In JACKED, Debra has the birthday of her life thanks to her husband Jack. But now it’s Christmas. How is she going to one-up him on the present scale? Or maybe two-up him? It’s a Christmas neither one of them will ever forget in this erotic holiday season.

When Jack was six years old, his parents were brutally slain by a serial killer. The police later found drifter Clyde Colsen driving a stolen car, his clothes soaked in blood. He was tried, convicted and executed. Jack grew up knowing the police got their man. Now a decorated homicide detective in New Rhodes, Jack arrives at the third crime scene of the “South End Killer” murders and finds his name. He will soon find out something else: thirty years ago, they got the wrong guy. And now the right guy’s come back to pay Jack and New Rhodes his bloody respects. As Jack struggles to stay on the case, his cat-and-mouse game with the killer makes him wonder if he’s the cat or the mouse. His family and everyone in his life is fair game. As the killer escalates and threatens the entire city, Jack has a question he must answer in his desperation: can he stop the monster without becoming one? Praise for WELCOME BACK, JACK: “I’ve been following Liam Sweeny’s writing career for several years. He started out pretty good and now—with Welcome Back, Jack —he’s become smokin’ good! I predict this novel will propel him to the highest ranks of novelists writing police procedurals. That may look like I’m climbing out on a limb and if so, it’s an extremely stout and solid limb. This ranks with the best of the genre and Sweeny is poised to become a writer of the highest rank. Remember his name—you’re going to be seeing it a lot.” —Les Edgerton, author of The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic Kidnapping, The Rapist, The Bitch and others “A new dark, very dark star has appeared in the noir spectrum and what a star it is. Welcome Back, Jack is the real deal, as down and deliciously dirty as it gets but with a wonderful fresh style and artistry that is as compelling as it is addictive. This is one hell of a start to what promises to be a unique series.” —Ken Bruen, author of the Jack Taylor series “When a triple homicide in New Rhodes bears worrisome similarities to one from police officer, Jack LeClere’s, childhood, nothing can stop him from following the sinewy clues to their horrific conclusion. As long as writers like Liam Sweeny can work the police procedural to such great affect, readers will follow Jack back to the gritty streets of New Rhodes gladly. Sweeny’s writes beautifully and Welcome Back, Jack is full of memorable characters. Claustrophobics beware!” —Patricia Abbot, author of Concrete Angel “Equal parts police procedural and psycho-thriller, Liam Sweeny reinvents a genre with Welcome Back, Jack. When serial killing gets personal, Jack LeClere is dragged underground into the past. Literally. With crisp, taut dialogue, fast-paced action, and more plot twists than the subterranean tunnels Jack must navigate to earn redemption, Sweeny taps into modern-day, urban paranoia, mining the best of Ellroy, Cain, and Westlake. Sweeny pays homage while tearing up some serious new ground.” —Joe Clifford, author of Lamentation and December Boys “Do yourself a favor: Before you start reading Welcome Back, Jack, clear your schedule. You’re not going to be able to stop until you’ve seen it through to the explosive finale.” —Rob Hart, author of New Yorked

In this debut novel from The Netherlands, there's no escape from a killer with a sharp knife and an axe to grind. Jack Barillo is losing friendsQthe hard wayQas a cunning madman named Lucifer savages the beautiful young men from Jack's past, eliminating them with a surgeon's touch, one by one.

All twelve books of the Jack Taggart Mystery series are gathered together in this bundle, including the latest mystery, An Element of Risk. “Ripped from the headlines ... Easton, an ex-Mountie, knows his police work.” — Globe and Mail “One of the best hard-nosed series in Canada.” — Hamilton Spectator “Swift action, sudden violence and compassion told in a style that keeps you turning the pages. Easton is a writer at the top of his game.” — Hamilton Spectator “Filled with moments of sheer terror that will keep the readers turning pages faster and faster as it builds.” — Bookgasm.com Includes: An Element of Risk — Jack Taggart Mystery #12 (NEW!) RCMP operative Jack Taggart goes undercover to identify a murderer who belongs to a white supremacist faction and is a self-proclaimed survivalist. Subverting Justice — Jack Taggart Mystery #11 Jack Taggart never thought he would miss Damien Zabat, until his old nemesis was unseated by a new head of the Satans Wrath motorcycle gang. Now the new boss is settling old scores, and Taggart’s family are on his revenge list. His superiors tell him to hold back, but Taggart knows a bit about vengeance, too. A Delicate Matter — Jack Taggart Mystery #10 Jack Taggart is once again thrown into conflict with his longtime nemesis, Satans Wrath gang leader Damien Zabat. When Jack obtains evidence to implicate Damien’s son, Buck, in a murder, he thinks he finally has what he needs to get Damien to turn informant. But little does Taggart know that a new, even more terrifying, enemy is on the rise. And 9 more Jack Taggart titles: Art and Murder — Jack Taggart Mystery #9 The Benefactor — Jack Taggart Mystery #8 Corporate Asset — Jack Taggart Mystery #7 Birds of a Feather — Jack Taggart Mystery #6 Dead Ends — Jack Taggart Mystery #5 Samurai Code — Jack Taggart Mystery #4 Angel in the Full Moon — Jack Taggart Mystery #3 Above Ground — Jack Taggart Mystery #2 Loose Ends — Jack Taggart Mystery #1

The Letter, is an adventure that starts out in first gear and then immediately shifts into fifth. You'll feel the wind in your hair and the blood racing through your veins. Hold on tight! This latest effort from J.D. Fitzpatrick orders up a new prescription for your glasses so that you can see murder, mystery and the bonds of family in an entirely new light. Follow the events of a young, blue-collar, ex-football star (Jack Dade), as he finds himself looking for some much needed changes within his all too familiar life. Needless to say, one trip to his mailbox will transform who he is, who he will be, and all that he knows forever. Jack couldn't breathe as his chest was roped-tight and his heart pounding. His right hand was shaking and now his eyes began to blur...the text of the letter fading in and out of focus. Jack stood up and went into the kitchen, he stood next to the stove and opened his small, yet fully stocked, liquor cabinet. Jack poured himself a shot of tequila...whoosh, then he poured another. To find other works and projects by J.D. Fitzpatrick, visit him at his website www.lyricsthatfitz.homestead.com/1.html.

The present work contains 150 papers that were presented during ISEC-03, the 3rd International Conference on Structural and Construction Engineering, that was held in Tokuyama College of Technology, Shunan, Japan, from September 20 to 23, 2005. The theme of the conference was Collaboration and Harmony of Creative Systems. The conference was to encourage and assist the collaboration of any and all kinds of structural, system, and construction engineering using information technology in an environmentally friendly manner. This book contains these challenging papers.

Westerners—from early missionaries to explorers to present-day artists, scientists, and tourists—have always found volcanoes fascinating and disturbing. Native Hawaiians, in contrast, revere volcanoes as a source of spiritual energy and see the volcano goddess Pele as part of the natural cycle of a continuously procreative cosmos. Volcanoes hold a special place in our curiosity about nature. The Burning Island is an intimate, multilayered portrait of the Hawaiian volcano region—a land marked by a precarious tension between the harsh reality of constant geologic change, respect for mythological traditions, and the pressures of economic exploitation. Pamela Frierson treks up Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, and Kilauea to explore how volcanoes work, as well as how their powerful and destructive forces reshape land, cultures, and history. Her adventures reveal surprising archeological ruins, threatened rainforest ecosystems, and questionable real estate development of the islands. Now a classic of nature writing, Frierson’s narrative sets the stage for a larger exploration of our need to take great care in respecting and preserving nature and tradition while balancing our ever-expanding sense of discovery and use of the land.