-08-08 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For an immortal, life is eternally complicated. Kellan Faolanni, half-wolf shapeshifter, is a member of a secret society called the Sankhain. When a man is killed by what appears to be a wolf pack, the Sankhain fear this murder may be directed at Kellan, the only shapeshifter in town. The killer is protected, though, by someone high up in the faery court. Kellan is forbidden from killing him. But how can she make this dangerous man stop killing without taking his life? Avoiding a fight might cost her everything, including her sanity.

Download or read book Who Glares Wins written by Camilla Chafer and published by Audacious. This book was released on 2012-07-31 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Only a few weeks into her new job as a private investigator, Lexi Graves thinks she may have bitten off more than she can chew with her first solo cases. In between going undercover as a plush pony at a “Bronie” conference and following her cheating brother-in-law, she’s got a saboteur-turned-killer to catch and a missing woman to find. Two of her cases may be connected, but how? There’s no short list of suspects to investigate, but the closer Lexi gets to the killer, the more her life is put in jeopardy. Trying to avoid being framed for a murder she didn’t commit, Lexi knows her luck is running out. To make matters worse, her boyfriend, sexy detective, Adam Maddox, thinks she’s out of the PI game faster than she got into it. Her boss, the mysterious Solomon, meanwhile, hopes to get her between the sheets by night, as well as solving cases by day, and Lexi’s "just say no" resolve might not be as fortified as she believes. All she wants is to be taken seriously and there’s only one way she can do that—solve the cases, no matter what.

Download or read book Blue Eyed Devil written by Michael Muhammad Knight and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2009-03-25 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Muhammad Knight embarks on a quest for an indigenous American Islam in a series of interstate odysseys. Traveling 20,000 miles by Greyhound in sixty days, he squats in run-down mosques, pursues Muslim romance, is detained at the U.S.-Canadian border with a trunkload of Shia literature, crashes Islamic Society of North America conventions, stink-palms Cat Stevens, and limps across Chicago to find the grave of Noble Drew Ali, filling dozens of notebooks along the way. The result is this semi-autobiographical book, with multiple histories of Fard and the landscape of American Islam woven into Knight’s own story. In the course of his adventures, Knight sorts out his own relationship to Islam as he journeys from punk provocateur to a recognized voice in the community, and watches first-hand the collapse of a liberal Islamic dream. The book’s extensive cast of characters includes anarchist Sufi heretics, vegan kungfu punks, tattoo-sleeved converts in hard-core bands, spiritual drug dealers, Islamic feminists, slick media entrepreneurs, sages of the street, the grandsons of Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X, and a group called Muslims for Bush.

Download or read book The World Atlas of Coffee written by James Hoffmann and published by Mitchell Beazley. This book was released on 2018-10-04 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The worldwide bestseller - 1/3 million copies sold 'With his expert guidance we travel around the globe, from Burundi to Honduras via Vietnam, sipping and spitting as we go. This is high geekery made palatable by the evident love pulsing through every sentence.' - The Guardian 'The subject of coffee has never been more, er, hot, and The World Atlas of Coffee takes a close look at its history and evolution, the international range of beans and all the best ways to enjoy coffee. Great pics too.' - Susy Atkins, The Telegraph For everyone who wants to understand more about coffee and its wonderful nuances and possibilities, this is the book to have. Coffee has never been better, or more interesting, than it is today. Coffee producers have access to more varieties and techniques than ever before and we, as consumers, can share in that expertise to make sure the coffee we drink is the best we can find. Where coffee comes from, how it was harvested, the roasting process and the water used to make the brew are just a few of the factors that influence the taste of what we drink. Champion barista and coffee expert James Hoffmann examines these key factors, looking at varieties of coffee, the influence of terroir, how it is harvested and processed, the roasting methods used, through to the way in which the beans are brewed. Country by country - from Bolivia to Zambia - he then identifies key characteristics and the methods that determine the quality of that country's output. Along the way we learn about everything from the development of the espresso machine, to why strength guides on supermarket coffee are really not good news. This is the first book to chart the coffee production of over 35 countries, encompassing knowledge never previously published outside the coffee industry.

Download or read book Hack the Cybersecurity Interview written by Christophe Foulon and published by Packt Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2024-08-30 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uncover the secrets to acing interviews, decode the diverse roles in cybersecurity, and soar to new heights with expert advice Key Features Confidently handle technical and soft skill questions across various cybersecurity roles Prepare for Cybersecurity Engineer, penetration tester, malware analyst, digital forensics analyst, CISO, and more roles Unlock secrets to acing interviews across various cybersecurity roles Book DescriptionThe cybersecurity field is evolving rapidly, and so are the interviews for cybersecurity roles. Hack the Cybersecurity Interview, Second Edition, is the essential guide for anyone aiming to navigate this changing landscape. This edition, updated and expanded, addresses how to fi nd cybersecurity jobs in tough job markets and expands upon the original cybersecurity career paths. It offers invaluable insights into various cybersecurity roles, such as cybersecurity engineer, penetration tester, cybersecurity product manager, and cybersecurity project manager, focusing on succeeding in interviews. This book stands out with its real-world approach, expert insights, and practical tips. It's not just a preparation guide; it's your key to unlocking success in the highly competitive field of cybersecurity. By the end of this book, you will be able to answer behavioural and technical questions and effectively demonstrate your cybersecurity knowledge.What you will learn Master techniques to answer technical and behavioural questions and effectively demonstrate your cybersecurity knowledge Gain insights into the evolving role of cybersecurity and its impact on job interviews Develop essential soft skills, like stress management and negotiation, crucial for landing your dream job Grasp key cybersecurity-role-based questions and their answers Discover the latest industry trends, salary information, and certification requirements Learn how to fi nd cybersecurity jobs even in tough job markets Who this book is for This book is a must-have for college students, aspiring cybersecurity professionals, computer and software engineers, and anyone preparing for a cybersecurity job interview. It's equally valuable for those new to the field and experienced professionals aiming for career advancement.

Download or read book Don t Go written by Beverley Bateman and published by Beverley Bateman. This book was released on 2014-10-18 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Detective and a member of Crimes Against Children, Samantha Brennan is a dedicated to finding pedophiles who stalk their teenage victims online. Raped as a child Sam has always blamed her parents for not protecting her. Even with counseling, she’s been unable to move past her experience. The emotional scars have left her hating to be physically touched by anyone. It's also prevented her from forming any relationships with men--until now. She’s a strong, dedicated detective whose specialty is the internet chatrooms and stopping young girls from becoming potential rape victims. She works to prevent them from going through the same trauma she’s still struggling with. Reno Police Department Lieutenant Devlin O’Reilly is a loose canon who works alone. Devlin is a renegade cop who prefers to work undercover and catch bad guys. A gun in the perp’s mouth gives him a real rush. For several years previously he worked in the missing children division but his attitude irritated parents, and he also burned out because they seldom found the children alive. Off duty he likes to drink and pick up surgically enhanced, brainless bimbos, so he’s always in control. A relationship to him is a long weekend. This cavalier attitude toward women results from a bad marriage when he first became a cop. The woman lied and said she was pregnant. After the marriage, she said she lost the baby. When she realized that a cop didn’t make that much money, she cheated on Devlin, sometimes with other cops in his division. This embarrassed him in front of his peers. When she found a sugar daddy she walked out on him. Devlin blames himself for his marriage failure and has vowed never to let any woman do that to him again. He wants respect from his buddies and recognition for the work he does and the perps he takes off the street. But what he doesn’t realize is his cavalier, work alone, attitude works against this. It prevents him from advancing his career. Forced to work together when a fourteen year old girl leaves home to meet a ‘boy’ from a chatroom, Sam and Devlin have to overcome many of their personal feelings. They both know that the girl is not going to find a peer who understands her, but a man who will terrorize and rape her. As Sam and Devlin gather information, sift and sort through it, they come to the realization that this is not the first time this pedophile has lured a young girl to meet him. Devlin pulls statistics from five years back. The information indicates a pattern that shows the internet pedophile has been doing this for several years and in different locations. He finds his victims online, meets them and disposes of them. They never return home and bodies are never found. It's looking like he might not be just a pedophile, but a serial killer. Sam and Devlin work to figure out how to outsmart a pedophile and possible serial killer, but he’s always one step ahead of them. They work his profile, to try and catch him before he finds, rapes and kills his next victim. Devlin hasn’t has time to take a drink since the case started and his skills are becoming sharper, so is his interest in Sam. He finds he is working well with her. She works hard and shares information easily. Plus, she's very sexy and becoming more approachable. Sam is learning to trust Devlin. She’s becoming more comfortable with being touched. She’s also more open to other people and physical contact. Sam wonders if the professional relationship with Devlin might become something more after the case is over. They follow the killers trail to Sacramento and work with the local police. Just when they think they have the pedophile--it turns out the killer has set up another man to take the fall. He’s still one step ahead of them and there’s another girl in danger. Will they catch him in time? Is there a future for Sam and Dev?

Download or read book Blink of an Eye written by Roy Johansen and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A #1 New York Times bestselling author and an Edgar Award winner team up to deliver this gripping new novel featuring investigator Kendra Michaels—whose observational skills are worthy of a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. Delilah Winter is one of the hottest pop stars on the planet, so how in the world was she kidnapped right in the middle of a show at the famous Hollywood Bowl? If anyone can figure it out, it's Dr. Kendra Michaels, who works with local and federal authorities on only the most impossible cases. Blind for the first twenty years of her life until a revolutionary surgical procedure allowed her to regain her sight, Kendra uses her powers of observation—honed during her years in the dark—to detect what other investigators don't. She agrees to lead the race to rescue the young singer before time runs out. Joined by Jessie Mercado, the singer's former bodyguard and a military hero, Kendra closes in on the hideout location but not before casualties mount up. Desperate for leads, Kendra must set aside her personal feelings when agent-for-hire Adam Lynch also volunteers his special skills to aid in the search. But as the abductor's true purpose becomes clear, the trio uncover a plot they never could have imagined—leading to a showdown they won't soon forget.

Download or read book Diving Belles written by Lucy Wood and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2012 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This whimsical and spellbinding debut collection of stories creates fresh and contemporary tales of how magic and myth work in our everyday lives, as it mines the rich folklore and history of Cornwall.

Download or read book The Shambling Guide to New York City written by Mur Lafferty and published by Hachette+ORM. This book was released on 2013-05-28 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A travel writer takes a job with a shady publishing company in New York, only to find that she must write a guide to the city -- for the undead! Because of the disaster that was her last job, Zoe is searching for a fresh start as a travel book editor in the tourist-centric New York City. After stumbling across a seemingly perfect position though, Zoe is blocked at every turn because of the one thing she can't take off her resume -- human. Not to be put off by anything -- especially not her blood drinking boss or death goddess coworker -- Zoe delves deep into the monster world. But her job turns deadly when the careful balance between human and monsters starts to crumble -- with Zoe right in the middle.

Download or read book Life in the Hollywood Lane written by Ann Crawford and published by Bublish, Inc.. This book was released on 2018-07-31 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quirky, heart-opening, funny, poignant, up, down, and everywhere in between--that's life and that's Life in the Hollywood Lane. Trish, an LA actor, is bereft with guilt after her best friend commits suicide. Glamorous yet tough-as-nails Hollywood is Trish's backdrop and a reflection of her life as she stumbles on through an actor's life of casting calls and premieres, rejection and acceptance. Slowly Trish releases the idea of how her life should be and embraces the messy, flawed, yet stunningly beautiful truth of how it is. Trish's humorous resilience and acceptance lead to transformation, surrender, and ultimately love. Author Ann Crawford's trademark optimism for life and love shine through in this inspiring story that reminds us all that no matter what the question, love is always the answer. Life in the Hollywood Lane is chockablock with LOL and aha moments. Also, know any folks who've been chasing a long-held dream? Do them a favor and gift them this book!

Download or read book As Waters Gone By written by Cynthia Ruchti and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Emmalyn Ross never thought a person could feel this alone. Sustaining a marriage with a man who's not by her side is no easy task, especially since her husband currently resides behind impenetrable prison walls. His actions stole her heart's desire and gave their relationship a court-mandated five-year time-out. What didn't fall apart that night fell apart in the intervening years. Now, on a self-imposed exile to Madeline Island—one of the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior—Emmalyn starts rehabbing an old hunting cottage they'd purchased when life made sense. Restoring it may put a roof over her head, but a home needs more than a roof and walls, just as a marriage needs more than vows and a license. With only a handful of months before her husband is released, Emmalyn must figure out if and how they can ever be a couple again. And his silence isn't helping.

Download or read book The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap written by Wendy Welch and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2012-10-02 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An inspiring true story about losing your place, finding your purpose, and building a community one book at a time. Wendy Welch and her husband had always dreamed of owning a bookstore, so when they left their high-octane jobs for a simpler life in an Appalachian coal town, they seized an unexpected opportunity to pursue thier dream. The only problems? A declining U.S. economy, a small town with no industry, and the advent of the e-book. They also had no idea how to run a bookstore. Against all odds, but with optimism, the help of their Virginian mountain community, and an abiding love for books, they succeeded in establishing more than a thriving business - they built a community. The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap is the little bookstore that could: how two people, two cats, two dogs, and thirty-eight thousand books helped a small town find its heart. It is a story about people and books, and how together they create community.

Download or read book Love Her Well written by Kari Kampakis and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2020-08-18 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now an ECPA Best Seller—Kari Kampakis's Love Her Well gives moms ten practical tips for how to build strong and lasting relationships with their daughters. For many women, having a baby girl is a dream come true. But as girls grow up, the narrative of innocence and joy changes to one of dread as moms are told, "Just wait until she's a teenager!" and handed a disheartening and too-often-true script about a daughter's teenage season of life. Author, blogger, and mom to four daughters Kari Kampakis thinks it's time to change the narrative and mind-set that leads moms to parent teen girls with a spirit of defeat instead of strength. Love Her Well isn't a guide to help mothers "fix" their daughters or make them behave. It's about a mom's journey, doing the heart-work necessary to love a teenager while still being a steady, supportive parent. Kari offers wisdom about how moms can: Choose their words and timing carefully. Listen and empathize with her teen's world. See the good, and love her for who she is. Take care of themselves and find a support system in the process. By working on the foundation, habits, and dynamics of the relationship; mothers can connect with their teen daughters and earn a voice in their lives that allows moms to offer guidance, love, wisdom, and emotional support. Kari gives mothers hope, wisdom, and a reminder that all things are possible through God, who is the source of the guidance and clarity they need in order to grow strong relationships with their daughters at every age—especially during the critical teen years.