The shock of the 9/11 attacks sent the American intelligence community into hyperactive growth. Five hundred billion dollars of spending in the Bush-Cheney years turned the U.S. spy network into a monster: 200,000-plus employees, stations in 170 countries, and an annual budget of more than $75 billion. Armed with cutting-edge surveillance gear, high-tech weapons, and fleets of armed and unarmed drone aircraft, America deploys the most advanced intel force in history.But even after the celebrated strike against Osama Bin Laden, America's spies are still struggling to beat a host of ragtag enemies around the world.In Intel Wars, preeminent secrecy and intelligence historian Matthew Aid ("our reigning expert on the NSA"-Seymour M. Hersh) delivers the inside stories of how and why our shadow war against extremism has floundered. Spendthrift, schizophrenic policies leave next-generation spy networks drowning in raw data, resource-starved, and choked on paperwork... Views: 38
First in a brand new series.After a long and bloody campaign against Chief War Heart's fierce tribe, Major Matt Devlin and his US Dragoons have finally reached a truce. But the hard-won peace of the vast Dakota Territory was suddenly threatened when a vicious new enemy invaded the wild prairie. With their Sharps .50-caliber rifles spitting hot lead, Ned Wheatfall and his hide-hungry buffalo hunters stampeded the reservation, killing bison and stirring up storm clouds of war. Now Devlin and his Dragoons had to move fast to stop the senseless slaughter and prevent a savage uprising that could once again soak the sacred lands in blood! Views: 38
There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy's age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, the moment Betsy meets Tacy, one of the most heartfelt friendships in all of children's literature begins. The Betsy-Tacy Treasury brings together the first four books in Maud Hart Lovelace's classic series: Betsy-Tacy; Betsy, Tacy and Tib; Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill; and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown. Tracing the girls' lives from early childhood to the brink of adolescence, Lovelace illuminates their innocent, mischievous fun and their eye-opening adventures exploring the world around them--from the stories Betsy spins from their neighborhood bench and the sand stores they run in their backyards, to their first experiences at the library, the thrill of the theater, and the sight of their first automobile. Views: 38
With the horrors of Halloween behind them, Kiko and Dom turn their puzzle solving skills to surviving the holiday season. Dom hasn't had a proper Christmas in years, and Kiko's sister visiting makes him feel almost like family — until his brother, Devin, decides to show up and throw his disapproval into the mix.Just when it seems like they have enough to deal with at home, local artist Cat asks them to solve her vandalism problem. Still shaken from their last mystery, Kiko and Dom only agree to help her due to the lack of murder.But when the property damage escalates and Kiko begins receiving threatening letters, this harmless little problem turns deadlier than anyone thought. And if they can't get to the bottom of the family drama fast enough, Kiko might never be home for the holidays again. Views: 38
It's 2025. Tyrone O'Shaughnessy Tierwater is eking out a bleak living in southern California, managing a pop-star's private menagerie, holding some of the last surviving animals in the world. Global warming is a reality. In his youth, Ty had been so serious about environmental issues that as an ecoterrorist committed to Earth Forever! he had endangered the lives of both his daughter, Sierra, and his wife, Andrea. Now, when the past seems far behind him and he is just trying to survive in a world cursed by storm and drought, Andrea returns to his life . . . Frightening, funny, surreal and gripping, in A FRIEND OF THE EARTH T.C. Boyle gives us a story that is both a modern morality tale, and a provocative vision of the future. Views: 38
This is the first book of the famous trilogy of English country life, The Brensham Trilogy, by John Moore. A wonderful and exuberant chronicle of an English market town between the wars, distinguished with a historic abbey, a winding river and bustling pubs with a cast of characters that could have stepped out of Hogarth or Shakespeare... Views: 38
A brand new bind-up edition of the much-loved children's classic Pongwiffy featuring The Spell of the Year and The Holiday of Doom! When Pongwiffy is forced to spring clean her hovel she finds an old magic spell to help her! But it turns out that the old-fashioned ingredients are tricky to come by, especially when they belong to the familiars of other witches... In the second story, the rain won't stop and Pongwiffy is BORED. So she decides to plan a holiday! But when Pongwiffy blows all of the Coven's funds on a trip to Sludgehaven-on-Sea, maybe being bored isn't such a bad thing.Two laugh-out-loud stories of humour and warmth, enticingly mixed in with much sludge, slime and very bad habits. Now with brand new illustrators from Katy Riddell! Views: 38
A cold-blooded murder. A beautiful suspect. An honest judge forced to do the unthinkable.
New York Times bestselling author Phillip Margolin is a master of legal suspense. In this explosive novel, a simple case of self-defense becomes a nightmare in which justice itself is held hostage.
Judge Richard Quinn is young, idealistic, and honest to a fault. That's why he's handed the most sensational homicide case in Oregon history. Locked in a race for the U.S. Senate, Ellen Crease gunned down the intruder who murdered her wealthy husband. In a single, brutal instant she became a widow, a victim, and a hero.
Yet disturbing questions remain. What secrets did the man who started his fortune running mortuaries keep that might have cost him his life? What about the son frozen out of his will? Or his wife's political enemies? And what about Ellen Crease herself?
Soon it becomes clear that a deadly plot of murder, blackmail, passion, and double cross is unfolding around Judge Richard Quinn. And unless he breaks the rules, justice will not only be blind, it will be the final victim. Views: 38
Five thousand years out of the Labyrinth that held him captive, and as many years beyond the dubious bargain that set him free, the Minotaur finds himself struggling to negotiate the American South with the body of a man and the head of a bull. The Minotaur tries to balance the past, the present, and a looming future from behind the cooks’ line at Grub’s Rib, where his coworkers know both his skill with a chef’s knife and the sometimes dangerous nature of his horns. At Lucky-U Mobile Estates, the Minotaur lives in a boat-shaped trailer and shares with his neighbors an appreciation for a quiet lifestyle and a respect for auto repairs. Over the duration of his life, the Minotaur has roamed the earth and seen much, yet he has reaped little wisdom to help him navigate the complex geography of human relationships. Inarticulate, socially inept, tolerated at best by modern folk, he has been reduced from a monster with an appetite for human flesh to a broken creature with very human needs. During the two weeks covered by the novel, the delicate balance tips, and the Minotaur finds his life dissolving into chaos while he simultaneously awakens to the possibility of love. Among the characters peopling the Minotaur’s world are Kelly, whose own debilitating flaw allows her affinity for the Minotaur; Sweeny, the rough-hewn but kindly proprietor of the mobile-home park; and Buddy, Sweeny’s unforgettable, unlucky, randy bulldog. The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break is an effortless blend of the mundane and the mythic, a unique world in which kitchen work becomes high drama and meetings between legendary creatures almost pass notice. But strangest of all in Steven Sherrill’s debut novel, everything seems to make perfect sense. Views: 38
In this splashy new Mermaid Tale, a megapopular boy band is set to perform at an undersea celebrationbut what if a mean girl keeps Shelly from joining in the fun? Echo, Shelly Sirens best friend, is doing tail flips because shes going to see the hottest boy band aroundThe Rays! Its her classmate Pearls birthday, and the Rays are going to perform at her exclusive party. Troublemaker Pearl has invited just about everyoneeveryone, that is, except Shelly! Shelly urges Echo to go anyway, but Echo doesnt want to leave her friend out of the exciting celebrationso Shelly hatches a plan to make sure Echo sees her favorite group. And when the Rays do come to town (amidst plenty of under-the-sea, boy band drama), Echo returns the favor so that Shelly is included in the festivitiesin the most unexpected of ways! Views: 38
