When a sophisticated computer endowed with artificial intelligence begins to create poetry and exhibits human behavior, his creators attempt to shut him down

"The child must be named." A name can contain enormous power. But for Persie Merlin-Crowley, the powerless daughter of famed magicals Harley Merlin and Wade Crowley, her name hasn't given her much in terms of abilities. That is, until her eighteenth birthday comes around and she Purges a gigantic Hydra that terrorizes the coven. How could that be possible, if she's never cast a spell in her life? Then her mother reveals the deal she made with Leviathan almost twenty years before--a deal that let the monster name her firstborn Persie. Or rather, Persephone, as is her true name. He has given her the "gift" of Purging all manner of beasts... so that she may become the Queen of the Underworld like her namesake. Persie is left reeling. She's spent her life doodling monsters in the margins of notebooks and dreaming of far-off adventures. Now, she'll have to stay under her mother's supervision so her rogue Purges don't wreak havoc. Unless she can find another way to control her powers... When she learns about The Basani Institute, a monster-hunting program in Ireland, she knows this is her one chance. Alongside her Atlantean best friend and Uncle Finch's annoying kid, she sneaks out to audition to become a monster hunter. But Leviathan's gift is one that never stops giving... Buy now. *Beware of spoilers in the reviews below that are without spoiler alerts*

“Unsettling, absolutely riveting, and—for better or worse—necessary reading.” —Brian Christian, author of Algorithms to Live By and The Alignment Problem An entertaining account of the philosophy and technology of hacking—and why we all need to understand it. It’s a signal paradox of our times that we live in an information society but do not know how it works. And without understanding how our information is stored, used, and protected, we are vulnerable to having it exploited. In Fancy Bear Goes Phishing, Scott J. Shapiro draws on his popular Yale University class about hacking to expose the secrets of the digital age. With lucidity and wit, he establishes that cybercrime has less to do with defective programming than with the faulty wiring of our psyches and society. And because hacking is a human-interest story, he tells the fascinating tales of perpetrators, including Robert Morris Jr., the graduate student who accidentally crashed the internet in the 1980s, and the Bulgarian “Dark Avenger,” who invented the first mutating computer-virus engine. We also meet a sixteen-year-old from South Boston who took control of Paris Hilton’s cell phone, the Russian intelligence officers who sought to take control of a US election, and others. In telling their stories, Shapiro exposes the hackers’ tool kits and gives fresh answers to vital questions: Why is the internet so vulnerable? What can we do in response? Combining the philosophical adventure of Gödel, Escher, Bach with dramatic true-crime narrative, the result is a lively and original account of the future of hacking, espionage, and war, and of how to live in an era of cybercrime. Includes black-and-white images

Jessica Martin is not a nice girl. As Prom Queen and Captain of the cheer squad, she'd ruled her school mercilessly, looking down her nose at everyone she deemed unworthy. The most unworthy of them all? The "freak," Manson Reed: her favorite victim. But a lot changes after high school. A freak like him never should have ended up at the same Halloween party as her. He never should have been able to beat her at a game of Drink or Dare. He never should have been able to humiliate her in front of everyone. Losing the game means taking the dare: a dare to serve Manson for the entire night as his slave. It's a dare that Jessica's pride - and curiosity - won't allow her to refuse. What ensues is a dark game of pleasure and pain, fear and desire. Is it only a game? Only revenge? Only a dare? Or is it something more? The Dare is an 18+ erotic romance novella and a prequel to the Losers Duet. Reader discretion is strongly advised. This book contains graphic sexual scenes, intense scenes of BDSM, and strong language. A full content note can be found in the front matter of the book.

Feast your eyes on legendary motorcycles from the world’s most iconic motorcycle manufacturer with this stunning 17" × 12" wall calendar. Created in cooperation with Harley-Davidson, this latest edition of Motorbooks’ top-selling calendar includes bikes spanning Harley-Davidson’s history, from classics to today’s top machines. Harley-Davidson® 2024 features stunning portraits commissioned specifically for this calendar and photographed by talented photographer David Blattel as well as photographic images from the Harley-Davidson® archives. This 16-month calendar features a convenient page that shows the months of September, October, November, and December 2023 followed by individual pages for the months of 2024. Included with the calendar is a stunning 17" × 12" frame-ready print.