Real-Time Streaming with Apache Kafka, Spark, and Storm: Create Platforms That Can Quickly Crunch Data

Build a platform using Apache Kafka, Spark, and Storm to generate real-time data insights and view them through Dashboards. KEY FEATURES ● Extensive practical demonstration of Apache Kafka concepts, including producer and consumer examples. ● Includes graphical examples and explanations of implementing Kafka Producer and Kafka Consumer commands and methods. ● Covers integration and implementation of Spark-Kafka and Kafka-Storm architectures. DESCRIPTION Real-Time Streaming with Apache Kafka, Spark, and Storm is a book that provides an overview of the real-time streaming concepts and architectures of Apache Kafka, Storm, and Spark. The readers will learn how to build systems that can process data streams in real time using these technologies. They will be able to process a large amount of real-time data and perform analytics or generate insights as a result of this. The architecture of Kafka and its various components are described in detail. A Kafka Cluster installation and configuration will be demonstrated. The Kafka publisher-subscriber system will be implemented in the Eclipse IDE using the Command Line and Java. The book discusses the architecture of Apache Storm, the concepts of Spout and Bolt, as well as their applications in a Transaction Alert System. It also describes Spark's core concepts, applications, and the use of Spark to implement a microservice. To learn about the process of integrating Kafka and Storm, two approaches to Spark and Kafka integration will be discussed. This book will assist a software engineer to transition to a Big Data engineer and Big Data architect by providing knowledge of big data processing and the architectures of Kafka, Storm, and Spark Streaming. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN ● Creation of Kafka producers, consumers, and brokers using command line. ● End-to-end implementation of Kafka messaging system with Java in Eclipse. ● Perform installation and creation of a Storm Cluster and execute Storm Management commands. ● Implement Spouts, Bolts and a Topology in Storm for Transaction alert application system. ● Perform the implementation of a microservice using Spark in Scala IDE. ● Learn about the various approaches of integrating Kafka and Spark. ● Perform integration of Kafka and Storm using Java in the Eclipse IDE. WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR This book is intended for Software Developers, Data Scientists, and Big Data Architects who want to build software systems to process data streams in real time. To understand the concepts in this book, knowledge of any programming language such as Java, Python, etc. is needed. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Chapter Two: Installing Kafka 2. Chapter Three: Kafka Messaging 3. Chapter Four: Kafka Producers 4. Chapter Five: Kafka Consumers 5. Chapter Six: Introduction to Storm 6. Chapter Seven: Installation and Configuration 7. Chapter Eight: Spouts and Bolts 8. Chapter Nine: Introduction to Spark 9. Chapter Ten: Spark Streaming 10. Chapter Eleven: Kafka Integration with Storm 11. Chapter Twelve: Kafka Integration with Spark


Slade


Shadow: 9 (New Species)

Book 9 in the New Species series. While each New Species book is a standalone, the greatest enjoyment will come from reading them in series order. Beauty resents being labeled Gift Species. Everyone is way too overprotective, males aren’t even allowed to speak to her and so far, true freedom eludes her. Then a big, sexy Species officer mistakes her for the enemy and takes her down—literally. Shadow is dumbfounded. He has a Gift pinned beneath him—a big no-no. But Beauty is fascinated and wants to know Shadow a lot better. She’s full of newly discovered, unrequited passion and he’s just what she needs to satisfy her curiosity. For Shadow, sex means pain and loathing. For Beauty, enslavement and ridicule. Two lonely souls who have never known a loving touch, together in a cabin in the woods. Every caress, every discovery brings them closer to a life they never thought possible…beyond even their wildest dreams.


Tiger (New Species, Book Seven)

TigerLaurann Dohner Book 7 in the New Species series. Zandy’s had too much to drink and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. She knows she’s going to die. When next her eyes open, a beautiful man-creature is holding her in his arms. He’s just too tempting to resist; her very own fallen angel. She wraps herself around his body, determined to have him. But when this angel turns out to be flesh and blood, reality crashes in—she’s seducing a New Species. Tiger’s shock quickly turns to intense passion when the human female kisses him, despite the fact she’s trying to get his clothes off while he’s engaged in a task force operation. He’s also made it clear he’ll never take a mate. Rather difficult when he and Zandy can’t keep their hands off each other. The taste and feel of his little human just leaves Tiger wanting more. Publisher’s Note: While each New Species book is a standalone, the greatest enjoyment will come from reading them in series order.


The Ghost of Molly Holt

"Molly Holt is dead. There's nothing to fear in this house." When three teenagers set out to explore an abandoned house in the middle of a forest, they think they've found the location where the infamous Molly Holt video was filmed. They've found much more than that... FROM THE AUTHOR OF ASYLUM, HAUNTED AND THE NIGHT GIRL. Tim doesn't believe in ghosts, but he has a crush on a girl who does. That's why he ends up taking her out to the house, and it's also why he lets her take his only flashlight. But as they explore the house together, Tim and Becky start to realize that something else might be lurking in the shadows. Something that, ten years ago, suffered unimaginable pain. Something that won't rest until a terrible wrong has been put right. THE GHOST OF MOLLY HOLT is a horror novel a boy who refuses to believe in ghosts, even as the evidence mounts all around him. But as darkness creeps into the house, will he be able to hold his nerve? Or will he finally have to accept that Molly Holt has risen from her unmarked grave in search of revenge?


The Land Without Stars


Αδύνατος

ΑΔΥΝΑΤΟΣ. Δημοσιευμένο με το ψευδώνυμο ΡΙΤΣΑΡΝΤ ΜΠΑΚΜΑΝ. ΑΔΥΝΑΤΟΣ. . . ο γερο-τσιγγάνος μόλις που ψιθύρισε τη λέξη. Ο Μπίλι ένιωσε ένα γέρικο, σταφιδιασμένο χέρι να τον αγγίζει ανάλαφρα στο μάγουλο. Ο Μπίλι Χάλεκ, ο σωματώδης και ευκατάστατος δικηγόρος, με έναν ευτυχισμένο γάμο στο ενεργητικό του, ανατρίχιασε και μετά γύρισε θυμωμένος από την άλλη μεριά. Δεν έφταιγε εκείνος για το θάνατο της γριάς. Το δικαστήριο τον είχε απαλλάξει από κάθε κατηγορία. Η γριά τσιγγάνα είχε πέσει στις ρόδες του αυτοκινήτου του. Και τώρα, το μόνο που ήθελε ήταν να ξεχάσει όλη αυτή τη φρικτή ιστορία. Αργότερα, όταν η ζυγαριά του έδειξε ότι χάνει βάρος, εκείνος χάρηκε - ο γιατρός του τον είχε συμβουλέψει να χάσει αρκετά κιλά. Και η γυναίκα του χάρηκε - ήταν φυσικό άλλωστε. Μόνο που. . . ΑΔΥΝΑΤΟΣ. . . η λέξη, η κατάρα του γέρου, είχε καρφωθεί στο νου του σαν σκουλήκι που του καταβρόχθιζε τη σάρκα και το μυαλό. Και με την απόγνωση, ήρθε η βία.


Selenium with Java – A Beginner’s Guide: Web Browser Automation for Testing using Selenium with Java

A refresher for Java developers on how to use Selenium IDE and Selenium Grid to automate web browsers KEY FEATURES ● Extensive practical demonstration of Selenium with numerous real-world examples. ● Includes thorough examination of various test automation ideas. ● Covers tools in conjunction with Selenium for implementing browser and web test automation projects. DESCRIPTION This book introduces setting up the environment for writing test scripts after covering Selenium and its capabilities. Numerous functionalities, including the web driver interface, the web element interface, and locators, are illustrated in-depth using the By class. Additionally, the book presents tasks such as HTML element manipulation, mouse and keyboard operations, dropdown, table, window, alert, frame, action class, and synchronization. Along with Selenium IDE and Selenium Webdriver, the book also covers another critical feature, which is the implementation of Selenium Grid, that allows the test suite to execute in parallel across several settings. Several add-on automation scripts, such as those for taking screenshots, object and data information, are thoroughly displayed and explained in this book. The book discusses tools like TestNG and Maven that aid in the overall development of the test project ecosystem. After reading the book, you should feel extremely competent in utilizing Selenium to automate a variety of web and browser testing scenarios and tasks. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN ● Get trained to automate the end-to-end testing of online applications with Selenium Webdriver. ● Confidently configure the Selenium Grid for cross-browser testing. ● Create locators quickly for various HTML elements on the page. ● Opportunities to improve test writing skills with the popular unit test framework, TestNG. ● An in-depth explanation of the management of objects and data in the test project. WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR This book is intended for software test engineers who wish to develop a strong foundation in Selenium implementation to create test automation solutions. Basic knowledge of testing and Java as a programming language is required. AUTHOR BIO Pallavi is a multi-skilled professional and has donned many hats in her career span. She founded 5 Elements Learning, where she acted as a coach, writer, and speaker on test automation solutions and collaborated with learning enthusiasts, organizations, and mentors from across the globe. She is a Steering Committee member at Agile Testing Alliance(ATA). She has contributed to Selenium Documentation, at the Selenium Project. She is the author of the book ‘Selenium with Python Beginners’ with BPB Publications. She has curated, organized, and acted as a jury for various international conferences and meetups like Selenium Conference India, StepIn Delhi, Selenium Conference by ATA, APISummit by ATA, and Global Testing Retreat by ATA. She is a firm believer in the larger good and likes to live by example. She volunteers her resources for Jabarkhet forest reserve, People for animals, and Wildlife SOS. She lives in the National Capital Region with her doctor parents, her husband, two children [sometimes she wonders though!], and a labrador. She likes to pen her thoughts as short stories, poems, and anecdotes. She is a firm believer in giving and living by example which she continues to learn, as life continues.


Parent Education for the Critical 1000 Days

As research in neuroscience increasingly points to the unparalleled influence of the first 1000 days of life from conception to two years of age in determining the baby's life trajectory, the need for high-quality early parenting education delivered by knowledgeable and dedicated professionals becomes ever more apparent. This book describes the global aims of early parenting education. It identifies the key areas that research suggests are important: building a relationship with the unborn and newborn baby; preparing for labour and birth; supporting parents' mental health; protecting the couple relationship across the transition to parenthood; and education for special groups such as same-sex couples, women with fear of birth, prisoners, military wives and parents from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. All practitioners providing early parenting programmes - midwives, health visitors, family link workers, children's centre staff and voluntary sector teachers - will gain new ideas for their practice in this book. Students taking midwifery and early childhood courses will find much to support their studies. Ultimately, the book provides inspiration for all those who are committed to the role of parenting education in reducing social inequalities.


Ο Δρομέας


Valiant


Wrath (New Species, Book Six)

WrathLaurann Dohner Book 6 in the New Species series. Wrath volunteers to live and work outside Homeland, where he’ll once again be confined in a small space with other males. He was subjected to horrific abuse and conditioning and forced to view endless sex tapes of human females while chained to Mercile’s perverted machines. Wrath knows he’s too dangerous and emotionally damaged to ever be with a female. Lauren has just been detained by three big, buff, well-armed men—New Species. One of them really catches her eye. He’s tall, sexy and…her new roommate, apparently. Having never met a man this spectacular, she decides to taste every inch of his amazing body. Wrath is definitely open to that plan. The sex is incredible and he gives her everything she needs—but he’ll only go so far. Something is holding him back. Lauren has to make him unleash his desire and Wrath has to get past his fear if the couple wants any chance at a future together. Publisher’s Note: While each New Species book is a standalone, the greatest enjoyment will come from reading them in series order.


Ral's Woman


Kidnappping Casey


Tempting Rever


Berrr's Vow


Burning Up Flint


ΚΡΥΦΟ ΠΑΡΑΘΥΡΟ ΜΥΣΤΙΚΟΣ ΚΗΠΟΣ

«...Ένα μισοξεχασμένο παράθυρο: ένα παράθυρο που προσφέρει μια κοινή θέα, αλλά από μια ολωσδιόλου διαφορετική οπτική γωνία, που μετατρέπει το κοινότυπο σε ασυνήθιστο. Δουλειά του συγγραφέα είναι να κοιτά απ' αυτό το παράθυρο και να περιγράφει τα όσα βλέπει. Μερικές φορές όμως τα παράθυρα σπάνε. Αυτή, πιστεύω, είναι κι η μεγάλη έγνοια αυτού του βιβλίου: τι συμβαίνει στον παρατηρητή με τα έκθαμβα μάτια, όταν το παράθυρο ανάμεσα στο πραγματικό και το φανταστικό σπάσει, κι αρχίσουν να εκσφενδονίζονται θρύψαλα από τα τζάμια;»


ΝΥΧΤΕΡΙΝΗ ΠΤΗΣΗ 29


Ρόουζ Μάντερ


Cherished Union (Made Book 8)


Playing Games (Franklin U Book 1)

BraxTyson Langley thinks the king in Franklin University Kings is in reference to him. Star lacrosse player and God’s gift to the female and male population, there’s nothing the spoiled jock can’t have.It’s impossible for us to be in the same room without talking crap to each other. But I also have a secret… As much as I despise Ty, I want him too. I revel in our banter and in never knowing what he’ll say next.I’ve spent too much time on the wrong side of the law for someone like Ty, though, and if I want to make it through college and escape my past, he’s a distraction I don’t need.TyBraxton Walker needs to learn to lighten up. If you search brooding online, his name pops up. He’s the bad boy with a leather jacket and a scowl. We couldn’t be more different.Finding ways to annoy him is like the longest foreplay session of my life. And when we end up working together, it gets harder to deny how hot he makes me.What’s a little hooking up between enemies?We weren’t supposed to become friends or share secrets. We weren’t supposed to understand each other and all the complicated stuff we’re going through.I’m used to playing games, only the more time I spend with Brax, the less it feels like playing around and the more it becomes something real.


Make You Mine

A sexy firefighter. A much younger Nanny. The heat between them could burn down a small country. He doesn't believe in forever. And she won't settle for anything less.Jace King is a smoking hot firefighter, a single dad and my new boss.He's also the most beautiful man I've ever laid eyes on.It's totally fine to secretly crush on the guy you Nanny for, right?Did I mention that he's also a decade older than me, works with my dadand he's a close family friend?If you looked up OFF LIMITS in the dictionary, you'd find an eight by ten photo of my sexy boss.But something happens every time we're in a room together.The attraction is almost overpowering.Jace is insistent that we can't act on it.And I've always been a rule follower...but maybe sometimes rules are meant to be broken.**This is book 3 in the Honey Mountain Series. Each one can be read as a complete standalone. A HEA is guaranteed!**Honey Mountain Series:Always MineEver MineMake You MineSimply MineOnly Mine


The Ruthless Note: Dark High School Bully Romance (Redwood Kings Book 2)


Reset


Adrenaline (In Secret We Sin Book 1)

I watched my father fall to his death at the hands of another.When I grew up, I hunted down the man who killed him.I got caught and did my time.When I got out, I tried rebuilding my life.Katrina Tavares was part of that.She gave me something I’d never had before.Stability.Hope.Love.But she destroyed us.So I became someone I recognized again.A blood thirsty wolf.Now she’s put herself back on my radar.And theirs, too.My friends want me to claim her.My pride won’t let me.But something is hunting her, and the threat of an unknown predator isn't all I needed to worry about.It's my friends, too.There’s four of us and one of her.Run all you want, Little Rabbit.These wolves run faster.


A Bride for Frank

THE PRESCOTT BRIDES Five lady outlaws sent to prison for bank robbery. Their sentences commuted to time served if they become mail-order brides. Five brothers looking for wives, take a chance on the outlaw brides. Will they find happiness or heartache? This is Maisie’s story. Maisie Sheahan was married to a monster. Luckily he died. Unlucky for her, he owed money to a very cruel man and that man wants his money…from Maisie or else she would pay the price…with her life. The only choice she head was to rob a bank with her friends, all of whom have their own reasons for needing the money. Maisie never wanted to marry again. Marriage equaled pain. The only thing her husband left her was the map to a gold mine which she intends to find. Frank Campbell wants a family and children. He loves doting on his nieces but wants his own children to dote on. Can he convince Maisie that he’s not like her dead husband? Can he show her that marriage should be full of joy not pain? He’ll help her find her mine, hoping to give him time to prove to her he’s not like her husband was. Roy Slade wants the money Maisie owes his boss. But he has his own agenda. He wants the map to the mine and he doesn’t plan on leaving Maisie and Frank left to talk. Will Maisie and Frank find their joy and manage to keep Slade from killing them?


Finally Free

Go with the flow. Have fun. Stay true to yourself. And above all else, remember…no relationships. Ever. From a very young age, I saw firsthand how a relationship could change a woman and make her lose herself. I vowed never to let it happen to me. And for over forty years, it hasn't. That is until my happily loved-up friends get it in their head that I’m missing out and dare me to really get to know a man and become friends with him. No sex allowed. One specifically—Blaze Baron, international heartthrob and massive movie star who recently moved to town and seems to have set his sights on me. I’m way too old for a dare. Still…I find myself agreeing. Besides, hooking up with a megastar so it can be splashed all over the gossipy tabloid sites for the whole world to see, isn't really my vibe. And shallow pretty boys really aren't my vibe. I won't have any trouble keeping things PG-rated and firmly in the friend zone. Except as it turns out, there’s more to Blaze than his ridiculous good looks. A lot more. No one is more surprised than I am that the more I get to know him, the more I really start to like him. And don’t even get me started with the crazy chemistry between us. The man can make me feel things with only one look and it doesn’t take long for this to become one promise I won’t be able to keep. There’s a reason I’ve lived my life on my own, but what if everything I ever thought about love was wrong? And if it is, is it too late to admit it?


Ντεσπερέισον

Η Νεβάδα είναι κυρίως μια μεγάλη έρημος που τη διασχίζεις για να πας κάπου αλλού -παρέα με κάποιον, αν είσαι τυχερός, γιατί είναι τρομακτικό μέρος. Στην εθνική οδό 50, μες στην αφόρητη καλοκαιρινή κάψα, ταξιδεύουν κάποιοι άνθρωποι που δεν θα φτάσουν ποτέ στον προορισμό τους. Όπως ο καθηγητής Τζάκσον και η γυναίκα του, που επιστρέφουν σπίτι τους στη Νέα Υόρκη, η οικογένεια των Κάρβερ από το Οχάιο που πάει για διακοπές στη λίμνη Τάχο, και ο συγγραφέας Τζόνι Μάρινβιλ, που προσπαθεί να κάνει ένα καινούργιο ξεκίνημα στη ζωή του καβάλα σε μια εφτακοσάρα Χάρλεϊ.Μια ψόφια γάτα, καρφωμένη σε μια πινακίδα, αναγγέλλει μια μικρή πόλη μεταλλωρύχων στη μέση του πουθενά, την Ντεσπερέισον. Εκεί, για κακή τύχη όλων, ρυθμίζει την κυκλοφορία ο Κόλι Εντράτζιαν, ένας γιγαντιαίος, ένστολος παράφρων, που πιστεύει ότι είναι ο μόνος νόμος δυτικά του Πέκος... Και ουαί και αλίμονο στους παραβάτες!Όμως ο Εντράτζιαν είναι μόνο η βιτρίνα της φρίκης. Στα παλιά ορυχεία της Ντεσπερέισον κρύβονται ασύλληπτα μυστικά και το κακό που μολύνει την πόλη σαν θανατηφόρος ιός είναι τρομερό και πανίσχυρο. Αλλά το ίδιο είναι και οι δυνάμεις που έχουν κληθεί εκεί να το πολεμήσουν. Κι όταν έρθει η ώρα της σύγκρουσης, σ' αυτή την πόλη που το όνομά της σημαίνει "Απελπισία", όσοι βρεθούν εκεί θα καταλάβουν το πραγματικό νόημα της λέξης...


Kissing Steel


Melting Iron


Touching Ice


Stealing Coal


Η ΜΕΘΟΔΟΣ ΑΝΑΠΝΟΩΝ


Microsoft Word - ΣακΟΣ ΜΕ ΚΟΚΑΛΑ.txt


Into the Broken Lands (The Broken Lands 1)

From sci-fi and fantasy master Tanya Huff comes a new epic fantasy saga set in a land of dangers and mysteriesShattered by mage wars, the Broken Lands will test the bonds of family and friendship, strength and sanity. To save their people, the Heirs of Marsan have no choice but to enter, trusting their lives and the lives of everyone they Protect, to someone who shouldn't exist, who can't be controlled, and who will challenge everything they believe about themselves.


Taunting Krell

Book 7 in the Cyborg Seduction series.


Redeeming Zorus


Voice of War (Threadlight Trilogy Book 1)

''Voice of War begins the complete, award-winning Threadlight trilogy, filled with unique magic, exotic creatures, and deep themes of family and parenthood. THEIR CHILD WILL SAVE THE WORLD, IF THEY CAN KEEP THE DAMN KID ALIVE. While preparing for the birth of his first child, Chrys Valerian is tasked with uncovering the group responsible for a series of missing threadweavers—those able to see and manipulate threadlight. With each failure, the dark voice in his head grows louder, begging to be released. A young girl from a secret city in the center of the Fairenwild veers off course to explore the streets of Alchea, never expecting that her journey would end in chains. Far in the deserts to the south, a young man's life changes after he dies. When Chrys learns who is responsible for the missing threadweavers, they come for him and his family. He must do everything in his power to protect those he loves, even if it means trusting strangers or, worse, the growing voice in his mind. Together, these three will change the world—whether they intend to or not.


29 Innes, Hammond


Hammond Innes - High Stand


Medusa

HMS Medusa is an obsolete frigate with an ill-assorted crew and an insecure captain. Why has she been dispatched under secret orders to be a sitting duck in one of the most vital ports of the Mediterranean? Drawn into a close involvement with the Medusa's captain, Gareth Lloyd Jones, ex-adventurer Mike Steele begins a dangerous quest for answers. As past and present combine in a series of violent events, Steele finds himself at the centre of an international crisis to which only Lloyd Jones and the Medusa hold the key.


Solomons Seal

'It was a weapon fashioned by somebody with experience and understanding of a deadly primitive craft, and the red paint on the tip could be nothing else but a simulation of the blood of the intended victim. The masked doll and the weapon, the two together...and the blood-red sky fading above me. I felt suddenly cold and appalled'.When Perenna Holland, descendant of a once powerful shipping family, is forced to sell her home on the English seacoast, the inventory turns up in an album of curious old stamps. His fascination with their provenance takes estate agent Roy Slingsby on an eventful voyage to a South Pacific island where new technology and old sorcery coexist in uneasy tension. As a long-feared insurrection explodes on the island, Roy finds his own fate now inexorably ties to that of the Holland family. And, still pursuing the mystery of the stamps, he unravels a dark secret rooted in long-ago murder, revenge and thwarted ambition.


WRECKERS MUST BREATHE


Bonds of Chaos (Threadlight Book 3)

THEIR CHILD WILL SAVE THE WORLD, IF THEY CAN KEEP THE DAMN KID ALIVE. When all was lost, the Heralds returned, and the world embraced them as gods and saviors. But there are some who know the truth: the Heralds are not what they seem. Now, in a desperate attempt to stop them, Chrys and the others travel to Cynosure with hopes of enlisting the only Amber threadweaver with the power to help. Chrys, Laurel, Alverax, and those they love. Together, they will stop the gods...or they will die trying.


The Angry Mountain

Dick Farrell is a man haunted by his wartime memories of torture and fear - a time better forgotten. But past and present merge when a trip to Eastern Europe embroils him in the twilight world of the industrial spy. Farrell becomes a reluctant player in a lethal game as the hunt shifts from Czechoslovakia to southern Italy. And there, beneath the blazing summit of Vesuvius in full eruption, he comes face to face with the living ghosts of his past.


Levkas man

It was murder that made Paul Van der Voort return to his childhood home in Rotterdam after eight years at sea without once contacting Dr. Pieter Van der Voort, the man who had adopted him when he was ten years old


Ντούμα Κη

Ένα τρομερό ατύχημα στερεί από τον Έντγκαρ Φρίμαντλ το δεξί του χέρι και του διαταράσσει τη σκέψη και τη μνήμη, αφήνοντας μέσα του μόνο μια μεγάλη οργή καθώς βιώνει τη δοκιμασία της αργής αποκατάστασης. Ο γάμος του καταρρέει κι ο Έντγκαρ αρχίζει να εύχεται να μην είχε επιζήσει. Ο ψυχολόγος του, ο δρ Κέιμεν, συστήνει μια <αλλαγή περιβάλλοντος>, μια καινούρια ζωή, μακριά από τη Μινεσότα. Συγχρόνως, του προτείνει ν’ ασχοληθεί ξανά με μια παλιά του αγάπη, τη ζωγραφική, γιατί, όπως λέει, χρειάζεται <φράγματα ενάντια στο σκοτάδι>.Ο Έντγκαρ νοικιάζει ένα σπίτι στο Ντούμα Κη, ένα πανέμορφο και ανεξήγητα ανεκμετάλλευτο νησάκι σε απόσταση αναπνοής από την ακτή της Φλόριντα. Ο ήλιος που δύει μέσα στον Κόλπο του Μεξικού και ο ψίθυρος των κοχυλιών πάνω στην άμμο την ώρα της παλίρροιας, μιλάνε στην τραυματισμένη του ψυχή και ο Έντγκαρ αρχίζει να ζωγραφίζει –όλο και πιο πολύ, πυρετωδώς κάποιες φορές.Όταν όμως γνωρίζει τη γηραιά, ανάπηρη Ελίζαμπεθ Ίστλεϊκ, που ζει εκεί από χρόνια, και τον Τζερόμ Γουάιρμαν, τον άνθρωπο που τη φροντίζει, διαισθάνεται ότι κάτι παράξενο συμβαίνει στο νησί. Ταυτόχρονα, ανακαλύπτει με δέος ότι το απρόσμενο ταλέντο του στη ζωγραφική έχει μια σκοτεινή πλευρά: κάποια από τα έργα του διαθέτουν μια δική τους, ανεξέλεγκτη δύναμη. Κι όταν αρχίζει να ξετυλίγεται το παρελθόν της Ελίζαμπεθ και τα φαντάσματα της παιδικής της ηλικίας βγαίνουν στο φως, ο Έντγκαρ συνειδητοποιεί ότι στο Ντούμα Κη φωλιάζει ένα ασύλληπτο κακό–και ίσως ακατανίκητο...Μια ιστορία για το πείσμα της αγάπης, τους κινδύνους της δημιουργικότητας, τα μυστήρια της μνήμης και τη φύση του υπερφυσικού. Ένα μυθιστόρημα συναρπαστικό, συγκινητικό και βαθιά τρομακτικό από τον αξεπέραστο Stephen King.


As research in neuroscience increasingly points to the unparalleled influence of the first 1000 days of life from conception to two years of age in determining the baby's life trajectory, the need for high-quality early parenting education delivered by knowledgeable and dedicated professionals becomes ever more apparent. This book describes the global aims of early parenting education. It identifies the key areas that research suggests are important: building a relationship with the unborn and newborn baby; preparing for labour and birth; supporting parents' mental health; protecting the couple relationship across the transition to parenthood; and education for special groups such as same-sex couples, women with fear of birth, prisoners, military wives and parents from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. All practitioners providing early parenting programmes - midwives, health visitors, family link workers, children's centre staff and voluntary sector teachers - will gain new ideas for their practice in this book. Students taking midwifery and early childhood courses will find much to support their studies. Ultimately, the book provides inspiration for all those who are committed to the role of parenting education in reducing social inequalities.


Selenium Framework Design in Keyword-Driven Testing: Automate Your Test Using Selenium and Appium

An easy-to-understand guide that will get you acquainted with the core concepts of Selenium WebDriver KEY FEATURES - Learn how to build a Keyword Driven Automation Framework with Selenium using Java - Understand and work with the core concepts of Selenium WebDriver 3.0 - Find how to use Build triggers in Jenkins to automate tests DESCRIPTION The book starts by introducing the Selenium WebDriver 3 and Selenium Server by covering each aspect of it in detail. You will learn different concepts like instances and how instances relate to browser sessions. You will further explore the new features in Java 8 with the help of easy to follow examples. Moving on, you will create a Singleton class for fetching WebDriver instances and then explore the different kinds of waits in Selenium. You will then delve into the advanced WebDriver interactions using the Actions class and the JavascriptExecutor. You will then understand the various database operations which will help you with using the MySQL database to store our framework. Next, you will go through the TestNG framework, followed by parallel execution. Further, you will use Maven as a build tool and Jenkins as a build automation tool. You will go through the working of Selenium Grid along with Mobile automation. Lastly, you will be taken through Selenium 4 and it's AI integrated features. WHAT WILL YOU LEARN - Learn the process of building a Selenium Framework - Understand the Keyword Driven Framework concept - Work with Document Object Model to access page elements - Integrate Maven and Jenkins with Selenium WebDriver - Use Selenium Grid to run multiple tests across WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR This book has been designed for Automation developers who would like to build a Keyword Driven framework that fetches keywords from Database. It is also intended for audiences who are interested in understanding Selenium and designing a framework TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. First look at Selenium WebDriver and Web Elements 2. Looking at the various WebDrivers 3. A brief look at Java 8 4. Deep dive into Selenium WebDriver 5. Actions class and the JavascriptExecutor 6. WebDriver Events 7. Database Operations 8. Introduction to TestNG framework 9. Parallel Execution 10. Understanding Maven 11. Jenkins Introduction and Scheduling 12. Selenium grid and executing in the cloud 13. Mobile test automation using Appium 14. A look at Selenium-4


Kissing Steel


Cavas (The Vorge Crew Book 5)


Wen (VLG Book 6)


Smiley


Lavos (VLG Book 5)


His Purrfect Mate

Shannon is a quarter puma but can’t shift. She’s just a human with a few extra genes. But she knows how dangerous shifters are and now she’s their prey, captured by a group of werewolves for a deadly hunt. Then she’s rescued by the biggest werewolf of them all. He’s the sexiest male she’s ever seen—jet-black hair, muscular body, piercing dark eyes and a growl that heats her blood.Anton’s body responds fervently to Shannon and he vows to protect her with his life—only to discover she’s the enemy. As the future alpha of his pack, Anton knows a cat will never be accepted. There’ll be hell to pay. But it’s mating heat, and he’s about to lose all control to that driving sexual need. His wolf wants her, can smell her desire. There’s no way to stop it now—his animal won’t be denied. Reader Advisory: This book contains a violent, graphic near-rape scene that is not for the faint of heart.


Creed (VLG Book 8)


Aveoth (VLG Book 7)


Vorge 3 - York


Ο κύριος Μερσέντες

F.L.A.G.M.A TEAM - GREEK.TO


Vorge 4 - Raff


Vorge 2 - Dovis


Vorge 1 - Cathian


Μερικές φορές επιστρέφουν


Veso (VLG Book 4)


Falling for Sky (Cyborg Seduction Book 11)


Brawn


Fury


Moon: 10 (New Species)

MoonLaurann DohnerBook 10 in the New Species series. The books can be read as stand-alone stories, but it is advisable to read them in order to get the most enjoyment from the series.Dr. Joyce Yards has never met anyone as sexy or as irresistible as 466. He refuses to discuss anything except getting her naked beneath him. Their therapy sessions are growing hotter, his raw hunger for her is becoming aggressive, and she is falling for him. Joy knows the dire consequences if she gives in to desire. It will break her heart but she must walk away.Moon has been drugged. He is feral and dangerous to everyone. The NSO doctors turn to the only female Moon ever cared about—the one who left him in the desert two years ago.Moon isn’t the same male Joy once knew but she is willing to put her life on the line for him. There are no rules now. If sex tames the wild beast and triggers his fractured memories, allowing him moments of lucidity, then Joy will give him her body and her soul. She’ll do whatever it takes to save him.A Romantica® twilight erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave


Justice


Obsidian (New Species, Book Eight)

ObsidianLaurann DohnerBook 8 in the New Species series.Dr. Allison Baker is obsessed with saving the comatose New Species male. She has tried everything and there’s only one option left. Alli will break every rule and put her life in danger by tempting 880 to wake, using only her feminine scent and touch. She just has to kidnap him and crawl into bed with him to make it work.880 wakes in a different world with a small female who’s been sleeping beside him, caressing him and wrapping her sweet body around his, teasing his senses. He lies silent and still, listening and evaluating each arousing touch, fighting his body’s reaction. Hatred flares when he discovers she’s human, but Mercile stole everything from him so he decides it’s fair to take her in return.But things quickly change and he wants her at his side and in his bed. 880 has chosen a new name—Obsidian—the personification of dark and dangerous. He’ll fight them all to keep Alli. No one will stand in his way.Publisher’s Note: While each New Species book is a standalone, the greatest enjoyment will come from reading them in series order.


Shadow: 9 (New Species)

Book 9 in the New Species series. While each New Species book is a standalone, the greatest enjoyment will come from reading them in series order. Beauty resents being labeled Gift Species. Everyone is way too overprotective, males aren’t even allowed to speak to her and so far, true freedom eludes her. Then a big, sexy Species officer mistakes her for the enemy and takes her down—literally. Shadow is dumbfounded. He has a Gift pinned beneath him—a big no-no. But Beauty is fascinated and wants to know Shadow a lot better. She’s full of newly discovered, unrequited passion and he’s just what she needs to satisfy her curiosity. For Shadow, sex means pain and loathing. For Beauty, enslavement and ridicule. Two lonely souls who have never known a loving touch, together in a cabin in the woods. Every caress, every discovery brings them closer to a life they never thought possible…beyond even their wildest dreams.


Metaphor in Specialist Discourse

J. Berenike Herrmann (ed.), Tony Berber Sardinha (ed.)

Metaphor in Language, Cognition, and Communication

Metaphor in Specialist Discourse presents multiple perspectives on metaphor use in specialist and popularized discourse contexts. Using genre and register as starting parameters for deeper exploration, and pushing the boundaries further to open up new areas and possibilities, ten independent articles investigate metaphor use across a range of specialist domains of discourse, such as biology research articles, psychological counseling, soccer commentaries, workfloor communication, and penal policy documents. Framed by two theoretical chapters, the book is a contribution to the study of metaphor use in distinct discourse settings that will be of value to linguists and metaphor scholars of different persuasions, graduate students of linguistics and related disciplines, and practitioners of specialized areas with an interest in (verbal or gestural) language use in their areas of expertise. It shows that aspects of discourse variation are the beginning of, not an afterthought to, accurate empirical metaphor studies.


Slade


Tiger (New Species, Book Seven)

TigerLaurann Dohner Book 7 in the New Species series. Zandy’s had too much to drink and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. She knows she’s going to die. When next her eyes open, a beautiful man-creature is holding her in his arms. He’s just too tempting to resist; her very own fallen angel. She wraps herself around his body, determined to have him. But when this angel turns out to be flesh and blood, reality crashes in—she’s seducing a New Species. Tiger’s shock quickly turns to intense passion when the human female kisses him, despite the fact she’s trying to get his clothes off while he’s engaged in a task force operation. He’s also made it clear he’ll never take a mate. Rather difficult when he and Zandy can’t keep their hands off each other. The taste and feel of his little human just leaves Tiger wanting more. Publisher’s Note: While each New Species book is a standalone, the greatest enjoyment will come from reading them in series order.


True


Quantum Physics of Semiconductor Materials and Devices

Debdeep Jena, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering Debdeep Jena

Aimed at upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Materials Science, and Engineering, this textbook covers the quantum physics of semiconductors, including their practical applications in various areas and their future potential.


His Right Choice ( Men of Falcon Pointe)

A Men of Falcon Pointe NovelNicholas Layton, fresh off his mission for the Mormon Church, attends Falcon Pointe University with plans to enjoy his final year of freedom before he gives in and marries his long-term girlfriend. But when he meets a group of gay men, some of whom are ex-Mormons and some who practice loving discipline, he finds he’s more comfortable with them than anywhere else. Suddenly he’s straddling the line between good Mormon and gay man.As an added bonus—or problem, depending—he meets Ethan Kierk, who is good-looking, fun to be around, and who wants to be with him. Nick tries not to think about dating a man, but he can’t help it. He wants Ethan, and that terrifies him.To avoid his feelings, Nick steels himself to propose to his girlfriend but breaks things off at the last moment. Instead he jumps headlong into a relationship with Ethan, and it feels so right—until he has to tell his family. When they reject him, he shares his darkest secret with Ethan, and hopes Ethan won’t reject him too.


Finding His Home

Men of Falcon Pointe: Book TwoSebastien Cather moves to Falcon Pointe with a dream to live life his way. Offered a room at 959 Brenton Street, he discovers how liberating it can feel to live among accepting people, especially in a household where they practice loving physical discipline. And he quickly gains a boyfriend in Avery, a fellow student. Unfortunately Avery isn’t his first choice. His roommate David is fascinating and good-looking, and Bastien would do anything to have him—but he doesn’t think the attraction is returned.Tensions rise as his roommates’ wedding is threatened and his present and past lives clash. Outed by the national media, Bastien knows he will never be able to return home again. Just as he’s sure he can’t handle any more stress, David shows his interest. Bastien slowly makes his way forward, trying to find firm footing in the minefield that is his life. But when his landlord makes an announcement about the future of the house, it may change all of his dreams.


Climate Change : What Everyone Needs to Know, 3rd Edition

"This is, for my money, the best single-source primer on the state of climate change." - New York Magazine"The right book at the right time: accessible, comprehensive, unflinching, humane." - The Daily Beast"A must-read." - The GuardianThe essential primer on what will be the defining issue of our time, Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to KnowRG is a clear-eyed overview of the science, conflicts, and implications of our warming planet.From Joseph Romm, Chief Science Advisor for National Geographic's Years of Living Dangerously series and one of Rolling Stone's "100 people who are changing America," Climate Change offers user-friendly, scientifically rigorous answers to the most difficult (and commonly politicized) questionssurrounding what climatologist Lonnie Thompson has deemed "a clear and present danger to civilization."Questions about climate change addressed in this guide include:* How will climate change affect day-to-day life in the coming decades?* What are the implications of owning coastal property in the age of climate change?* Is retirement to South Florida (or the U.S. Southwest, or even Southern Europe) safe?* What are the implications of the United States' withdrawal from the Paris climate treaty?* What does Donald Trump's presidency mean for climate action in the United States and around the globe?* Are efforts to combat climate change making a difference?As the global response to climate change continues to evolve, Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to KnowRG offers smart, unbiased answers to the most difficult questions in an area dogged by misunderstanding and politicization.


RISC-V手册

一本开源指令集的指南


Serverless Computing Using Azure Functions: Build, Deploy, Automate, and Secure Serverless Application Development

A complete end-to-end guide to implement Azure Functions and serverless orchestration with the help of various use cases. KEY FEATURES ● Step-by-step guide along with code snippets and screenshots to master the topics. ● Easy handbook to brush up the fundamental concepts and advanced topics of Serverless computing. ● Includes real use-cases and numerous scenarios on creating Azure functions, its security, deployment, and troubleshooting them. ● Understand how to monitor, troubleshoot, and perform advanced level diagnostics on Azure functions. DESCRIPTION Serverless is the current ongoing trend in the cloud industry that allows you to focus on code without worrying about the underlying infrastructure and helps in cost optimizations by providing pay for what you use. This book provides a practical mentoring with a step-by-step guide on how to create and work on Azure functions. You will be benefited with various use cases, illustrations, and visual representation to address complex problems around serverless computing. The book will help you to integrate Azure functions with other Azure services, seamlessly, without the need of writing much code. The book brings exclusive coverage on managing the deployment and security of the Azure functions. You will learn how to use different methods to monitor the Azure functions and how to perform correct diagnostics and troubleshooting without the use of any third-party integrations. Towards the end of this book, you also learn to create rich dashboards and visualizations using Power BI to monitor and run analytics on Azure functions. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN ● Learn to easily create Azure functions using multiple tools and options. ● Learn to use triggers and bindings for integrating Azure functions with other Azure services. ● Get to know how to orchestrate the serverless workflow using Azure Durable functions. ● Learn to practice security mechanisms to secure Azure functions in the production environment. ● Learn to build CD pipelines for deploying Azure functions using DevOps tools. WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR This book is for developers, DevOps engineers, technical specialists, architects and consultants at all levels, who want to build and deploy serverless applications with Azure functions. Some prior experience with C# (for developers) and fundamental Microsoft Azure services will help you to make the most of this book. However, the book is intended for each type of cloud-specific role. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Overview of Azure and Serverless Computing 2. Introduction to Azure Functions 3. Creating Your First Function 4. Azure Functions Triggers and Bindings 5. Durable Functions and Orchestration 6. Configuring Security for Azure Functions Security 7. Continuous Deployment for Azure Functions 8. Troubleshooting and Monitoring Azure Functions


English World Workbook #1


Service management and scheduling in cloud manufacturing

LIN. ZHANG, Yongkui Liu, Tsinghua University Tsinghua University Press

The book introduces the concept of cloud manufacturing and describes the cloud service technology system behind it. The authors discuss key technologies of manufacturing cloud service management, including service construction, evaluation and composition, and scheduling. With abundant case studies, the book is an essential reference for researchers and engineers in manufacturing and information management.no cover page


Valiant


Wrath (New Species, Book Six)

WrathLaurann Dohner Book 6 in the New Species series. Wrath volunteers to live and work outside Homeland, where he’ll once again be confined in a small space with other males. He was subjected to horrific abuse and conditioning and forced to view endless sex tapes of human females while chained to Mercile’s perverted machines. Wrath knows he’s too dangerous and emotionally damaged to ever be with a female. Lauren has just been detained by three big, buff, well-armed men—New Species. One of them really catches her eye. He’s tall, sexy and…her new roommate, apparently. Having never met a man this spectacular, she decides to taste every inch of his amazing body. Wrath is definitely open to that plan. The sex is incredible and he gives her everything she needs—but he’ll only go so far. Something is holding him back. Lauren has to make him unleash his desire and Wrath has to get past his fear if the couple wants any chance at a future together. Publisher’s Note: While each New Species book is a standalone, the greatest enjoyment will come from reading them in series order.


NS 11 - True


Raff (The Vorge Crew Book 4)


Smiley (New Species)


VLG 11 - Trayis


Träningsguiden : Styrketräning

Övningar kring träning


The Purple Dawn of Creation: A Journey into a Time before Time Began


Sucker Punch (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter)


Language choices : conditions, constraints, and consequences

International L. A. U. D. Symposium 1995 (University of Duisburg)

This volume is about various aspects of the theory and application of language contact and language conflict phenomena seen from an interdisciplinary perspective. The focus is on the linguistic, social, psychological, and educational issues (conditions, constraints, and consequences) involved in the status and use of languages in multilingual settings. The book is divided into four sections dealing with the following areas: Theoretical issues: This section addresses key issues such as the nature of the concepts of language maintenance, language loyalty and language identity, language shift, language loss and language death. It includes the search for models of the often contradictory theoretical issues involved in language contact. Language policy and language planning: This section examines the various language policies carried out by official agencies and focuses on the two basic options available to a multilingual nation: assimilation or pluralism. Attitudes towards languages: The section is geared towards research into determinants of language attitudes, the methods for the measurements of attitudes, as well as the relationship between language policy and attitude change. Codeswitching and language choice: The linguistic, social, psychological, and anthropological implications of using two different codes will be examined from different perspectives. Relevant research topics include: the situational uses of code-switching, linguistic and social constraints on codeswitching, and code-switching vs. borrowing. A further research paradigm deals with the search for relativized constraints, resulting from the interaction of universal principles and aspects particular to each codeswitching situation.


Serpentine

Vampire hunter Anita Blake has managed to overcome everything she faces. But this time there's a monster that even she doesn't know how to fight...A remote Florida island is the perfect wedding destination for the upcoming nuptials of Anita's fellow U.S. Marshal and best friend Edward. For Anita, the vacation is a welcome break, as it's the first trip she gets to take with wereleopards Micah and Nathaniel. But it's not all fun and games and bachelor parties...In this tropical paradise Micah discovers a horrific new form of lycanthropy, one that has afflicted a single family for generations. Believed to be the result of an ancient Greek curse, it turns human bodies into a mass of snakes.When long-simmering resentment leads to a big blowout within the wedding party, the last thing Anita needs is more drama. But it finds her anyway when women start disappearing from the hotel, and worse—her own friends and lovers are considered the prime suspects....


Narendra B. Dahotre, Mangesh V. Pantawane, Shashank Sharma

Laser-Based Additive Manufacturing Explore laser-based additive manufacturing processes via multi-scale modeling and computer simulation In Laser-Based Additive Manufacturing: Modeling, Simulation, and Experiments, a distinguished team of researchers delivers an incisive framework for understanding materials processing using laser-based additive manufacturing (LAM). The book describes the use of computational modeling and simulation to explore and describe the LAM technique, to improve the compositional, phase, and microstructural evolution of the material, and to enhance the mechanical, chemical, and functional properties of the manufactured components. The accomplished authors combine a comprehensive overview of multi-scale modeling and simulation with experimental and practical observations, offering a systematic review of laser-material interactions in advanced LAM processes. They also describe the real-world applications of LAM, including component processing and surface functionalization. In addition to explorations of residual stresses, three-dimensional defects, and surface physical texture in LAM, readers will also find: A thorough introduction to additive manufacturing (AM), including the advantages of AM over conventional manufacturing and the challenges involved with using the technology A comprehensive exploration of computation materials science, including length- and time-scales in materials modeling and the current state of computationalNo cover page


Dead Ice

Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton returns with another addictive adventure featuring vampire-hunting heroine Anita Blake, to thrill fans of Charlaine Harris and Anne Rice.My name is Anita Blake and I have the highest kill count of any vampire executioner in the country. I'm a U.S. Marshal who can raise zombies with the best of them. But ever since master vampire Jean-Claude and I went public with our engagement, all I am to anyone and everyone is Jean-Claude's fiance.It's wreaking havoc with my reputation as a hard ass - to some extent. Luckily, in professional circles, I'm still the go-to expert for zombie issues. And right now, the FBI is having one hell of a zombie issue.Someone is producing zombie porn. I've seen my share of freaky undead fetishes, so this shouldn't bother me. But the women being victimised aren't just mindless, rotting corpses. Their souls are trapped behind their eyes, signalling voodoo of the blackest kind.It's the sort of case that can leave a mark on a person. And my own soul may not survive unscathed...


Jason

"Enjoying pain with your pleasure is something you either get, or you don't. If you get it, then you don't really need it explained, because you know how good it feels, and if you don't get it then no amount of talking is going to convince you it makes sense."But sometimes you have to explain the unexplainable, especially if the love of your life needs to understand, or she'll leave you. Jason Schuyler is one of Anita Blake's best friends and favorite werewolves, with benefits. J.J. is his lady love, an old flame from childhood who dances at one of the top ballet companies in New York. She's accomplished, beautiful, and she's crazy about him, too. Neither of them wants to be monogamous, so what could go wrong?J.J. is enthusiastically bisexual, with an emphasis on the female side of things. She plans to keep sleeping with women, because Jason can't meet that need, just like she can't meet Jason's need for rough sex and bondage. J.J. doesn't understand why Jason isn’t content to go elsewhere for a need she can’t fulfil, so Jason asks Anita to help him explain.Anita is having her own relationship growing pains with her only female lover ever, Jade. Jason suggests that J.J. might be able to help Anita with her girl problem, while she helps him with his kinky explanations. With some encouragement from a few other lovers in Anita's life she reluctantly agrees, and J. J. makes plans to fly into town for an experience that none of them will ever forget.


Beauty: An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Outtake

The steamy outtake that takes readers even further into Laurell K. Hamilton’s bestselling novel, Kiss the Dead.You’d think I’d get used to seeing such a beautiful man and knowing he was mine, but it never grew old, as if his beauty and the fact that he was mine, and I was his, would forever surprise me.With a vampire like Jean Claude around, it’s far too easy for Anita Blake to doubt her own appearance—and the hold it has on those who love her. But one hot tub and two incredibly sexy men—Jean Claude and Asher—will make her feel like the most lusted-after woman alive...or undead. Not bad for a mere human...“Hamilton remains one of the most inventive and exciting writers in the paranormal field.”—Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times Bestselling AuthorIncludes an excerpt of Kiss the Dead, the new Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novel


Stretchingens anatomi


Bond Investing For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Everything on bonds, bond funds, and more! Updated for the new economyWhether you're looking for income, diversification, or protection from stock market volatility, bonds can play an important role in any portfolio. Newly updated, Bond Investing For Dummies covers the essentials of getting started and ways to select and purchase bonds for your needs. You'll get up to speed on the different bond varieties and see how to get the best prices when you sell.We’ll help you wrap your mind around bond returns and risk and recognize the major factors that influence bond performance. With easily understandable explanations and examples, you can understand bonds from every angle—yield, credit risk, callability, fund selection, bond broker-dealers, web portals, and beyond. This is the expert information and advice you need to invest in bonds in today’s environment. Learn what bonds are and how you can use them to strengthen and protect your...


Lost Masterpieces

Discover the extraordinary stories behind the world's missing works of art. New, small-format impulse-buy books make the perfect self-purchase or gift. Travel back in time to discover works of art that have vanished from the record, as well as those that went missing and have since been reclaimed or recovered. From the treasures of Tutankhamun to the altarpiece of Ghent, a missing Fabergé egg, and Vincent van Gogh's majestic Sunset at Montmajour, numerous masterpieces have disappeared throughout history as a result of theft, looting, natural catastrophe, or conflict... And some have resurfaced decades or even centuries later. Lost Masterpieces examines the unique story of the most significant of these artworks, the artists who created them, and those thought to be involved in their loss. It explores the various means by which museum curators and international crime investigators have unearthed missing treasures. It highlights the moral dilemma of museums that have profited from looted works of art and examines the recent "heists" made by some nations in an effort to regain their nation's stolen works of art. Delve into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian tombs, marvel at the hoards unearthed by archaeologists, and discover the skulduggery behind the disappearance of priceless Rembrandts and Vermeers. And see the world of art and antiquities in a whole new light.


Swallowing Darkness


Kiss the Dead


Shutdown


Anita Blake 24 - Dead Ice


Conventional business marketing often suggests that the primary function of business is to market a product in order to maximize efficiency and profit. In How to Market the Arts: A Practical Approach for the 21st Century, expert authors Anthony Rhine and Jay Pension propose a new paradigm to better explain how nonprofit arts marketing can and should work.How to Market the Arts provides a history of both nonprofit arts and critical marketing concepts to show how standard methods of marketing are ill-suited for the nonprofit arts industry. Through visual models and case studies of several arts organizations, the book offers instead a practical look at how this industry might adopt more holistic marketing strategies that better reflect their true function which is often to serve communities over persuading consumers. Rhine and Pension offer a theoretical framework for reconsidering the nature of nonprofit arts marking, as well as useful steps an organization might take to increase its value to a community and develop a broader audience base.


A Shiver of Light

I am Princess Meredith NicEssus. Legal name Meredith Gentry, because Princess looks so pretentious on a driver's license. I was the first faerie princess born on American soil, but I wouldn't be the only one for much longer...Merry Gentry, ex-private detective, now full-time princess, knew she was descended from fertility goddesses, but when she learned she was about to have triplets, she began to understand what that might mean. Infertility has plagued the high ranks of faerie for centuries. Now nobles of the both courts of faerie are coming to woo Merry and her men at their home in exile in the Western Lands of Los Angeles, because they will do anything to have babies of their own.Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, is a more dangerous problem. He tried to seduce Merry, and failing that, raped her. He's using the human courts to sue for visitation rights, claiming that one of the children is his. And though Merry knows she was already pregnant when he took her, she can't prove it.To save herself and her babies from Taranis Merry will use the most dangerous powers in all of faerie: a god of death, a warrior known as the Darkness, The Killing Frost, and a king of nightmares. They are her lovers, and her dearest loves, and they will face down the might of the high courts of faerie - while trying to contain the war, to keep it from spreading to those innocent humans who are in very real danger of becoming collateral damage...


The Lunatic Cafe


The Lunatic Cafe 04

Amazon.com ReviewThe zombie-raising business gets slow in December, so Anita Blake is starting to see some oddball cases. She's got a neatly typed list of eight missing lycanthropes given to her by Marcus, the leader of the local werewolf pack, who wants her to find them. The trouble is, Anita's occasionally furry boyfriend Richard is locked in a power struggle with Marcus. Jean-Claude, master vampire of the city and Anita's other love interest, is getting jealous as well. To top it off, Anita has to solve some horrific murders and keep her bounty-hunting friend Edward from killing Richard and Jean-Claude. Hamilton alternates between funny and fearsome in this larky series about a monster hunter with a few dark secrets. ReviewA real rush...a heady mix of romance and horror. -- Jayne Ann Krentz


The Laughing Corpse 02

Amazon.com ReviewHarold Gaynor offers Anita Blake a million dollars to raise a 300-year-old zombie. Knowing it means a human sacrifice will be necessary, Anita turns him down. But when dead bodies start turning up, she realizes that someone else has raised Harold's zombie--and that the zombie is a killer. Anita pits her power against the zombie and the voodoo priestess who controls it. Notice to Hollywood: forget Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Anita Blake is the real thing. ReviewHamilton just keeps getting better and better. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Anita Blake is one of the most fascinating fictional heroines since Scarlett O'Hara... (Publishers Weekly, starred review)


The Laughing Corpse


The Emerald Handbook of Challenge Based Learning

Eliseo Vilalta-Perdomo, Jorge Membrillo-Hernández, Rosario Michel-Villarreal, Geeta Lakshmi, Mariajulia Martínez-Acosta

This is the first handbook offering an in-depth exploration on how to conceive, design, implement, monitor, and develop Challenge-Based Learning initiatives in Higher Education Institutions. It presents contributions from international experts, from theory to practice, and provides insightful directions for future research on this topic.


The Killing Dance


The Killing Dance 06

Amazon.com ReviewAnita Blake, vampire hunter, is now herself a hunted woman. Who put the $500,000 price on her head--a man or a monster? It's not just her own skin she needs to save; the rivalry between her werewolf boyfriend, Richard, and Marcus, the other alpha werewolf in his pack, has come to full boil. And there's always Jean-Claude, the vampire who's been waiting for just the right moment to slip inside Anita's head and heart. Don't assume anything, though--Hamilton's probably got a few more surprises in store. Review'Death and gore galore ... Hamilton writes with ease and vigour...Great fun' SHIVERS 'I was enthralled - a departure from the usual type of vampire tale which will have a wide appeal to any reader hunting for both chills and fun' Andre Norton 'This fast-paced, tough-edged supernatural thriller is mesmerizing reading indeed' LOCUS 'Supernatural bad guys beware, night-prowling Anita Blake is savvy, sassy and tough' P N Elrod, author of THE VAMPIRE FILES


The Harlequin 15

From Publishers WeeklyAt the start of bestseller Hamilton's solid 15th adventure to star vampire hunter Anita Blake, Malcolm, the priggish head of the Church of the Eternal Life (the vampire church), is so desperate for help in dealing with the Harlequin, a troop of vampire enforcers and spies so feared vampires are forbidden to speak its name, he turns to those he considers sinful and corrupt—Anita and her sweetie, Jean-Claude, St. Louis's Master of the City. The Harlequin may have targeted Anita and the powerful triumvirate she has forged with Jean-Claude and Richard Zeeman (aka Ulfric of the werewolves). According to the rules, the Harlequin must make contact through delivery of a mask—white to indicate they are watching, red for pain, black for death. Anita receives a white mask, but the members of the Harlequin aren't playing by the rules. Shorter and more tightly structured than the previous entry in the series, Danse Macabre (2006), Hamilton's latest should prove more satisfying to longtime fans with its straightforward supernatural politics and steamy (but not extreme) sex. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"Hamilton just keeps getting better and better. --St. Louis Post-DispatchHer books outsell any other current vampire fiction --Publishers Weekly


The Harlequin


Swallowing Darkness 07

I am Meredith, princess of faerie, wielder of the hands of Flesh and Blood, and at long last, I am with child–twins, fathered by my royal guard. Though my uncle, Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, claims that he is the true father since he abducted me from my home, betrayed, and defiled me. And now he has branded my guards as a threat to my unborn children.Bearing an heir has placed me halfway to my aunt’s throne, that much closer to my reign over the Unseelie Court–and well ahead of her son, my cousin Cel, in this race. Now I must stay alive to see my children born and claim my place as queen.But not all in faerie are pleased with the news, and conspirators from every court in the realm plot against me and mine. They seek to strip my guards, my lovers, from me by poisoned word or cold steel. But I still have supporters, and even friends, among the goblins and the sluagh, who will stand by me.I am Meredith Nic Essus, and those who would defy and destroy me are destined to pay a terrible price–for I am truly my father’s daughter. To protect what is mine, I will sacrifice anything–even if it means waging a great battle against my darkest enemies and making the most momentous decision ever made as princess of faerie.From the Hardcover edition.


Skin Trade 17

From Publishers WeeklyHamilton's 17th Anita Blake novel draws the vampire hunter into a game of cat-and-mouse with a particularly monstrous vampire named Vittorio. Aided by sadistic serial killer Otto Jefferies, convenient sociopath Edward Kemper and fanged escorts handpicked by her lover Jean-Claude, U.S. marshal Anita offers her services to Las Vegas, now under siege from Vittorio's army of enthralled preternatural beings. Manipulated by the cunning Vittorio and occasionally misled by coincidental events, Anita employs her insight into Vittorio's condition and weaponized libido as the decisive weapons in this struggle. The book is largely concerned with the melodramatic conflict between hunter and hunter and Blake's soap-operatic love life, but Hamilton does manage some genuinely moving passages, particularly those describing the terror of innocent vampires caught up in the arbitrary and draconian U.S. legal system. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. About the AuthorLaurell K. Hamilton is a full-time writer.


Skin Trade


Seduced by Moonlight


Seduced by Moonlight 03

Amazon.com ReviewThe third novel in Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series, Seduced by Moonlight continues the story of Merry Gentry, a mortal Faerie princess hiding in L.A. Her aunt, the immortal and insane Queen of Air and Darkness, has ordered her to compete with her cousin, Prince Cel, in making a baby. Whoever produces a child first wins the throne of the Unseelie Court. But Merry still hasn't conceived--and that's not her only problem. Unknown assassins seek her life; her magical powers are becoming potent and uncontrollable; and her sadistic aunt has just commanded her to return to Faerie.Readers tired of mild modern fairy-tales about nice, polite elves may want to explore the Meredith Gentry series, which remembers that Faerie was originally a dark, dangerous realm of sex and violence. Hamilton's Queen of Air and Darkness is a vicious killer and torturer, and many of her fay drink blood or practice kinky sex (or both). Under royal orders to bed many males, Merry is far from averse; she and several lovers hit the bedroom on page 8 of Seduced by Moonlight and don't emerge until page 175. There's no shortage of sex, but not as much as the page count may indicate; the characters like to talk and sulk even more than they like to fornicate. The large cast and complicated backstory make this book the wrong starting point; newcomers should begin with the first novel, A Kiss of Shadows. --Cynthia WardFrom Publishers WeeklyConsidering all the complications, sexual and otherwise, that Merry Gentry, heir to the faerie throne, endured in A Kiss of Shadows (2000) and A Caress of Shadows (2002), it's no surprise to find the start of Hamilton's third book in her erotic fantasy series weighed down by attempts to conversationally recap earlier convolutions. Even readers of the first two books might have problems sorting out exactly why Merry is messing with the goblin king via magic mirror. Though the author maintains interest through such devices as an imaginative sex scene involving Merry, two of her sidhe studs and a doll-sized, winged, blood-sucking demi-fey, it takes a milieu switch from L.A. to St. Louis and the Unseelie court for the plot to take off and become a page turner. Merry confronts faerie politics that make Machiavelli look like a rookie, while her aunt's sadistic madness leads to what must rank as one of the bloodier scenes of fictional slaughter. Since Merry's previous role as a private eye has almost completely disappeared, nefarious deeds require magic to solve rather than detection. Hamilton's trademark mix of the personal and emotional along with the sexual will as usual delight her fans. Add yet another tour de force ending, a new final total of 16 lustful sidhe male immortals with whom to couple (or triple or...), and a fair future is assured for Merry for at least another few books. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Obsidian Butterfly 09

Amazon.com ReviewAnita Blake, the tough, sexy vampire executioner, zombie animator, and police consultant for preternatural crimes in St. Louis, hunts monsters in New Mexico in the ninth book of Laurell K. Hamilton's excellent series. Edward, Anita's mentor in slaying, asks Anita to return the favor that she has owed him since she killed a backup he brought in to protect her. He needs Anita's preternatural expertise as well as her firepower. Something is skinning and mutilating a few of its chosen victims, and dismembering others. Edward has no idea what creature could be responsible for such heinous crimes.Summoning Anita has its downside for Edward, since it means letting her onto his turf. Anita is surprised to find that this normally aggressive man has a personal life, and shocked by his ability to be entirely different from the stone cold killer she's known. She also has problems with the cop in charge in Albuquerque, who believes her powers must be evil, and with the other backups Edward has brought in. Most of all, she has to deal with her own vulnerability--she's tried to shut down her ties to her vampire and werewolf lovers and go it alone, but it turns out to be harder than she thought.Anita's usual supporting cast is missing, and she's taking time out from her complex love life, but there's plenty of bloody action, vampires, werewolves, and Aztec ritual. Plus a lot more about Edward. Fans will find this installment similar to the earlier books in the series, particularly The Laughing Corpse.--Nona Vero. From Publishers WeeklyAn inhabitant of an alternate Earth very much like our own--except that magic coexists there with natural law, and preternatural beings like vampires and werewolves coexist with humans--Anita Blake is full of contradictions that make her a potent lead character for this continuing series. Although Anita is a licensed vampire executioner, one of her lovers is a vampire (the other is a werewolf); she packs more firepower than a small army, but is a dedicated Christian; she's tough-as-nails yet ultrafeminine; she tangles with seriously dangerous supernatural forces, but she's as matter of fact about dealing with magic as she is about bashing bad guys, and she's as quick with a quip as she is with a well-placed kick to the groin. In her ninth adventure (after Blue Moon), Anita is summoned to New Mexico by Edward (aka "Death"), the cold-blooded killer from previous books to whom she owes a favor. In the course of investigating a series of grotesque murders (victims torn to bloody bits, survivors flayed of all flesh), Edward becomes more human and Anita less so. Celibate for six months, Anita's usual steamy sexual encounters with her inhuman but hunky boyfriends are missing from this novel, but there's still a lot of beefcake to appreciate and the considerable sexual tension is both humorous and supportive of the plot. The gory story line--which wraps around an Aztec vampire goddess, a dwarf necromancer, bull-headed bigoted cops, hearts ripped from chests and a witch who conveniently appears in the nick of time--needs that bit of sustenance, but the book is still a monstrously entertaining read. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Obsidian Butterfly


Narcissus in Chains


Narcissus in Chains 10

From Publishers WeeklyBestseller Hamilton's Anita Blake, police consultant, executioner, necromancer, private eye and wereleopard protector, returns in her amorous 10th adventure, driven more by conflicting desires for the lovers she neglected in her last outing, Obsidian Butterfly (2000), than by the urge to solve any mystery. Once again, in a world where vampires and werecreatures are protected by law, Blake attempts to resolve her libido's constant crisis. Plunged into the netherworld of a leather D/S (dominant/submissive) bar, Narcissus in Chains, by the abduction of one of her inherited wereleopards, Blake finds herself deep into shapeshifter politics and a were creature power struggle that is all a metaphor for her own inner struggle. Whom should she choose werewolf Richard or vampire Jean-Claude? Or should she take a new lover? Who cares? Blake is eventually infected by the "ardeur" from the vampire clan and tinged with shapeshifting abilities from the were clan. As she becomes more like the fantastic creatures she protects or kills, she, alas, doesn't get any more interesting as a character. Her obsessions with lust serve mainly to overwhelm a rickety plot. Blake needs to put her clothes back on and get back to work. Too much flesh and not enough plot leads to the old but so true saying, "Less is more." (Oct. 9) Forecast: With a 15-city author tour and 100,000 first printing, this should be as successful saleswise as previous books in the series. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistHamilton's vampire-hunting Anita Blake faces a plethora of foes in her tenth outing. Just returned to St. Louis after six months away, Anita is still no closer to choosing between her lovers--Jean-Claude, a vampire, and Richard, a werewolf. But she has to rely on both for help after two of the wereleopards that she has been watching are abducted at a seedy club called Narcissus in Chains. Anita and her boyfriends rescue the wereleopards from the sinister people holding them, but Anita is wounded in the fight and put at risk of becoming a wereleopard herself. Richard angrily captures the wereleopard he believes is responsible and threatens to execute him. Anita must now rescue that wereleopard from Richard and the werewolves he leads, even as she mourns the apparent end of her relationship with him. Then she realizes that those who kidnapped the first two wereleopards are targeting other lycanthropes. Maybe she will be next. With plenty of steamy sex and graphic violence, this is engaging reading for vampire cultists. Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Mistral's Kiss 05

From Publishers WeeklyIn bestseller Hamilton's steamy fifth in the Meredith Gentry fantasy series (after 2005's A Stroke of Midnight), the fey former Los Angeles PI has given up detecting and fully embraced her duties as Princess Meredith NicEssus, potential heir to the faerie throne. Since the extremely orgasmic princess's foremost duty is to prove her fertility in order to gain the throne, she spends most of her time bedding her immortal sidhe royal guardsmen, giving each a fair shot as her future consort. All the group sex has a profoundly transformative effect: her men are regaining their full powers, and the long-dead faerie gardens are springing to life. But when Meredith and her merry men inadvertently find themselves in the territory of King Sholto, who has been betrayed by others in the faerie court, there's deadly danger even for immortals. Lots of earth-shattering, supernatural sex and a rousing climactic battle will have Hamilton's fans panting for more. (Dec.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ReviewPraise for Laurell K. HamiltonA Kiss of Shadows“I’ve never read a writer with a more fertile imagination.”–Diana GabaldonA Caress of Twilight“Sensual, without a doubt . . . This book moves like a whirlwind.”–St. Louis Post-DispatchSeduced by Moonlight“This [faerie] society is one of the most detailed, imaginative and lovingly drawn in all fantastic fiction, and the Meredith Gentry series has become something special.”–San Jose Mercury NewsA Stroke of Midnight“Nonstop action . . . This book will leave you breathless.”–St. Louis Post-DispatchFrom the Hardcover edition.


Mistral's Kiss


Micah


Micah 12

From Publishers WeeklyHamilton (Incubus Dreams) delivers a highly palatable portion of what makes her series heroine, federal marshal and vampire-hunter Anita Blake, a bestseller: equal portions hot sex and supernatural crime fighting—with a dollop of old-fashioned male-female melodrama—served up in a world where new were-animals have their own crisis hotline. Filling in for a colleague, Anita travels to Philadelphia to reanimate a deceased federal witness, accompanied by Micah, her wereleopard lover. The jaunt serves as a chance for them to share some rare one-on-one time—without any of her five other lovers around—which Anita fears is not necessarily a good thing. Even worse, since her magic energy has grown unexpectedly strong, she suspects this won't be your run-of-th e-mill reincarnation. A good entry point for the uninitiated, this offering provides further insight into both characters and their universe. A bonus excerpt will whet fans' appetites for the 13th full-length novel in the series, Danse Macabre, coming this June.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From the Back Cover"RAISING THE DEAD IS EASY. LOVE IS HARD..." There are lots of reasons to raise the dead-some private, some public. In this case, the feds have a witness who died before he could speak on the record. They want him raised so his testimony can be taken. So here I am, on a plane to Philadelphia, flying off to do my job. But I'm not alone. Micah is with me. Micah, head of the St. Louis wereleopard pard. King to my Queen. The only one of my lovers who can stir my blood with just a glance from his chartreuse cat's eyes. I was happy to have him at my side. Until he mentioned that this will be our first time alone together. No Master Vampire. No Alpha Werewolf. Just me and Micah. And all my fears and doubts...


Incubus Dreams 12

Amazon.com ReviewAs Incubus Dreams opens, Anita Blake may be America's most powerful vampire hunter and necromancer. So it's no surprise that the Regional Preternatural Crime Investigation Team seeks her assistance when a St. Louis stripper is murdered and the evidence points to unusual serial killers: a group of seven vampires. It appears a master vampire has gone rogue--and may prove too powerful for Anita Blake, even if she can gain help from not only her vampire consort, Master of the City Jean-Claude, but from the wereleopard king Micah, her other lover, and the alpha werewolf Richard, her bitter ex-lover.It would be an exaggeration to say that Laurell K. Hamilton's Incubus Dreams is just one sex scene after another. This twelth novel in her bestselling Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series presents a wedding, a murder, and a lot of relationship angst before getting down and dirty on page 89; and the sex scenes pause on page 377 to let the mystery plot resume. The series deftly blends elements of alternate history, horror, romance, erotica, and mystery, but anyone reading Incubus Dreams for the murder plot is going to be frustrated. However, Incubus Dreams is a considerably stronger and more interesting book than its talky predecessor, Cerulean Sins, and fans will enjoy the many new developments in Anita's complicated love life. --Cynthia WardAmazon.com Exclusive ContentInterview with the Vampire Writer With two bestselling series featuring supernatural heroines under her belt, one has to wonder if Laurell K. Hamilton is truly in touch with a world beyond ours. Hamilton spoke with Amazon.com about her work, her characters, and her plans for the future. From Publishers WeeklyFans of bestseller Hamilton's vampire hunter Anita Blake will be thrilled with at least one aspect of this transitional 12th installment (after 2003's Cerulean Sins): Anita finally resolves her relationships with werewolf ex-boyfriend Richard Zeeman and vampire boyfriend Jean-Claude. They'll also be pleased to see Anita finally get comfortable with her own behavior, despite crossing many lines—sexual, psychological, professional, paranormal—that she previously thought uncrossable. In her role as vampire-executioner and preternatural-crime investigator, Anita pursues a band of serial-killing vampires who prey on female strippers, but much of the novel focuses on her responsibilities as a leader in St. Louis's vampiric-lycanthropic community. Those obligations are often intertwined with sex, the basic tool of her ever-growing magical powers. The ardeur that compels her to have sex in order to fuel her two "power triumvirates" must now be fed with increasing frequency. Old foes threaten as new enemies emerge. There's plenty of life (and undeath) left in this series, and Hamilton's imagination is apparently as inexhaustible as her heroine's supernatural capacity for coupling. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Incubus Dreams


Guilty Pleasures 01

Amazon.com ReviewAnita Blake may be small and young, but vampires call her the Executioner. Anita is a necromancer and vampire hunter in a time when vampires are protected by law--as long as they don't get too nasty. Now someone's killing innocent vampires and Anita agrees--with a bit of vampiric arm-twisting--to help figure out who and why.Trust is a luxury Anita can't afford when her allies aren't human. The city's most powerful vampire, Nikolaos, is 1,000 years old and looks like a 10-year-old girl. The second most powerful vampire, Jean-Claude, is interested in more than just Anita's professional talents, but the feisty necromancer isn't playing along--yet. This popular series has a wild energy and humor, and some very appealing characters--both dead and alive. Review'Death and gore galore ... Hamilton writes with ease and vigour..." SHIVERS 'I was enthralled - a departure from the usual type of vampire tale which will have a wide appeal to any reader hunting for both chills and fun' Andre Norton 'This fast-paced, tough-edged supernatural thriller is mesmerizing reading indeed' LOCUS 'Supernatural bad guys beware, night-prowling Anita Blake is savvy, sassy and tough' --P N Elrod, author of THE VAMPIRE FILES


Guilty Pleasures


Advanced Concrete Technology A thorough grounding in the science of concrete combined with the latest developments in the rapidly evolving field of concrete technology In the newly revised second edition of Advanced Concrete Technology, a distinguished team of academics and engineers delivers a state-of-the-art exploration of modern and advanced concrete technologies developed during the last decade. The book combines the essential concepts and theory of concrete with practical examples of material design, composition, processing, characterization, properties, and performance. The authors explain, in detail, the hardware and software of concrete, and offer readers discussions of the most recent advances in concrete technology, including, but not limited to, concrete recycling, nanotechnology, microstructural simulation, additive manufacturing, and non-destructive testing methods. This newest edition of Advanced Concrete Technology provides a sustained emphasis on sustainable and novel technologies, like new binders, 3D printing, and other advanced materials and techniques. Readers will also find: A thorough introduction to concrete, including its definition and its historical evolution as a material used in engineering and construction In-depth explorations of the materials for making concrete and the properties of fresh concrete Comprehensive discussions of the material structure of concrete, hardened concrete, and advanced cementitious composites Fulsome treatments of concrete fracture mechanics, non-destructive testing in concrete engineering, and future trends in concrete Perfect for undergraduate and graduate students studying civil or materials engineering—especially those taking classes in the properties of concrete or concrete technologies—as well as engineers in the concrete industry. Advanced Concrete Technology, 2nd Edition will also earn a place in the libraries of civil and materials engineers working in the industry.


Flirt

EDITORIAL REVIEW: ** The *New York Times* bestselling series. ** When Anita Blake meets with prospective client Tony Bennington, who is desperate to have her reanimate his recently deceased wife, she is full of sympathy for his loss. Anita knows something about love, and she knows everything there is to know about loss. But what she also knows, though Tony Bennington seems unwilling to be convinced, is that the thing she can do as a necromancer isn't the miracle he thinks he needs. The creature that Anita could coerce to step out of the late Mrs. Bennington's grave would not be the lovely Mrs. Bennington. Not really. And not for long.


Flirt 18


Divine Misdemeanors 07

Amazon.com ReviewLaurell K. Hamilton on *Divine Misdemeanors* Meredith Gentry was created as a character so that my muse and I could have a break from writing the Anita Blake series. I’d written five Anita books in a row and was starting to have job anxiety dreams about her life instead of mine. I needed something different for my muse and me to play with. Merry was created to give me a different voice, a different world to visit. I guess she’s like a second child that you have so the first one won’t be an only. Then, like a parent that just didn’t understand that a second child doesn’t double your workload, but quadruples it, I was suddenly trying to do two different series at two different publishers. It went well since they’re both New York Times bestsellers. The audience for both crosses nicely and continues to grow with every book in a time when very few authors can say that. So it’s all good, but just like trying to juggle two kids instead of one, juggling two book series instead of just one presents its challenges.At the beginning keeping Anita’s voice out of the Merry books was the biggest challenge. I was used to her, and her voice and attitude were closer to my own, so Anita wrote faster, clearer in my head. Merry was that second baby that is nothing like your first baby, so most of what you learned about taking care of character A doesn’t help a damn bit with character B. Who knew? But there comes a point when you make peace with the second child being so different from the first and so different from yourself. You find the unique joys in that second person, as I’ve found the joys in the Merry series that are different from Anita.Anita fights me on paper and always has. She’s very much my rebel. Merry never fought on paper until the last book, Swallowing Darkness, and then she found things worth fighting for. She finally stood up and told me what she wanted and she was willing to do whatever it took to get there. I understood that. I let Merry’s desires, loves, and choices change where I had planned to end the first cycle of the series. Anita has thrown out entire last thirds of books by her choices, and even scrapped entire novel ideas because she’d simply grown in a different direction. If I did that for my oldest creation, how could I not do the same for my youngest creation?In fact, Merry found her voice so pure and clear that on the last two Anita Blake novels I’ve had to chase her out of my head so Anita could be loud. Now the biggest challenge is balancing the writing schedule between two bestselling series, two different publishers, and that thing called a real life. Doing justice to my two imaginary worlds, and still managing to have a life in the real world... that’s the true challenge.--Laurell K. HamiltonFrom Publishers WeeklyHamilton hits the ground running in her latest Meredith Gentry novel, this one set in Los Angeles, where a pregnant Meredith has been safely united with her fellow exiles from the faerie courts. The faerie princess/private eye's happiness is short-lived, however, when she catches wind of a serial killer who gets his kicks crafting hideous tableaux of butchered demi-fey. While Meredith hunts for the killer, her stable of guards struggle to protect her from herself. Just as full of steamy sex and wild magic as the previous seven volumes, this episode finds Meredith's powers, as well as her collection of gorgeous guards, expanding, with crowd-pleasing results. The friction among Meredith's men makes for good drama, and Hamilton doesn't shy away from difficult real-world issues like post-traumatic stress disorder and sexual abuse. Though newcomers will be lost, and mystery fans may feel the sex scenes crowd out the plot, veterans of the series will no doubt enjoy their return to Hamilton's meticulously constructed world. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


How to Recruit, Hire and Retain Great People

Recruiting, hiring and retaining great people are the most important skill sets any manager can acquire. With talented and dedicated people, any business can succeed! Without great people, every business will fail. Yet many managers recruit only when they have a job opening, often settling for those who are only "good enough". Yet hiring the right people is an ongoing process, not a one-time activity.Did you know that 83% of workers are unhappy with their jobs and that 68% are actively looking for a new career opportunity? Great managers keep in contact frequently with qualified recruits and talk to candidates every 3 months. Poor managers wait until they have a need, and then hire the wrong people!Unfortunately, many managers often hire those who are most like them instead of who are best suited for the open position. But great managers "hire slow, fire fast." They interview effectively and check the candidate's past performance...


Danse Macabre


Divine Misdemeanors


Circus of the Damned 03

Amazon.com ReviewThe third novel of Hamilton's Anita Blake series has the petite necromancer fighting a giant cobra and a rogue vampire, Alejandro, who wants her for his human servant. Anita is still resisting the advances of Jean-Claude, St. Louis's master vampire, but she does need him on her side, if not in her bed. Anita's reluctant involvement in the odd goings-on at the supernatural Circus of the Damned introduces her to Richard, the werewolf of her dreams, and Larry, her powerful but nervous partner in zombie-raising.Mystery fans will love the tightly plotted, Paretsky-esque action, and horror fans will love just about everything in this unusual series. ReviewShe's the 'it' girl for bloodsuckers, werewolves, wereleopards and assorted undead types. (News Press[Fort Myers, FL])One of the most fascinating fictional heroines since Scarlett O'Hara-and a hell of a lot more fun than most. (Publishers Weekly, starred review)[A] gutsy, no-nonsense female unafraid to take on anything that the preternatural world throws her way. (Library Journal)


Circus of the Damned


Cerulean Sins


Burnt Offerings 07

Amazon.com ReviewBurnt Offerings is the seventh in Laurell K. Hamilton's genre-straddling Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. Anita carries a gun and an attitude: "Questions are great, but only if you know the answers. If you ask questions and the answers surprise you, you look silly. Hard to be threatening when you look ill-informed."As Burnt Offerings unfolds, Anita agrees to help track down a possible psychic firestarter. She's also policing the local werewolf pack, though she's split up with their alpha, Richard. Then Jean-Claude, the vampire Master of the City and her lover, needs her help to confront a visiting delegation of the vampires' ruling council. They wonder how he got the power to destroy a council member and believe him dangerous to the hierarchy.This fast-paced, urban fantasy includes gore, hardboiled mystery and a romantic triangle. The vampires and werewolves are as three-dimensional as the human characters, allowing us to join Anita in wondering who the real monsters are and to understand how her increased personal involvement with them is alienating her from her human colleagues. --Nona VeroFrom Library JournalWhile a pyrokinetic arsonist targets the havens of St. Louis's legal vampire population, Anita BlakeAthe local expert on supernatural creaturesAfinds herself embroiled in a dangerous and deadly game of undead politics in defense of her lover, the city's Master Vampire. The sixth installment of Hamilton's popular "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter" series exposes the more vulnerable side of its tough-talking, hard-as-nails heroine. Filled with nonstop action, witty dialog, and steamy sex, this title will appeal to fans of Anne Rice and Tanya Huff.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Cerulean Sins 11

Amazon.com ReviewLaurell K. Hamilton's legions of eager fans will be pleased to see Cerulean Sins), the eleventh novel in her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, which is set on an alternate Earth where magic works and vampires and werewolves are real. When a sinister stranger tries to hire the magically potent Anita Blake to raise the dead, she finds herself embroiled in the search for a vicious, supernatural serial killer, and also in the clandestine international politics of the vampires. And as she becomes more deeply enmeshed in cruel plots and counterplots, her tangled personal life only becomes more demanding, more wrenching, and more erotically fraught.With ten previous books in the Anita Blake series, Cerulean Sins is not the place to start. Though author Hamilton artfully reveals the backstory in small doses, the numerous returning characters and the complex history will overwhelm most newcomers (and even the most devoted fans may find that the backfilling slows the pace). Also, the characters frequently stand around talking and psychoanalyzing one another, which makes for static stretches unlikely to hold a new reader's attention. Newcomers should start with the first book, Guilty Pleasures. --Cynthia WardFrom Publishers WeeklyAnita Blake is one the more fascinating fictional heroines since Scarlet O'Hara-and a hell of a lot more fun than most. Despite her satin lingerie, short skirts and high heels, she kicks both human and non-human bad-guy butt-hard. Having gained immense supernatural powers and become an important force in the vampiric and lycanthropic communities of St. Louis in the 10 previous books, Anita begins this fantastic dark adventure by raising the dead and ends it by tackling a murderous monster. In between, she wades (literally) into a bloody investigation of a preternatural serial killer and (metaphysically and physically) into dangerous vampire politics. šber-vampiress Belle Morte has sent her dreaded surrogate, Musette, to demand that Anita's paramour, Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City, return the vampire Asher to her-a fate worse than a stake through the heart. In order to save Asher, Anita must be both sexually and psychically creative. Anita and the vampires also need head werewolf Richard to help defeat Belle Morte's designs. But can Richard, who recently dumped Anita because she was more "monster" than human, be relied on? Meanwhile, cop Dolph Storr, who's gone violently anti-preternatural, won't let Anita (now a federal marshal) help stop a series of gruesome murders. If this all seems complicated, it's nothing compared to Anita's sex life. There's plenty of the hot stuff, but it's presented with a certain morality and definite hilarity. After unraveling, to the detriment of writing and plot, some character and story line knots in previous bestseller Narcissus in Chains (2001), the author is back on track with the best Blake yet.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Burnt Offerings


Bullet 19

The music came back up and the next group of little girls, slightly older, came out. There was a lot of that in the next hour and change. I liked dance, and it was no reflection on the kids, but my will to live began to seep away on about the fifth group of sequined children... Anita Blake is back in St. Louis and trying to live a normal life-as normal as possible for someone who is a legal vampire executioner and a U. S. Marshal. There are lovers, friends and their children, school programs to attend. In the midst of all the ordinary happiness a vampire from Anita's past reaches out. She was supposed to be dead, killed in an explosion, but the Mother of All Darkness is the first vampire, their dark creator. It's hard to kill a god. This dark goddess has reached out to her here-in St. Louis, home of everyone Anita loves most. The Mother of All Darkness has decided she has to act now or never, to control Anita, and all the vampires in America. The Mother of All Darkness believes that the triumvirate created by master vampire Jean-Claude with Anita and the werewolf Richard Zeeman has enough power for her to regain a body and to immigrate to the New World. But the body she wants to possess is already taken. Anita is about to learn a whole new meaning to sharing her body, one that has nothing to do with the bedroom. And if the Mother of All Darkness can't succeed in taking over Anita's body for herself, she means to see that no one else has the use of it, ever again. Even Belle Morte, not always a friend to Anita, has sent word: "Run if you can..."


Blue Moon