Lieutenant Xavier Moran, USMC, better known as "X," is out of the Afghanistan battlefield-his first reprieve in over sixty days. As he arrives at the sprawling airbase at Bagram with nothing more than a pack, a weapon, and a reputation for getting things done, he secretly wishes he was back in the fight, where life is helter-skelter. When he is assigned a tough mission by Colonel Fran Matthews, X has no idea he is about to become immersed in the rampant corruption that surrounds the Afghan war.

Assigned to assume command of an isolated marine rifle company in disarray, X faces many challenges, including bringing casualties in line with operations, raising the marine's morale, and facing off with the current battalion commander. As he heads to Kotjay to begin his mission, X is apprehensive. He must succeed; failure could mean the end of his career-or the end of his life.

In this action-packed military tale, X bravely stands up to the entrenched powers in Afghanistan. Caught between doing what is right and doing what is expected, he makes powerful enemies intent on ensuring his failure. Only time will tell if they will be successful.

In a final desperate attempt to establish his legacy, the forty-third president of the United states, Gerald W. Burke, issues an ultimatum to the leaders of Israel and Palestine to resolve their conflict on his terms-or else. The ultimatum triggers a chain of unforeseen consequences that cause Burke to be marked for death by al-Qaeda-or is it al-Qaeda? That's the question Kathy Romano, Homeland Security Terrorism Analyst, has to answer as she follows a labyrinth of clues that lead to a shocking discovery that can forever shatter the friendly relations between Israel and the United States.

At the center of the action, is Ari Bugari, an Israeli undercover agent, recruited into al-Qaeda after Iraq is invaded and defeated by the coalition forces. On orders from the al-Qaeda leadership, Ari pursues President Burke across three continents. Caught between his Israeli and al-Qaeda masters, Ari, himself, becomes the hunted quarry and is forced into hiding when he learns the explosive truth that underlies his relationship with Mossad Director General Shalom Eitan.

In this tale of adventure, betrayal, and redemption, President Burke must do everything in his power to salvage the peace agreement and his presidency.

The New York Times bestselling series based on the blockbuster video game for Xbox!It is 2555, more than two years after the Master Chief went missing-in-action following a decisive conflict on Installation 00--the massive, extragalactic Forerunner construct known as the Ark--as part of the final chapter in humanity's bloody thirty-year struggle against the overwhelming forces of the Covenant. Now, as a tenuous peace exists between the humans and the Elites, a startling scientific discovery is made...and the riddle behind its Forerunner origins could very well seal the fate of the entire galaxy within a matter of weeks. In order to unravel these dangerous secrets, a heroic, hastily formed coalition of humans and Elites must attempt to overcome their differences as they embark on a covert mission back to the Ark--an astonishing, enigmatic place beyond comprehension from which few have returned and where mortal danger awaits them all...

It is 1812. For four years, Daniel Brownell has been crossing the Detroit River from Canada every day to attend school in America. But as General Hull prepares to invade Canada at Sandwich, where the Brownell family has a store, eleven-year-old Daniel must choose between following his American father--who is determined to join General Hull--or remaining with his unstable Canadian mother. After he decides his mother needs him more, Daniel retreats with her to Amherstburg, where a wealthy man rumored to be friends with the Shawnee agrees to take them in.Seventy-two-year-old Matthew Elliott has just been named lieutenant commander and chief of Indian affairs in the British Army, and he is tasked with keeping Tecumseh and his warriors in line. As Elliott welcomes Daniel and his mother into his home, Daniel does his best to accept his new life. But when Elliot asks Daniel to deliver a letter to General Hull with the hope of deceiving him, the boy puts his own life in jeopardy in an attempt to save his father's. Although Elliott has participated in many savage battles, the day Daniel loses his innocence grieves him mightily as he realizes that no one--not even a child--can escape the chaos created by war.In this historical tale, two intersecting families are caught up in the War of 1812 as America invades Canada and a boy, an Indian agent, and a great Shawnee chief struggle to survive.

In the final months of World War II, a clandestine group known as The Choir successfully smuggles thousands of escapees out of Nazi-occupied Rome via a secret route known as the Escape Line. When an unidentified airman falls wounded from the sky, The Choir is plunged into danger and the survival of the Escape Line itself is threatened.

The Escape Line’s collapse would leave thousands stranded. Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, its architect and the acknowledged leader of The Choir, broods inside the Vatican, paralyzed by the perils of keeping his Roman underground railroad functioning. Meanwhile, SS Commander Paul Hauptmann has been tasked with destroying the entire operation, and the price of failure is high—his wife and children are under Gestapo lock-and-key in Berlin. Into this deliriously thrilling melee steps Contessa Giovanna Landini, a reckless, audacious, and magnetic member of the Italian Resistance who has the nerve to challenge Hauptmann’s authority.

Beautifully written and expertly crafted, The Ghosts of Rome is a historical suspense novel bursting with action, atmosphere, and unforgettable characters by one of contemporary fiction’s most acclaimed and beloved writers.

The War on Terror is over, but America cannot rest easy yet. If the United States doesn't act quickly, a terrorist strike will occur, setting the entire globe on edge and redefining life on an international scale.

"In his office, Patrick steadied himself. Realizing a threat is one thing when dealing with countries and peoples on the other side of the Earth, but this threat would threaten his family, his way of life, and all those he loved. This threat was personal. Fear set firmly in his mind. He thought of picking up the phone and calling his wife. Would she be home yet? Perhaps he should leave and go get her and their family and get out of Washington?

But the fact that he held an office of such importance to the world was paramount. He gathered himself, his paperwork, and picked up the phone, his voice shakier than it had ever been previously in an official situation.

'Get me the President.""

When the raid is completed that rainy March night in 1072 A.D., Charles the Merciless counts his spoils. He and his raiders have captured twentyfive men, fourteen women, five dozen gold coins, twenty-five small silver bars, an assortment of jewelry, and one baby boy with blond hair, green eyes, and a telling birthmark.

Sold into slavery, the boy, John-the son of Robert and Mary Joinville and the grandson of Baron William Joinville-leads a difficult life at the Abbey of Lille. Tutored by a monk, John becomes not only a talented shepherd, but an educated young man. John yearns to become a knight. When his opportunity arises, this shepherd boy shows his true mettle as a leader and a warrior. As a knight of Baron Legran, he and his compatriots join God's Crusades where the battles never seem to end.

The Arab and Turkish people have never forgotten the Crusades, even 1000 years after the fact. "Gods of War" provides a unique, historical look through John's eyes at the advance of Christendom into the heart of Islam.

In 409 BC, the Greek historian Herodotus described an Athenian soldier who had no physical battle injuries but suffered permanent blindness after seeing the death of a fellow soldier. It has been reported down through the ages and given a dozen different names from "combat stress reaction" to "the 1,000-yard stare" to "survivor syndrome." For Sergeant Bryan Hamilton, it would eventually be recognized as "post-traumatic stress disorder" or PTSD. After serving two combat tours in Vietnam, Bryan Hamilton returns to his small hometown in rural central Pennsylvania in search of some sense of normalcy. Although Bryan believes he is the same quiet, clean-cut young man that departed for military service some three years earlier, his family is increasingly convinced the Bryan they once knew may be gone forever. Bryan's only salvation may be Cindi Roget, the pretty young liberal coed he meets at University Park, the main campus of Penn State University. Although the two have absolutely nothing in common, they fall in love and prove once again the old adage that opposites really do attract. About the Author: R.T. Budd served combat tours in Vietnam with the 1st Air Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal). Forty years later he freely admits that "the deepest wounds of war need not be physical." The damage to the psyche may not be visible, but it is just as real as the blood that is spilled. Budd lives with his wife of 38 years near Hershey, Pennsylvania. http://SBPRA.com/RTBudd

Sophie follows her husband, Dr. Alfred Fritze from the rich city life in Prussia to the poverty of the American frontier. Immediately, the lush green countryside and crisp clean air lulls her into a false sense of security. Until her very survival is challenged by the first long frigid Minnesota winter so cold it swallows up hope and leaves privation in its stead.

Although the Dakota people are friendly as a whole, there are those who hate the whites. Bigotry spreads on both sides of the river. Men, who would gain from their demise, harass and belittle the Indian way of life. Then in August of 1862, Chief Little Crow, one of the calmer voices of the Dakota Nation, declares war on the "cut-hairs and those who take the white ways." Caught in the middle of a civil war, Sophie loses her son and is taken captive by Killing Ghost who plans to make her his princess.

Highpockets War Stories is an eloquent account of combat leadership in Korea and Vietnam. Colonel Peter L. Hilgartner is widely recognized in the Marine Corps as a successful combat leader, first as a junior officer in Korea and later commanding the First Battalion, Fifth Marines fighting the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. Hilgartner tells of leading troops in counter-guerilla action, and major battles with North Vietnamese troops -- Union I, Union II and Swift -- to control the strategic Que Son Valley. His story gives never-before-told, vivid descriptions of Marines in hand-to-hand combat with North Vietnamese troops from the perspective of Marines who were there. Every grunt will appreciate this gripping account.

One sniper. Six targets. Six hours. Or London burns. ""I want you to kill for me. Six people; on the hour, every hour. Miss a deadline, people will die. Call the police, people will die. Any deviation or delay, people will die."" Disgraced MI6 sniper Sam Blake initially dismisses the call as a hoax until the first shot in a random killing spree is fired. Sam is plunged into a desperate cat and mouse chase across London. With the clock ticking and the odds stacked against him he becomes an unwilling assassin, forced to kill in order to protect not just hundreds of innocent civilians, but his own daughter, who has been kidnapped by the psychotic terrorist who calls himself Jericho. As the police and security services close in, Sam must unravel the conspiracy, unmask his nemesis, and save the one person in the world he truly loves."

Captain Parker declares war on a politically powerful traitor to England. Immediately, Parker becomes a marked man. All hell is visited upon him, but Parker has been fighting battles since he was seven years old and is not easily daunted. To survive, he fights one brutal battle after another, descending into war's inexpressible darkness.

The author of this well-crafted thriller stages his war from a perspective that sheds light on our post 9/11 experiences. We observe the overextended British Empire fighting two wars amidst the corruption resulting from war's confusion and excess.

This is an 18th century sea story. It is, however, more than just a sea story-in the way that "Heart of War" is more than a steamer trip into the Congo. For its brilliance and its honesty, it will win a place in the reader's heart.

"Hal Weidner has emerged to write a spectacular yarn in the tradition of Patrick O'Brian's "Master and Commander." Weidner's imagination creates a hair-raising thriller that will keep you rooted to your easy chair with the doors locked. Weidner's twists, turns and subplots keep us guessing by pitting good and evil against an uneasy grey. I could not put this book down." -Robert Sain, psychiatrist and author.

"In Hal Weidner's novel, the beauty and strangeness of the past and of the sea are evoked in spare and lovely prose. This novel brings to life a fully imagined reality in all its splendor. "Heart of War" is suspenseful and languorous, sparse and lyrical, by a novelist fully capable of transporting the reader skillfully to its world."
-Laura Kasischke, Internationally renowned poet and novelist.

"Hal Weidner's vivid depiction of warfare, intrigue, treachery, and heroism among British, American and French factions during the 18th Century mirrors eerily the tensions that we see and imagine shaping the world today."
-Tom Zimmerman. Editor, "The Huron River Review."