"The Third Man Factor" is an extraordinary account of how people at the very edge of death often sense an unseen presence beside them who encourages them to make one final effort to survive. This incorporeal being offers a feeling of hope, protection, and guidance, and leaves the person convinced he or she is not alone. There is a name for this phenomenon: it's called the Third Man Factor.

If only a handful of people had ever encountered the Third Man, it might be dismissed as an unusual delusion shared by a few overstressed minds. But over the years, the experience has occurred again and again, to 9/11 survivors, mountaineers, divers, polar explorers, prisoners of war, sailors, shipwreck survivors, aviators, and astronauts. All have escaped traumatic events only to tell strikingly similar stories of having sensed the close presence of a helper or guardian. The force has been explained as everything from hallucination to divine intervention. Recent neurological research suggests something else.

Bestselling and award-winning author John Geiger has completed six years of physiological, psychological, and historical research on the Third Man. He blends his analysis with compelling human stories such as that of Ron DiFrancesco, the last survivor to escape the World Trade Center on 9/11; Ernest Shackleton, the legendary explorer whose account of the Third Man inspired T. S. Eliot to write of it in "The Waste Land"; Jerry Linenger, a NASA astronaut who experienced the Third Man while aboard the "Mir" space station--and many more.

Fascinating for any reader, "The Third Man Factor" at last explains this secret to survival, a Third Man who--in the words of famed climber Reinhold Messner--"leads you out of the impossible."

An astonishing literary debut centred around four students as they apply to medical school, qualify as doctors and face the realities of working in medicine, from a powerful new voice in fiction. In this beautifully written collection, Vincent Lam weaves together black humour, investigations of both common and extraordinary moral dilemmas, and a sometimes shockingly realistic portrait of today's medical profession. We are introduced to a group of medical students over ten years, following their interlinked stories as they make the transition from medical school to hospital life. The stories span the unique challenges faced by young, inexperienced doctors - having to decide during a first human dissection whether it is more important to follow the anatomy textbook or keep a tattoo intact - but also delve into their private lives, their relationships and family histories, their fears and motivations. Riveting, convincing and precise, 'Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures' looks with rigorous honesty at the specificities of the lives of doctors and their patients and brings us to a deeper understanding of the challenges and temptations that surge around us all.

From internationally acclaimed and bestselling author Vincent Lam comes a superbly crafted, highly suspenseful, and deeply affecting novel set against the turmoil of the Vietnam War. Percival Chen is headmaster of the most respected English school in Saigon, a patriot, fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage. He is also a compulsive gambler and an incorrigible womanizer. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, content to pay the requisite bribes to the ever-changing government officials and to spend his nights at the casino tables. When his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival has no choice but to send him away. In the loneliness that follows, Percival finds solace with Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage. But as the conflict intensifies, the time will come when the headmaster must confront the truths he once refused to see. Blessed with intriguingly flawed characters moving through a landscape ravaged by war, ‘The Headmaster's Wager’ is an almost unbearably tense story of love, betrayal and sacrifice.

Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English academy in 1960s Saigon and is well accustomed to bribing a forever-changing list of government officials in order to maintain the elite status of his school. Fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, he is quick to spot the business opportunities rife in a divided country, though he also harbors a weakness for gambling haunts and the women who frequent them. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, choosing instead to read the faces of his opponents at high-stakes mahjong tables. But when his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival faces the limits of his connections and wealth and is forced to send him away. In the loneliness that follows, Percival finds solace in Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage whom he is able to confide in. But as the complexities of war encroach further into his world, he must confront the tragedy of all he has refused to see.
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