In 1954, two college students were hiking along a creek outside of Boulder, Colorado, when they stumbled upon the body of a murdered young woman. Who was this woman? What had happened to her? The initial investigation turned up nothing, and the girl was buried in a local cemetery with a gravestone that read, "Jane Doe, April 1954, Age About 20 Years." Decades later, historian Silvia Pettem formed a partnership with law enforcement and forensic experts and set in motion the events that led to Jane Doe's exhumation and eventual identification, as well as the identity of her probable killer. The 2023 paperback edition includes an epilogue with updated information on how the mystery finally was solved.

River Knight was looking forward to a peaceful vacation in the mountains with her two best friends, Jo and Star, her fellow circus performers and sisters of the heart, but instead, River witnesses her friends’ abduction! She silently follows, even going so far as to sneak aboard their spaceship. The rescue attempt doesn’t happen fast enough though, and River finds herself on an unplanned vacation to the stars. In a desperate attempt to save Jo and Star, River makes a deal with a group of aliens who had also been captured: she’ll release them if they promise to bring the sisters home to Earth, but Torak Ja Kel Coradon, Leader of the House of Kassis and next ruler of the Kassis Galaxy, has other plans when he sees the blue-eyed warrior woman. He plans on claiming her for himself and the only home he will bring her to is his own. The fate of more than one world hangs in the balance. Prophecies, intrigue, and love cross worlds and vastly different cultures when a knife-wielding circus performer takes a male-dominated alien society by storm! Can their love overcome the chasm of a few million light years and a brewing war? A NY Times and USA Today bestselling author, the internationally acclaimed S.E. Smith presents a new story with her signature humor and unpredictable twists! Exciting adventure, hot romance, and iconic characters have won her a legion of fans. Over TWO MILLION books sold!

Cases in which all investigative leads appear to be exhausted are frustrating for both investigators and victims’ families. Cold cases can range from those only a few months old to others that go back for decades. Presenting profiles and actual case histories, Cold Case Research: Resources for Unidentified, Missing and Cold Homicide Cases illustrates how investigators can successfully apply resources that will enable them to reopen and solve cases gathering dust in the file room. Today’s investigators have found that, to solve cold cases, they need to be internet savvy and make the best use of the rapidly changing methodologies of the twenty-first century, but they also have to be time travelers and open the door to the past. This volume weaves together the nearly forgotten skill sets of traditional historical researchers with the latest online tools, including TLO, a premier investigative system; and NamUs, the revolutionary database for missing persons and unidentified remains. Along with practical applications, Cold Case Research gives investigators the tools they need to save time and money and to jump-start their cold cases, while keeping others from going cold in the future. Topics discussed include: Implementing cold case units People searches and working with databases Overlooked DNA in PKU cards The plight of the missing and unknown Applying historical and geographical context Online and off-line newspaper research Public and published records The use of volunteers Contact with co-victims Cold-case review teams and information-sharing resources Taking advantage of the media Using a thinking-outside-the-box approach, this volume helps fill major gaps in traditional cold case investigation training and techniques, enabling investigators to confidently reopen and crack the mystery of cases long thought unsolvable. Silvia Pettem was quoted in a January 29, 2012 article on missing persons in the Colorado Springs Gazette.

An American classic—and Pulitzer Prize–winning story—that shows the ultimate bond between child and pet. No novel better epitomizes the love between a child and a pet than The Yearling. Young Jody adopts an orphaned fawn he calls Flag and makes it a part of his family and his best friend. But life in the Florida backwoods is harsh, and so, as his family fights off wolves, bears, and even alligators, and faces failure in their tenuous subsistence farming, Jody must finally part with his dear animal friend. There has been a film and even a musical based on this moving story, a fine work of great American literature.

USA Today Bestseller! Ristéard Roald is the Grand Ruler of Elpidios, a planet that is slowly dying without the Blood Stones needed to absorb the radiation gradually destroying its stratosphere. He has sworn to do whatever it takes to protect his world and his people, but time is running out. Hope comes from an unexpected source, the Kassis. They have found a way to replicate the Blood Stones needed to save his world, but his first dealings with a traitorous Kassisan has left a deep distrust for the species. Ristéard is stunned when the great Empress, the strange alien female, foretold as his world’s savior, appears. He is even more astonished when she refuses his attentions! With the life of his planet at stake, not to mention his own peace of mind and body, he will do whatever is necessary to ensure she stays by his side. Ricki Bailey is used to dealing with diplomats and handling complex situations. After all, as the daughter of the owners of Cirque de Magik, the most spectacular Circus to the Stars, she spends much of her time organizing their trips to foreign countries, but when her mother and father decide to take the circus to the stars, complicated doesn't begin to describe the situation! If she thought learning new laws and customs was going to be a challenge, it’s nothing compared to the sudden interest she’s getting from a huge blue alien known as the Grand Ruler! Ricki finds herself thinking words she didn’t even realize were in her vocabulary, most of them not in the least polite. Traitors among Ristéard's council threaten them both. It will take all of Ristéard's resources, and a few unexpected allies, to complete the journey ahead of them. Can the Grand Ruler keep his unwilling Empress safe from those that would destroy her? If they can overcome their differences, will they be able to save his dying world? A NY Times and USA Today bestselling author, the internationally acclaimed S.E. Smith presents a new story with her signature humor and unpredictable twists! Exciting adventure, hot romance, and iconic characters have won her a legion of fans. Over TWO MILLION books sold!

Step into the booth. Check your judgments at the curtain. Close your eyes. Listen: you can hear the voices of the visitors who sat here before you: some of the most twisted, drug-addled, deviant, lonely, lost, brilliant characters ever to be caught on film. What do you have to offer the booth?