Jim Berzchak has a gift. His capabilities in the game of chess are remarkable and his brain works at levels most people only dream about. However, a horrific blunder while playing at the high school state tournament costs his Escanaba Eskimos the team championship. Depressed, he slips into a world of solitude. His life stalls and although he studies chess aggressively and enhances his skills, other aspects to his well being become reclusive. 15 years later a group of high school students coax Jim into reopening the defunct chess program. Through the kids, he finds he has an even better gift, the ability to teach the game and make it exciting. "The Eskychess Express is back on track!" or so it seems. Issues abound with their newfound success. Personal problems infect the team. Opponents take notice and hone their skills to incomprehensible levels. The pressure of competition makes Jim feel like collapsing. Can he get his life in order and lead his Eskimos over the second place hump? Or will they end up like him, devastated in life because they pinned too many hopes on winning a state championship title?

HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD YOU KILL TO LIVE FOREVER? Imagine a world where soldiers regenerate and continue fighting without pause, where suicide bombers live to strike again and again. This is the dream of Richard Ridley, founder of Manifold Genetics, and he has just discovered the key to eternal life: an ancient artifact buried beneath a Greek-inscribed stone in the Peruvian desert. When Manifold steals the artifact and abducts archeologist Dr. George Pierce, United States Special Forces Delta operator Jack Sigler, call sign King, and his "Chess Team" —Queen, Knight, Rook, Bishop, and their handler, Deep Blue—give chase. Formed under special order from President Duncan, they are the best of America's Special Forces, tasked with antiterrorism missions that take them around the world against any threat, ancient, modern, and at times, inhuman. With cutting-edge weapons, tough-as-nails tactics, and keen intellects, they stand alone on the brink, facing the world's most dangerous threats. Ridley's plan to create unstoppable soldiers has just made him threat number one. Tension soars along with the body count as the team faces high-tech security forces, hordes of "regens," the horrific results of Manifold's experiments, and a resurrected mythological predator complete with regenerative abilities, seven heads, and a savage appetite. The Chess Team races to save Pierce and stop Manifold before they change the face of genetics—and human history—forever. Heart-pounding action combines with adrenaline-charged suspense in the first of Jeremy Robinson's smart, sharp series featuring the Chess Team.

Urban high school kid Moses Middleton hoped that organizing a chess club could be a ticket out of mediocrity, but everything goes pear-shaped after a disastrous tournament. That's when he meets Viktor, a mad Russian grandmaster who agrees to coach the team by revealing the secrets of Soviet chess. Together with his crew -- charismatic psychopath P.D. Morales, gifted violinist and expert fencer Esther Toussaint, shy anime fan Maggie Wang, and the new boy, Albanian chess wizard Zamir Hoxha -- Moses vows to take the world of New York City scholastic chess by storm. But trouble's on the way, in the form of neighborhood bullies, a vengeful vice principal, racist gentrifiers, the snooty rich kids from Galton Prep, and, worst of all, a sexual predator who could destroy a young woman's life and the team's newfound solidarity.

On board a research vessel in the Pacific, expert tracker Mark Hawkins is trapped on a tropical island with the crew and uncovers evidence of the island's history as the site of a brutal World War II human experimentation program.

As organizations grow in volume and complexity, the demands on leadership change. The same old moves won't cut it any more. In Chess Not Checkers, Mark Miller tells the story of Blake Brown, newly appointed CEO of a company troubled by poor performance and low morale. Nothing Blake learned from his previous roles seems to help him deal with the issues he now faces. The problem, his new mentor points out, is Blake is playing the wrong game. The early days of an organization are like checkers: a quickly played game with mostly interchangeable pieces. Everybody, the leader included, does a little bit of everything; the pace is frenetic. But as the organization expands, you can't just keep jumping from activity to activity. You have to think strategically, plan ahead, and leverage every employee's specific talents—that's chess. Leaders who continue to play checkers when the name of the game is chess lose. On his journey, Blake learns four essential strategies from the game of chess that transform his leadership and his organization. The result: unprecedented performance!

In his second thriller, Jake Sigler and his team must battle a weaponized strain of a deadly genetic disease before it sweeps the globe. Martin's Press.

Maurice Ashley immigrated to New York from Jamaica at the age of twelve, only to be confronted with the harsh realities of urban life. But he found his inspiration for a better life after stumbling upon a chess book and becoming hypnotized by the game’s philosophies; his dedication would eventually lead him to break the chess world’s color lines by becoming an International Grandmaster in 1999. During his ascent to chess’s pinnacle, Ashley realized that chess strategies could be used as an educational tool to help children avoid the pitfalls often associated with growing up. In this book, he serves up compelling anecdotes about how chess has positively affected young players. He also offers tips on technique, how to make the game fun for children of all ages and levels, and how to overcome the myth that chess isn’t cool. Through his guidance and references to various developmental theories, readers will understand how chess strategies can improve a child’s mental agility, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Chess for Success is a much-anticipated resource for parents, teachers, counselors, youth workers, and chess lovers.