Have you ever been trapped between two tough worlds? Desert Storm Heart is a crime thriller focused on the aftermath of the murders and rapes of several young girls in Kuwait during Desert Storm. Will Koehn, an NCIS investigator, looks into the slayings but never locates the killer. Later, he returns to the United States and subsequently becomes a Homicide detective for the Chicago Police Department. Soon after he becomes a Homicide, a murder and rape occurs in Chicago, and the killer's MO matches that of the girls murdered in Kuwait. The killer has followed Will home. It's time to crawl out of the sand and back onto the streets....

Author Bio

Thomas Laird has published five novels: Cutter (2001), Season of the Assassin (2003), Black Dog (2004), Voices of the Dead (2006), and The Underground Detective (2012). The books received favorable reviews from the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, Publisher's Weekly, Library Journal, The Independent on Sunday (UK) and Crime Time (UK). Thomas Laird lives with his wife near Germantown Hills, Illinois.

UK Paperback]

On 22nd October 2010, a human skull was found in Sir David Attenborough's garden in south London...a middle-aged female skull. How did it get there? Where was the rest of the body?

The Murderess and the Hangman is a story of this murder, told from both sides of the scaffold. In 1879 William Marwood, 'gentleman hangman' for London and Middlesex, hanged 'callous murderess' Kate Webster. Her crime? The axe-murder of her landlady, Mrs Julia Thomas, in the leafy suburb of Richmond, London.

With incredible guile, Kate Webster began physically impersonating her dead landlady around London. After viciously dismembering the body, she ceremoniously wore Julia's clothes and jewellery to trick buyers and capitalise on the crime. Kate tried to sell Julia's furniture, silver, even her body as turkey dripping But for how long can she elude the hangman? Especially one she's already met....

Kate is clearly a killer and will kill again. But given William Marwood is a professional executioner for the Crown, is there any room for forgiveness or redemption? And how innocent is the hangman who coolly moves from one execution to the next? Who is the greater evil, the enraged maid, or the methodical 'humane hangman' who is 'just doing his job'?

Despite her violence, Kate is not without deep feeling, caring for her boy Daniel who is imprisoned in a 'school for pickpockets'. Similarly, Marwood is seemingly innocent and good, a quiet shoemaker from the village of Horncastle, Lincolnshire. Despite his 'other job' as hangman for the expanding metropolis, he works to humanise hanging, inventing the 'long drop' to give his victims 'more than enough rope', namely, a painless death. But can Marwood's cool, scientific mind and steady hand hide his passion for the feisty and salacious Kate.... What is his attraction to her? Who would be?

On the run from Covent Garden to Bartholomew Fair, The Murderess and the Hangman is a story of good and evil in the streets, pubs and prisons, in the dock and on the scaffold. Soon Kate is pursued by London's new police officers, the Bow Street Runners-Inspector Gil Sequin and Nimrod Jones-across London, and eventually Ireland, in order to bring her back to Marwood's gentle noose....

Here is a 'true horror' tale of crime and history, a detective story, and a notorious cause celebre when Kate stood trial before the Old Bailey for 'wilful murder'. Along with the crowds of 1879, Marwood saw her face the extreme penalty of the law 'at Her Majesty's pleasure'. But not before Victorian London is recreated with the sounds and smells of low-life survival, gallows humour and hard drink, especially the gin that addicted half the city's population. And Kate's killings were all for a few pieces of furniture....

Let the crimes begin

Author Bio

Matt Fullerty is the author of novels The Knight of New Orleans and the forthcoming American Con Artist. A graduate of Oxford University, the University of East Anglia and with a PhD in English from the George Washington University (GW) in Washington, D.C. he has published reviews, articles and interviews for The Daily Mail, The St. Ann s Review, BBC Radio London and the Discovery Channel s Deadly Women TV series.

Matt is currently Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Chowan University in North Carolina. He also teaches D.C. and FBI police improved writing skills in GW's Police Science BA. He divides his time between North Carolina, Virginia and England. Visit him online at www.mattfullerty.com.

US Paperback]

On October 22, 2010, a human skull was found in Sir David Attenborough's garden in south London...a middle-aged female skull. How did it get there? Where was the rest of the body?

The Murderess and the Hangman is a story of this murder, told from both sides of the scaffold. In 1879 William Marwood, 'gentleman hangman' for London and Middlesex, hanged 'callous murderess' Kate Webster. Her crime? The axe-murder of her landlady, Mrs. Julia Thomas, in the leafy suburb of Richmond, London.

With incredible guile, Kate Webster began physically impersonating her dead landlady around London. After viciously dismembering the body, she ceremoniously wore Julia's clothes and jewelry to trick buyers and capitalize on the crime. Kate tried to sell Julia's furniture, silver, even her body as turkey dripping But for how long can she elude the hangman? Especially one she's already met....

Kate is clearly a killer and will kill again. But given William Marwood is a professional executioner for the Crown, is there any room for forgiveness or redemption? And how innocent is the hangman who coolly moves from one execution to the next? Who is the greater evil, the enraged maid, or the methodical 'humane hangman' who is 'just doing his job'?

Despite her violence, Kate is not without deep feeling, caring for her boy Daniel who is imprisoned in a 'school for pickpockets.' Similarly, Marwood is seemingly innocent and good, a quiet shoemaker from the village of Horncastle, Lincolnshire. Despite his 'other job' as hangman for the expanding metropolis, he works to humanize hanging, inventing the 'long drop' to give his victims 'more than enough rope, ' namely, a painless death. But can Marwood's cool, scientific mind and steady hand hide his passion for the feisty and salacious Kate.... What is his attraction to her? Who would be?

On the run from Covent Garden to Bartholomew Fair, The Murderess and the Hangman is a story of good and evil in the streets, pubs and prisons, in the dock and on the scaffold. Soon Kate is pursued by London's new police officers, the Bow Street Runners-Inspector Gil Sequin and Nimrod Jones-across London, and eventually Ireland, in order to bring her back to Marwood's gentle noose....

Here is a 'true horror' tale of crime and history, a detective story, and a notorious cause celebre when Kate stood trial before the Old Bailey for 'willful murder'. Along with the crowds of 1879, Marwood saw her face the extreme penalty of the law 'at Her Majesty's pleasure'. But not before Victorian London is recreated with the sounds and smells of low-life survival, gallows humor and hard drink, especially the gin that addicted half the city's population. And Kate's killings were all for a few pieces of furniture....

Let the crimes begin

Author Bio

Matt Fullerty is the author of novels The Knight of New Orleans and the forthcoming American Con Artist. A graduate of Oxford University, the University of East Anglia and with a Ph.D. in English from the George Washington University (GW) in Washington, D.C., he has published reviews, articles and interviews for The Daily Mail, The St. Ann's Review, BBC Radio London and the Discovery Channel's Deadly Women TV series.

Matt is currently Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Chowan University in North Carolina. He also teaches D.C. and FBI police improved writing skills in GW's Police Science B.A. He divides his time between North Carolina, Virginia and England. Visit him online at www.mattfullerty.com.

It's dark underground. How would you catch a serial killer with only your badge, your wits, and a shaky sense of right and wrong? It's 1987, and a world before cellphones and DNA. Former Army Ranger and Vietnam vet, divorced Danny Mangan is a Chicago cop weary from fifteen years on the force. But he can't rest now he's trailing a serial killer with a penchant for attacking African-American prostitutes - a grim world of deception where everyone has a public price and a private fix....

What follows when a member of Danny's own family is hunted by the killer is excruciating. So will Danny's drug-loving daughter Kelly and bisexual partner Lila help or complicate his work? The Underground Detective is a modern fable, absorbing, imaginative and terrifying. Here is polished crime writing, the dark sheen after the rains have cleaned the streets of Chicago. A treat of human foibles, weaknesses, attractions and heartbreak, where only love and family are the saving grace....

Author Bio

Thomas Laird has published four novels: Cutter (2001), Season of the Assassin (2003), Black Dog (2004) and Voices of the Dead (2006). The first three books were co-published in London and New York by Constable & Robinson and by Carroll & Graf (Perseus). The fourth novel was published in the Czech Republic by Domino Publishers.

The books received favorable reviews from the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, Publisher's Weekly, Library Journal, The Independent on Sunday (UK) and Crime Time (UK).

Thomas Laird lives in Peoria, Illinois.

1837. Paul Morphy was born into a wealthy Creole family in the French Quarter of New Orleans and became infamous for his fast and positional chess game. At twenty-one he was knighted world champion after defeating the great European masters-the English and Germans-in New York at the First American Chess Congress. In a short-lived blaze of glory, he defeated opponents in an atmosphere that encouraged gambling, drinking and often led to duels for honour. Soon no one dared play the boy from New Orleans-he even offered Pawn and Move to the world

As a young gentleman, Paul embarked on a Grand Tour of Paris and London with his manager-servant, Fred Edge. Part proud spectacle and part reluctant circus act, Paul performed feats of memory and blindfold chess, making records that stand today. He even played Emperor Napoleon III (at croquet and chess) and was praised by Queen Victoria. He returned to New Orleans lionized by high society, but misunderstood....

Morphy was in love with the lights down on Basin Street. Returning home, he developed an obsession for 'crib-girl' Clara Young, a professional working girl from an area off Basin Street known as 'The Swamp.' Clara needed money and excitement. Living in a dangerous world of brothels and barrelhouses, is she just playing with Paul for her ticket out? Who is the social misfit, the chess boy or the trick girl? Who is playing whom?

Based on a true story, The Knight of New Orleans shows you all the honest and brutal moves in a gamble of love and survival. Let the best player win

Paul Morphy is today remembered as the pride and sorrow of chess. After conquering the chess world so young, he became a recluse, a failed lawyer and sanitarium patient, a dark twist on the American Dream. Paul was a strict amateur playing for honour, Clara a professional working for survival. Was Clara's world too different from Paul's, his background too bourgeois, hers too dangerous? Or will love triumph even when the pieces are checkmate? The Mississippi and the Vieux Carre are calling.... Let the games begin

Author Bio

Matt Fullerty has been playing chess and writing fiction since his schooldays. After a visit to New Orleans and Paul Morphy's tomb in 2005, he was struck by the story of the only American chess world champion before Bobby Fischer and Morphy's remarkable youth. Matt is currently Lecturer in English at George Washington University in Washington, DC, and recently taught Creative Writing (fiction) and the University of London, Royal Holloway.

Matt is the author of novels The Murderess and the Hangman and the forthcoming American Con Artist. Originally from Warrington and a graduate of Oxford University and the University of East Anglia, he has published reviews, articles and interviews for The Daily Mail, The St. Ann's Review, BBC Radio London and the Discovery Channel's Deadly Women TV series. In 2011 he will attend the Vermont Writer's Studio on an Artist's Grant.

Matt is married with a chessboard and divides his time between Arlington, Virginia and Cambridge, England. Visit him online at www.mattfullerty.com, www.theknightofneworleans.com and www.parkgatepress.com.

1837. Paul Morphy was born into a wealthy Creole family in the French Quarter of New Orleans and became infamous for his fast and positional chess game. At twenty-one he was knighted world champion after defeating the great European masters-the English and Germans-in New York at the First American Chess Congress. In a short-lived blaze of glory, he defeated opponents in an atmosphere that encouraged gambling, drinking and often led to duels for honor. Soon no one dared play the boy from New Orleans-he even offered Pawn and Move to the world

As a young gentleman, Paul embarked on a Grand Tour of Paris and London with his manager-servant, Fred Edge. Part proud spectacle and part reluctant circus act, Paul performed feats of memory and blindfold chess, making records that stand today. He even played Emperor Napoleon III (at croquet and chess) and was praised by Queen Victoria. He returned to New Orleans lionized by high society, but misunderstood....

Morphy was in love with the lights down on Basin Street. Returning home, he developed an obsession for 'crib-girl' Clara Young, a professional working girl from an area off Basin Street known as 'The Swamp.' Clara needed money and excitement. Living in a dangerous world of brothels and barrelhouses, is she just playing with Paul for her ticket out? Who is the social misfit, the chess boy or the trick girl? Who is playing whom?

Based on a true story, The Knight of New Orleans shows you all the honest and brutal moves in a gamble of love and survival. Let the best player win

Paul Morphy is today remembered as the pride and sorrow of chess. After conquering the chess world so young, he became a recluse, a failed lawyer and sanitarium patient, a dark twist on the American Dream. Paul was a strict amateur playing for honor, Clara a professional working for survival. Was Clara's world too different from Paul's, his background too bourgeois, hers too dangerous? Or will love triumph even when the pieces are checkmate? The Mississippi and the Vieux Carre are calling.... Let the games begin

Author Bio

Matt Fullerty has been playing chess and writing fiction since his schooldays. After a visit to New Orleans and Paul Morphy's tomb in 2005, he was struck by the story of the only American chess world champion before Bobby Fischer and Morphy's remarkable youth. Matt is currently Lecturer in English at George Washington University in Washington, DC, and recently taught Creative Writing (fiction) and the University of London, Royal Holloway.

Matt is the author of novels The Murderess and the Hangman and the forthcoming American Con Artist. Originally from Warrington and a graduate of Oxford University and the University of East Anglia, he has published reviews, articles and interviews for The Daily Mail, The St. Ann's Review, BBC Radio London and the Discovery Channel's Deadly Women TV series. In 2011 he will attend the Vermont Writer's Studio on an Artist's Grant.

Matt is married with a chessboard and divides his time between Arlington, Virginia and Cambridge, England. Visit him online at www.mattfullerty.com, www.theknightofneworleans.com and www.parkgatepress.com.

Napoleon Vs. the Turk is an exciting minute-by-minute drama loosely based on the real Turk and its match against Napoleon. It was first performed at the 2006 Toronto Fringe Festival, directed by Luke Davies.

1809. Napoleon Bonaparte has invaded Austria and is working out a treaty at Schonbruun Palace. Also visiting Schonbruun is The Turk, a mechanical man seemingly able to play chess and defeat many seasoned players.

Napoleon, a chess enthusiast, challenges the Turk to a game. But as Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, the last steward of the famous Turk, drunkenly recalls, all is not what it seems.

Before the match, Maelzel feuds with his love, Lotte, who wants to stop the match and for Maelzel to give up the Turk. Meanwhile, the brilliant chess player Allgaier matches wits with defeated Austrian general Sterzl, in a conflict that could spell disaster for Napoleon and Maelzel.

Author Bio

Tom Robertson has written and produced plays in Toronto, Canada, since graduating from Queen's University in 2002 where he studied Drama and History.

His past work includes collaborating on Ninja Heaven, an 'action play', at the National Film Board Cinematheque stage in 2005, Napoleon Vs. The Turk, which was performed at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2006, and writing for the production Sit On It, a monthly live 'sit-com'.

He is the winner of the J.C.W. Saxton Prize for Playwriting from Queen's University for his play, Horses, and won first prize in the 2004 Toronto Fringe Festival 24-hour Playwriting Contest with his play, Let's Start Over.

Tom makes his living as Senior Project Manager for Shaw Communications.

"Set in a beautiful and exotic country besieged by political and religious struggles, LOVESWEPT is a compelling story of a young Turkish woman's romantic encounters that transcend deep cultural differences. A must read. Once you start, you won't be able to put it down."
--Helen S. Astin, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, UCLA, co-author of WOMEN OF INFLUENCE, WOMEN OF VISION
"LOVESWEPT beautifully portrays how the political and cultural transformation of a country deeply impacts personal lives. Standing at the crossroads between traditional values and a modern life, Neri must battle societal expectations on women as well as overcome her fears. Her journey is a journey of reclaiming one's own identity."
--Almila Ozdek, Ph.D. English, George Washington University
How long should a girl hold onto her first love? A beautiful Turkish girl, a handsome English merchant marine, a sympathetic American and a cheating husband...
LOVESWEPT is a cross-cultural romance taking place during the social and political turmoil of 1950s Turkey where the line between state and mosque becomes blurred and American dollars flood the country. Postwar Ankara is a place of daily intrigue where corruption and romance could bring happiness and disaster.
Neri is an educated young woman caught between East and West, tradition and modernity, loyalty and desire in a Muslim country undergoing great social and cultural changes. She is a woman of contradictions: innocent and traditional, yet Westernized, rebellious and ambitious who dares to seek both excitement and happiness...but at what cost?
Author Bio
Engin Inel Holmstrom was born and raised in Turkey. She graduated from the American College for Girls in Arnavutkoy, Istanbul and received her masters and doctorate degrees in Sociology from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
Engin has over fifty professional publications, mostly dealing with higher education and public policy. She has lectured widely in the United States on issues concerning Turkish women, gender equality and Ataturk s reforms.
Her hobby is painting. Retired now, she lives in Leesburg, Virginia with her husband and two cats.
Loveswept is her first novel.

Lifelong Learning focuses on educational and government policy by analysing the diversity of postmodern society, linking economic, cultural and technological issues. It targets the impact of a specific UK Government initiative - the University for Industry (Ufi) - in terms of educational outcomes across the human lifespan.

By transcribing and interpreting one-to-one interviews, Dr Fullerty reveals government and curriculum inconsistencies in response to learners' 'whole life' educational needs. Lifelong Learning is a lively and incisive approach to the need for greater educational innovation in the UK and further afield.

Dr Jennifer M. Fullerty was born in Lancashire, England and qualified as a Maths teacher in 1966. She became Company Secretary of a private manufacturing company in 1978 and later the sole proprietor of a property letting agency.

She currently works as an educational consultant, children s tutor and primary school governor. She is proud to be a member of Soroptimist International advocating the best for women.

Dr Fullerty is married with two children and two grandchildren and currently lives near Cambridge, England.

Lifelong Learning is her first book.