Download or read book The Scent of Scandal written by Craig Pittman and published by Florida History and Culture. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2012 Florida Book Awards, Silver Medal for Florida Non-Fiction "FANTASTIC. If I did not know most of the main players I would have thought the author had a vivid and twisted imagination."--Paul Martin Brown, author of Wild Orchids of Florida "A fascinating true story of obsession, greed, and lust for the unobtainable. Reminds me a great deal of The Maltese Falcon. This rare flower is definitely the stuff that dreams are made of."--Ace Atkins, author of Devil's Garden and Infamous "Pittman has captured the extreme competition, unique characters, and general insanity that often typify the orchid world. The Scent of Scandal exemplifies how passion and profit can overrule common sense and the law."--Scott Steward, former associate editor, North American Native Orchid Journal After its Peruvian discovery in 2002, Phragmipedium kovachii became the rarest and most sought-after orchid in the world. Prices soared to $10,000 on the black market. Then one showed up at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, where every year more than 100,000 people visit. They come for the lush landscape on Sarasota Bay and for Selby's vast orchid collection, one of the most magnificent in the world. The collision between Selby's scientists and the smugglers of Phrag. Kovachii, a rare ladyslipper orchid hailed as the most significant and beautiful new species discovered in a century, led to search warrants, a grand jury investigation, and criminal charges. It made headlines around the country, cost the gardens hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, and led to tremendous internal turmoil. Investigative journalist Craig Pittman unravels this tangled web to shine a spotlight on flaws in the international treaties governing trade in endangered wildlife--which may protect individual plants and animals in shipping but do little to halt the destruction of whole colonies in the wild. The Scent of Scandal unspools like a riveting mystery novel, stranger than anything in Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief or the film Adaptation. Pittman shows how some people can become so obsessed--with beauty, with profit, with fame--that they will ignore everything, even the law.

Download or read book Scent of Magic written by Maria V. Snyder and published by MIRA. This book was released on 2018-04-16 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A magic healer must stop a villainous king and his army of undead soldiers in this fantasy adventure by the bestselling author of Touch of Power. As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomaniacal King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confidant, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle. Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet: an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat. War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible . . . again. Originally published in 2013 Praise for Touch of Power “Filled with Snyder’s trademark sarcastic humor, fast-paced action and creepy villainy . . . a spellbinding romantic adventure that will leave readers salivating for the next book in the series.” —USA Today

Download or read book He Is Watching written by Denise Carbo and published by The Wild Rose Press Inc. This book was released on 2020-05-13 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stalked and on the run, Julie Roy's life is in shambles. An unexpected detour in a quiet Vermont town ignites a surprising and romantic spark with the local furniture maker. Joe Bascomb's skill of knowing when to be patient is put to the test when he meets Julie. Her kindness is a gift, yet he senses she is hiding from something or someone. When Julie's determined stalker comes to town, she is ready to pull up stakes—despite her desire to stay. Joe realizes he will have to break down her fear as well as the walls around her tender heart. Can he keep her from running again in order to give their love a chance?

Download or read book GREATER THAN THE SUM TOTAL written by DC Doyle and published by Dorrance Publishing. This book was released on 2014-07-07 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Morgan Russell, Sienna Borden, and Lenore Huston almost always see each other in the infusion lab of the Oncology Department of The Center. All three are being treated by Dr. Lucille Peyton, a hardworking, dedicated physician and friend. All of them are battling one common enemy: cancer. While life itself is a constant challenge in the course of their treatment, The Center is undergoing rapid changes under new management that are determined to keep the hospital from bankruptcy. Dr. Jerry Cherry, an accountant, currently heads the board of directors. His resolve to downsize the hospital staff and departments for financial stability clashes with the doctors’ ethos and primary duty: the treatment of patients to the best of their abilities. For unknown reasons, the Oncology Department seems to be the hardest hit by layoffs, and Dr. Peyton becomes the recipient of charges for company violations that threaten to end her career as physician forever.

Download or read book F O R B U S written by Daniel Shawley and published by Page Publishing Inc. This book was released on 2021-12-08 with total page 800 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kass is truly on the brink of madness now; she can feel it taking control. She screams as loud as she possibly can, “What do you want from me?” Something touches her ankle, and she shrieks and pulls her leg away. She looks down, or at least what she feels is down. She sees her feet dangling in the black nothingness, and that rush of vertigo hits her once again. She can’t see anything except her own extremities. She is touched again, this time on her right arm. Again, she can see nothing. She feels hot breath on her nape. Her nostrils are infiltrated with that pungent odor of dead, rotting meat. It is the smell of the thing that visited her in that small bedroom in the cabin in the woods. She whirls around—nothing is there. Kass begins to cry out from all the fright that engulfs all her senses. The light above her winks out. Total blackness befalls her. The darkness breathes in, and it breathes out.

Download or read book The Last Magician written by Lisa Maxwell and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-07-18 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An instant New York Times bestseller! “Will keep you guessing until the last page.” —Cinda Williams Chima, New York Times bestselling author A girl travels back in time to find a mysterious book that could save her future in Lisa Maxwell’s “splendid series opener” (Kirkus Reviews). Stop the Magician. Steal the book. Save the future. In modern-day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives. Esta is a talented thief, and she's been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. With her innate ability to manipulate time, Esta can pilfer from the past, collecting these artifacts before the Order even realizes she’s there. And all of Esta’s training has been for one final job: traveling back to 1902 to steal an ancient book containing the secrets of the Order—and the Brink—before the Magician can destroy it and doom the Mageus to a hopeless future. But Old New York is a dangerous world ruled by ruthless gangs and secret societies, a world where the very air crackles with magic. Nothing is as it seems, including the Magician himself. And for Esta to save her future, she may have to betray everyone in the past.

Download or read book An Element of Chance written by David Donachie and published by Allison & Busby. This book was released on 2015-12-17 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fourth voyage into print for Harry and James Ludlow. Captain Toner illegally forces Harry's crew to work on his own frigate. Vowing revenge and determined to retrieve his crew, Harry pursues Toner to the West Indies where he is thrown into a maelstrom of piracy, lies, murder and corruption.

Download or read book Wicked Women written by Fay Weldon and published by Atlantic Monthly Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In these 20 madcap tales, readers enter Weldon's world, peopled with therapists who blithely destroy marriages, husbands and lovers whose greatest cruelty is their indifference, and clever women navigating the perils and pitfalls of domesticity.

Download or read book Black Panther Vol 4 written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and published by Marvel Entertainment. This book was released on 2022-03-23 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collects Black Panther (2018) #13-25. The shocking end of Ta-Nehisi Coates' Black Panther saga! Has T'Challa learned what it means to be king just in time to lose his kingdom? Weeks ago, the Black Panther disappeared on a deep space mission, leaving behind his country, his family and the woman he loves. Now find out what Wakanda Prime has done without its king - just as T'Challa reaches out for the life he left behind! Can he truly rid himself of the Intergalactic Empire and its despotic ruler N'Jadaka - or will he only lead them straight to Earth? As the big finish approaches, the nation of Wakanda must go to war against its own future! This is the story of a king who sought to be a hero, a hero reduced to a slave - and a slave who advanced into legend!

Download or read book Bound Souls The Beginning written by Joshua Ryan Donley and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-10-09 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the beginning of time, each soul that has walked the earth was bound to its mate. However, as the years went on, an evil named Samiel appeared. Samiel has severed every pair of bound souls but one. With each new pair of severed bound souls, the world became weaker and more undestined. Once the last pair of bound souls is severed, Samiel will rule the world. If Samiel succeeds, the world will become a hellish place, ran by the evilest of evil. The only thing standing in Samiel's way, is the last and strongest pair of bound souls, Katherine Campbell and Jacob Jefferson. It all comes down to one final battle. Will the world perish into forever darkness, ruled by Samiel or will the world be saved and all lost connections between all bound souls be restored, by Katherine and Jacob completing their goal or will Samiel finally complete his goal of world domination?

Download or read book Gods of Deception written by David Adams Cleveland and published by Greenleaf Book Group. This book was released on 2022-05-17 with total page 1235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At age ninety-five, Judge Edward Dimock, patriarch of his family and the man who defended accused Soviet spy Alger Hiss in the famous 1950 Cold War “trial of the century,” is writing his memoir at his fabled Catskill retreat, Hermitage, with its glorious Italian Renaissance ceiling. Judge Dimock is consumed with doubts about the troubling secrets he’s kept to himself for over fifty years—secrets that might change both American history and the lives of his entire family. Was his client guilty of spying for Stalin or not? And if guilty, did Hiss’s crimes go far beyond his perjury conviction—a verdict that divided the country for a generation? ​Dimock enlists his grandson, George Altmann, a brilliant Princeton astrophysicist, in the quest for truth. Reluctantly, George finds himself drawn into the web of deceit that has ravaged his family, his curiosity sparked by a string of clues found in the Judge’s unpublished memoir and in nine pencil sketches of accused Soviet agents pinned to an old corkboard in his grandfather’s abandoned office. Even more dismaying, the drawings are by George’s paternal grandfather and namesake, a once-famous painter who covered the Hiss trial as a courtroom artist for the Herald Tribune, only to die in uncertain circumstances in a fall from Woodstock’s Fishkill Bridge on Christmas Eve 1949. Many of the suspected spies also died from ambiguous falls (a KGB specialty) or disappeared behind the Iron Curtain—and were conveniently unable to testify in the Hiss trial. George begins to realize the immensity of what is at stake: deceptive entanglements that will indeed alter the accepted history of the Cold War—and how he understands his own unhappy Woodstock childhood, growing up in the shadow of a rumored suicide and the infidelities of an alcoholic father, a roadie with The Band. In Gods of Deception, acclaimed novelist David Adams Cleveland has created a multiverse all its own: a thrilling tale of espionage, a family saga, a stirring love story, and a meditation on time and memory, astrophysics and art, taking the reader on an unforgettable journey into the troubled human heart as well as the past—a past that is ever present, where the gods of deception await our distant call.

Download or read book The Secret of Chanel No 5 written by Tilar J. Mazzeo and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-09-06 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With its rich golden hue, art deco–inspired bottle, and timeless, musky scent, Chanel No. 5 is the world’s bestselling perfume and arguably the most coveted luxury product of the twentieth century. In The Secret of Chanel No. 5, Tilar J. Mazzeo offers a fascinating account of No. 5’s creation, its rise to iconic status, and the legacy of its extraordinary success. Mazzeo delves deeply into the life of Coco Chanel, the brilliant, controversial, and steel-willed businesswoman at the heart of the fragrance. She walks the rose plantations and jasmine fields where the perfume’s life begins, and travels to 31 Rue Cambon, the center of the Chanel empire. A blend of evocative history and thoughtful research, here is a glittering account of where art and sensuality mingle with dazzling entrepreneurship and desire: Chanel No. 5.

Download or read book Rules of Betrayal written by Christopher Reich and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2010-07-13 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most riveting novel yet in Christopher Reich’s New York Times bestselling series—featuring Dr. Jonathan Ransom and his undercover-agent wife Emma, a dangerous woman with a mysterious past who has gone rogue in the high-stakes, serpentine world of international spies. In 1980, a secret American B-52 crashes high in a remote mountain range on the Pakistan–Afghanistan border. Nearly thirty years later, and spanning locales from those peaks to New York City, a terrible truth will be revealed. Jonathan Ransom returns as the resourceful doctor thrown into a shadowy world of double and triple agents where absolutely no one can be trusted. To stay alive, Ransom must unravel the mystery surrounding his wife—an enigmatic and lethal spy who plays by her own rules—and discover where her loyalties truly lie. Rules of Betrayal is a masterfully plotted novel that cements Christopher Reich’s reputation as one of the most admired espionage thriller writers today.

Download or read book Undying Love written by Angeless Watkins-Gallar and published by AngelWolf Publications. This book was released on 2024-06-14 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Angeless began his journey in a small town in Wiltshire after his parents needed to move for his father’s work. It was there that he spent his formative years, navigating the challenges of dyslexia, which, rather than serving as a hindrance, fuelled his vivid imagination, allowing him to find solace in looking beyond the written words, enabled him to delve into the intricacies of characters, feeling their emotions, and immersing in their stories. Despite the hurdles posed by dyslexia in expressing himself through writing, Angeless discovered alternative outlets such as art to convey his thoughts and emotions. This creative exploration laid the foundation for a unique perspective that would later shape his approach to storytelling. After two decades in the fast-paced realm of Information Technology, it was a pivotal moment in 2019 that prompted a significant shift in his mindset. Seeking a deeper connection with others and inspired by a desire to contribute positively to mental health, he embarked on a journey of self-discovery and education. Studying Mental Health and Wellbeing courses became a transformative experience, leading him to attain qualifications in Mental Health and counselling. The realisation that his life skills and newfound knowledge could help to help others prompted the decision to further his training as a humanistic life coach. Armed with a combination of personal experiences and professional training, Angeless soon made a meaningful impact on the lives of those seeking guidance. However, this marked the start of a new chapter in his life. Angeless delved into the world of fairy tales, found himself compelled to explore the hidden depths beyond the surface narrative. The result is his debut work, " (Whispers of the Enchanted Dark: The Dark Secrets of Fairy Tales)," a venture into the mystical and often overlooked aspects of these timeless stories. And now, fully embracing his dyslexia rather than it serving him as a hinderance, it has allowed him to write and continue to write and to form characters with a deep and meaningful passion.

Download or read book The Betrayal written by Kevin Ryan and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-02-19 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imprisoned at Julian Vanes headquarters, Tom, Mitch, and Laura are rescued by Mr. Chance and his ally, a Black Ninja. Unfortunately, someone has activated the islands self-destruct function, and the gang has only one hour to rescue Vanes other captives and escape. Illustrations. 8-page full-color insert.

Download or read book Scent Of A Man written by Maree Anderson and published by Maree Anderson. This book was released on 2020-07-13 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The one woman who can resist him is the only woman he’s ever wanted… Joseph is an Anglian noble living in a harshly religious society where the Council and their clerics enforce chastity, and women are oppressed and treated as chattel. Overnight, Joseph undergoes a rare transformation and becomes a Scentinel, a man who exudes powerful sexual pheromones that make him irresistible to females. His people believe he is evil and will execute him on sight. He’s on the run, starving and desperate. He has nothing more to lose–or so he believes. Liliana is a “morally corrupt” Europan woman with an agenda. She’s a creature even rarer than Joseph, a Null who can neutralize Scentinel pheromones. Her mission is to do whatever it takes to bring Joseph safely to Europan shores. There, he’ll join Empress Vashti’s elite band of Scentinel spies—provided he survives his training with his sanity intact, and learns how to suppress his pheromones at will. And falling in love with the man she must ultimately betray was never part of Liliana’s plan. Originally published 2011 by Red Sage Publishing Contains graphic language and scenes more suited to adult readers

Download or read book Scent of Betrayal written by Kathryn Ross and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: