"Ever since the unsolved murder of her father, law student Masha Karavay has nursed an obsession with homicide cases. When she nabs an internship with Moscow's Central Directorate Headquarters, seasoned detective Andrey Yakovlev gives her a file of bizarre, seemingly unrelated slayings that should keep her busy and out of his way. But when Masha discerns a connection between the crimes and the symbolic world of medieval Moscow, she has Andrey's full attention. The victims weren't just abandoned... they were displayed--from Red Square to Kutafya Tower to the Bersenevskaya waterfront. What Masha and Andrey are dealing with is no ordinary serial killer, but rather a psycho with an unfathomable purpose, guided by sacred texts to punish his victims in the most unspeakable--and public--ways."--

Sin was an extremely important and serious concern for the earliest Christians and the authors of the New Testament writings. Early Christians came to see the life and ministry of Jesus as challenging presumptions about the meanings of sin and faithfulness. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of different understandings of sin in early Christianity. Jeffrey S. Siker describes how the earliest Christian voices represented in the New Testament writings understood "sin" not only as a theological abstraction, but also as a real reflection upon human thought and behavior that violated right relationships with both other human beings and with God. Siker explores language about sin in relation to the Jewish and Greco-Roman contextual worlds of the New Testament writings, and examines the development and change of these worlds in relation to the modern concept of sin.

Julian Oswald is trying to create a better destiny and rise from a checkered past when he and two close friends discover that they are all destined for penance no matter what they do. The truth is thrust upon them that because of the foolish mistake of one of their previous incarnations they have become Sin Collectors. It is bad enough that Julian has to deal with a crippling illness, but he and his friends with the help of their demon patrons must contend with the demi-god Ozma, and his demon kin in order to right an ancient wrong against Irkalla. Will Julian rest his sister's soul from Ozma, and will love survive the Sin Collector's near eternal struggle to regain the favor of Anu, Lord of Heaven?