A murder mystery reunites a veteran with an embittered ex in this romantic suspense novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of Kill Without Mercy. Five brave military heroes have survived the hell of a Taliban prison to return home—and take on civilian missions no one else can. They’re the men of ARES Security. Highly skilled, intimidating, invincible, and one by one, tested again and again . . . Lucas St. Clair’s prestigious family had a political future planned out for him—one that didn’t include his high school sweetheart, Mia Ramon. Under their pressure, Lucas gave her up. But since surviving captivity, he’s a changed man—and a crucial member of ARES Security. When he discovers a dead man clutching a picture of Mia that bears a threatening message, his fiercest protective instincts kick in, and he knows he must go to her. Mia has never forgiven Lucas for breaking her heart, and she’s convinced her feelings for him are in the past. But it’s soon clear that isn’t true for either of them. Now, determined to solve the crime and keep Mia safe, with his ARES buddies backing him up, Lucas will have to reconstruct the murder victim’s last days—and follow a lethal trail that leads right back to the fate of the woman he still loves . . . Praise for Kill Without Mercy “A fantastic blend of romance and suspense . . . thrilling to the end.” —Mary Burton, USA Today–bestselling author “If you want an action packed, steamy and hard-hitting mystery with a number of unexpected twists, then pick up Kill Without Mercy and you will not be disappointed.” —Fresh Fiction

From the hellhole of a Taliban prison to sweet freedom, five brave military heroes have made it home--and they're ready to take on the civilian missions no one else can. Individually they're intimidating. Together they're invincible. They're the men of ARES Security. Rafe Vargas is only in Newton, Iowa, to clear out his late grandfather's small house. As the covert ops specialist for ARES Security, he's eager to get back to his new life in Texas. But when he crosses paths with Annie White, a haunted beauty with skeletons in her closet, he can't just walk away--not when she's clearly in danger. . . There's a mysterious serial killer on the loose with a link to Annie's dark past. And the closer he gets, the deeper Rafe's instinct to protect kicks in. But even with his considerable skill, Annie's courage, and his ARES buddies behind him, the slaying won't stop. Now it's only a matter of time before Annie's next--unless they can unravel a history of deadly lies that won't be buried.

Employing three venues of literary analysis (conventional literary criticism, new literary criticism, and postmodern literary criticism), this book conducts a character study of the two cannibal mothers before a king (2 Kings 6:24-33). Training our attention upon these minor characters yields major insights. In particular, the postmodern literary assessment discloses the violence encoded in texts by the privileging of the powerful and the empowering of the privileged. Moreover, the broader ties that such a character study yields connect these cannibal mothers to portraits of other pairs of biblical mothers and their plight (the two mothers before Solomon, Sarah and Hagar, Rachel and Leah) and prompt us to search for counter-stories in the biblical tradition and in our own lives opposing the violence embedded there. Book jacket.

In 2002 young Fadime Sahindal was brutally muurdered by her own father. She belonged to a family of Kurdish immigrants who had lived in Sweden for almost two decades. But Fadime's relationship with a man outside of their community had deeply dishonored her family, and only her death could remove the stain. This abhorrent crime shocked the world, and her name soon became a rallying cry in the struggle to combat so - called honor killings. Unni Wikan narrates Fadime's heartbreaking story through her own eloquent words, along with the testimonies of her father, mother, and two sisters. What unfolds is a tale of courage and betrayal, loyalty and love, power and humiliation, and a nearly unfathomable clash of cultures. Despite enduring years of threats over her emancipated life, Fadime advocated compassion for her killers to the end, believing them to be trapped by an unyielding code of honor. Wikan puts this shocking event in context by analyzing similar honor killings, which are increasing throughout Europe and have now been reported in Canada and the United States. She also examines the concept of honor in historical and cross - cultural depth, concluding that Islam itself is not to blame - - indeed, honor killings occur across religious and ethnic traditions - - but rather the way that many cultures have resolutely linked honor with violence. In Honor of Fadime holds profound and timely insights into Islamic culture, but ultimately the heart of this powerful book is Fadime's courageous and tragic story - - and Wikan's telling of it is riveting.

In 2009, college sophomore and track star Monika Kørra was grabbed by three men on her way home from a party and brutally raped. Within hours of being released, Monika resolved that she would not be a victim – she was going to be a survivor. Monika had traveled from her home in Norway to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, determined to acclimate to life in the States and excited for the opportunity of a full scholarship to do what she loved. As an athlete and Olympic hopeful, Monika already knew how to train against extreme fatigue, soreness, and distraction. She was used to overcoming adversity, using obstacles like stepping stones to achieve her goals. Persistence and patience had always been her greatest tools. She would now have to use these same qualities to regain her self-identity and find a “new normal”. Stripped of her sense of security, she slowly rebuilds her life with the help of her friends, family, and her own unflappable spirit. Monika shares the inspiring combination of mental and physical work that gave her the strength to win her greatest fight yet: the court case against the three men who had attacked her. She testifies against them with confidence and a fierce determination that these men would never be able to hurt anyone else, securing a life sentence. Two of them received life, one with parole and one without parole for the worst of the three. A large percentage of sexual assaults – upwards of 80% for female college students, like Monika was – go unreported, and 15 of every 16 rapists go free. By sharing her story, Monika hopes to inspire others to come forward and tell their own stories without shame or fear. Kill the Silence is about one woman's journey to recover from trauma and a call to arms to break the stigma that surrounds violence against women.

"This laugh-out-loud hilarious book is mandatory reading for parents, and should be taught in schools as the "cautionary tale" portion of Sex Ed. Run don't walk to buy it, and if you're a baby with lethal parents, crawl don't roll." --Rob Kutner (writer, The Daily Show, Conan, The Future According To Me) "Unlike babies themselves, copies of Jacob Sager Weinstein's book can be bought and sold on the open market. Buy two and bring joy and laughter to the lives of a copy-less couple." --Jose Arroyo (writer, Conan) "The "s-a-g-e" in Jacob's middle moniker indicates exactly that. He is a whimsically wise and hysterically funny fellow whom any child (or book buying adult) would be wise to listen to." --Dennis Miller "If you don't buy this book and then your baby dies, how are you going to feel? Pretty bad, I imagine." --Larry Doyle (writer, I Love You Beth Cooper; Go, Mutants!; The Simpsons) Have you ever read a parenting book that left you feeling inadequate and/or terrified? In other words, have you ever read any parenting book whatsoever? If so, you need How Not To Kill Your Baby, a hilarious parody of every fear-mongering, crazy-making pregnancy and parenting manual you've ever cringed over. Just consider the following advice: * "As you know if you have ever seen someone give birth in a movie or television show, all newborns emerge with adorable round faces, pudgy limbs, and twinkling eyes. If, by contrast, the nurse hands you a tiny, squawling creature with the face of an old man and skin covered in goo, hand it back immediately. There has clearly been some sort of mixup with a nearby ward for senile midgets." * "It's essential that you keep careful track of your baby's every bodily function. That way, when she is president of the United States and a paranoid-minded conspiracy movement springs up denying her eligibility for the position, you will have documentary proof that she did, in fact, poop on U.S. soil at 8:23AM on February 23." * "When choosing a nursery school, make sure to visit first, and ask the teachers about their educational philosophies. Then ask about their criminal records. If they insist they have none, you may need to keep asking, perhaps while shining a bright light in their face. Also, take their fingerprints, then follow them home from a discreet distance and go through their trash. Oh, and don't forget to thank them for their dedication to helping the young!" * "It is easy to adjust your parenting techniques as your children grow: simply do and say the exact same things, but raise your voice by one decibel for every year of your child's age." How Not To Kill Your Baby is printed on child-safe, 100% piranha-free paper, and bound without the use of exploding staples. You'll get no such promise from What To Expect When You're Expecting. How Not To Kill Your Baby is the book for you... unless you're some kind of baby-hating creep who wants to parent all wrong.

This classic book, written 17 years ago but still selling more than 13,000 copies every year, has been completely updated and expanded by the author. "I used to drink," writes John Bradshaw,"to solve the problems caused by drinking. The more I drank to relieve my shame-based loneliness and hurt, the more I felt ashamed." Shame is the motivator behind our toxic behaviors: the compulsion, co-dependency, addiction and drive to superachieve that breaks down the family and destroys personal lives. This book has helped millions identify their personal shame, understand the underlying reasons for it, address these root causes and release themselves from the shame that binds them to their past failures.

Charles Manson, Aileen Wuornos, Burke & Hare, the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer, and other remorseless serial murderers whose crimes made history. From Victorian era graveyards to a rented room in Paris to an isolated Indian farm and the California hills, the shocking murders collected in this true crime anthology span the century and the continents. The motivations are just as varied: sex, greed, bloodlust, hatred, and the sheer thrill of it all. But the more than thirty serial killers profiled here share one perverse trait: they killed without conscience, regret, or shame. Money did it for dapper French ladykiller Henri Landru, homicidal housewife Nannie Doss, Lady Bluebeard Belle Gunness, and Lonely Hearts Killers, Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck. Deadly desires moved Green River Killer Gary Ridgway, Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, and John Christie, whose Notting Hill home was a burial ground. And rage was the trigger for Edmund Kemper, who used his mother’s head for a dart board, and for nomadic prostitute Aileen Wuornos who turned her tricks into road kill. In crime journalist Nigel Blundell’s criminally fascinating collection, you will meet the loners, outcasts, lethal lovebirds, twisted fetishists, pleasure seekers, body snatchers, and angels of death who are the very definition of cold-blooded.

WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE "My father tried to kill my mother one Sunday in June, in the early afternoon," begins Shame, the probing story of the twelve-year-old girl who will become the author herself, and the single traumatic memory that will echo and resonate throughout her life. With the emotionally rich voice of great fiction and the diamond-sharp analytical eye of a scientist, Annie Ernaux provides a powerful reflection on experience and the power of violent memory to endure through time, to determine the course of a life.

The boys are back in town Frank Farrow is a natural-born killer. Roman Otis is a fine-looking crooner who does his killing on the side. On a hot D.C. afternoon Frank and Roman hit a pizza shop called May's. When the hit was over, four people were executed. A cop was shot. A boy was dead. And when the sirens stopped wailing and the killers vanished into the heat, dozens of lives were shattered forever. Now it's three years later, and Dimitri Karras, who lost a son, is starting to live again. But Dimitri's old acquaintance, a P.I. named Nick Stefanos, has just unburied the past--by discovering the killers' identity. Suddenly the second act of a crime story is about to be told. Because the May's pizza parlor killers are coming back into town: where they'll be greeted with open arms, broken hearts, and at least one loaded gun.