A cold-blooded and ruthless female assassin, Murphy thought she'd found the perfect gig: no shortage of assignments and an employer with unlimited funds. But her latest kill might have ruined it all, in more ways than one. Sent to a sleepy Mississippi Delta town to kill an attractive lawyer named Samantha Owens, Murphy doesn't realize just how this young woman's death will affect her. Not only was Samantha on the cusp of revealing greedy bankers caught up in fraudulent subprime lending schemes, but she also left an indelible mark on Murphy-the curse of forgiveness. Despite trying to keep a lid on their illegal activities, Murphy's employers are about to be exposed when Samantha's gruesome murder hits national headlines. With time running out, loose ends must be severed and unfortunately, Murphy is one of them. Once the huntress, Murphy now finds herself the hunted. Her only escape lies in joining forces with her latest assignment, Jake Harlow, Samantha's law partner. Caught between the parameters of heaven and hell, Murphy struggles to not only save her life, but also her soul...

The B'Breakeboys is a fictional story about child labor conditions, until 1920, when child labor laws restricted such practice. The fact based story is followed by a fictional story about two teen age boys falling into an abandoned coal mine shaft. They are not alone and have to fight desperation, cave-ins, rats, fire, water, and old dynamite to escape. The format is a movie script imbedded with drawn storyboard picture frames.

The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (PCT)is the perfect place for an average person to do something extraordinary. Bill Walker ("Skywalker"), who stands 6'11," might seem like anything but average. Yet in a brutally honest tone, he lays to bare all his considerable weaknesses and fears. Among these are crushing weight loss and fatigue, along with a fear of getting lost or a bear stealing his food. Nonetheless, he is bound and determined to hike the PCT, which at 2,663 miles, runs all the way from Mexico to Canada. The PCT's calling card is its stunning beauty. It has a diversity of geography unequaled by any footpath in the world. The implacable desert, the towering majesty of the so-called 'High Sierra', and the ruggedly bleak, northern Cascade range all haunt and beckon PCT hikers. Indeed, the PCT hiker faces much greater extremes of terrain and climate than on the famed Appalachian Trail. Walker's signature characteristic as a writer is his real talent in capturing people ("Skywalker's humor, his delight in human foibles appeal to a broad audience."--Jeff Minnick, Smoky Mountain Book News). Obviously, he is a people person because he runs into and vividly describes a truly colorful cast of characters from seemingly all walks of American life. Among these are Uber Bitch, Shit Bag, and Serial Killer; the reader learns how these hikers ended up with their names (hint: blunders). The reader need not worry that Walker is a bully. Throughout this irreverent narrative, he turns his considerable supply of humor back on himself in ruthlessly self-deprecating fashion. It all makes for a delightful read.

"Anatomy is destiny," Freud famously wrote. Since caveman times, humans have had practically sacred attitudes towards height. Bill Walker, a near 7-foot tall globetrotter, has produced a highly entertaining book-Tall Tales-on this much underrated subject. Walker ruthlessly submerges his ego to tell a ream of strange, but true, real-life stories. These include flunking the physical to enter the U.S. Army, suffering rejection by horrified members of the opposite sex, and being treated like a wild animal escaped from the zoo in foreign countries. Walker expands the discussion beyond himself to include some intriguing issues: --the infamous Napoleonic short man's complex. And how about its inverse for tall people--the ostrich complex? --What is one to make of the avalanche of studies that show tall people consistently make more money than their shorter counterparts, and win almost every presidential election? --Most of history's mass-murderers have been well to the short side. Is this merely a coincidence? --A closer, more revealing, look at the lives of 7'1 1/2" Wilt Chamberlain, 7'2 1/2" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 8'11" Robert Wadlow, and 6'5" Abraham Lincoln. --Why short and small may well be the wave of the fut

What is the best way for the average person to experience the world's greatest mountain range--the Himalayas? Fortunately, there is now a good answer. The Annapurna Circuit in Nepal is the most popular footpath in Asia. Its genius lies in its design. Trekkers wind their way around and along some of the world's greatest peaks, ultimately getting near 18,000 feet, without ever having to do any 'technical climbing'. This Circuit is widely considered one of the world's great treks, and mortals from all around the world are coming to Nepal for the unique chance to 'get high'. Bill Walker ('Skywalker') struggled his way through the Annapurna Circuit in 2012. He has written this entertaining tale of his journey in this land of Sherpas, cold, altitude, and rushing water.

Since the times of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, Americans have headed off to Europe on odysseys of self-improvement. But until recently, Americans have not chosen 'the best way'-El Camino de Santiago. Bill Walker ("Skywalker") decided to undertake this 500 mile pilgrimage, stretching from the Pyrenees in southern France to the mystical Galician province in Northwest Spain. Better yet, he did it in the 'Holy Year' of 2010. Fully 200,000 pilgrims were struggling on foot to make it to the Great Gothic Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. The Camino is supposed to be a religious-spiritual pilgrimage. But some European pilgrims told Walker it was really the "The European Divorcee Trail." At Walker's side was his 18 year-old nephew, Gavin, who thrives with his special brand of Fonzie-like charm. The towel-snapping banter between the two of them is reminiscent of the frat-boy dialogue between Bill Bryson and Katz. Better yet, the two of them learn just how delightful the French really can be (except, of course, when they're being impossible), why the Germans are almost all model pilgrims, and the tragi-glorious roots of the Spanish national character.

"English Vocabulary for Academic Success" is for you if you are an English language student. With this workbook and its dictionary, you will learn the most important academic words that you will need for passing the TOEFL test and other tests. These words are important for you for understanding English in college and university courses. "English Vocabulary for Academic Success" is for you if you are studying English at the intermediate or advanced level. This vocabulary book is for you if you already know about 2,000 basic English words and if you want to study at a college or university in an English-speaking country. With "English Vocabulary for Academic Success," you will learn 540 words from the Academic Word List. You can check your answers using the answer key at the end of each unit and find more information about each word in the dictionary section. This workbook has 10 units, with 54 words per unit. By studying for one hour a day, you can finish one unit in about one week. Not only will your vocabulary improve, but also your grammar will improve as you practice changing the parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.), changing nouns from singular to plural and changing verb endings. Your spelling will improve because you have to spell each word accurately. There are exercises for producing each word seven or eight times: definition exercises (one sentence in context); "parts of speech" exercises (two sentences in context); collocations exercises (two or three sentences in context); synonyms Crossword Puzzles; review exercises (one sentence in context). Each unit has a dictionary with: definitions; parts of speech; collocations for each definition and each part of speech; additional definitions for idiomatic uses; synonyms; many sample sentences. Collocations are the key to producing vocabulary words the way native speakers do. A collocation is a word or group of words that naturally go together with a specific word. For example, the word "context" has the collocation "to take (something) out of." Thus, a native speaker would say "Please don't take my words out of context." There are thousands of collocation examples in "English Vocabulary for Academic Success." By learning these words, you will know almost 90% of the words that you read and hear in academic situations. You will read faster and understand much better. Your academic writing will improve because you will be able to produce the words with accurate grammar and spelling and use them with their correct collocations the way native speakers do. By knowing these words, you will have a greater chance to pass the TOEFL and other tests. Free Quizzes: Professionally prepared quizzes for each unit are available for instructors whose students are required to use this textbook. Please find more information in the preface of the book. Instructors whose second language is English will find this book extremely useful. This book provides thousands of examples of how native speakers of English use vocabulary in real-world situations. There are nearly 4,000 contextualized sentences in exercises of the ten units, as well as hundreds more sentences in the dictionary section of each unit.

Best-selling mystery novelist Trevor Hughes has no idea that attending his twentieth reunion at Harvard will forever change his life. Persuaded to go by his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Dr. Julia Magnusson, he meets up with three old friends: Solly Rubens, a self-made Wall Street millionaire; Ken Faust, a successful software entrepreneur; and Harlan Astor, New York real estate tycoon and the glue that holds their circle together. That afternoon, over drinks at the Harvard Club, Harlan drops his bombshell: He is doing what James Cameron did not -- he is rebuilding the Titanic, and sailing the ship on the hundredth anniversary to honor those who died, including his great-grandfather, John Jacob Astor IV. Only Trevor is intrigued by Harlan's audacity. Touched by his friend's interest and concern, Harlan invites him on the maiden voyage to serve as the official chronicler. On April 10, 2012, Trevor journeys to Southampton and, along with the hundreds of handpicked passengers, boards the Titanic. He is awed by the immensity of the ship and the feelings that well up in him. His friend has made his grand dream a reality. During the journey, armed with his iPod Touch and a miniature wireless camera hidden in his glasses, Trevor interviews both passengers and crew, eager to learn the reasons why they chose to sail on the reborn ship. Nearly every one of them claims to have been profoundly affected by Cameron's film, wanting to recapture the magic for themselves. And some of them are dying -- their last wish to be on the maiden voyage of the new Titanic. Trevor is touched that his friend has allowed these people to come aboard, and is unprepared when he meets Madeleine Regehr, a beautiful, free-spirited woman who resists his entreaties to be interviewed, intriguing Trevor all the more. Slowly, and inexorably, Maddy draws him out of his shell, allowing him to love deeply and completely, for the very first time in his life. But Trevor soon discovers a darker purpose for the voyage, a purpose that threatens to destroy him and the woman he loves. In a race against time that pits friend against friend, Trevor must stop the unstoppable or risk a horrific replay of history...

The B'Breakeboys is a fictional story about child labor conditions, until 1920, when child labor laws restricted such practice. The fact based story is followed by a fictional story about two teen age boys falling into an abandoned coal mine shaft. They are not alone and have to fight desperation, cave-ins, rats, fire, water, and old dynamite to escape. The format is a movie script imbedded with drawn storyboard picture frames.

A cold-blooded and ruthless female assassin, Murphy thought she'd found the perfect gig: no shortage of assignments and an employer with unlimited funds. But her latest kill might have ruined it all, in more ways than one. Sent to a sleepy Mississippi Delta town to kill an attractive lawyer named Samantha Owens, Murphy doesn't realize just how this young woman's death will affect her. Not only was Samantha on the cusp of revealing greedy bankers caught up in fraudulent subprime lending schemes, but she also left an indelible mark on Murphy-the curse of forgiveness. Despite trying to keep a lid on their illegal activities, Murphy's employers are about to be exposed when Samantha's gruesome murder hits national headlines. With time running out, loose ends must be severed and unfortunately, Murphy is one of them. Once the huntress, Murphy now finds herself the hunted. Her only escape lies in joining forces with her latest assignment, Jake Harlow, Samantha's law partner. Caught between the parameters of heaven and hell, Murphy struggles to not only save her life, but also her soul...

Why would a middle-aged businessman, who had never even spent a single night outdoors, attempt to hike the entire 2,180 mile Appalachian Trail? Bill Walker, a former commodities trader in Chicago and London, and an avid 'streetwalker', had developed a virtual obsession to thru-hike the AT, which runs for fourteen states from Georgia to Maine. In the early spring of 2005 he set off, determined to hike this Georgia-to-northern Maine wilderness trail before the arrival of winter. Immediately, he realized he had plunged into a whole new world. The AT has some ferociously difficult terrain, winding through dramatically diverse geography, and covers the very highest peaks in the East. Walker's near 7-foot height earned him the trail name, Skywalker, and drew raves from fellow hikers. But that same height made him more vulnerable to weight loss, cold weather, and crushing fatigue. An elemental fear of bears, snakes, and getting lost also loomed large. The journey often seemed like a see-saw battle between his determination vs. his blunders. No other country has a footpath even remotely as popular as the Appalachian Trail. Up to 4,000,000 people hike on the AT during any given year. Mortals are compelled--or perhaps cursed--to relive their lifetime adventure. This is Bill Walker's (Skywalker's) unforgettable version, leavened with ruthlessly self-deprecating humor. His fondest hope is to inspire other rookies and novices, to give the Appalachian Trail a try as well.

This book is designed to help you learn the most important and frequent vocabulary that you will need for reading academic textbooks in English and for passing the TOEFL test. The typical international student taking college-level courses in English probably only knows about 80% to 85% of the words used most frequently in academic texts (between 2,000 and 3,000 different words).This book can help you increase your word knowledge so that you can possibly know 90% to 95% of the words in academic texts. There are hundreds of exercises, an answer key, and a complete dictionary of all the words. When you learn these words, you will be able to read English faster and understand everything much better.

These are the life and times of Tink and Poo, two little Pekingese dogs as well as others who have crossed my path in life. These are short stories about little people and their families.

I had time to watch these two in their day to day living. In all of their experiences I often wondered, "Just what are they up to now?" There was always some game, or some adventure these two would be getting into. Some people call a Peke a lap dog, not so for these two. They might be small in size, but never think they were faint in heart.

I have heard it said that people look like and have mannerisms much like the dog that claims them. I think that may be true. I have never seen a dog that I didn't like, but Pekes fit my lifestyle. I think most people are that way, there is a certain type or size that fits them. Much like a Peke I want to do things my way. I am very independent and often wonder if they taught me to be independent.