“Like The Bourne Identity turned inside-out.”—Christopher Farnsworth, author of Blood Oath This is a war. It’s been going on for generations. If you’re lucky, it will be your generation that ends it… At least that’s what the young ones are told before they turn eighteen. At that age they become fair game, and must kill or be killed in a secret war between two distinct sides—one good, one evil. The only unknown is which side is which. Hidden in plain view, the battles are fought through assassinations disguised as accidents or the work of senseless thugs. Joseph has a particular talent for such killings. Never questioning an order, all he needs is a name. But when a job goes wrong and he’s sent away on a punishingly dangerous assignment, he meets a girl. Her name is Maria. And for the first time Joseph has a reason to live…outside the war. Now Joseph must run from those who fought by his side, quickly discovering that the only thing more dangerous than fighting the war is attempting to leave it.

Even if you have choices, sometimes you only have one worth making. The war had been raging for as long as anyone could remember. The secret, endless war between two opposing sides—one good, one evil. Neither side knows which is which; it is kill or be killed in an invisible conflict where assassination is the weapon of choice. When she was just seventeen, Maria was pulled into this secret war and they killed her lover and stole her child. Now they are telling her to go home. To ignore what she knows is going on in the shadows all around her. They told Maria to forget all she’d lost. The trouble is, some things simply can’t be forgotten. Now, with a loose-cannon killer at her side, Maria is going to do whatever it takes to get back what belongs to her. And that means starting a war of her own…

Two people search for connection in a world of fractured identities and aliases, global finance, big data, intelligence bureaucracies, algorithmic logic, and terror. Jeremy Jordan and Alexandra Chen hope to make a quiet home together but struggle to find a space safe from their personal secrets. For Jeremy, this means leaving behind his former life as an intelligence operative during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. For Alexandra, a high-powered job in image management for whole countries cannot prepare her for her missing brother’s sudden reappearance. In a culture of limitless surveillance, Jeremy and Alexandra will go to great lengths to protect what is closest to them. Spanning decades and continents, their saga brings them into contact with a down-and-out online journalist, shadowy security professionals, and jockeying technology experts, each of whom has a different understanding of whether information really protects us, and how we might build a world worth trusting in our paranoid age.

Furedi (sociology, U. of Kent, UK) especially aims his anti-advice book at the worried American parent, where "anxiety regarding children's safety is at an unprecedented level." As evidence, he cites the new child-care industry that fosters paranoia and offers security, companies like Kinderview and Toddlerwatch that allow parents to constantly watch their children from their personal computer. Whereas parenting used to be about nurturing and socializing, now, writes Furedi, parenting has become burdensome overparenting, too much about keeping children safe from overblown harms. Furedi is a frequent guest on British television. The book is distributed by the Indpendent Publishers Group. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

In “a brilliant antidote to all the…false narratives about pot” (American Thinker), an award-winning author and former New York Times reporter reveals the link between teenage marijuana use and mental illness, and a hidden epidemic of violence caused by the drug—facts the media have ignored as the United States rushes to legalize cannabis. Recreational marijuana is now legal in nine states. Advocates argue cannabis can help everyone from veterans to cancer sufferers. But legalization has been built on myths—that marijuana arrests fill prisons; that most doctors want to use cannabis as medicine; that it can somehow stem the opiate epidemic; that it is beneficial for mental health. In this meticulously reported book, Alex Berenson, a former New York Times reporter, explodes those myths, explaining that almost no one is in prison for marijuana; a tiny fraction of doctors write most authorizations for medical marijuana, mostly for people who have already used; and marijuana use is linked to opiate and cocaine use. Most of all, THC—the chemical in marijuana responsible for the drug’s high—can cause psychotic episodes. “Alex Berenson has a reporter’s tenacity, a novelist’s imagination, and an outsider’s knack for asking intemperate questions” (Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker), as he ranges from the London institute that is home to the scientists who helped prove the cannabis-psychosis link to the Colorado prison where a man now serves a thirty-year sentence after eating a THC-laced candy bar and killing his wife. He sticks to the facts, and they are devastating. With the US already gripped by one drug epidemic, Tell Your Children is a “well-written treatise” (Publishers Weekly) that “takes a sledgehammer to the promised benefits of marijuana legalization, and cannabis enthusiasts are not going to like it one bit” (Mother Jones).

Since the age of 18 Joseph has been an assassin fighting a generations-old secret war for a cause he believes in, but does not fully understand. The only rules he lives by are no killing of innocent bystanders and no killing anyone under 18; with horrendous penalties for any who break them. The public remain completely unware of the covert battles fought out on their streets. When Joseph is sent away on a punishingly dangerous assignment, he falls in love with Maria. Soon he discovers the only thing more dangerous than fighting a war is trying to leave it.

What Did You Worry About Today? Chances Are, You Didn't Need to . . . Paranoid Parents take heart: You're not alone in your sleepless nights. When surveyed by Paranoid Parents founder Christie Barnes, 75 percent of moms and dads said they worried about "everything" when it came to their kids. Things like: Is this really the right school? Will she get kidnapped at the mall? Are those car seats safe? Will he be bullied at camp? Is that splinter infected? Does he really have ADD or is he just hyper? Is she experimenting with drugs? In our fear-based culture that makes us over-buy, over-protect, and over-parent in an effort to keep our kids safe, Christie Barnes knows the truth: Most parents are wasting their time worrying about the wrong things. From years of research, Barnes will give parents a much-needed reality check, opening their eyes to the real dangers likely to befall their kids with simple, effective tips to prevent them from happening. She will help paranoid parents to come clean about their biggest fears, reveal the Top Ten real dangers as opposed to the Myth Makers, and offer realistic ways to safeguard kids at every stage without stealing their childhoods. By rallying against our biggest fears with the facts, the Paranoid Parents Guide will help moms and dads enjoy parenthood more, and allow their kids develop the resiliency, independence, and good decision-making skills that are essential—yet lacking—in today's society. So stop worrying about a shark attack . . . because your child is more likely to be injured by a shopping cart. Think that ice hockey is more dangerous than cheering? Think again. Is there ever an age when your kids are safer? (The answer is yes.) Are strangers the real enemy? (Actually, no.) How dangerous is the world we live in? As Barnes will prove, it's easier to enjoy your time with your children when you are prepared; not paranoid.

A BUSTLE PERFECT VACATION READ USA Today Bestseller From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson comes a new novel of nerve-jangling suspense as a woman haunted by guilt realizes that nothing can be trusted—not even her own memory . . . IF YOU THINK SOMEONE IS OUT TO GET YOU . . . There are people in Edgewater, Oregon, who think that twenty years ago, Rachel Gaston got away with murder. But Rachel still has no idea how a foolish teenaged game turned deadly—or who replaced her soft pellet air gun with a real weapon. When a figure jumped out at her from the darkness, she fired without thinking. By the time she recognized her half-brother, Luke, it was too late. Blood bloomed around his chest . . . AND SOMEONE REALLY IS . . . Rachel’s horrifying dreams about that night continue. Her anxiety contributed to her divorce from Detective Cade Ryder, though he blames himself too. And now, as Rachel’s high school reunion nears, she feels her imagination playing tricks on her. She’s sure that there’s a hint of unfamiliar cologne in the air. That someone is tailing her car. Watching her home . . . THEN YOU’RE NOT PARANOID . . . She’s right to be scared. And as connections surface between a new string of murders and Luke’s death, Rachel realizes there’s no escaping the past. And the truth may be darker than her worst fears . . .

The year is 2021. No child has been born for twenty-five years. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiat, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably as he faces agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind. NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

On a world of fascinating wonders and terrifying dangers, Vinge has created apowerful novel of adventure and discovery that will entrance the many readersof "A Fire Upon the Deep."