Urban lit meets classic noir in this "absolutely sensational" debut thriller from a major new voice in crime fiction (Teri Woods). As a child, Eddie Santiago grew up on the mean streets of his Puerto Rican neighborhood in Chicago, where he witnessed his father's murder. Now in his thirties, after serving ten years in a state penitentiary, Eddie is coming home. With prison behind him, Eddie plans to seek refuge in Miami Beach. But new trouble begins when Eddie and his old friend/gangster Little Tony are pulled over by two cops, who rob Eddie of his money belt, which contains his life savings. Convinced it was a set-up, Eddie is determined to recover what is rightfully his, all the while trying to reform his childhood friend. Along the way, Eddie falls for a Mexican beauty with a past she is trying to escape. But his romance is almost cut short when he is dragged into a drug war, becomes a murder suspect, and is forced to participate in an ill-conceived casino heist.

Today's major retail marketers look to the power of branding as their most potent and valuable strategic asset. This fascinating book of case studies demonstrates what really works in effective retail brand management, showing readers a myriad of marketing and creative efforts that help develop a branding story. Filled with over 500 full-color photos, Brandstand identifies, analyzes, and interprets each brand, and presents a new, "how-to-think" rather than "what-to-think" theory about building retail equity.

Demonstrating four different clay-firing techniques, this book illustrates the diverse results that each can produce.