FBI Officer Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is investigating a bizarre and gruesome series of murders, carried out by 'Buffalo Bill'. The investigation steps up a gear when the mayor's daughter is abducted. Starling turns for help to incarcerated psychopath Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), who has a penchant for chewing people's faces off. Given special privileges in exchange for information, Lecter escapes, leaving two twisted killers on the loose. The film won Oscars for 'Best Film', 'Best Director' (Jonathan Demme), 'Best Actor' (Anthony Hopkins), 'Best Actress' (Jodie Foster) and 'Best Adapted Screenplay' (Ted Tally).

Hit with the Ladies is a girly tale in which one of the girls is a hit person for the mob and her mother helps target the victims. Sarah is a legal assistant who goes straight; straight into the family business of working as a contractual killer. She comes by the occupation honestly; her father was a hit man before her. When her father, Erik, suffers a career threatening injury, there is no workman's compensation board to appeal to. Instead, Sarah, with the support of her mother, Elizabeth, steps forward to take over the current contractual takeout. Erik takes on a management role and assists Sarah in choice of weapons and tactics. Athletic, intelligent, and just the least bit cynical, Sarah handles both guns and pressure well. Her past, present, and hypothetical future involve traveling, meeting new people, and killing some of them. Sports and outdoors activities have always been a part of Sarah life. She uses those skills to fulfill the requirements of a creative killer in a shadow world. Although her chosen career has more traditionally been regarded as a man's job, Sarah picks up her father's tools and finishes the job. The family consensus is that Sarah should continue to fulfill contract in Erik's name. They decide not ask if that is acceptable to their employer. He might say no. Thus their agent, Stan, is kept in the dark about their decision to sub-contract Erik's assignments. The 'don't ask; don't tell' approach work well for a few years. Then Sarah is 'outed' by a cohort of a hit target and the gravy train starts to come off the tracks. Toward the conclusion of this three-book series, Stan comes out of the background. His visit with the troops demonstrates his leadership qualities and spins several lives off in different directions.

Dr. Pendergast Investigates; it goes with the territory. Frontier doctors of the late 19th century were the quintissential general practitioners. They brought children into the world and they struggled to keep their neighbours alive in the face of threats which included disease, accidents, natural disasters, and in the troubled times, the occasional gunshot wound. Doctor Robert Pendergast is the town doctor of a small mining and agricultural community. The town was known as Red Rocks until 1906 and as Sedona, Arizona today. 1906 was the year of the San Francisco earthquake, an event of the type referred to as an Act of God. For the townsfolk of Sedona, death came to their community that year by the hand of man. Dr. Pendergast turns his talents to the solution of a problem which pits his deductive and resolvent skills against madness and worse.

Dr. Pendergast Investigates Frontier doctors of the late 19th century were the quintissential general practitioners. They brought children into the world and they struggled to keep their neighbours alive in the face of threats which included disease, accidents, natural disasters, and in the troubled times, the occasional gunshot wound. Doctor Robert Pendergast is the town doctor of a small mining and agricultural community. The town was known as Red Rocks until 1906 and as Sedona, Arizona today. 1906 was the year of the San Francisco earthquake, an event of the type referred to as an Act of God. For the townsfolk of Sedona, death came to their community that year by the hand of man. Dr. Pendergast turns his talents to the solution of a problem which pits his deductive and resolvent skills against madness and worse.

A poker-playing businessman working secretly as a contract killer, Carl Hill lives a apparently quiet life near Niagara Falls, Canada This former resident of New York, N.Y, is considering retirement when a shadow from his past looms up to threaten his plans. Carl is uncovered through a land development proposal of his real estate agent wife, Joyce. If news of Carl's present whereabouts got back to certain people it would threaten the life of both Carl and Joyce. Threats of exposure are accompanied by an offer to accept a payoff to remain silent. Flight is almost impossible; giving in to blackmail is unattractive; one possible solution occurs to Carl. He hopes it hasn't occurred to his blackmailer. Carl strives to save his business secrets, his marriage, and his life. Someone must die.

Cross Country Hit is largely the age-old story of evil conquering good, sort of, most of the time. No lunch is free; a price must be paid. Luke is by most accounts a successful freelance hit man who travels on assignments by his Agent, Stan, but he starts to weigh the cost. Luke has a home in South Carolina and a condo in Mexico. In this novella we follow his travels on a series of assignments which take him from Finger Lakes, N.Y. State, to nearby Buffalo, from there to Quebec City, Canada and on to Napa Valley, California. The novel examines the day-to-day concerns and activities of a man who kills to make a living. He is a multifaceted individual with interests which include literature, sports, scuba diving and fine food and wine. He is introspective and comes to question both his activities and his future. Because he lives a secretive existence, which prevents him from sharing with others, his humor is largely internalized and ironic. Over time he comes to question his present occupation and considers a possible romantic commitment which would require some explanation of what he had been doing for the past ten years. Luke is proficient and impersonal in his professional activities, but becomes increasingly aware of the inevitable isolation which he ultimately faces. He is no more an island than the rest of us. When love rears its head and washes up onto his shore, he is tugged and battered by the age old tide. However, his baggage weighs heavily as he seeks to break free from the path he has chosen. Because he has lived a solitary, secretive life, and 'knows where the bodies are buried', it is not so easy to 'live happily ever after'.

Arial, is a young warrior of King Edmund They inhabit Middleworld, a feudal society in a parallel universe. It contains dragons, wizards and magic. Villains include a word-twisting, double-dealing, and traitorous wizard and power-grubbing, sibling-murderer, Lord Roland. The wizard has used his powers to cross the time/space barrier and visit Earth, where he worked as a lawyer. Lord Roland came by his viciousness quite naturally: he was born and raised into it. Arial finds common ground with a dragon, who has been cheated. Dragons come off well in this story. They keep their word and they tend to speak the truth. By contrast Warriors and their ilk are less trustworthy. There are characters who are supportive of Arial, some who are in league with Roland, and those who remain indifferent. Werebeasts and wild creatures move to their own ends. The political structure, technology, and weaponry of Middleworld are similar to those of feudal Europe. The combat tends to be hand to hand, close and personal. Brute strength often triumphs; treachery bears bitter fruit; and Arial finds herself beset by enemies of all sorts. It is not totally disimilar to Earth.

This collection of short stories contains some tales never before published as well as some which were the kernels from which the popular Hit Series developed. Included in this volume are tales of SciFi and historical fiction. This illustrated volume is the Large Print edition. A smaller format version is planned for release during 2013. A Large Print, Illustrated Version of the first tale of the Tales of Middleworld series, Arial, Shieldmaiden of Middleworld, was released in early 2013. The first chapter of Arial, Shieldmaiden of Middleworld was published in 2011 by Medieval Magazine as a short story under the title, The Pledge. That first episode is included as a bonus at the end of Shiring Bright. The first of the Dr. Pendergast, murder mystery series, Brand of Death is scheduled for release in early April.

Why do we behave so differently in different situations? Why did you choose the clothes you are wearing, the books you read and the friends and opinions you have? What is it about humans that has let us achieve so much, so quickly? This book tries to understand why the evolution of our human species is happening at a rate so much faster than may be explained by Darwinian biological evolution alone. The engine of our extraordinary social evolution is human behaviour. We have a deep-seated need to pass on to others some part of our own achievements, what we have made of our lives. Our survival and success now depends principally on our adaption to our social environment and not to our physical environment. It is these supercharged social genes that are the essence of our remarkable and accelerating rate of evolution today. This book looks critically at our present understanding of human behaviour and evolution to seek a consilience across a wide range of fields of research. More at www.supergenes.net

Ellen Gould writes and performs this uplifting New York-based one-woman musical, based around the stories her two immigrant grandmothers ('Bubbes') told her as she was growing up. Songs include 'You're Dancing Inside Me', 'The Bridge Song (The Bubbe Rag)', 'Chocolate Covered Cherries' and 'Take More Out of Life'.