When a new video game takes the world by storm, a new player is profoundly moved by the beauty and wonder that the game holds. But under the breathtaking exterior is a dark secret that threatens the sanity and lives of the players.In developed countries, social cohesion has been sacrificed on the altar of individual gratification. Individuals wanted more and better. Inventors and entrepreneurs rallied to serve our desires. We progressed – pulled along by our hunger for improvement. This strategy worked well for centuries. Survival rates benefitted more from technological advances than from recognising individual social contributions. But the paths of ‘what we want in the short term’ and ‘what is good for us in the long term’ diverged. As we moved forwards, we increasingly abandoned non-commercial activities – regardless of their contribution to social wellbeing.We’ve now reached point where the benefits of technological advances are becoming outweighed by the disadvantages. New consumer inventions make us less active. Improved food production is turning us fat. Social media is stopping us socialising. Even medical advances will become less important to the majority – focusing, quite rightly, on a shrinking minority of ill people or providing more years of relative infirmity for the very old.The wellbeing of the majority during the majority of their lives can now be improved more by positive social interaction than by technological advances. To do this, we need to amend our reward system. We need to provide additional motivation for carrying out beneficial social activity. Although many already help others altruistically, there’s no moral reason why they shouldn’t receive further tangible rewards. And tangible rewards might encourage even more people to help one another. This would deliver additional social benefits – thereby improving general wellbeing. Views: 784
Over New Year's Eve, a nine man terrorist cell is intent on attacking London and destroying the heart of the city. Only one police squad stands in their way. The Armed Response Unit. As the terrorists pursue separate targets with ruthless intent, the officers on the ARU task force must track them all down and take them on one-by-one in a race against time.It’s New Year’s Eve. A major terrorist cell is planning a series of attacks across London over the next forty-eight hours. The government has surveillance on the group, a man undercover, and prepare to move in, to take out the terrorists before they can strike. But they lose contact with their inside man. And the cell vanishes into thin air, dispersing into the streets, armed and intent on completing their assault on London. The best Counter-Terrorist teams in the country are told to take them down before it's too late.Nine terrorists.Nine lives.The Armed Response Unit is one of these teams. Efficient and ruthless, the task force is ordered to locate the leader of the cell. As they hunt him down, they begin to realise that this is far bigger than any of them could ever have imagined. Bombings, rocket attacks, betrayal and a series of unexpected and shocking twists leave the ARU fighting to stay alive.There's Archer, the youngest member of the team, keen to prove himself and justify his spot on the task force. His best friend, Chalky, who is forced to fight both the terrorists and his own demons. Porter, Deakins and Fox, tough and experienced men who’ve never dealt with anything of this magnitude. And Mac, their sergeant, who must make the quickest of decisions and lead his men against the invisible enemy.As events unfold, other people are drawn into the danger. The Prime Minister, desperately trying to find a solution and protect the capital. A mysterious female Mossad agent, who appears out of nowhere and joins the fight against the cell. Two Special Agents from the DEA, one of whom was a member of the SEAL team that stormed Osama Bin Laden’s compound and who for some reason is struggling with the memory. And the vicious, powerful leader of a Middle Eastern drug cartel, who operates in the shadows and is somehow connected to the terrorists.With crowds all over London celebrating the New Year, and with nine terrorists somewhere amongst them, the Armed Response Unit is faced with the most dangerous night of their lives. As the savage, shocking plans of the enemy are fully revealed, the ARU officers are faced with the ultimate question.How many times can a man cheat Death before Death evens the score? Views: 784
"Will you marry me?" Pericles asked her.
And Morag, aware of his needs for his young twin son and daughter, agreed.
Pride forbade her revealing the fact she'd fallen in love at first sight with this understanding and devastating man. But she vowed she would be all that a Greek expected of his wife.
Then she discovered this was not enough -- she wanted his love, too. That's why she dreaded the arrival of her beautiful stepsister, Delia, who had always taken everything Views: 784
The world has gone mad, and it has taken Sebring Campbell with it. Sebring is a reasonable man, an agent of Justice, a product of nineteenth-century rational thought. But there is a monster on the loose, a criminal turned demon stripping Sebring's life away, one love at a time. The monster Rothers leads Sebring on a chase of blood and shadow, a chase that can only end in the noose or in Hell.The world has gone mad, and it has taken Sebring Campbell with it. Sebring Campbell is a reasonable man, an agent of Justice, a creature of logic, a product of nineteenth-century rational thought. But there is a monster on the loose, a criminal turned demon who is stripping Sebring's life away, one love at a time. The monster Rothers leads Sebring on a merry chase of blood and shadow, a chase that can only end in the noose or in Hell. Views: 784
All Jesse wants to do is apologize. All Gabby wants to do is escape her murderous husband. Unfortunately for both of them, Gabrielle's escape and Jesse's apology are complicated by an animal loving criminal mastermind, a diamond smuggling operation and her husband's relentless pursuit. But neither of them are prepared for the biggest complication of all. Love.It was just supposed to be an opportunity to make amends. Jesse simply wanted to find the awkward, overweight girl he’d betrayed in high school, apologize and move on with his life. It should have been a 15 minute stop in Miami. Instead, it turns into a weekend of running from thugs, stealing exotic animals, dealing with a seriously unbalanced criminal mastermind, and stumbling on a diamond smuggling operation. Gabrielle is no longer the overweight, awkward girl she was in high school. She’s left high school behind entirely and is living the high life as a trophy wife to an incredibly powerful man. That is, until she learns about her husband’s criminal connections and realizes he might have every reason to silence her for good. So when fate intervenes, and some random guy shows up on her doorstep, begging for forgiveness, she is quick to play along and hitch a ride out of town. Does it really matter that she has no idea who he is? Unfortunately, fate has other ideas in mind. Soon, Gabby and Jesse are running for their lives, hiding from Gabby’s obsessed husband and partnering up with a completely unbalanced criminal who has her own agenda. But neither Jesse nor Gabrielle is prepared for the biggest complication of all. Love. ***The Apology is a romantic suspense comedy novella of approx. 28,000 words*** Views: 784
It is Winter Carnival in Quebec City, bitterly cold and surpassingly beautiful. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has come not to join the revels but to recover from an investigation gone hauntingly wrong. But violent death is inescapable, even in the apparent sanctuary of the Literary and Historical Society— where an obsessive historian’s quest for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, ends in murder. Could a secret buried with Champlain for nearly 400 years be so dreadful that someone would kill to protect it?
Although he is supposed to be on leave, Gamache cannot walk away from a crime that threatens to ignite long-smoldering tensions between the English and the French. Meanwhile, he is receiving disquieting letters from the village of Three Pines, where beloved Bistro owner Olivier was recently convicted of murder. “It doesn't make sense,” Olivier’s partner writes every day. “He didn't do it, you know.” As past and present collide in this astonishing novel, Gamache must relive the terrible event of his own past before he can bury his dead. Views: 784
Second Lieutenant Tommy Hart, a navigator whose B-25 was shot out of the sky in 1942, is burdened with guilt as the only surviving member of his crew. Now he is just another POW at the fiercely guarded Stalag Luft 13 in Bavaria.
Then routine comes to a halt with the arrival of a new prisoner: First Lieutenant Lincoln Scott, an African American Tuskegee airman who instantly becomes the target of contempt from his fellow soldiers. When a prisoner is brutally murdered, and all the blood-soaked evidence points to Scott, Hart is tapped to defend the soldier. In a trial rife with racial tension and raw conflict, where the lines between ally and enemy blur, there are those with their own secret motives, and a burning passion for a rush to judgment, no matter what the cost.
From the Paperback edition. Views: 784
In this fast-paced novel, two college students experience life, death, heartbreak, and hope over the course of one night in a hospital ER.
In order to get an edge over the competition for medical school, Seth decides to volunteer at City Hospital. Diana is there to save the world—one patient at a time. These two college freshmen have little in common, except the desire to be part of the ER’s action.
Confronted with gunshot wounds and gruesome accidents, they both get a taste of the chaotic world of emergency medicine, and of the effect they can have on other people. Hour by hour, minute by minute, Diana and Seth’s adrenaline-fueled shift will alter the course of their lives. In one night, working among the doctors and nurses, they’ll learn more about medicine—and themselves—than they ever could have expected.
The multimillion-copy bestselling author of the Janie Johnson series takes readers into a life-and-death world in this captivating thriller.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Caroline B. Cooney including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
Views: 784
Alaska—the final frontier?
When Clara Avery, an entertainer working on the Fate, an Alaskan cruise ship, goes to nearby Bear Island, she comes across a scene of bloody mayhem. She also comes across Thor Erikson, who will soon be a member of the FBI's elite paranormal unit, the Krewe of Hunters.
Thor's been sent from the Alaska field office to investigate several grotesque killings, with the dead posed to resemble the victims of notorious murderers. The prime suspect is a serial killer Thor once put behind bars. The man escaped from a prison in the Midwest, and all the evidence says he was headed to Alaska…
Thor and Clara share an unusual skill: the ability to communicate with the dead. Their growing love—and their contact with the ghosts of the victims—brings them together to solve the case…and prevent a deadly fate of their own! Views: 783
What's this? A famous children's author stalked and killed? A prominent publisher murdered by an egomaniacal author for being asked to make cuts? A reality TV show pitting teens against grown-ups- with only one survivor? From whose twisted mind can such gruesome stories unfold? Ah, yes. Anthony Horowitz.
Young readers will smile in terrified pleasure as they read these harrowing tales by the international #1 bestselling author of the Alex Rider novels.
This edition includes;
Why Horror Has No Place in Children's Books
The Man Who Killed Darren Shan
Bet Your Life
You Have Arrived
The Cobra
Robo-Nanny
Bad Dream
My Bloody French Exchange
sheBay
Are You Sitting Comfortably?
Plugged In
Power
The X Train
Seven Cuts Views: 783
Readers of M.M. Kaye's fiction will discover here the source of the characters, settings, and certain incidents of her novels. Most of all, they will bask in this warm account of a young woman's remarkable life--and the beginnings of a love affair with an India whose time has passed but which has not been forgotten. 24 pages of black-and-white photographs. Views: 783
In Broken Harbour, a ghost estate outside Dublin – half-built, half-inhabited, half-abandoned – two children and their father are dead. The mother is on her way to intensive care. Scorcher Kennedy is given the case because he is the Murder Squad’s star detective. At first he and his rookie partner, Richie, think this is a simple one: Pat Spain was a casualty of the recession, so he killed his children, tried to kill his wife Jenny, and finished off with himself. But there are too many inexplicable details and the evidence is pointing in two directions at once.
Scorcher’s personal life is tugging for his attention. Seeing the case on the news has sent his sister Dina off the rails again, and she’s resurrecting something that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control: what happened to their family, one summer at Broken Harbour, back when they were children. The neat compartments of his life are breaking down, and the sudden tangle of work and family is putting both at risk . . . Views: 782
The biggest mystery of all...and Reed is dying to learn the truth.
Two months after Cheyenne Martin was found dead in her Billings House dorm room, exclusive Easton Academy is rocked by another stunning revelation: Cheyenne was murdered. No one knows who the killer is, but everyone agrees that Reed Brennan, who took over Cheyenne's role as Billings's president, gained the most from her death. Once the most powerful girl on campus, Reed is now powerless to stop her classmates' accusing whispers. Rumors begin to swirl that she killed Cheyenne.
And just like that, Reed is kicked out of Billings.
She's lost everything -- her friends, her home, her boyfriend -- and Reed knows the only way to get it all back is to figure out who really murdered Cheyenne. And she has to do it fast because the killer is still out there. The more Reed investigates, the more she uncovers. And as any Billings Girl knows...secrets can be deadly. Views: 782
