Everything worthwhile in life comes at a cost. Wisdom must be earned. Love must be nurtured. Peace must be brokered. Many of these sacrifices are negotiations of the individual with the greater universe, and many, sadly, don't survive the journey or are broken by it. Bob Parson was one of them. Separation, divorce, and being isolated from his daughter filled his life with despair. But then everything changed. In the Eye of the Beholder is Bob Parson's autobiographical account of his journeys and life lessons learned from traversing the world during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, an era when being part of the Silent Generation came with unparalleled beauty and unexpected consequences. Through it all, he was a US soldier, an accomplished businessman, a loving father, and a grateful soul thankful for second chances. His colorful stories span several decades of domestic and international adventures defined by the sadness of war, the thrill of exotic travel, and the cost of personal enlightenment.

“A fascinating psychological study of an unrepentant murderer” from a New York Times–bestselling author (Library Journal). Battle Creek, Michigan, is famous as the birthplace of breakfast cereal, and the nearby suburb of Marshall is as wholesome as shredded wheat. Well-known for its colorful Victorian mansions, this stately slice of nineteenth-century Americana became infamous on a frigid night in February of 1991. Newscaster Diane Newton King was stepping out of her car, her children strapped into the backseat, when a sniper’s bullet cut her down. The police assumed that the killer was her stalker—a crazed fan who had been terrorizing King for weeks. But as their investigation ground to a standstill, the police turned to another suspect—one much closer to home. In this gripping retelling of the crime and its aftermath, journalist Lowell Cauffiel re-creates the atmosphere of terror that marked King’s last days, giving us a story of celebrity, obsession, and what it means to kill.

Why is the Gospel of John different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke? Many scholars have suggested that John felt more free than the other evangelists to massage the facts in the service of his theological goals and to put embellishments into the mouth of Jesus. Such freedom supposedly accounts for the discourses in John, for Jesus' way of speaking in John, and for (at least) the time, place, and manner of various incidents. Analytic philosopher Lydia McGrew refutes these claims, arguing in detail that John never invents material and that he is robustly reliable and honestly historical. The Eye of the Beholder: The Gospel of John as Historical Reportage is unique in several respects. 1) It delves in more detail than previous works do into the meaning of common scholarly phrases like "Johannine idiom" and applies careful distinctions to defend the recognizable historicity of Jesus' spoken words in John. 2) It focuses especially on arguments that have impressed some prominent evangelical scholars, thus refuting the unspoken assumption that if a scholar dubbed "conservative" is moved by an argument against full Gospel historicity, it must be strong. 3) It argues positively for the historicity of John's Gospel using evidences that are not commonly discussed in the 21st century, including undesigned coincidences, unexplained allusions, and the unified personality of Jesus. 4) While the body of the book will be congenial to many who accept Richard Bauckham's "elder John" theory of authorship, The Eye of the Beholder features a lengthy appendix on that question, including original arguments for authorship by the son of Zebedee. Meticulously argued and engagingly written, The Eye of the Beholder contains a wealth of material that will be helpful to seminarians, pastors, and laymen interested in the reliability of the Gospel of John.

“Sparkles with beauty, intrigue, and romance.”—Kiera Cass, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series Selah has waited her whole life for a happily ever after. As the only daughter of the leader of Potomac, she knows her duty is to find the perfect match. But after an excruciatingly public rejection, Selah’s stepmother suggests an unthinkable solution: Selah must set sail across the Atlantic to visit a series of potential suitors—and if she doesn’t come home engaged, she shouldn’t come home at all. From the gardens of England to the fjords of Norge, Selah’s quest will be the journey of a lifetime. But her stepmother’s schemes aren’t the only secrets hiding belowdecks…and the stakes of her voyage may be higher than any happy ending. Lush landscapes, dazzling romance, and captivating intrigue await in this stunning alternate historical YA debut—perfect for fans of The Selection or Caraval.

Previously published in the anthology Cat O'Nine Tales, this is the story of a star athlete who has a fateful run-in with a three-hundred pound woman. One of the author's own personal favorites, In the Eye of the Beholder is Jeffrey Archer at his best—witty, suspenseful, sad, surprising, and unforgettable.

Describes authors, works, and literary terms from all eras and all parts of the world.

Things Aren’t Always How They Appear! Guy Jones is about to burst his buttons. He just won the biggest case of his career and is being hailed by his law partners. But his wife, Ellen, is consumed with her quirky, needy friends and misses his victory dinner. Little does she know that Kinsey Abbott, Guy’s pretty legal secretary, is more than happy to keep him company. Communication between the Joneses rapidly deteriorates when Ellen’s stubborn loyalty to an Iranian couple lands her in the FBI’s spotlight—and Guy’s bad graces. Guy soon discovers Kinsey’s dark side, which inevitably pulls him into a web of danger and deceit. He decides not to tell Ellen. But it’s going to cost him. Who is my neighbor? Guy Jones is about to burst his buttons. He just won the biggest case of his career and is being hailed by his law partners. But his wife, Ellen, is so consumed with her quirky, needy friends that she misses his victory dinner—and bright, beautiful legal secretary Kinsey Abbott is only too glad to keep him company. When a fishing boat full of explosives is seized near Seaport, Ellen’s stubborn loyalty to her Iranian friends lands her in the FBI’s spotlight—and Guy’s bad graces. But when Guy encounters Kinsey’s dark side, a lot more than the Joneses’ marriage is threatened! Amid danger, deceit, and violence, Guy and Ellen clash over a key issue: Who is worth befriending—and who deserves loyalty under fire? “As if pulled from today’s headlines, this novel touches on the fear that overtakes a town when rumors of terrorists are afoot. Filled with unexpected twists, Eye of the Beholder held me captive until the very end.” —Traci DePree Author of Aprons on a Clothesline “Eye of the Beholder enticed me from the first page with familiar and beloved people. Then it took a twist that both delighted and convicted me. This visit to Seaport will change your life.” —Janelle Clare Schneider, Author Story Behind the Book “My novels don’t come to me ahead of time; each book flows off the tips of my fingers as I sit down and begin to ‘feel’ the issues deep inside myself. For me, the most intriguing aspect of my writing style is that I don’t plan and outline the stories. I turn my fingers loose and get inside the characters and instinctively know where I need to go. After all the suspense is said and done, my hope is that each story will give us pause. That in the deepest part of our souls, we’ll embrace the depth of what it means to be believers and then be moved to share its powerful simplicity with those who struggle without hope. I want Eye of the Beholder to take readers inside my characters’ hearts and minds so they will take an honest look at whether they show favoritism to people of higher social standing. I want them to realize a person’s intrinsic value has nothing to do with social class.” —Kathy Herman

A Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Year Lilian Shang, a history professor in Maryland, knew that her father, Gary, had been the most important Chinese spy ever caught in the United States. But when she discovers his diary after the death of her parents, its pages reveal the full pain and longing that his double life entailed—and point to a hidden second family that he’d left behind in China. As Lilian follows her father’s trail back into the Chinese provinces, she begins to grasp the extent of her father’s dilemma—torn between loyalty to his motherland and the love he came to feel for his adopted country. As she starts to understand that Gary, too, had been betrayed, she finds that it is up to her to prevent his tragedy from endangering yet another generation of the Shangs. A stunning portrait of a multinational family, an unflinching inquiry into the meaning of patriotism, A Map of Betrayal is a spy novel that only Ha Jin could write.

The book explores the importance of free speech in America by telling the stories of its chief antagonists - the censors.