Set in a Tel Aviv café in the moments before a suicide bomber enters, Iris Bahr’s 2008 Lucille Lortel Award–winning DAI (enough) courageously speaks to tragic current events. Bahr plays eleven different characters who span the ideological and class spectrum of Israeli society, including a Zionist kibbutznik, an evangelical from America funding an Armageddon fantasy, a West Bank settler, a snooty expat living in Long Island, and a Palestinian professor trying to keep her son from taking the path of extremism. Thanks to the emotional depth and honesty with which Bahr endows these characters and their individual stories, a complex portrait of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict emerges. Alternately very funny and tragic, DAI (enough) is a brave attempt to humanize the headlines.

Return to the dark fantasy world created for the award-winning, triple platinum game, Dragon AgeTM: Origins in this third tie-in novel. The destruction of Kirkwall’s Circle of Magi has brought chaos to the lives of the mages and templars throughout Thedas. Some mages teeter on the brink of rebellion against their templar watchers, while others struggle to maintain order and stability amid the tides of change. In the majestic White Spire, at the heart of templar power in Val Royeaux, tensions have reached the boiling point. The actions of a few radicals draw the attention of the seekers, a powerful and secret segment of the templars, who arrive to take command and restore order no matter the cost. To make matters worse, a mystical killer stalks the White Spire’s halls, invisible to all save one lone mage. As Rhys is the only one who can see the killer, all eyes turn to him as the prime suspect in the murder investigation. With little hope of proving his innocence, Rhys’s future looks to be short and grim. But his skill with spirit magic earns him a reprieve, as he is drafted into an expedition traveling deep into the western wastelands of Orlais. There, his fate will become entwined with that of a beautiful templar, a tormented soul, and Wynne—heroine of the Blight. Together they will uncover a secret far greater than they imagined. One that will forever change the fate of mages in Thedas forever.

Empress Celene of Orlais rose to the throne of the most powerful nation in Thedas through wisdom, wit, and ruthless manipulation. Now the empire she has guided into an age of enlightenment is threatened from within by imminent war between the templars and the mages, even as rebellion stirs among the downtrodden elves. To save Orlais, Celene must keep her hold on the throne by any means necessary. At her heels are Grand Duke Gaspard, an Orlesian chevalier who believes the kingdom deserves a new, stronger leader; and Briala, Celene's handmaid, spymaster, and lover, who wants nothing more than to fight for her people--the elves. Alliances are forged and promises broken as Celene and Gaspard battle for the throne. In the end, however, the elves, hidden and starving, may decide the fate of the masked empire themselves. This deluxe edition features twenty-four brand new illustrations by Stefano Martino, Álvaro Sarraseca, Andres Ponce, and German Ponce in an intricately designed, foil stamped hardcover!

#1 New York Times–Bestselling Author: A bladesman battles in the face of apocalypse in this novel of magic and mayhem in the “thoroughly enjoyable” series (SF Site). Raised beneath the surface of the earth, Ronin escaped the subterranean city of Freehold to make his mark upon the world. After wandering the icy wastelands and coming to the port city of Sha’angh’sei, he has taken to the sea to seek a mythical island whose secrets could save mankind. Backed by a disfigured first mate, an adventure-hungry navigator, and a mysterious telepath, Ronin rides the storm-tossed waters, hoping to escape the chaos that civilization has become. But at the end of this journey, mayhem awaits. Four bloodthirsty monsters known as the Makkon are convening to raise an army of death and call their sinister master back from beyond the grave. To turn this bloody tide, Ronin will have to ascend to a new identity. The Bladesman of Freehold has vanquished many enemies, and now he must battle the apocalypse.

Gematria Refigured presents the discoveries that led to the author’s transformation from a gematria skeptic to a gematria lover. It develops a theory which elucidates how the Torah and Chazal use gematria to direct us toward a very specific type of idea. Through its many examples, this work illustrates how gematria can help us uncover novel insights, while providing interesting and clearly formulated perspectives into many mitzvos, themes, and stories in Tanach.

You would think a Native American, who could track a piss ant through a meadow covered in heavy grass, wouldn’t get lost. But he was lost. Orion Brown, son of a full-blood Lakota Sioux was lost, but not in any geographical location. Orion was lost within himself. The deaths of five of Gunnery Sergeant Orion Brown’s men in combat in Afghanistan, and their battle buddies crying on his shoulder, had put him into unknown territory. Oh, he’d remained strong for the Marines who survived. He bucked them up to resume combat without their battle buddies guarding their sixes, but it had cost him. His stronger than strong routine had earned him an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps, panic attacks, and the inability to touch or be touched by other human beings without having a nuclear nervous meltdown. His assigned VA shrink was a joke. Well, the man himself wasn’t a joke. He was sincere, he gave the impression he cared, and he listened when he grudgingly shared some of his feelings, but if he mentioned “survivor’s guilt” just one more time, Orion would show him just how much damage a Marine could do to office furniture. The doc just didn’t get it. He was damned if he tried to open up and interact with the people around him, and he was equally screwed if he let anyone throw an arm over his shoulder or kiss his cheek or slap him on the back. The first induced no feeling at all, as in semi-frozen stiff on a morgue slab, and the second induced panic attacks of epic proportions. He was rapidly being torn apart by the dichotomy of reactions. A slip of a finger on his PC keyboard, offered salvation. The BDSM site wanted to know if he was a Dominant or a submissive. He almost didn’t fill out the personal questionnaire, but overhearing the prevailing opinion of him from two of his students in the Marine Special Operations Tracking/Counter-tracking Course he taught, convinced him he needed to go beyond conventional medical practice. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have an extremely sexy Mistress paddling his backside if he was brought back to the land of the normal. But the Great Spirit was not inclined to grant him normal. Irony of ironies, there was no female Dominant at the local dungeon strong enough to keep him from topping her. Instead, he was assigned to Dai Waleska. A six foot, two-inch Japanese-American Kung Fu Master. Now the overriding question was, was it worth submitting to another man’s physical, and possibly sexual, domination for a chance at getting back on a normal track. Which was more important? Dominance and submission to conquer his frozen core and panic attacks, or maintaining a macho Marine image that would more than likely end with him gargling with a Glock somewhere down a very short road?

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is a rapidly growing field in fintech, having grown from $700 million to $100 billion over the past three years alone. But the lack of reliable information makes this area both risky and murky. In this practical book, experienced securities attorney Alexandra Damsker explains DeFi's role in both blockchain and finance. Ideal for developers looking to build decentralized applications (DApps), this book compares DeFi to traditional bank-led fintech and explains why DeFi is exploding in interest and popularity. You'll explore the growing array of DApps and platforms in various categories, including their benefits and drawbacks, and learn how DeFi tools work together from the perspective of both users and developers. With this book, you will: Learn how DeFi fits into the blockchain and fintech worlds Understand why it's important to move beyond the banking system Explore the tools for building a useful, functional DeFi application Learn the risks, benefits, regulatory concerns, and unresolved issues in this nascent and fast-growing industry See which technologies are well-positioned to be incorporated into DeFi blockchains in the near future Assess your own risk level to determine which strategies are most appropriate

Hong Kong in the mid 90s... A commando-style raid on Shatin Racecourse nets HK $270,000,000 and causes the violent deaths of several police guards. A special detective team discovers this was perpetrated by ex-military from mainland China, and funded by local triads. But what significance has the headless corpse of a Westerner dumped among the garbage of a Kowloon alley? With the handover to China only a few years off, nothing must threaten Hong Kong's stability. Though the police task-force works day and night, not even a total security alert can prevent disaster. In a chilling time-race, cops and their shadowy opponents clash in a sequence of explosive engagements throughout Hong Kong, Macao, the Chinese mainland, and even Tokyo.

After Michael lost some members of his family, he decided that he would make a new life for himself in Wales. He had not been there very long when he noticed that the villagers ways were strange and rather alien to him. He also soon discovered that the vast majority of village matters were taboo. Strangers to the area; just like him, were constantly observed and told nothing at all. He quickly realised that being ‘a celebrity’ in a small village was very stressful and the locals became very intrusive. What reason did they have for watching him? What were they doing in their spare time? What really puzzled him was why did some of the locals quickly change the subject when he asked about a particular person?