A tycoon turns to blackmail for a second chance with the woman he loved in this classic contemporary romance by a USA Today bestseller. “You really expect me to sleep with you to pay my father’s debt?” Italian magnate Max Quintano knew exactly how to get his way . . . by blackmailing Sophie into becoming his mistress. “Sleep is not what I have in mind.” Sophie will do anything to prevent her family’s ruin—even if it means living in Max’s luxurious Venetian palazzo—and being beholden to him . . . and will be until she discovers exactly why he hates her so much. . . . Originally published in 2006.

Step into the world of Sherlock Holmes with this essential collection of short stories, each requiring the master detective to solve a high-stakes case of blackmail and extortion. These three tales of blackmail showcase the exceptional skills and keen intelligence of Sherlock Holmes and his ability to unravel complex cases. In ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ (1891), Holmes must help the King of Bohemia retrieve a damning photograph from Irene Adler and prevent a damaging scandal from becoming public. ‘The "Gloria Scott"’ (1893) takes us on a journey to uncover the mystery of a shipwreck and the case of an elderly man who’s being haunted by an old crime. Finally, ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ (1904) sees the detective going up against one of the most formidable blackmailers in London in an attempt to recover compromising letters. Together, these three stories offer a thrilling and entertaining experience, capturing the essence of the detective's unique style and method. The collection is a must-read for crime fiction fans and those who want to experience the brilliance of Sherlock Holmes.This new edition from Read & Co. Books features the original illustrations by Sidney Paget and a specially commissioned introduction.

Eight-year-old Jennifer was the quintessential daddy’s girl until a tragic car accident claimed his life right beside her. Three years later, her life takes an unexpected turn when her new neighbour, John Smith, rescues her from a violent assault. Finding solace in John’s strength and inherent goodness, Jennifer feels an unparalleled sense of safety in his presence. Gradually, an unlikely friendship begins to blossom between them. As time goes on, Jennifer starts to question the true identity of the man who saved her. John’s secretive professional life and frequent absences from home ignite Jennifer’s curiosity, leading her on a perilous quest to uncover his real identity. Her determination to understand John better draws her into a world fraught with espionage, survival tactics, and foreign intelligence. The journey ahead is full of revelations that only John could foresee. However, Jennifer begins to wonder if there are deeper secrets that even John himself might not be aware of. This tale of mystery and discovery explores the lengths one will go to unravel the truth about those they hold dear.

Unlike such romanticized renegades as Robin Hood and Jesse James, there is another kind of outlaw hero, one who lives between the law and his own personal code. In times of crisis, when the law proves inadequate, the liminal outlaw negotiates between the social imperatives of the community and his innate sense of right and wrong. While society requires his services, he necessarily remains apart from it in self-preservation. The modern outlaw hero of film and television is rooted in the knight errant, whose violent exploits are tempered by his solitude and devotion to a higher ideal. In Hollywood classics such as Casablanca (1942) and Shane (1953), and in early series like The Lone Ranger (1949-1957) and Have Gun--Will Travel (1957-1963), the outlaw hero reconciles for audiences the conflicting impulses of individual freedom versus serving a larger cause. Urban westerns like the Dirty Harry and Death Wish franchises, as well as iconic action figures like Rambo and Batman, testify to his enduring popularity. This book examines the liminal hero's origins in medieval romance, his survival in the mythology of the Hollywood western and his incarnations in the urban western and modern action film.

Even dragons fall in love?! My name’s Keima Masuda, and despite the fact I’m aiming for an easygoing life I’m a Dungeon Master, a town chief, and a pope. Goren Town’s busy with a Beddhist wedding ceremony, and now a dragon’s attacking? I feel like this is gonna be one crazy foe... “My bad, Keima! Seems like my dumb daughter’s giving you trouble!” It was my neighbor (dungeon)’s daughter, Igni (300 years old). That’s fine, but now there’s a bunch of adventurers coming to town to slay the dragon?! Does that mean I’m not gonna get any rest until the dragon’s gone? This is Volume 9 of my own kind of dungeon story! Time to fight the dragon with a Hero!

"Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film" offers an extraordinary close-up of the hitherto overlooked golden age of Japanese cult, action and exploitation cinema from the early 1950s through to the late 1970s, and up to the present day. Having unique access to the top maverick filmmakers and Japanese genre film icons, Chris D. brings together interviews with, and original writings on, the lives and films of such transgressive directors as Kinji Fukasaku ("Battles Without Honour and Humanity"), Seijun Suzuki ("Branded to Kill") and Koji Wakamatsu ("Ecstasy of the Angels") as well as performers like Shinichi 'Sonny' Chiba ("The Streetfighter", "Kill Bill Vol. 1") and glamorous actress Meiko Kaji ("Lady Snowblood"). Bringing the story up-to-date with an overview of such Japanese 'enfants terrible' as Takashi Miike ("Audition") and Kiyoshi Kurasawa ("Cure"), this book also provides a compendium of facts and extras including filmographies, related bibliographies on genre fiction including Manga, and a section on female yakuzas. Illustrated with fantastic stills and posters from some of Japan's finest cult and action films, this is a veritable bible for fans and newcomers alike.

This is a mystery novel that revolves around Lancelot, the murder of his uncle, Sir George, and the stipulation of Sir George's will. Malcolm Scott is suspected to be responsible for Sir George's murder. Will Lancelot Massey follow the stipulation of the will? Is Malcolm Stott responsible for the murder of Sir George?"

The "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Category 7" delivers an electrifying thriller of climate change, in which terrorists threaten to flood the air and ocean with chemicals that will cause a permanent winter. Available in a tall Premium Edition.

Sexual blackmail first reached public notice in the late eighteenth century when laws against sodomy were exploited by the unscrupulous to extort money from those they could entrap. Angus McLaren chronicles this parasitic crime, tracing its expansion in England and the United States through the Victorian era and into the first half of the twentieth century. The labeling of certain sexual acts as disreputable, if not actually criminal--abortion, infidelity, prostitution, and homosexuality--armed would-be blackmailers and led to a crescendo of court cases and public scandals in the 1920s and 1930s. As the importance of sexual respectability was inflated, so too was the spectacle of its loss. Charting the rise and fall of sexual taboos and the shifting tides of shame, McLaren enables us to survey evolving sexual practices and discussions. He has mined the archives to tell his story through a host of fascinating characters and cases, from male bounders to designing women, from badger games to gold diggers, from victimless crimes to homosexual outing. He shows how these stories shocked, educated, entertained, and destroyed the lives of their victims. He also demonstrates how muckraking journalists, con men, and vengeful women determined the boundaries of sexual respectability and damned those considered deviant. Ultimately, the sexual revolution of the 1960s blurred the long-rigid lines of respectability, leading to a rapid decline of blackmail fears. This fascinating view of the impact of regulating sexuality from the late Victorian Age to our own time demonstrates the centrality of blackmail to sexual practices, deviance, and the law.

About the Book Cryptic messages appear on Mark Sterling’s secure iPhone and direct him to visit a website where he discovers photos of him in bed with a teenage girl. Along with explicit instructions to pay a million dollars in blackmail to keep the story from the prying eyes of the media. Like some modern-day job, Mark finds his sales career sabotaged, his company in danger of bankruptcy, his modeling expectations at a brick wall, and himself the victim of a vicious ship-board attack. Then things get worse. Mark is wanted for murder, his house is blown up and burned to the ground, and he’s knee-deep in a cosmic battle for his life against the forces of cyberspace. Platinum Blackmail is a story of high-tech power, sex, Wicca, murder, and love that displays the intimate psychological thought processes of a somewhat self-consumed man, forced to mature and realize one of life’s important lessons: be careful what you wish for since nothing is as it seems. About the Author Jay Atleson has worked for Fortune 500 Corporations in Executive Sales and Management, frequently leading his company and the nation in sales. He has a Master of Arts Degree and two Bachelor of Arts Degrees from Kent State where he taught Sociology. Jay appeared in “Telling Lies in America” and “Renegade Force” as well as “The Drew Carey Television Show.” Atleson lives in Northeast Ohio where he is working on his next novel.