Based on true events, The UNDERCOVER WRESTLER is a "semi-fictional" espionage spy-thriller novel set in post-World War II Czechoslovakia, telling the incredible story of my grandfather, Zalman Unreich, a highly regarded wrestler and undercover spy from Israel. Raised as an extremely religious boy, with a strict father who hoped his son would become a Rabbi, Zalman had other plans, which involved using his champion wrestling background to defend the Jewish people. His adventurous "career" first began in the streets in Bratislava, then later in Palestine and eventually Israel, negotiating the Czechoslovakian Arms Deal that helped the State of Israel defend itself during its early days of war. While working as an Israeli diplomat (and a master of deceit), Zalman helped the victims of the Communist anti-Jewish "show-trials" and he smuggled many people across the Iron Curtain in Europe, risking his life on a daily basis. Zalman was a consummate professional, who left little traces of his work, and as a result, his story is untold -- until now.

Any on-screen schmuck can take down a wolfman with a silver bullet. It takes a certain kind of hero to hoist that wolfman overhead into an airplane spin, follow with a body slam, drop an atomic elbow across his mangy neck, leg-lock him until he howls, and pin his furry back to the mat for a three-count. It takes a Mexican masked wrestler. Add a few half-naked vampire women, Aztec mummies, mad scientists, evil midgets from space, and a goateed Frankenstein monster, and you have just some of the elements of Mexican masked wrestler and monster movies, certainly among the most bizarre, surreal and imaginative films ever produced. This filmography features some of the oddest cinematic showdowns ever concocted--Mexican masked wrestlers battling monsters, evil geniuses and other ne'er-do-wells, be it in caves, cobwebbed castles or in the ring. From the 1950s to the 1970s, these movies were staples of Mexican cinema, combining action, horror, sex, science fiction and comedy into a bizarre amalgam aimed to please the whole family. Chapters examine the roots of the phenomenon, including the hugely popular masked wrestling scene and the classic Universal horror films from which Mexican filmmakers stole without compunction. Subsequent chapters focus on El Santo, Blue Demon, and Mil Mascaras, the three most prominent masked wrestlers; wrestling women; other less prominent masked wrestlers; and the insane mish-mash of monsters pitted against the heroes. Each chapter includes background information and a full filmography, and a wide assortment of striking illustrations--posters, lobby cards and other graphic material, some better than the movies they advertised--accompany the text.

Legendary infiltration journalist Harmon Leon has gone undercover again and returned with a new book. Gentleman cartoonist Keith Knight provides popular comics that enhance Leon's enlightening narrative. "This book was eye-opening ..." –David Litt, author of NY Times bestseller Thanks, Obama The United States is a divided country, where two disparate tribes fight to provoke, condemn, and defeat the other. In Tribespotting: Undercover Cult(ure) Stories, Harmon Leon dives directly into the eye of the tribal storm, drastically changing his look and attitude as he goes undercover in an exploration of tribal behavior and its many manifestations in modern culture. Employing the same inimitable style that he honed while infiltrating extremist groups, Leon introduces readers to a series of vastly different tribes, including a gathering of five thousand assault weapons fanatics, a clan of white supremacists who recruit at Applebee’s, a church of hookers who walk the streets for Jesus, and a meeting of cult members who stare at their leader’s handsome face. Some of these tribes engage in harmless, hobby-loving fellowship while others revolve around the adulation of charismatic celebrities. Some of these tribes strive to uplift the individual via religious enlightenment, and a few are actually full-blown cults. But at the root of all these different tribes lies the same psychological need—the desire to be around like-minded people. With that in mind ... LET'S DO SOME TRIBESPOTTING!

December 2001: Vince McMahon steps out of a snowy night into a diner in upstate New York for a meeting with old friend Phil Thomson, now a highly placed government official. Thomson has a strange proposition: creating a new covert black-ops group using the Superstars of World Wrestling Entertainment. The WWE's talented men and women are perfect. Highly skilled athletes with the ideal cover, they travel all across the country and the globe; no one would find it unusual to find them in a town one day and gone the next. The government would train and support the wrestlers in every way possible except one: no one must know the truth. March 2006: The Superstars have been handed their latest assignment -- take down a commercial-grade methyl-amphetamine plant that is bankrolling terrorist activities in Europe. Their mission seems simple and straightforward, until a member of their team is taken prisoner. Now all that they've worked so hard for is in jeopardy, and one of their own might be killed...

A part-time job as an undercover store detective at the Riverside Shopping Mall seems ideal for our mum-of-three whose kids are now at school. Used to not being noticed at home, she feels she has the perfect credentials. The invisible eye of the Mall, she witnesses the good, bad and ugly of suburban life and it's not long before things become more complicated than the job fist promised. There's the mystery of the posh schoolgirl, and why security is turning a blind eye. Theres the question of dubious vote-casting in the bonny baby competition. Theres Zero FM star Lindy May, and the case of her missing brother. And then, bizarrely, she finds herself cast as the reluctant sleuth in an abandoned baby case from many years back . . . where nothing is quite as it first seems. With home life in growing disarray, the pressure begins to mount, and it's not long before everything starts to get a little blurry around the edges. The Undercover Mother is a hilarious, unflinchingly honest tale of an unforgettable heroine who's trying hard not so much to have it all but to keep intact the bit that she does have.

Put four pro wrestlers in a ring and the opportunity for athleticism, mischief, and pure entertainment is more than doubled. This comprehensive look at one of the most fascinating aspects of the sport of wrestling is an entertaining journey through the world of tag teams, exploring their essential role in wrestling promotions both large and small. With detailed historical and insider information based on hundreds of extensive interviews with well-known wrestlers, promoters, and managers, even casual fans will be anxious to see where their favorite twosome stacks up on the list of top tag teams of all time.

'A delicate, evocative story of strength and survival that turns on one of the most powerful forces in the known universe: a mother's love.' - Jonathan Freedland, author of The Escape Artist A powerful, true story of a Holocaust survivor told by her daughter - a tale that reminds us of the resilience of the soul and the ability of the heart to heal. Born in Czechoslovakia, Mira was only 12 years old when World War II broke out and 17 when the Nazis finally caught up with her. Torn apart from her family, she went on to survive four concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and a Death March when she was too weak to walk. She lived when almost everyone she knew did not. At 88, living in Australia, Mira is diagnosed with cancer and her daughter, a journalist, decides to interview her to distract her from her illness. As Mira gives her testimony Rachelle comes to understand how Mira's unique perspective - seeing her experiences through the lens of the goodness of the people who helped her - protected her from the depths of humanity's cruelty, and enabled her to go on to live a full and brilliant life. Rachelle also fits together the jigsaw pieces of her own life as a child of a survivor. She comes to understand that however different their lives have been, she and her mother are uniquely united by a fierce inner strength to live, and a mystery of strange things that always seem to happen around them. A beautiful story of love, loss, wonder and the deepest kind of trust in life, A Brilliant Life questions the role that fate, chance and destiny play. It is a tribute to family, a story of incredible resilience, and a chronicle of the deep connection between a mother and a child which not even death can destroy.