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Black Raven

Who is Max Ryker? He knows his own identity, but he can’t convince anyone else. And with only 62 hours left, he fears he might soon forget himself.

A man, who believes he is a government operative for a covert black-ops division of the CIA, awakens in the aftermath of the bombing of a federal building in Chicago. Disoriented and struggling to reconcile his last memory—an operation in Croatia pursuing a target wanted for espionage—he soon finds himself accused of domestic terrorism and mass murder. Either his mind is unraveling, or he’s been expertly framed.

Adding to his confusion, he discovers a wedding band he doesn’t recognize adorns his finger, an ominous watch on his wrist counts down from 62 hours, and the cryptic words ‘Black Raven’ are scrawled across his hand. As his memories fade with each passing hour and his pleas of innocence fall on deaf ears, he is forced to flee in a desperate bid to clear his name.

Targeted by a nationwide manhunt involving multiple agencies, he begins to unravel the secrets of his shadowy past. With the unexpected help of a few resourceful allies, he embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the true motives of those who betrayed him and thwart a deadly conspiracy that extends to the highest echelons of power.

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BaCK fROM THE dEEP

The dramatic story of an unlikely search and recovery duo who help law enforcement and grieving families with their uncanny knack for locating bodies underwater

A powerful debut for fans of deeply reported stories that follow real people with obsessional passions, and of authors like Tracy Kidder, Sebastian Junger, and Patrick Radden Keefe

When the police and FBI exhaust their abilities and options, and when grieving families run out of resources, their last best hope has been an Idaho couple who have spent their retirement years pursuing lost causes—and have located 130 victims from lakes and rivers across the United States and Canada.

Gene and Sandy Ralston, a married Idaho couple in their mid 70s, are self-taught underwater search-and-recovery specialists who volunteer their time and equipment. And yet the Ralstons are counted among the best in the world. The Ralstons have an uncanny knack for finding bodies in deep water and can regularly find a missing person within hours, sometimes even minutes, of launching their boat.

Law enforcement and emergency response agencies seek out their peculiar expertise, but when the Ralstons’ home phone rings it’s usually a family member of a missing person. Someone reaching out after the local police and volunteer groups have called off the official search. Someone who heard from a friend of a friend about a couple from Idaho who will travel thousands of miles at the drop of a hat—charging only their travel costs—to help complete strangers.

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The Flight of the Kingfisher

Smuggling is supposed to be the kind of job where you’re in, you’re out, and no one ever knew you were there.

Simple. Boring, even.

But that’s only when you’re doing it right.

Unfortunately, Avery and the rest of the crew of the Kingfisher have hit a snag, one in the form of a strange woman living in a hallway ceiling at Installation 23, and from there on out, it seems like they’re ever only one jump ahead of the next guy looking to kill them. Increasingly enmeshed in complex politics and missing their blissful ignorance, the crew of the Kingfisher are going to have to make some hard decisions about what role they really want to play in galactic events, and just how far from their mundane world of weapons smuggling they’re willing to venture.

Climb aboard. The flight of the Kingfisher is about to begin.

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A Right Brain AwAkening

You’ve heard that behavior is dictated by your brain orientation. Either you’re right-brained or left-brained. If you’re right-brained, you’re creative. If you’re left-brained, you’re technical. Or so it may seem. Until he entered extreme grief after the death of his wife—his true love—John Lodal believed that was true.

But in his heartache, something blew open. The barriers between his hemispheres opened wide, and he began to experience right brain reactions to his grief. He felt feelings he’d never felt, he became empathetic toward others, he wrote poetry to express his sorrow, and he openly served others. 

From the perspective of a former Hewlett-Packard engineer, A Right Brain Awakening is the author’s journey through his wife’s final stages of cancer and hospice care (the exact cancer that he, himself, had overcome), the plunge into grief, accepting his new reality, and leading from the heart to create a new, vibrant life.

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The Justice of the Duke

Cesare Borgia, former cardinal, Duke of Valentinois and Romagna, has been a figure of awe and scorn for generations. For 400 years, the romance of Borgia’s tumultuous life has been the topic of romances and tragedies. His rise and fall inspired Machiavelli to write The Prince and Friedrich Nietzsche to write The Antichrist.

Among those inspired by this prince of Italy was famed author Rafael Sabatini (Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk). Seemingly compelled to explore this fascinating historical figure’s true nature, Sabatini wrote a biography and a play. But his best work was in his favorite writing style: historical fiction. With characteristic Sabatini flair, he brought Borgia life as no one had before.

Drawn to the passion, suspicion, betrayal, and ambition of Borgia’s brief but exciting life, Sabatini penned seven short stories set during the Italian Renaissance: “The Honour of Varano”, “The Test”, “Ferrante’s Jest”, “Gisimondi’s Wage”, “The Snare”, “The Lust of Conquest”, and “The Pasquinade”. These stories are collected in the volume Sabatini entitled The Justice of the Duke.

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Monsters, Makeup & Effects

Pennywise. Xenomorphs. Freddy Krueger. Beetlejuice. Jason Voorhees. Most movie fans immediately recognize these creatures and characters, but hardly know much about the artists behind these iconic designs. In Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume 1, journalist Heather Wixson shines the spotlight on 20 special effects makeup artists, creators, and technicians, whose work has left us captivated and marveling at their innovation, ingenuity, and creativity.

Featuring behind-the-scenes information and extensive interviews, MM&E explores the lives, careers, and inspirations behind some the greatest artisans to have ever worked in film and television. MM&E is a celebration of the creative spirit and artistic endeavors of those who have worked tirelessly for decades to create the memorable monsters, creatures, and onscreen personas that have terrified us, made us laugh, and filled us with a sense of wonder.

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Indifferents

Jack’s only job was to help provide for his camp. Then he found an object that could save the world…or destroy it. Jack is an ordinary kid. He lives in the background at 13 years old, with life as dull as the wrecked city he lives in. But a boring life is a safe one, right? When Jack discovers a mysterious piece of technology, his life is thrown into chaos. His camp is taken under siege, and he’s forced to flee, leaving his brother behind amid the eternal war of Good and Evil. Can he save his camp and keep the precious object out of the wrong hands?