1. The Workshop and this Tome In the excellent bucolic setting of SchloB Ringberg in Upper Bavaria, over 50 scientists assembled during the week of 23-28 September 1996 to discuss recent results, both theoretical and observational in nature, on the large scale structure of the Universe. Such a topic is perhaps nowadays far too encompassing, and is essentially all of what we used to call "observational cosmology. " The original philosophy of the organization of this meeting was deliber ated aimed at the younger community and their contributions. As a conse quence, the content of the presentations was refreshingly new, as it should be. In spite of the deficiences caused by the lack of certain key researchers in this field, for one reason or another, the final result was rewarding to all. Although the conference was held in Fall 1996, the contributions contained herein were submitted as late as Spring 1998, thus the content maintains some degree of trendiness. Originally the current volume was to be a "proceedings. " This refers to the usual archival tome that fills one's shelf and is rarely consulted, except to see the canonical group photo, which by the way, we also have. Nevertheless, I wanted something more than that. Although the field is rapidly changing, with so-called facts in a state ofconstant volubility, now is a good time for reflection prior to the commencement ofthe Sloan Survey, presumably the definitive large-scale program of low- to moderate-redshift galaxies in our lifetime."

This time Mac has gone too far. For Helm to impersonate a Communist courier to whom he bears no resemblance is suicide, and that isn't all. Someone wants to get the layout of the Alaskan North-west Coastal Defence System, but they aren't the goodies or the baddies. So who the hell are they? And who is the mysterious Holz that Helm is meant to kill?

1. The Workshop and this Tome In the excellent bucolic setting of SchloB Ringberg in Upper Bavaria, over 50 scientists assembled during the week of 23-28 September 1996 to discuss recent results, both theoretical and observational in nature, on the large scale structure of the Universe. Such a topic is perhaps nowadays far too encompassing, and is essentially all of what we used to call "observational cosmology. " The original philosophy of the organization of this meeting was deliber ated aimed at the younger community and their contributions. As a conse quence, the content of the presentations was refreshingly new, as it should be. In spite of the deficiences caused by the lack of certain key researchers in this field, for one reason or another, the final result was rewarding to all. Although the conference was held in Fall 1996, the contributions contained herein were submitted as late as Spring 1998, thus the content maintains some degree of trendiness. Originally the current volume was to be a "proceedings. " This refers to the usual archival tome that fills one's shelf and is rarely consulted, except to see the canonical group photo, which by the way, we also have. Nevertheless, I wanted something more than that. Although the field is rapidly changing, with so-called facts in a state ofconstant volubility, now is a good time for reflection prior to the commencement ofthe Sloan Survey, presumably the definitive large-scale program of low- to moderate-redshift galaxies in our lifetime.

In order to foil a mass assassination plot, Matt Helm must undertake his most dangerous mission: matrimony. An agent like Helm might be a nice man to live with for a while, be he's not the kind a woman would marry. Unless she has too. Unless it's all part of maintaining an ingenious cover. The man whose daily bread is violence takes a most unlikely bride - just to make sure death doesn't part them.

It was a double mission this time. Firstly, to terminate a top-notch enemy agent. Secondly, to locate the missing fiancee of a Texas oil millionaire, lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Somehow these two cases were connected, but it wasn't clear how until more high-profile types disappeared. They weren't dead, just part of a deadly little game...

"That cold-blooded human spider spinning his lousy webs of intrigue..." Matt Helm is on vacation in Mexico with nothing on his mind except fishing, when some joker tries to shoot him in the back. Naturally it was no accident. When secret agents get shot at, it never is. So Helm has to go back to work. At least there's a bonus in the form of his boss's beautiful daughter, a playmate in peril.

A prim young lady needs a favor: help her father beat a bum drug rap. But when Dad's boat detonates outside Miami Harbor, Matt discovers that young Amy isn't as innocent as she looks. Lured to the Bahamas, he will discover an unlikely pack of fanatics hatching an explosive plan, and that daddy's little girl is surprisingly deadly.

The survivor of a plane crash wakes up in a hospital in Canada, his memory a blank. Thenin walks Kitty, a gorgeous woman, who tells him that he is Paul Madden, a photographer, and her fiance . Not bad. Except that a man on the phone keeps calling him Matt Helm. Things don't add up. This can only mean trouble...

Matt Helm is unexpectedly rich, and he doesn't like it. Twenty thousand mysterious dollars appear in his bank account, but this is no time for celebration. Another secret agent with an unexplained surplus is murdered, and Helm figures he better work out who his "benefactor" is before he becomes the next target.

Matt Helm is puzzled. He's been sent to Mexico to investigate the sighting of a flying saucer, but Helm doesn't believe in little green men. Then his Russian opposite number is shot in her hotel - but who did it? And why are the Mexican cops acting so tough? It's time to track down the redhead who called in the sighting and get to the bottom of the case.

On a lonely heath in northern Scotland they recovered the body of the third agent sent to complete a tricky mission. He had died from bubonic plague. Somewhere on the moors was a half-crazed scientific genius who could kill millions, and it was Helm's job to get him, with the help of a beautiful American operative and a deadly Russian one.

Matt Helm was aware of Bultman-a legendary assassin, the leader of a group of fanatical revolutionaries, an ambitious criminal-but he had no business taking him down. Until now. Bultman blows up a restaurant on the Florida coast full of innocent people, including Helm's son. Now, it's very personal.

Beautiful, intelligent, fresh out of prison, Madeleine Ellershaw is Matt Helm's latest case. Madeleine may have been imprisoned as a spy, but Helm soon realizes that her story isn't so simple. He's got to figure out why she took the rap for her husband nine years ago, what secrets are hiding in her past, and, most difficult of all: keep her alive.

At a funeral of an old friend, Matt Helm takes a trip down memory lane and sparks a romance that he thought was safely in the past. But with old feelings resurfacing, other things Helm thought were buried are coming back to haunt him-a small-time hood in Mexico, a dirty drug deal, and a string of women that lead him into the ultimate compromising position...

"While perfection in preaching is an illusive dream, improvement is within the grasp of virtually everyone" Donald Hamilton Imagine that preaching is like a 'see-saw' or 'teeter-totter'. It is not much fun unless the people on both sides are roughly equal in weight. If not then one will suspended in the air, the other stuck on the ground both going nowhere! Is this what you want of your congregation? Are they left high and dry or down in the dumps by their experience. Donald Hamilton doesn't want them to suffer this fate! Preaching with balance is intended primarily for those who preach to the same congregation on a regular basis. This is the situation that most preachers find themselves in, yet most preaching books seem more intent on just providing a boost to the preacher without giving advice on how to maintain an improvement in preaching. Preaching with a balance comes complete with useful appencices on developing an annual preaching plan, planning topical and linear sermon sets and includes a useful sermon evaluation form.

Matt Helm has got a good thing going with Elly. So a terrorist outfit really have picked the wrong woman when they kidnap her in order to leverage Matt into carrying out an assassination. Now, Helm finds himself in Costa Verde with one thing on his mind: revenge...

"I can't kill you. If I do, Mac will send out the executioners, the termination squads..." When the big man in Washington assigned Matt Helm to ride shotgun on a top secret mission in Norway, Helm wanted to know why. But this was a need-to-know deal, at least until his partner - a woman posing as his mistress - was killed. Now Helm is mad, mad enough to blow the operation sky high. PRAISE FOR DONALD HAMILTON "The top-ranking American secret agent fare. Good writing, slick plotting and stimulating characters." BOOK WEEK "Helm is a genuinely tough and tough-minded protagonist." NEW YORK TIMES "Fast, tightly written, brutal, and very good..." MILWAUKEE JOURNAL

"Some people are never ready to kill..." Take a gorgeous companion for a leisurely sail on a beautiful yacht. Sounds like easy duty for Matt Helm except that the last three captains of the yacht died under mysterious circumstances. Matt will tangle with a crew of dangerous women, a terrorist squad, and an elite organization of death-dealing specialists. He had better be ready if he wants to stay alive.

People are vanishing without a trace. And the disappearances are getting closer to home-the next likely target is Mac, Matt Helm's old boss. To get to the bottom of the mystery, Helm follows two beautiful and treacherous women who lead him all the way to his ancestral home-Sweden. With a coup from within the agency, and a terrorist threat from without, it's clear that nobody can be trusted...