The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel Allon series presents the second thriller featuring former CIA Agent Michael Osbourne, following The Mark of the Assassin. When the Good Friday peace accords are shattered with three savage acts of terrorism, Northern Ireland is blown back into the depths of conflict. And after his father-in-law is nominated to become the new American ambassador to London, retired CIA agent Michael Osbourne is drawn back into the game. He soon discovers that his father-in-law is marked for execution. And that he himself is once again in the crosshairs of a killer known only as October, one of the most merciless assassins the world has ever known...

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel Allon series presents the second thriller featuring former CIA Agent Michael Osbourne, following The Mark of the Assassin. When the Good Friday peace accords are shattered with three savage acts of terrorism, Northern Ireland is blown back into the depths of conflict. And after his father-in-law is nominated to become the new American ambassador to London, retired CIA agent Michael Osbourne is drawn back into the game. He soon discovers that his father-in-law is marked for execution. And that he himself is once again in the crosshairs of a killer known only as October, one of the most merciless assassins the world has ever known...

Marching Season is the fifth short story collection by Belfast author writer and playwright, Rosemary Jenkinson, who is renowned for being one of the sharpest and boldest chroniclers of contemporary life. This latest collection boasts a dazzling cast of misfits, artists, musicians, teachers, and would-be millionaires; some striving brightly for success and defying the drift of the modern world, others seeking out new and lost loves. These lyrical, witty, and glittering stories are all bound together by the luminescence of Jenkinson's peerless prose.

"Kristen Laine went back to the heartland-- to the America so many of us fly over without blinking an eye-- and uncovered ... a world where salvation and ambition and teenage angst collide in strange ways no outsider could ever understand, unless you read American Band." --Michael Bamberger, author of Wonderland: A Year in the Life of an American High School Every fall, marching bands take to the field in a uniquely American ritual. From the stands, it looks easy. You don’t see them sweat. For millions of kids, band is more than a show. It’s a rite of passage—a first foray into leadership and adult responsibility, and a chance to learn what it means to be part of a community. Nowhere is band more serious than at Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana, where the entire town is involved with the success of its defending state champion band, the Marching Minutemen. In the place where this tradition may have originated, in the city that became the band instrument capital of the world, band is a religion. But it’s not the only religion, as director Max Jones discovers. After four decades, Jones’s single-minded devotion to musical excellence has fallen out of step with a younger generation increasingly focused on personal salvation. In what his students do not know is his final season of directing, he has assembled his most ambitious show ever, for the strongest senior class he has ever directed. Amid conflicting notions of greatness, the band marches through a season that starts in hope and promise, progresses through uncertainty and disappointment, and ends, ultimately, in redemption. AMERICAN BANDis an unusually intimate chronicle of life, in all its triumph, disappointment, and drama, in the kind of community in which most of America lives. It is an especially timely portrait, capturing as it does the spirit of the heartland at a time of profound change. If you have ever been—or yearned to be—part of something bigger than yourself, you will be rooting for the kids whose voices fill this book.

While women are officially barred from combat in the American armed services, in the current war, where there are no front lines, the ban on combat is virtually meaningless. More than in any previous conflict in our history, American women are engaging with the enemy, suffering injuries, and even sacrificing their lives in the line of duty. When Janey Comes Marching Home juxtaposes forty-eight photographs by Sascha Pflaeging with oral histories collected by Laura Browder to provide a dramatic portrait of women at war. Women from all five branches of the military share their stories here--stories that are by turns moving, comic, thought-provoking, and profound. Seeing their faces in stunning color photographic portraits and reading what they have to say about loss, comradeship, conflict, and hard choices will change the ways we think about women and war. Serving in a combat zone is an all-encompassing experience that is transformative, life-defining, and difficult to leave behind. By coming face-to-face with women veterans, we who are outside that world can begin to get a sense of how the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have shaped their lives and how their stories may ripple out and influence the experiences of all American women. The book accompanies a photography exhibit of the same name opening May 1, 2010, at the Women in Military Service to America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, and continuing to travel around the country through 2011.

Informational and inspirational. The Student's Guide to Marching is an exceptional aid for any marcher. Beginners can learn basic marching terms, skills, and exercises that will easily integrate them into any marching group from coast to coast, continent to continent. Mature marchers will get a fresh look at their activity, learning how to better understand their body and getting a peak at a new system of drill cleaning. Over 150 graphics help you along the way. More than just a users' manual, this book will teach you how to teach yourself.

A lively, clear explanation of the American healthcare reform movement from a noted expert—giving women the tools they need to demand fair and affordable coverage for all people Healthcare is one of America’s most dysfunctional and confusing industries, and women bear the brunt of the problem when it comes to both access and treatment. Women, who make 80 percent of healthcare decisions for their families, are disproportionately impacted by the complex nature of our healthcare system—but are also uniquely poised to fix it. Founder and CEO of Day Health Strategies Rosemarie Day wants women to recognize their trouble with accessing affordable care as part of a national emergency. Day encourages women throughout the country to share their stories and get involved, and she illustrates how a groundswell of activism, led by everyday women, could create the incentives our political leaders need to change course. Marching Toward Coverage gives women the clear information they need to move this agenda forward by breaking down complicated topics in an accessible manner, like the ACA (Affordable Care Act), preexisting conditions, and employer-sponsored plans. With more than 25 years working in healthcare strategy and related fields, Day helps the average American understand the business of national health reform and lays out a pragmatic path forward, one that recognizes healthcare as a fundamental human right.