DEADLY SECRET It is a lost art, passed down by the ancients in great secrecy: Dim-mak. It is death, by the lightest touch of a finger. Sano Ichiro, tenuous in the new regime as the shogun's second-in-command, does not have the luxury of skepticism?another senior official is dead, a fingerprint lightly glazed into his skin. DEADLY CRIMESano's wife Reiko has an investigation of her own: a beautiful, proud, and hopelessly poor woman has confessed to murdering her family. Yet the pieces do not fit, and as Reiko looks deeper into the woman's life as a hinin?a moral outcast, shunned by the world?inexplicable connections appear between her investigation and Sano's. DEADLY TOUCHAs Reiko's questions spiral her further into the squalor of life as a hinin, Sano and Hirata?his most loyal samurai?pursure their prey, uncovering an intricate tapestry of betrayal woven into the highest levels of the new regime. But they are no match for the one who has mastered dim-mak, a warrior who will strike all those who cross him or his path?even Reiko. "Sano may carry a sword and wear a kimono, but you'll immediately recognize him as an ancestor of Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade." --The Denver Post

Six master assassins -- each a legend in the dark corners of international espionage -- band together to steal a fortune from the middle of a war zone. But the mission goes tragically wrong, and they retreat into the shadows. Now THE ASSASSINS are back. Former military spy Judd Ryder is walking to his D.C. home when he spots a man coming out of his row house who looks like Ryder and is wearing his clothes. As Ryder slows to follow, the imposter is killed in a hit-and-run that's no accident. Was the man the intended victim, or was it Ryder himself? Soon Ryder learns that the key to the mysterious events of the past and to his double's murder is an infamous Cold War assassin, the Carnivore. Two of the last people to see the Carnivore were Ryder and CIA trainee Eva Blake, and someone is using them to lure him out. From Washington D.C. to Marrakech and Baghdad, the assassins wage a final battle -- this time against one another -- fighting for their reputations and Saddam Hussein's long-missing billion-dollar fortune. In the end, only one can be left standing. Caught in the crossfire, Judd and Eva go on the run while desperately unraveling the tangled past and battling not only for their lives, but for their destinies.

The CEOs of several American oil companies hatched a plot to assassinate the president of the United States, to prevent him from introducing a bill to nationalize the oil companies. Frank Bellamy, a retired Mafia hit man, turns down the very lucrative contract, even though he needs the money to save his car dealerships from bankruptcy. A psychopathic European assassin, with a dark American past, accepts the contract and arrives in Washington, DC. When the FBI gets wind of the plot, all signs point to Bellamy. But Bellamy is preoccupied with his own personal issues: saving his business, reconciling with his wife, and appeasing his stepson, who has some questions about his deceased father. Meanwhile, the Mafia leaders are becoming nervous as the FBI closes in on Bellamy, who knows too much about their organization. He has to be silenced before he takes them all down. Bellamy must find and stop the European assassin before the president is killed, before the FBI corners him, and before the Mafia's hit men take him out.

Xihe State rumour: Blue eyes covering the world! When she was born, her eyes were blue like the ocean. She was sent as a monster into the depths of the forest. The dignified young mistress of the Prime Minister's Estate had been of no interest to anyone for the past fifteen years. Fifteen years later, the empress had snuck in, the enemy had hunted him down and the emperor had set a trap, so there was no harm in it! [The Jun Family is powerful and has unlimited wealth. I will kill my enemies, fight the Queen, and harm the Emperor!] The Tian Family was heartless, turning their hands into clouds and dropping them into the deep abyss, what was there to fear?! She was born extraordinary. She changed her fate and was bathed in blood after she was reborn. When I kill her until the color changes in the mountains and rivers, the ghosts and deities will weep. I slaughter my way to the golden age of the dynasty! Rivers and mountains? If I overshadowed you, what would you do to me?! She was born to rule over the world!

Hailed as a classic upon its first publication in 1934, The Valleys of the Assassins firmly established Freya Stark as one of her generation's most intrepid explorers. The book chronicles her travels into Luristan, the mountainous terrain nestled between Iraq and present-day Iran, often with only a single guide and on a shoestring budget. Stark writes engagingly of the nomadic peoples who inhabit the region's valleys and brings to life the stories of the ancient kingdoms of the Middle East, including that of the Lords of Alamut, a band of hashish-eating terrorists whose stronghold in the Elburz Mountains Stark was the first to document for the Royal Geographical Society. Her account is at once a highly readable travel narrative and a richly drawn, sympathetic portrait of a people told from their own compelling point of view. This edition includes a new Introduction by Jane Fletcher Geniesse, Stark's biographer.

In “The Last of the Assassins,” the chilling sequel, Cyrus emerges from the shadows of his turbulent past, no longer a mere prodigy but a master manipulator. The boy consumed by revenge has transformed into a man driven by an insatiable thirst for control, navigating a world rife with betrayal, manipulation, and murder. This book delves deeper into the labyrinth of Cyrus’ mind, slipping deeper into darkness. As he weaves his web of intrigue, alliances shift like sand, and a single misstep can be fatal. His journey is a visceral exploration of the darkest facets of the human psyche, where the pursuit of dominance is a purpose in itself. Cyrus’ evolution from a vengeful youth to a formidable strategist is a relentless dance of covert operations and brutal confrontations. Each chapter plunges you further into a realm where moral lines blur and every choice echoes with far-reaching consequences. Step into the mind of a man shaped by pain and driven by power, where the boundaries between predator and prey are obliterated in his quest for supremacy.

One girl. Stella Grey is a notorious assassin willing to put her life on the line for her family. In a split Kingdom. Worlds are ruled by which side one is born on. One is either part of the Blue community, living the high life in the Kingdom of Atlantis, or part of the Red community, living in poverty, fighting for their next meal without any power, in the Kingdom of Avalon. Will enter a Trial. Stella's master sends her and her fellow assassins on a mission to find the murderer who has stolen his identity, which lands them all in the heart of Atlantis. Stella is left competing in the Trials for the Crowned Prince of Atlantis's hand in marriage. To unveil the truth. With the help of her new found friend, a slave boy, she learns not all is as it seems. The truth may change her life forever.

Book II of the Heaven, Hell, & Humanity Trilogy As angels descend from the High Heavens and the demonic armies of Hell rise from the depths, Humanity balances on the precipice of extinction. The war of immortals has returned.

SEATTLE, 204. The Space Needle lies crumpled. Veiled women hurry through the streets. Alcohol is outlawed, replaced by Jihad Cola, and mosques dot the skyline. New York and Washington, D.C., are nuclear wastelands. At the edge of the empire, Islamic and Christian forces fight for control, and rebels plot to regain free will....