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Henchmen of a vicious drug syndicate have snatched ten missionaries in a remote area of Venezuela and are holding them for ransom. The high-priority rescue op comes as a personal plea from FBI Director Irene Rivers, who has a very special interest in one of the hostages. The mission is strictly off the books, and there can be no international incident. Just get in and get out—and keep the precious cargo safe.

When a cult-like paramilitary group decides to make its deadly presence known, the first victims are random. Ordinary citizens going about their lives in Washington, DC, are suddenly fired upon at rush hour by unseen assassins. Caught in the crossfire of one of the attacks, rescue specialist Jonathan Grave spies a gunman getting away - with a mother and her young son as hostages.

In light of the colossal losses and amidst the resulting confusion that still lingers, it is time to rethink money management in the broadest of terms. Drastic changes need to be made, and managers who actually made money during 2008 make for a logical starting place. The Invisible Hands provides investors and traders with the latest thinking from some of the best and the most successful players in money management, highlighting the specific risk and return objectives of each, and discussing the evolution of certain styles and beliefs in money management.

There's a common strategy used by the fastest growing and most successful businesses of our time. These companies are building their entire customer experience around their digital products, delivering software that is simple, intuitive, and delightful, and that anticipates and exceeds the evolving needs of users. Product-led organizations make their products the vehicle for acquiring and retaining customers, driving growth, and influencing organizational priorities. They represent the future of business in a digital-first world.

The people of the Estes Valley have found their peace destroyed as they are attacked by the single greatest army left in the world. Not only do they have to contend with an army of men equipped with the latest hi-tech military gear, they also have to battle a horde of undead half a million strong. But, perhaps worse than all of this, they have to deal with a seven year old girl - Jillybean. Cruelly coerced into helping her enemies, Jillybean bends her mind to the destruction of the valley, the death of kings, and the loss of her own soul.

Hostage rescue expert Jonathan Grave and his fellow special-ops veteran, Boxers, are hunting in Montana when shots ring out, and they realize they've become the prey for assassins. In the crosshairs of unseen shooters, cut off from all communication, with the wind at a blood-freezing chill, the nightmare is just beginning. Because Jonathan and Boxers aren't the only ones under fire.

There are still mysteries appearing in Eredain. The High Roads are far more dangerous than anything Aranos faced in the Blightlands, and the city of Antas has already repelled assaults from both human and elven armies...with no survivors returning. Discovering the more potent Enhanced Aspects of magic will help Aranos penetrate the Library of Antas and its secret Vault, but just using them could destroy him.

Freelance operative Jonathan Grave faces his fiercest challenge yet in best-selling author John Gilstrap's explosive new thriller. The mission: Drop into the Mexican jungle, infiltrate a drug cartel's compound, and extract a kidnapped DEA agent. But when Jonathan Grave and his partner, Boxers, retrieve the hostage and return to the exfil point, all hell breaks loose.

Greed, terrorism, and simple bad luck conspire to bring mankind to its knees as a viral infection spreads out of control, reducing those infected to undead horrors that feed upon the rest. It's a time of misery and death for most, however there are some who are lucky, some who are fast, and some who are just too damned tough to go down without a fight. This is their story.

Analyzing the political and banking history of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil through several centuries, Fragile by Design demonstrates that chronic banking crises and scarce credit are not accidents due to unforeseen circumstances. Rather, these fluctuations result from the complex bargains made between politicians, bankers, bank shareholders, depositors, debtors, and taxpayers.

Aranos has done the impossible: He's freed the first Fallen Realm in mortal reckoning and returned victorious. He and his follower Geltheriel should be hailed as heroes and celebrated throughout the Stronghold of Eredain. Instead, Aranos finds himself surrounded by elves that are both secretly and openly hostile. He and his new party descend nightly into the corrupted Blightlands to battle the Darkness and to try and reclaim more lands for the Light, but each day the elves place more obstacles in his path, from attempts at treachery to outright attacks.

The hostages are young: a bus full of teenagers on a church mission. The ransom demands are explicit: deliver three million dollars - with zero involvement from law enforcement - or all captives will be executed. But rescue specialist Jonathan Grave doesn't believe in ultimatums. For him and his elite team at Security Solutions, it's all about protecting the innocent. Now Grave must face the chilling possibility that someone within the U.S. government has a deadly secret to protect - one that could jeopardize national security like never before...

The war with the Azael has left the people of Estes Valley weakened and isolated in their mountain retreat. Supplies of fuel and ammo are dangerously low and yet Neil bets most of what he has left on a gamble to find Jillybean, who was last seen in the forests of Missouri. Neil is the only one who sees in the little girl a chance at a new beginning. He hopes to harness her genius for the benefit of the valley, but when the gamble fails he must send the only two people he can trust out into a dangerous world to gather more supplies.

He awoke in a tiny, lightless cell, groping for memory...memory that had been erased. Hope Hubris, Jupiter governor, progressive populist, warrior hero, and presidential candidate...a "mem-washed" tool of the enemy. And if his captors' plan worked, Hope would destroy his own political career, leaving the fate of his planet in the hands of its corrupt presidential incumbent - Tocsin. But Hope Hubris had a destiny to fulfill.

Though he was later accused of every crime and sexual perversion in the galaxy, Hope Hubris began as an innocent. Because he defended his older sister against the violent lusts of a wealthy scion, Hope and his peasant family were forced to flee Callisto, one of the moons of Jupiter. Pursued by the bloodthirsty scions across the airless desert, they barely escaped with their lives. The illegal space bubble was overcrowded with refugees, all hoping to reach Jupiter for asylum.

Together for the first time, 14 action-packed tales of demons, monsters, vampires, and cosmic horrors too terrible to name - and the men and women who take them all down. Oh, and toss in an interdimensional insurance salesman for good measure.

El Paso, Texas, is a battleground. It's an open market for Mexican drug cartels to sell their wares. It's also a destination for teens looking for fun. Venice Alexander's 14-year-old son Roman was there on a school trip. Now, he and a fellow student have vanished without a trace. Assuming the kidnapping is retaliation for his past incursions against Mexico's underworld, Jonathan Grave leads his covert operatives to rescue their teammate's son. But the trail Jonathan follows leads him down unexpected paths, where he ends up in the crossfire of a deadly vendetta.

In Raven's Witness, Lentfer tells Nelson's story - from his midwestern childhood to his first experiences with Native culture in Alaska through his own lifelong passion for the land where he so belonged. Nelson was the author of the best-selling The Island Within and Heart and Blood. The recipient of multiple honorary degrees and numerous literary awards, he regularly packed auditoriums when he spoke. His depth of experience allowed him to become an intermediary between worlds. This is his story.

With people fleeing the valley in droves and Estes no longer the safe haven it had once been, Neil Martin must make some hard choices. His group has dwindled to 70 homeless refugees who have very little left to survive on. They desperately need to find a place to call home before their many enemies realize how defenseless they truly are. Instead of risking everything on a blind thrust across the Rockies to the Pacific, Neil sends out three picked teams to not only find a safe passage through the mountains but to also find a community that will take them in.

For Jillybean, moments of utter happiness and pure sanity are as fleeting and wonderful as sun-showers at a July picnic. Her time with Granny Annie is one such moment, but as always it ends far too quickly and she is once more thrust back into a world of crushing loneliness and endless despair.