From Flipper to SeaWorld, dolphins have long captured our hearts. We love these friendly, intelligent mammals, and they seem to return our feelings—they enjoy interacting with swimmers and have been known to encircle people under attack by sharks. Despite our familiarity with dolphins, though, we remain ill-informed about how they evolved, how they function, and how they have interacted with humans for millennia. Dolphin dives into the dolphin’s zoology, as well as its social and cultural history, to offer a comprehensive view of these delightful creatures. Drawing on his years of experience working with and studying dolphins, Alan Rauch explores their propensity to live in pods and their ability to communicate through a variety of clicks, whistles, and other vocalizations. He examines their long relationship with humans, describing how they became the emblem of safe travel and charity, that the ancient Greeks featured them on coins, and that Hindu mythology associated them with Ganga, a river deity. As the rise in popularity of dolphinaria during the 1960s allowed the public access to dolphins, they became central characters in films like The Day of the Dolphin and Johnny Mnemonic and outsmarted humans in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Packed with images and thoughtful insights, Dolphin is a revealing look at one of our favorite sea creatures.

In the year 2536, The Unified Consortium Alliance is in a devastating war against a mysterious enemy known as the Prax Order. And they are in desperate need of help. Seeking out assistance in unclaimed space, they come in contact with the E-S'hanti Tribes. The older members of the Alliance knew who the E-S'hanti are and encouraged the other members to consider their offer of help, even though the E-S’hanti are as mysterious as their enemy. All the E-S'hanti wanted from the Alliance was for them to come to their territory on a space vessel designed by the E-S'hanti to go by the name of Oracle and two specific people were to be onboard: Captain Steven Garrison and Commander Cameron Quinn. Steven, Cameron and the crew of the Oracle will venture out into the unclaimed space to meet with the E-S'hanti while traversing through new personal relationships, the danger of their enemy chasing them, an enemy agent onboard to cause trouble and the legend that connects the two people specifically chosen for this ship. This is the story of their first mission.

This true story involves five lifetime girlfriends who decide to go on a magical retreat to a far away tropical island. They find themselves swimming with wild dolphins in their natural habitat. In addition to ocean adventures, their ever-changing activities include discovering their personal guardian angels, eating healthy, organic foods, daily yoga stretching, and learning a variety of powerful meditation practices--all reaching toward spiritual enlightenment. This unpredictable vacation takes on a life of its own with twists and turns that leave each of them wondering what they have gotten themselves into, then embracing the unpredictable with one another’s love and support. In addition to these challenges, their days are filled with sunshine, sunsets, moonlight and laughter that leaves their cheeks aching. As the vacationers build profound, lasting memories, the love and respect they feel for each other surpass’ anything they have experienced before, Your heart will share the connectedness of all women, including our grandmothers, mothers, sisters and daughters. Such friendships are everlasting.

Detective Pete Escobedo is on the hunt for the arsonist of the Los Angeles Public Library. The heated search takes him back to the barrio of his youth, where he soon discovers that the arsonist he has been tracking may also have been responsible for several grisly arson murders in Southern California. The criminalÕs trail moves dangerously close to his old friend Sylvia, an unorthodox firefighter, and finally to Carmen, the woman he loves. This riveting suspense thriller based on the unsolved April 29, 1986, arson of the historic Los Angeles Central Library takes the reader on a high-speed chase into the turbulent barrios of Los Angeles, the race-conscious offices in the Los Angeles Police Department and the mind of the firefighters who risk their lives daily.