Beau is a hero. He’s also the kind of guy who, when he patrons a taco truck, is as interested in their food as he is their black-market firearms. And the special is soup paired with a streetsweeper shotgun. When Beau puts the special to use at a Black Friday sales event, he unintentionally starts a full-blown, storewide shoot-out. But he escapes, and takes with him an abandoned little girl he rescued. Maybe she’d like some soup too. In his apartment, oblivious to the fierce manhunt for the child, Beau discusses just how badly he screwed up the Black Friday shooting with his underhanded neighbors. Then SWAT arrives, but SWAT’s never dealt with someone like Beau. Concerned for the little girl’s safety, Beau has to reach deep down to become the protector she needs. After the fires have been put out, the bodies sorted and the wreckage cleared, Beau’s gonna be hungry. Fortunately, soup is very filling and a lot of taco trucks offer it.

There’s a taco truck in Chicago known among a certain segment of the population for its daily specials. Late at night and during the wee hours of the morning, it isn’t the food selection that attracts customers, it’s the illegal weapons available with the special order. Each episode of Guns & Tacos features the story of one Chicagoland resident who visits the taco truck seeking a solution to life’s problems, a solution that always comes in a to-go bag. Episode 10: A Taco, a T-Bird, a Beretta and One Furious Night by Ann Aptaker Episode 11: Sopa and a Streetsweeper by Ryan Sayles Episode 12: Dos Tacos Guatemaltecos y Una Pistola Casera by Mark Troy Episodes 7-9 of Season Two are featured in Guns + Tacos Vol. 3.

There’s a taco truck in Chicago known among a certain segment of the population for its daily specials. Late at night and during the wee hours of the morning, it isn’t the food selection that attracts customers, it’s the illegal weapons available with the special order. Each episode of Guns & Tacos features the story of one Chicagoland resident who visits the taco truck seeking a solution to life’s problems, a solution that always comes in a to-go bag. Episode 7: Burritos & Bullets by Eric Beetner Episode 8: Jalapeño Poppers and a Flare Gun by Michael Bracken & Trey R. Barker Episode 9: Four Shrimp Tacos and a Walther P38 by Alec Cizak Episodes 10-12 of Season Two are featured in Guns + Tacos Vol. 4.

Assassination is Maureen Eckles’ business. Vengeance is her quest. When Maureen learns that Leo “Riddles” Ridley is back in Chicago, the screaming harridan of violence and vengeance is unmuzzled in Maureen’s troubled head. The harridan only quiets when fed steady doses of death, which Maureen is only too happy to provide, especially if Riddles is the on the menu. She’ll make him suffer for his betrayal, for abandoning her to the fate of prison for her work as a member of Riddles’ outfit. But first she has to find him. Maureen’s furious night of violence and vengeance begins at a mysterious, gun-selling taco truck in a dark vacant lot and ends in the broken quiet of a dark alley. In between, she hunts down past associates who could help her find Riddles: the lawyer who wronged her, the failed comic with the analytical mind, the racketeer who runs a shadowy poker game, the woman who shares Riddles’ bed. But Riddles is slippery, always just ahead of Maureen’s Beretta. With each close call of finding Riddles, the harridan in Maureen’s head screams louder, the demand for death more insistent. As Maureen guns her T-Bird through Chicago’s crime haunted shadows, her hunt for Riddles grows desperate, her need for vengeance claws deeper. Her wild quest ends in a climax of exploding emotions, memories, heartbreak and violence. Vengeance has its price. Praise for A TACO, A T-BIRD, A BERETTA AND ONE FURIOUS NIGHT: “Ann Aptaker’s latest noir masterpiece grabs you by the throat on the first page and doesn’t let go. Stylish and unputdownable, written with an edge sharp enough to make Dashiell Hammett wince.” —John Altman, bestselling author of False Flag “Ann Aptaker’s A Taco, A T-Bird, A Beretta and One Furious Night is a fun, welcome dose of classic noir with plenty of bite. I enjoyed the hell out of this one.” —Alex Segura, author of Blackout and Miami Midnight

Coming home to Reston, Virginia, to bury his estranged father, Josh Handleman gets the shock of his life when he finds out that his thrifty father is actually a wealthy man who collected diamonds, but when Josh tries to locate the gems he discovers they are missing and begins to wonder if his father's death was really an accident or if it was murder.

Drawing from Buddhist and yogic precepts, this practical guide offers tools for becoming a better, more compassionate communicator at home, at work, and in the world Have you ever tried to tell someone what you want only to feel misunderstood and frustrated? Or hesitated to ask for what you needed because you didn't want to burden the other person? Or been stuck in blame or anger that wouldn't go away? Judith and Ike Lasater, long-term students of yoga and Buddhism, experienced dilemmas like these, too. Even though they had studied the yoga principle of satya (truth) and the Buddhist precept of right speech, it was not until they began practicing Marshall Rosenberg's techniques of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) that they understood how to live satya and right speech. In What We Say Matters, Judith and Ike describe their journey through NVC and how speech becomes a spiritual practice based on giving and receiving with compassion—everywhere, all the time—whether at home, at work, or in the world. Their writing is deeply personal, punctuated by their recounts of trial and error, success and failure, laughter and challenge—even in writing this book! They guide you through an introduction to NVC with clear explanations, poignant examples, suggested exercises, and helpful resources. With practice, you'll learn new ways to: • Extend empathy to yourself and others • Distinguish between feelings and needs • Make requests rather than demands • Choose connection over conflict • Create mutually satisfying outcomes

Comedian Channing Hayes survived a tragic auto accident that claimed the life of his fiancée, Lauren. Physically and emotionally scarred, he’s put his performing career on hold, resigned to getting laughs vicariously as co-owner of The Last Laff Comedy Club. There, he instructs Lauren’s sister Heather in the fine art of stand-up. When Heather skips out on her set during the club’s comedy showcase, Channing searches for his AWOL protégée. Then Heather’s ex-lovers start turning up dead—and Channing must fight to keep Heather from being the next hit in this deadly line-up.

Comedy club owner and occasional performer Channing Hayes thought the comedy biz was tough, but it's a stroll in the park compared to politics. When he and his business partner Artie attend a congressional campaign event for their friend Thomas Lee's nephew, masked thugs storm in and break up Lee's restaurant with baseball bats. The candidate's people insist that the police not be involved, so Lee asks Channing to investigate. As Channing searches for answers, he finds himself plunged into a corrupt world of payoffs, gangs, illicit affairs, blackmail--and murder. A New Last Laff Mystery from Agatha Award-Nominated Author Alan Orloff

From a bank robbery gone horribly wrong to a shipwrecked man with a serious anger problem to a lonely teenage Peeping Tom, I'M NOT HAPPY TILL YOU'RE NOT HAPPY, Ryan Sayles's second collection of stories, steam rolls along.