Alysanne tries to remove the dark presence inside an FBI agent’s mind, and embarks on a sexual journey that neither of them will ever forget. Darien Lange let his guard down once, and Alysanne King stole the demon stone out from under his nose. Now he has to get it back, no matter what the cost. It doesn’t matter that the feisty redhead calms the demonic voice in his head, or that her body tempts him beyond reason. Only the stone will ensure his survival. As he tries to seduce it away from her, a connection starts to form between them. Now he must decide whether to save his sanity, or his heart. The more Darien showers her with kisses, the more Alysanne’s heart softens to his cause. She knows she won’t be able to resist his charm for much longer. Despite the temptation, she knows she must keep the stone safe, because if the demon in his mind claims it, an unholy force would destroy everything she had ever loved—including him.

"Two centuries ago, a surprising number of Anglican clergymen were to be found moonlighting as journalists. Even more surprisingly, a number of them engaged in vicious mudslinging-- or worse. The Reverend Sir Henry Bate Dudley, editor of the Morning post, fought a string of duels, went to gaol for libelling a duke, and exercised a mysterious hold over the Prince Regent; the Reverend Dr William Dodd, unstoppable scribbler and spendthrift, was hanged for forgery; and the Reverend William Jackson committed suicide after being found guility of high treason. Here, in fascinating detail, are the histories of these and other susceptible divines who were lured away from the drudgeries of their parishes by the dangerous glitter of Grub Street."--Jacket.

Scapegoats are innocent victims who have experienced blame and violence at the hands of society. RenŽ Girard proposes that the Gospels present Jesus as a scapegoat whose innocent death exposes how humans have always created scapegoats. This revelation should have cured societal scapegoating, yet those who claim to live by the Gospels have missed that message. They continue to scapegoat and remain blind to the suffering of scapegoats in modern life. Christians today tend to read the New Testament as victors, not as victims. The teachings and actions of Jesus thus lose much of their subversive significance. The Gospels become one harmonized story about individual salvation rather than distinct representations of Jesus's revolutionary work on behalf of victims. Scapegoats revisits the Gospel narratives with the understanding that they tell scapegoats' stories, and that through those stories the kingdom of God is revealed. Bashaw goes beyond Girard's arguments to show that Jesus's whole public ministry (not only his death) combats the marginalization of victims. These scapegoat stories work together to illuminate an essential truth of the Gospels--that Jesus modeled a reality in which victims become survivors and the marginalized become central to the kingdom.