She was supposed to be a means to an end... Redemption Harbor Consulting’s greatest enemy, Alexei Kuznetsov, is in their sights. For RHC cofounder Leighton, toppling the treacherous criminal’s empire is one more small step toward making up for his own past. To destroy Kuznetsov, he’ll go through the Russian’s niece, a woman Leighton suspects may also be guilty of dirty deeds. A woman he doesn’t count on wanting…who boils his blood and makes Leighton want things he doesn’t deserve with someone he can’t have. Now she’s everything to him… Despite other prospects, family loyalty has Lucy Carreras running one of her uncle’s prosperous hotels. But the longer she observes its operations, the more she believes the elegant establishment is host to some shady exploits. When her suspicions are confirmed by Leighton—a dangerous man straight out of her fantasies—Lucy’s entire world explodes when she learns just how evil her uncle’s sins are. Now she can’t stand by and let it continue. She and Leighton will take Alexei down together…if they can survive the deadly storm hurtling toward them. Length: NOVEL Author note: This is a stand-alone novel in the Redemption Harbor series complete with an HEA and no cliffhanger.

Treason, torture and temptation haunt the GhostWalkers in their most dangerous adventure yet, as Christine Feehan's #1 New York Times bestselling series hits an explosive new high. Rescuing an industrial spy from the hands of a criminal mastermind is a suicide mission for the GhostWalkers. And there's no one more up to the task than Gino Mazza. He's the perfect killing machine--a man driven by demons so dark and destructive that his blighted soul has given up trying to find solace. But his laser-sharp focus on his target has transformed into something nearing desire. A treasonous senator dangled top secret GhostWalker data in front of a Chinese crime lord, and he bit. Zara Hightower, one of the world's leading experts on artificial intelligence, was sent in to psychically wipe the crime lord's computer network. She succeeded, but at a huge cost. Now she's the captive of a man who has descended into paranoid madness. Torture and death await her... But GhostWalkers never leave one of their own in enemy territory. And it's up to Gino to save Zara, or kill her if it turns out she's led them into a trap. Either way, heaven or hell won't stop him...

Video and computer games in their cultural contexts. As the popularity of computer games has exploded over the past decade, both scholars and game industry professionals have recognized the necessity of treating games less as frivolous entertainment and more as artifacts of culture worthy of political, social, economic, rhetorical, and aesthetic analysis. Ken McAllister notes in his introduction to Game Work that, even though games are essentially impractical, they are nevertheless important mediating agents for the broad exercise of socio-political power. In considering how the languages, images, gestures, and sounds of video games influence those who play them, McAllister highlights the ways in which ideology is coded into games. Computer games, he argues, have transformative effects on the consciousness of players, like poetry, fiction, journalism, and film, but the implications of these transformations are not always clear. Games can work to maintain the status quo or celebrate liberation or tolerate enslavement, and they can conjure feelings of hope or despair, assent or dissent, clarity or confusion. Overall, by making and managing meanings, computer games—and the work they involve and the industry they spring from—are also negotiating power. This book sets out a method for "recollecting" some of the diverse and copious influences on computer games and the industry they have spawned. Specifically written for use in computer game theory classes, advanced media studies, and communications courses, Game Work will also be welcome by computer gamers and designers. Ken S. McAllister is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English at the University of Arizona and Co-Director of the Learning Games Initiative, a research collective that studies, teaches with, and builds computer games.

“Both burgeoning game designers and devoted gamers should consider [Game Design: Theory & Practice] an essential read.” — Computer Gaming World “Ultimately, in both theory and practice, Rouse’s Game Design bible gets the job done. Let us pray.” - Next Generation magazine In the second edition to the acclaimed Game Design: Theory & Practice, designer Richard Rouse III balances a discussion of the essential concepts behind game design with an explanation of how you can implement them in your current project. Detailed analysis of successful games is interwoven with concrete examples from Rouse’s own experience. This second edition thoroughly updates the popular original with new chapters and fully revised text.

The most lucid account of the patterns of problem drinkers ever set down in a book! Drawing on soundly tested theories of transactional behavior, Dr. Steiner describes the three distinct types of alcoholics -- Drunk and Proud, Lush and Wino -- and their games, scripts and rackets: Debtor... Kick... Cops and robbers... Plastic Woman... Captain Marvel...Ain't it awful... Schlemiel... Look how hard I've tried... and others. His approach is the single most useful tool for dealing with alcoholism since A.A. and the Twelve Steps, and offers the first real help -- and hope -- for problem drinkers and their families.

In a riveting page-turner, NBA referee Delaney reveals the clandestine life he had led before becoming one of professional basketball's most respected referees. 16-page b&w photo insert.