BOOKS 6-8 OF THE VENGEANCE SERIES TOXIC VENGEANCE Their past was poisoned by lies. Risking a second chance could cost them everything. BEAUTIFUL VENGEANCE They made her into the perfect weapon. Now she’s coming after them. TAKING VENGEANCE The Valkyries thought the threat was over. hey were wrong.

The American Civil War was a vicious conflict that developed in intense hatred between opposing sides. Despite some historians' assertions that this was history's last great "gentlemen's war," the conflict was anything but civil. There is ample evidence to suggest that both sides quite commonly retaliated against one another throughout the war, often in chillingly inhumane ways. Author Lonnie Speer explores this little-known practice of reciprocal wartime violence, focusing on the most notorious and well-documented cases of the war. The author illustrated his claims with the first-hand accounts of numerous prisoners, painting a chilling picture of Civil War military and political policy.

From the child taunted by her playmates to the office worker who feels stifled in his daily routine, people frequently take out their pain and anger on others, even those who had nothing to do with the original stress. The bullied child may kick her puppy, the stifled worker yells at his children: Payback can be directed anywhere, sometimes at inanimate things, animals, or other people. In Payback, the husband-and wife team of evolutionary biologist David Barash and psychiatrist Judith Lipton offer an illuminating look at this phenomenon, showing how it has evolved, why it occurs, and what we can do about it. Retaliation and revenge are well known to most people. We all know what it is like to want to get even, get justice, or take revenge. What is new in this book is an extended discussion of redirected aggression, which occurs not only in people but other species as well. The authors reveal that it's not just a matter of yelling at your spouse "because" your boss yells at you. Indeed, the phenomenon of redirected aggression--so-called to differentiate it from retaliation and revenge, the other main forms of payback--haunts our criminal courts, our streets, our battlefields, our homes, and our hearts. It lurks behind some of the nastiest and seemingly inexplicable things that otherwise decent people do, from road rage to yelling at a crying baby. And it exists across boundaries of every kind--culture, time, geography, and even species. Indeed, it's not just a human phenomenon. Passing pain to others can be seen in birds and horses, fish and primates--in virtually all vertebrates. It turns out that there is robust neurobiological hardware and software promoting redirected aggression, as well as evolutionary underpinnings. Payback may be natural, the authors conclude, but we are capable of rising above it, without sacrificing self-esteem and social status. They show how the various human responses to pain and suffering can be managed--mindfully, carefully, and humanely.

Revenge: Narcissistic Injury, Rage, and Retaliation addresses the ubiquitous human wish to take revenge and settle scores. Featuring the contributions of eleven distinguished mental health professionals, it offers a panoramic and yet deep perspective on the real or imagined narcissistic injury that often underlies fantasies of revenge and the behavioral trait of vindictiveness. It describes various types of revenge and introduces the concept of a ‘good-enough revenge.’ Deftly blending psychoanalysis, ethology, religious studies, literary criticism, and clinical experience, the book goes a long way to enhance empathy with patients struggling with hurt, pain, and desires to get even with their tormentors. This volume is of great clinical value indeed!

Retaliation is associated with all forms of social and political organization, and retaliatory logics inform many different conflict resolution procedures from consensual settlement to compensation to violent escalations. This book derives a concept of retaliation from the overall notion of reciprocity, defining retaliation as the human disposition to strive for a reactive balancing of conflicts and injustices. On Retaliation presents a synthesized approach to both the violence-generating and violence-avoiding potentials of retaliation. Contributors to this volume touch upon the interaction between retaliation and violence, the state’s monopoly on legitimate punishment and the factors of socio-political frameworks, religious interpretations and economic processes.

We all know what it's like to want revenge, but where does that urge come from? Why is it so hard to give up? And why can some people only satisfy it through extreme and brutal acts? In her new book, RADICAL REVENGE, Renée Danziger draws on psychoanalytic thinking to offer a fresh perspective on revenge. Examining some of the most egregious examples of revenge in contemporary society Danziger discusses and develops the concept of radical revenge. Deliberating mass shootings, internet trolling, revenge porn, and contemporary populist politics, she draws on psychoanalytic ideas about shame, envy, and thin-skinned narcissism to discuss why some people feel compelled to engage in destructive acts of radical revenge. Linking revenge to an instinct for self-preservation, the book suggests that the urge for revenge relates to the need to protect one's sense of self. Noting paediatrician and psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott's observation of a crude form of revenge in young infants, the book examines the idea that what starts out as a body-based sense of self becomes more complex as the infant develops into a child and then adult.

When something seems too good to be true. It's usually because it is. A lesson I learned the hard way. Every single fear I had about falling for Leon, has just come true in the most brutal way. The sweet guy act he's been putting on the past few weeks is over. The cold, hard truth is... he never wanted me. He only wanted retaliation. And like a fool, I played right into his wicked scheme. But I'm not the monster he thinks I am. Ten years ago, I might have discovered the horrifying truth, but I did the only thing I could. I pushed it down and tried to forget. Tried to survive. Afraid of what might happen at the hands of the monster who ruined both our lives. But now the truth is out, and the secret Leon has been keeping for a decade is about to poison those he loves, sending him into a darker place than he's ever been. Healing isn't always easy, it's messy and painful. The question is, beneath all the hate, will I rediscover the man I fell for, or was he always a fantasy? Dear Reader, The Retaliation You Deliver is the conclusion to Macie and Leon's duet and the final book in the Maddison Kings University. It's a dark bully romance that contains mature content and demanding alphaholes that some readers may find disturbing. You have been warned.