Kira Brightwell stands at a crossroads. Her college days lie behind her, but her future remains a mystery, waiting to be solved. A job already awaits her at her father’s office—the easy, parent-approved option. But Kira wants something different. Something more. She needs to get away to figure out what. Except Kira’s future hangs in the balance in more ways than one... In the crime-filled adventures of the Kira Brightwell Quick Cases mystery series by Jacquelyn Smith, “Striking Distance” focuses on the event that changes Kira’s life forever, and sets her on the path to becoming an infamous problem solver for hire. (This story takes place before the Kira Brightwell novel Split Decision. Originally published under the pen name Kat Irwin.)

A bootleg Nine Inch Nails cassette tape. Weird thing for Kira to find abandoned by a sewer grate on her way to school. The hand-drawn NIN logo in marker catches Kira’s eye. Who tossed the tape? And why? Kira pockets it, of course. Seems a shame to leave it in the gutter. Who knows what kind of extra tracks she might find on it? ...Now she only needs to figure out a way to play the thing. A twisting, short novel of Kira’s high school past from the Kira Brightwell Quick Cases mystery series by the author of the Mackenzie Quinn mysteries, Jacquelyn Smith. (This adventure takes place before the Kira Brightwell novel Split Decision.)

Kira Brightwell knows where to find the Procurer. Finally, after four long years, a level playing field. But the serial abductor knows how to cover his tracks. And any animal can become even more dangerous when cornered. Kira’s hard-won window of opportunity to capture the Procurer remains narrow in a race against the clock. Kira’s other problem? Someone else wants to find him first. The ongoing battle of wits between Kira and the Procurer comes to a head in this tense sixth novel in the Kira Brightwell mystery series by the author of the Mackenzie Quinn mysteries, Jacquelyn Smith.

Kira Brightwell enjoys two things—outsmarting bad guys and kicking ass. Well, that and listening to Nine Inch Nails. (Bonus, if she can manage all three at once.) She never expected anyone to call her a hero... But when life throws a punch, Kira always finds a way to hit back. This fast-paced, starter collection includes three cases from the Kira Brightwell mystery series by award-winning author Jacquelyn Smith. (Originally published under the pen name Kat Irwin.): Split Decision: A Kira Brightwell Novel (Kira Brightwell Book 1) Striking Distance: A Kira Brightwell Short Story Under Wraps: A Kira Brightwell Short Novel Split Decision: A Kira Brightwell Novel (Kira Brightwell Book 1) Kira Brightwell never planned to become a private detective. Or a local hero, for that matter. She only wants to hone her MMA skills. And focus on her own personal need for vengeance and closure. While listening to Nine Inch Nails. But people call Kira a hero for a reason. She never walks away from trouble. And between her wits and her fists, she can take down just about anything that gets thrown her way. Meet Kira in action in this first novel in the Kira Brightwell mystery series. If you love a clever heroine who kicks ass, grab this book. Striking Distance: A Kira Brightwell Short Story Kira Brightwell stands at a crossroads. Her college days lie behind her, but her future remains a mystery, waiting to be solved. A job already awaits her at her father’s office—the easy, parent-approved option. But Kira wants something different. Something more. She needs to get away to figure out what. Except Kira’s future hangs in the balance in more ways than one... In the crime-filled cases of the Kira Brightwell series, “Striking Distance” focuses on the event that changes Kira’s life forever, and sets her on the path to becoming an infamous problem solver for hire. Under Wraps: A Kira Brightwell Short Novel Halloween. A time for costumes and crime. Neither hold interest for Kira Brightwell. She only wants to find a way to move on with her life after the trauma she endured three months ago. (That, and track down the man responsible.) But the local police receive an anonymous tip with a growing list of decrypted names—a list that threatens to shake the suburban, California town to its core. ...And just like that, Kira’s world gets turned upside down. A stand-alone short novel of Kira’s recent past in the Kira Brightwell mystery series. If you love murder, mystery, and mayhem, grab this book.

Kira Brightwell just wants to mind her own business. Maybe go for a run, or hone her MMA skills while blasting some Nine Inch Nails. She never goes looking for trouble. But somehow, trouble always seems to find her. Usually the missing woman or dead body kind. ...Good thing she knows how to use her wits, as well as her fists. Dive into the ongoing cases of a clever detective who kicks ass in this starter collection of early, stand-alone Kira Brightwell shorts by the author of the Mackenzie Quinn mysteries, Jacquelyn Smith. (These adventures complement the novels of the Kira Brightwell mystery series, and all take place before the first novel, Split Decision.) This collection includes: Tale of the Tape: A Kira Brightwell Short Novel Striking Distance: A Kira Brightwell Short Story Under Wraps: A Kira Brightwell Short Novel Tale of the Tape: A Kira Brightwell Short Novel A bootleg Nine Inch Nails cassette tape. Weird thing for Kira to find abandoned by a sewer grate on her way to school. The hand-drawn NIN logo in marker catches Kira’s eye. Who tossed the tape? And why? Kira pockets it, of course. Seems a shame to leave it in the gutter. Who knows what kind of extra tracks she might find on it? ...Now she only needs to figure out a way to play the thing. A twisting, short novel of Kira’s high school past from the Kira Brightwell Quick Cases mystery series. Striking Distance: A Kira Brightwell Short Story Kira Brightwell stands at a crossroads. Her college days lie behind her, but her future remains a mystery, waiting to be solved. A job already awaits her at her father’s office—the easy, parent-approved option. But Kira wants something different. Something more. She needs to get away to figure out what. Except Kira’s future hangs in the balance in more ways than one… In the crime-filled adventures of the Kira Brightwell Quick Cases mystery series, “Striking Distance” focuses on the event that changes Kira’s life forever, and sets her on the path to becoming an infamous problem solver for hire. (Originally published under the pen name Kat Irwin.) Under Wraps: A Kira Brightwell Short Novel Halloween. A time for costumes and crime. Neither hold interest for Kira Brightwell. She only wants to find a way to move on with her life after the trauma she endured three months ago. (That, and track down the man responsible.) But the local police receive an anonymous tip with a growing list of decrypted names—a list that threatens to shake the suburban, California town to its core. ...And just like that, Kira’s world gets turned upside down. A stand-alone short novel of Kira’s recent past in the Kira Brightwell Quick Cases mystery series. If you love murder, mystery, and mayhem, grab this book. (Originally published under the pen name Kat Irwin.)

Volker Schlöndorff’s Cinema: Adaptation, Politics and the “Movie-Appropriate”examines the work of major postwar Germandirector Volker Schlöndorff in historical, economic, and artistic contexts. . In spite of Schlöndorff’s successes with films like The Lost Honor ofKatharina Blum and The Tin Drum, as well as his acclaimed work in the U.S. with Death of a Salesman, Gathering of Old Men and The Handmaid’s Tale, this is the first in-depthcritical study of the filmmaker’s career.

This book offers the first comparative monograph on the management of elections. The book defines electoral management as a new, inter-disciplinary area and advances a realist sociological approach to study it. A series of new, original frameworks are introduced, including the PROSeS framework, which can be used by academics and practitioners around the world to evaluate electoral management quality. A networked governance approach is also introduced to understand the full range of collaborative actors involved in delivering elections, including civil society and the international community. Finally, the book evaluates some of the policy instruments used to improve the integrity of elections, including voter registration reform, training and the funding of elections. Extensive mixed methods are used throughout including thematic analysis of interviews, (auto-)ethnography, comparative historical analysis and, cross-national and national surveys of electoral officials. This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners interested and involved in electoral integrity and elections, and more broadly to comparative politics, public administration, international relations and democracy studies. Chapters 1 and 4 of this book are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This book examines social aspects of humour relating to the judiciary, judicial behaviour, and judicial work across different cultures and eras, identifying how traditionally recorded wit and humorous portrayals of judges reflect social attitudes to the judiciary over time. It contributes to cultural studies and social science/socio-legal studies of both humour and the role of emotions in the judiciary and in judging. It explores the surprisingly varied intersections between humour and the judiciary in several legal systems: judges as the target of humour; legal decisions regulating humour; the use of humour to manage aspects of judicial work and courtroom procedure; and judicial/legal figures and customs featuring in comic and satiric entertainment through the ages. Delving into the multi-layered connections between the seriousness of the work of the judiciary on the one hand, and the lightness of humour on the other hand, this fascinating collection will be of particular interest to scholars of the legal system, the criminal justice system, humour studies, and cultural studies.

Reservoir Characterization is a collection of papers presented at the Reservoir Characterization Technical Conference, held at the Westin Hotel-Galleria in Dallas on April 29-May 1, 1985. Conference held April 29-May 1, 1985, at the Westin Hotel—Galleria in Dallas. The conference was sponsored by the National Institute for Petroleum and Energy Research, Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Reservoir characterization is a process for quantitatively assigning reservoir properties, recognizing geologic information and uncertainties in spatial variability. This book contains 19 chapters, and begins with the geological characterization of sandstone reservoir, followed by the geological prediction of shale distribution within the Prudhoe Bay field. The subsequent chapters are devoted to determination of reservoir properties, such as porosity, mineral occurrence, and permeability variation estimation. The discussion then shifts to the utility of a Bayesian-type formalism to delineate qualitative ""soft"" information and expert interpretation of reservoir description data. This topic is followed by papers concerning reservoir simulation, parameter assignment, and method of calculation of wetting phase relative permeability. This text also deals with the role of discontinuous vertical flow barriers in reservoir engineering. The last chapters focus on the effect of reservoir heterogeneity on oil reservoir. Petroleum engineers, scientists, and researchers will find this book of great value.