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After losing multiple contracts, Shuichi must make restitution to his company. Faced with this large, unanticipated debt, the trip to Paris he and his wife have been planning for a year must be canceled. Traveling to Europe was more than a vacation; it offered the hope of reaching their teenage daughter who has stopped going to school and will not leave her room. Feeling despondent and directionless, Shuichi believes he’s the unluckiest person in Japan.

When Chechen terrorists manage to smuggle a Cold War-era Russian nuke across the Mexican-American border, the president is forced to reactivate the only unit capable of stopping them: Navy SEAL sniper Gil Shannon and his brash team of SEALs and Delta Force fighters.

She was my "what if" girl. The one I longed for. The one I tried to find again after she left for the other side of the world. Now, years later, fate has swept the only woman I’ve ever loved back into my life. With her intensity, her honesty, her passion, Annalise tries to break down my walls, because she’s the one who knew me before my family shattered. When we collide again, it's tender and savage, gentle and rough, and makes me hungry for more of this electric, once-in-a-blue moon kind of connection.

The study of budo, or the Japanese martial arts for self-cultivation, is a lifelong path toward perfection of character. Here, Dave Lowry, a sword master who has practiced and taught budo for over 40 years, addresses the myriad issues, vagaries, and inconsistencies that arise for students of karate-do, judo, kendo, kenjutsu, aikido, and iaido as their training develops.

The Most Human Human is a provocative, exuberant, and profound exploration of the ways in which computers are reshaping our ideas of what it means to be human. Its starting point is the annual Turing Test, which pits artificial intelligence programs against people to determine if computers can “think.” Named for computer pioneer Alan Turing, the Tur­ing Test convenes a panel of judges who pose questions—ranging anywhere from celebrity gossip to moral conundrums—to hidden contestants in an attempt to discern which is human and which is a computer.

For the first time since the start of the invasion, Arlan has found safety within the walls of the Empire. Others may use this opportunity to sleep in, eat good food, and get some rest. But Arlan has other ideas. Because within the same walls that have comfortable beds and expensive restaurants, one can also find magical items, powerful allies, and plenty of high-level monsters to slay. He may have found a moment of safety, but Arlan knows the Demons have not yet been defeated—not by a long shot. And he intends to make their next attack the worst mistake they'll ever make.

One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish - and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos. Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.

Invest Like a Guru provides an invaluable resource for high-quality-focused value investing, with expert insight and practical tools for implementation. Written by the man behind GuruFocus, this book expands on the site's value strategies and research tools to provide a primer for those exploring pathways to higher returns at lower risk.

A series of closely interrelated essays on game theory, this book deals with an area in which progress has been least satisfactory - the situations where there is a common interest as well as conflict between adversaries: negotiations, war and threats of war, criminal deterrence, extortion, tacit bargaining. It proposes enlightening similarities between, for instance, maneuvering in limited war and in a traffic jam; deterring the Russians and one's own children; the modern strategy of terror and the ancient institution of hostages.

In the days of Samuel the Seer, the Philistines are at the climax of a long war with Israel over the land of Canaan. There are still giants in Philistia left from Joshua's search and destroy mission of holy war generations earlier. Their numbers have grown.

Conversational Capacity provides the communication tools you need to ensure that your team remains on track even when dealing with its most troublesome issues, that it responds to tough challenges with agility and skill, and performs brilliantly in circumstances that would incapacitate less disciplined teams.

It was all supposed to be about sex. A bit of fun. No one mentioned love.... When nothing is known of her, what will happen if her past returns? And if her secrets are revealed, who will pay?

Shunryu Suzuki’s extraordinary gift for presenting traditional Zen teachings using ordinary language is well known to the countless readers of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. In Zen Is Right Here, his teachings are brought to life through stories told by his students. These living encounters with Zen are poignant, direct, humorous, paradoxical, and enlightening - and their setting in real-life contexts makes them wonderfully accessible.

For more than half a century, the United States has been pursuing a grand imperial strategy with the aim of staking out the globe. Our leaders have shown themselves willing, as in the Cuban missile crisis, to follow the dream of dominance no matter how high the risks. Now the Bush administration is intensifying this process, driving us toward the final frontiers of imperial control, toward a choice between the prerogatives of power and a livable Earth.

Employees that don't take ownership of their work. Friction between departments. Inconsistent results. These are the top challenges that face most businesses today. These common issues create high turnover and force managers into crisis mode where they're consumed putting out daily fires. Over time, the very nature of the business changes and a new culture emerges; one shaped by the lowest level of acceptable behavior.

HER: Me and my money-maker are only going to be young once. I give them three months to use my body however they see fit. Then they’ll pay me more cash than I could see in ten lifetimes. Frankly it’s a lot better than ending up on a stripper pole with a coke habit and a broke boyfriend who keeps trying to pimp me out anyway. I’ll take a one-way ticket outta that country song, thank you very much.

An epic story of loss, love and redemption. The Lady Peyton de Fluornoy is as resistant to marriage as Alec is, but she gradually begins to warm to the man who has given up on life. Alec comes to know a lady of spirit, beauty and intelligence. Before their marriage can happen, however, Alec's father is blackmailed by a neighbor who wants Peyton for his own son. Now deeply in love, Alec elopes with Peyton and an entirely new world of danger and passion opens up for them both.

Graham Russell and I weren't made for one another. I was driven by emotion; he was apathetic. I dreamed while he lived in nightmares. I cried when he had no tears to shed. Despite his frozen heart and my readiness to run, we sometimes shared seconds. Seconds when our eyes locked and we saw each other's secrets. Seconds when his lips tasted my fears and I breathed in his pains. Seconds when we both imagined what it would be like to love one another.

Too often we feel like underdogs fighting a system that stacks the odds against us. We work hard, follow the rules, and dream of a better life. But these days, working harder doesn't always lead to fulfillment. In fact, according to Gallup research, nearly 90% of people feel disconnected from their jobs. So how do you break free from the drudgery and achieve more success on your own terms? You hustle.

Early one morning, a body is found lying next to the railway tracks just outside of Kuki Station in Saitama Prefecture, shot dead. It is identified as belonging to the owner of a local mill which is embroiled in a labour dispute. Suspicion initially falls on the workers' union, then on a new religious sect that has been gaining followers recently. Chief Inspector Onitsura and his assistant Tanna are called in to investigate, and soon set off in a journey across Japan, from Tokyo to Kyoto and Osaka, and finally to the island of Kyushu, in a hunt for the killer.