An expose of organised crime and its unholy alliance with world leaders, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement, Double Deal is a 40–year saga told with unflinching honesty by mob insider and former Chicago chief of police Michael Corbitt. Growing up poor and angry, Michael Corbitt fought his way up the ranks of greasers and street gangs until he attracted the attention of Chicago crime boss Sam Giancana, who placed him on the Willow Springs, Illinois, police force. By the time Corbitt was appointed chief of police, he'd also moved up the Outfit's ranks and was living the high life of a respected mobster. Corbitt's luck turned when he was indicted on charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder. Although there was a mob contract on his life and he was facing a 20–year jail sentence, he refused to testify against organised crime figures under the witness protection programme, maintaining instead the Mafioso's code of silence – until his release from prison. Now Corbitt breaks that silence, holding back nothing–including the account of his personal involvement in the brutal murder of the wife of Chicago mob attorney Alan Masters. Corbitt bares his soul, confessing in graphic – sometimes horrific – detail a life lived as both saint and sinner, a life that moved back and forth between the conflicting worlds of the police officer and the gangster with ease.

All humor is composed of incongruity and surprise. It is verbal unexpectedness. You hear it or read it, it surprises you and muses. That is the intention of this book. The verbal incongruity creates the surprise. One gets a double deal in effect. In other words, we expect one thing but get another which is surprising and sometimes humorous. I published a previous book in 2006 entitled Double Dealing. This is a similar book: Double Dealing II. The first seven chapters contain different categories of verbal unexpectedness. The eighth chapter contains poetical musings.

He’s got his first plum assignment. But has this travel writer bitten off more than he can chew? Frank Dodge can’t wait to dig into what he hopes is the biggest story of his career. Hired by a national magazine to pen a piece on the Midwest culinary scene, he brings his appetite for a scoop to a small river town’s food convention. But he’s forced to put his story on the backburner when a suspicious fire claims two innocent lives… After the blaze is ruled accidental, the ambitious journalist isn’t convinced and vows to search for the truth. And with his scheming rival out to steal his article, and a bitter feud between an ice cream maker and a chocolatier heating up, if he’s not careful he may lose more than his lucrative engagement. Can Dodge get to the bottom of a barrel of bad apples, or is this job a recipe for disaster? Double Dealing in Dubuque is the second book in the quirky Frank Dodge mystery series. If you like complex characters, atmospheric Mississippi River settings, and great food, then you’ll love Dean Klinkenberg’s delicious whodunit. Buy Double Dealing in Dubuque to enjoy the icing on a crime-baked cake today!

The Pun is Older than Punctuation The start and use of punctuation occurred around 1500 AD. Prior to this no commas, periods, quotation marks, etc., were used in writing. What one doesn’t have, one learns to do without. Books then were rare, no printing presses. Somewhere in those early years someone decided interpretative marks were needed to enhance writing. Yet puns were employed much earlier. In the New Testament, Matthew 16:18, Jesus is quoted as having said, "You are Peter, on this rock, I will build my Church". The word Peter in that ancient language translates as "rock. In effect a pun. Another early pun – the headless horseman wore an unusual necklace. A young St. Augustine prayed, "Lord, make me pure, but not yet". Someone punned him as being a "roaming Catholic". Puns are inferential; they twist together meanings and entwine connections to enhance incongruity. No ifs, ands, or butts. Just a few months ago the White House and Congress faced the Fiscal Cliff. After weeks of back and forth wrangling only a few hours remained before going over the cliff to higher taxes. Expressing her disfavor toward a do nothing Congress, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, punningly, "Congress, it's all about time, it's about time!"

Temptation, temptation, temptation . . . a million-dollar showdown over real estate turns into love at first swipe in this romance from beloved author Linda Cajio. Even as he’s sneaking onto the Barkeley estate, Jed Waters knows better. This is no way for the vice president of Atlantic Developers to behave. He may remember the secret path through the hedge maze . . . he may be able to outrun the dogs nipping at his heels . . . but he never counted on being greeted by Rachel Barkeley herself. Once they were childhood friends. Now Rachel is the exotic stunner in a Shaker sweater—and the owner of the property that Jed’s company is so desperate to turn into condos. Seeing Jed after all these years fills Rachel with a kind of delicious fear. The gardener’s son is all grown up, looking like he stepped out of a teenage fantasy. It’s not Rachel’s fault her eccentric uncle reneged on his deal with Jed, gifted her with the estate, and retired to a monastery in Nepal. If only Jed spent some quality time at the Barkeley house, he would fall in love with it and see Rachel’s side of the story . . . which is why she kidnaps him and stashes him in the trophy room. But her gorgeous prisoner has captured something more valuable than any mansion: Rachel’s heart. Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: Flirting with Disaster, Taking Shots, and Long Simmering Spring.

Are some of Shakespeare’s romantic storybook heroines actually emoting sexually obscene (but very funny) lines? {“Sexual quibbles (puns, play-on words), covertly uttered by precious-and-pure heroines, call for an immediate revision of viewpoint.”} When Fernando (The Tempest) is described as bravely swimming for shore “in lusty stroke”, would he be disqualified for doing this in Olympic competition? Before the walls of Harfleur, when Henry V threatens to “mow like grass your fresh-fair virgins” and have “your naked infants spitted upon pikes”, is he (and by inference his creator) barbarous? Or is he doing an hilarious comic imitation of Marlowe’s Tamburlaine before the walls of Damascus? {“There exists an interesting Marlovian source for the Tamburlaine protagonist himself—Ivan the Terrible. He proposed marriage to Queen Elizabeth, who tactfully turned him down.”} Rule Number 1: If a good writer seems surprisingly inept and has been known to be a wit or humorist, suspect parody or satire. Well, esteemed readers, you decide where to place your bets. On the critics? Or on William Shakespeare?

A woman is missing. But is it by choice, or is she in grave danger? When Lauren Cook fails to return from a hen weekend in Amsterdam she is reported missing by her husband. But DS Catherine Bishop and her colleagues see no reason to believe this is anything other than a marital spat. Nothing suggests that Lauren is in danger. Yet when the horribly mutilated body of a young woman is discovered, Catherine finds evidence that leads to a complex world of drug smuggling – and a direct link to Lauren. What was a murder case is suddenly a missing person investigation. And unless Catherine and her colleagues can put the pieces together quickly, they too will have blood on their hands... A fast-paced crime thriller, perfect for fans of L. J. Ross, David Hodges and J. M. Dalgliesh.