A remarkably candid biography of the remarkably candid—and brilliant—Carrie Fisher In her 2008 bestseller, Girls Like Us, Sheila Weller—with heart and a profound feeling for the times—gave us a surprisingly intimate portrait of three icons: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon. Now she turns her focus to one of the most loved, brilliant, and iconoclastic women of our time: the actress, writer, daughter, and mother Carrie Fisher. Weller traces Fisher’s life from her Hollywood royalty roots to her untimely and shattering death after Christmas 2016. Her mother was the spunky and adorable Debbie Reynolds; her father, the heartthrob crooner Eddie Fisher. When Eddie ran off with Elizabeth Taylor, the scandal thrust little Carrie Frances into a bizarre spotlight, gifting her with an irony and an aplomb that would resonate throughout her life. We follow Fisher’s acting career, from her debut in Shampoo, the hit movie that defined mid-1970s Hollywood, to her seizing of the plum female role in Star Wars, which catapulted her to instant fame. We explore her long, complex relationship with Paul Simon and her relatively peaceful years with the talent agent Bryan Lourd. We witness her startling leap—on the heels of a near-fatal overdose—from actress to highly praised, bestselling author, the Dorothy Parker of her place and time. Weller sympathetically reveals the conditions that Fisher lived with: serious bipolar disorder and an inherited drug addiction. Still, despite crises and overdoses, her life’s work—as an actor, a novelist and memoirist, a script doctor, a hostess, and a friend—was prodigious and unique. As one of her best friends said, “I almost wish the expression ‘one of a kind’ didn’t exist, because it applies to Carrie in a deeper way than it applies to others.” Sourced by friends, colleagues, and witnesses to all stages of Fisher’s life, Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge is an empathic and even-handed portrayal of a woman who—as Princess Leia, but mostly as herself—was a feminist heroine, one who died at a time when we need her blazing, healing honesty more than ever.

Watching Murder shines a light onto the dark world of jihadi murder videos and the people who watch and share them on the internet. Images and videos of murder, torture and other cruelties are everywhere on the internet. Why do some people seek out and watch this material, how are they affected by it and do they have a right to watch any of it in the first place? In this ground-breaking book, terrorism scholar Simon Cottee visits the murky fringes of the internet in search of answers. Focusing on ISIS, he shows how the group transformed the urban myth of the snuff movie into a grim reality watched by tens of thousands of people across the globe. On shock-sites, he finds a contingent of ISIS fans who, while hating the group, love to watch its most monstrous depredations in high definition. He interviews his fellow extremism researchers and asks them about all the dark things they have seen online and how this has affected their mental health. He speaks with the "cleaners" whose job is to report and remove violent jihadi propaganda from the internet. And he surveys thousands of young adults to find out what they think of ISIS and its notorious beheading videos. Cottee exposes the hysteria around online radicalization, and shows how our engagement with violent online spectacles is much more complex and multifaceted than many would have us believe. Watching Murder will appeal to anyone with an interest in violence, media, terrorism and ISIS. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars of terrorism studies, political science, culture and communication.

In this noir thriller, Tim Morro has lived on the edge his whole life...From experimenting with the latest drugs to taking on the most dangerous missions during his tenure as a Marine, Tim loved the rush. But he may be over his head when he's hired to be the getaway driver to transport an escaped convict from a California state prison to Mexico. Hired by female prison employee, she makes him a financial offer he cannot refuse...But Tim soon finds out that both the woman and the prisoner have more than just escape on their mind.

From the author of the Agatha Raisin television series...DEATH OF AN ADDICT: A Hamish Macbeth MysteryFormer drug addict Tommy Jarret rents a Scottish chalet to check out reports of a sea monster. But when he is found dead of an apparent drug overdose, constable Hamish Macbeth suspects foul play. Teaming with Glasgow Detective Inspector Olivia Chater, Macbeth goes undercover and dives into the underworld to root out a cartel secretly entrenched in the Highlands.

Ripped from today's headlines and mined from historical records, "Vampires of True Crime" invades the minds of real bloodsucking killers from Romania, Russia France, Wales, Brazil, South Africa, the Kentucky hills, and the streets of Los Angeles.

Brian McHale provides a series of readings of a wide range of postmodernist fiction, from Eco's Foucault's Pendulum to the works of cyberpunk science-fiction, relating the works to aspects of postmodern popular culture.

Named a 2013 Doody's Core Title! "Bushfield and DeFord offer us an excellent, informed and sensitive work that speaks both of the erosion of family systems due to addiction and the complications that arise when these victimized families face end-of-life care." --Illness, Crisis and Loss With a growing elderly population comes an increased need to recognize the medical and psychological needs of older adults suffering from addiction, particularly towards the end of life. This guide describes the challenges such persons and families present to those providing end-of-life care, and shows caregivers how to best negotiate these issues with clients and their families. The authors place special emphasis on the role of the family, presenting a cohesive family systems approach to end-of-life care. The book demonstrates how hospice teams can work collaboratively with the client and family to help alleviate some of the emotional stress and pain of addiction. The authors also present practical guidelines for recognizing and diagnosing addiction, determining appropriate interventions, and outlining special concerns for addicted people in end-of-life care. Key features: Identifies the known markers of substance abuse and appropriate interventions Provides guidance on how to address the physiological, psychological, and spiritual effects of addiction Details what every hospice team needs to know about family systems theory Discusses the emotional process of addicted clients, and what hospice teams, caregivers, and family members can do to help