Gurus, Hired Guns and Warm Bodies tells the story of how the market for temporary professionals operates from the perspective of the contractors who do the work, the managers who employ them, the permanent employees who work beside them, and the staffing agencies who broker deals. Based on a year of field work in three staffing agencies, life histories with over seventy contractors and studies of workers in some of America's best known firms, the book dismantles the myths of temporary employment and offers instead, a grounded description of how contracting works. Engagingly written, it goes beyond rhetoric to examine why contractors leave permanent employment, why managers hire them, and how staffing agencies operate.

Johnstone Country. Where Frontier Legends Are Born. A legend among bounty hunters, Luke Jensen has tracked some of the deadliest outlaws in the West. But sometimes, the competition can be even deadlier . . . GHOST TOWN MASSACRE It’s the kind of job Luke Jensen hates. A millionaire mine owner is willing to pay $5,000 to the man who captures the half-breed outlaw Tom Eagle. Normally, Luke would turn down an offer like this—it smacks too much of being a hired gun. But when the millionaire tells him that Eagle is responsible for killing his son, Luke agrees to take on the job. Which means he’ll have to take the road to hell itself—aka Hard Rock, Montana . . . Hard Rock is supposed to be a ghost town. But when Luke arrives, the ghosts are alive and well—and gunning for his hide. They’re a gang of actual hired guns—the kind of soulless killers Luke despises—and they’re trying to collect the bounty, too. Luke barely makes it out of town alive when he runs in to the only man who can save him. The man he’s been hired to hunt. The notorious Tom Eagle . . . Live Free. Read Hard.

Robert Young Pelton first became aware of the phenomenon of hired guns in the War on Terror when he met a covert team of contractors on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in the fall of 2003. Pelton soon embarked on a globe-spanning odyssey to penetrate and understand this shadowy world, ultimately delivering stunning insights into the way private soldiers are used. Enter a blood-soaked world of South African mercenaries and tribal fighters backed by ruthless financiers. Drop into Baghdad’s Green Zone, strap on body armor, and take a daily high-speed ride with a doomed crew of security contractors who dodge car bombs and snipers just to get their charges to the airport. Share a drink in a chic hotel bar with wealthy owners of private armies who debate the best way to stay alive in war zones. Licensed to Kill spans four continents and three years, taking us inside the CIA’s dirty wars; the brutal contractor murders in Fallujah and the Alamo-like sieges in Najaf and Al Kut; the Deep South contractor training camps where ex–Special Operations soldiers and even small town cops learn the ropes; the contractor conventions where macho attendees swap bullet-punctuated tales and discuss upcoming gigs; and the grim Central African prison where contractors turned failed mercenaries pay a steep price. The United States has encouraged the use of the private sector in all facets of the War on Terror, placing contractors outside the bounds of functional legal constraints. With the shocking clarity that can come only from firsthand observation, Licensed to Kill painstakingly deconstructs the most controversial events and introduces the pivotal players. Most disturbingly, it shows that there are indeed thousands of contractors—with hundreds more being produced every month—who’ve been given a license to kill, their services available to the highest bidder.

From the Author of 'War Paint' and 'Jake Masters, Bounty Hunter' The dusty mining town of Bannack, Montana harbors a fierce rivalry, two businessmen will do anything for advantage over their competition...even if it means murder. Myles Sams is a hired killer, not young any more but wise enough to stay alive, even if that means shooting first. When Myles' services are acquired to streamline Bannack's current business community, he soon realizes he's gunning for the wrong side. With a mini war brewing, Myles defects, offering his six guns to his former target side. But all is not what it seems, additional unseen forces are at work, quietly ripping the small town apart at the seams. When crooked vigilantes get wind of Myles' plan to set things right, all hell's gonna break loose. Brutal and action-packed - another gripping western from W.R. Benton. Keywords: Montana,vigilante,hanging,Sharps,gunfighter,Colt,saloon

Defines the crisis of the legal profession as a spiritual one rather than an ethical one, and urges lawyers to rethink their careers in terms of a vocation in the context of legal practice.

An Edgar-nominated collection of new short stories by some of the genre's most popular writers features hired assassins who match their criminal wits with seasoned or novice investigators, in a volume that includes contributions by such authors as Ed Gorman, Robert J. Randisi, and John Harvey. Reprint.