What is the source of the aliveness and awareness, which are fundamental to all life? What is the nature of desire, and how do our desires relate to suffering? How do we know what is true? What is the nature of belief, and how do our beliefs affect our ability to experience the deeper reality that is always here? And in the midst of these mysteries, how do we live our daily lives in the most satisfying and integrated way? Meeting the Mystery explores these questions and will help you discover new dimensions and possibilities in your life. This collection of articles and answers to questions posed by spiritual seekers is a springboard to ever deeper inquiry into the greatest mystery of all—Presence, which is who you really are.

The Drowner, one of many classic novels from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook. Lucille Hanson left her rich husband, a man who lived casually and loved carelessly. She found a new man, one who appeared to treat her right. Lucille was putting together the pieces of her life, determined not to make the old mistakes, the foolish ones that had almost wrecked her the first time around . . . until all of her hopes came to rest at the bottom of the lake where her body is found. It must have been an accident, most people say. It might have been suicide, others think. But among her mourners, just one person refuses to believe it was anything other than murder. Features a new Introduction by Dean Koontz Praise for John D. MacDonald “The great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller.”—Stephen King “My favorite novelist of all time.”—Dean Koontz “To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen.”—Kurt Vonnegut “A master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer . . . John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field. Talk about the best.”—Mary Higgins Clark

Veteran television writer M.V. Byrne debuts with the first Mitten State Mystery featuring Jill-of-all-trades Isabel Puddles, a widowed mother of two grown children who lives in the tiny hamlet along Lake Michigan where she grew up. The only thing she loves as much as her quirky hometown is reading a good murder mystery, but until she takes a side job styling hair at the local funeral home, she never thought she'd be living in one! The only thing widow Isabel Puddles loves as much as her hometown of Gull Harbor on the shores of Lake Michigan is cozying up to a good mystery--but she never expected to be caught in the middle of one... To the tourists and summer residents, Kentwater County is a picturesque community of small-town charm, fruitful farmland, and gorgeous freshwater beaches. To middle-aged widow Isabel Puddles, it's where she enjoys breakfast every morning at a local café with her childhood best friend and spends her evenings cozying up with a good book and her devoted Jack Terrier, Jackpot. In between, Isabel makes ends meet through a variety of trades--preserving pickles, baking pies, working the counter at her cousin's hardware shop, and occasionally helping "fix-up" the hair of corpses at the local funeral parlor. When Isabel discovers a two-inch nail embedded in the skull of Earl Jonasson, it seems the octogenarian may not have died of a stroke. His son is quickly arrested when his alibi doesn't check out. But Isabel has known Earl Jr. since they were kids and can't believe he'd murder his own father, regardless of his financial difficulties. As gossip about Earl Sr.'s land and insurance policy money starts to spread around the county, Isabel finds herself conducting her own investigation to clear her friend's name. But real detective work isn't like Jessica Fletcher's Murder She Wrote mysteries, and she's meeting dangerous suspects who don't like Isabel poking around in their business...

Four boys who call themselves the Black Dinosaurs dig up a mysterious box of bones in this first book of the classic chapter book series by award-winning author Sharon M. Draper. Ziggy and his friends Rico, Rashawn, and Jerome build a clubhouse in Ziggy’s backyard and decide to bury their secret treasures nearby. But when the boys start digging, they uncover a box of bones and are swept up in a mystery more intriguing—and scary—than anything they could have imagined. Who could have buried a box of bones behind their clubhouse?

"Our relationships--with our family, colleagues, friends, lovers, partners--are decisive factors in our lives. More than outer success, wealth, or fame, they make the difference between joy and sorrow, development and stagnation, fulfillment and frustration. They both stimulate and require us to reflect on our own initiatives and reactions. They lead us to thresholds of emotion and discovery. If we can navigate these thresholds with our eyes open, relationships can become a path of initiation, taking us beyond our self-centered isolation into new and inspiring worlds of experience." What really happens in relationships? Why do they affect us so deeply? Why do we long for a sense of community yet so aggressively assert our individualism? What are the risks and benefits of genuine human encounter? Drawing on perspectives from psychology, philosophy, management, and economics, The Mystery of Meeting explores these questions from a unique viewpoint and offers insight and guidance for developing healthy relationships. Steve Briault elaborates powerful ways of working with the dynamics of relationships within personal, community, and business contexts. Encountering another person, he says, is a "threshold experience." Each of us is an unknown world, and through meeting we are confronted with developmental challenges, as well as opportunities for profound personal development. This stimulating book presents groundbreaking ideas for managers, professionals, educators, communicators, and anyone who wishes to improve everyday relationships.

"Genuinely fascinating reading."—The New York Times Book Review "Diverting and patently authoritative."—The New Yorker "Grand and fascinating … a history, a compendium and a critical study all in one, and all first rate."—Rex Stout "A landmark … a brilliant study written with charm and authority."—Ellery Queen "This book is of permanent value. It should be on the shelf of every reader of detective stories."—Erle Stanley Gardner Author Howard Haycraft, an expert in detective fiction, traces the genre's development from the 1840s through the 1940s. Along the way, he charts the innovations of Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as the modern influence of George Simenon, Josephine Tey, and others. Additional topics include a survey of the critical literature, a detective story quiz, and a Who's Who in Detection.

Thought-provoking and accessible in approach, this updated and expanded second edition of the Meeting the Mystery: Exploring the Aware Presence at the Heart of All Life provides a user-friendly introduction to the subject, Taking a clear structural framework, it guides the reader through the subject's core elements. A flowing writing style combines with the use of illustrations and diagrams throughout the text to ensure the reader understands even the most complex of concepts. This succinct and enlightening overview is a required reading for advanced graduate-level students. We hope you find this book useful in shaping your future career. Feel free to send us your enquiries related to our publications to [email protected] Rise Press